I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Tuesday morning, August 31st.

On this day, the day before Lekachep’s entrance ceremony, all the officials who participated in the draft gathered in the school auditorium.

The equipment used during the entrance exams had been removed.

Instead, chairs and decorations were arranged for the entrance ceremony tomorrow.

Six professors, including the four-member team, stood on the stage.

A woman wearing a black mortarboard stepped forward as the representative.

She was Elpara, the vice principal and tightrope professor.

After mentioning that the Principal was still away on a business trip, she briefly greeted everyone and went straight to the point.

By the time of the interviews yesterday, most of the career paths had already been decided.

Today, the school was acting as a notary to review the contracts and ensure there were no issues, and as the organizer of the event to wrap things up.

Starting with the circus troupe that was selected last, they stepped forward one by one.

Some of the selected individuals left for the school, some remained with their current circus troupe, and some transferred to other circus troupes.

After reviewing the contract terms, the school stamped them with approval.

Since most of the contracts were drafted according to standard guidelines, there was no need to scrutinize them closely except for trades.

The selected individuals took the stage to reflect on their two weeks and express their aspirations for the future.

This was also part of the program offered by Lekachep, so everyone earnestly shared their thoughts.

Despite starting with phrases like “under rigorous training and the guidance of our benevolent director,” most of the content was similar.

After the turn of the first twenty circus troupes, only two remained.

Reporters looked at the stage with slightly more tension than before.

It was the moment when the futures of the two most talked-about figures in this competition would be decided.

Especially, with Lord Fantastic throwing all sorts of hints, everyone in the auditorium was paying attention to these two individuals.

Ella and Reyna.

The atmosphere where the two were seated was contrasting.

Ella continued to converse with the Golden Carnival people, occasionally bursting into laughter.

In contrast, Reyna sat quietly among the Monster Circus people, not smiling once.

“Ella seems fully immersed in the Golden Carnival…”

“Reyna will obviously go back to where her father is…”

“I wonder if Lord Fantastic’s mentioned radical outcomes will come true for both?”

Amidst countless speculations among the people, Reyna stood up from her seat.

“Reyna, don’t be nervous. Just do as you practiced.”

Even with Wonderstein’s warm encouragement, she didn’t respond and proceeded to the stage.

Some reporters murmured as they watched her demeanor.

“She really thinks she’s the best in the world.”

“Wasn’t he called Wonderstein? That man’s quite deceitful. Laughing after being snubbed by a kid.”

Reyna heard what they said, but she wasn’t angry.

Instead, she considered such remarks cheap.

She knew she was an ungrateful and disobedient child.

I’m sorry, Director.

I’m not worthy of your greetings.

In her hand, she held a note.

It contained her impressions of the circus troupe she lived with for two weeks.

Over the past two days, she had written it together with Wonderstein through their notebooks.

It mainly expressed positive impressions, stating that many prejudices against the Monster Circus had diminished.

Though it sounded like flattery, it was also Reyna’s sincere feelings.

She wanted to leave only good words about those who had given her good memories.

Especially after being so confrontational yesterday.

However, the note unfolded on stage didn’t contain her writing.

She wasn’t surprised.

One of the capabilities of the Inspira, owned by Simon, was remote writing and erasing on blank paper.

This morning, he had contacted her through her notebook again.

‘How’s my daughter doing?’

It was an obvious pretense.

She vowed not to have any expectations anymore.

Yet, a warm word from him shook her resolve.

Her pounding heart settled as she replied to her father’s greeting.

Through the method of erasing the words he wrote, the two could communicate.

Simon chuckled as he watched the rough erasure of the words.

Arrogant girl.

He didn’t bring up any matters and only inquired about her well-being for a while.

Reyna’s sincerity continued to resist him, but after 15 years of conditioning, her guard against his worries and cares began to falter.

Simon confirmed the erasure of the words.

At first, she was rebellious, but now she has become obedient.

He confirmed that her mind was still enslaved to him and got to the point.

“The essay you are supposed to present at today’s trade, read it as I wrote it.”

At his words, Reyna snapped out of it.

But the hesitation was only in her heart.

Her hand wrote a reply to her father on its own.

“I’ll do as you say.”

She was surprised by what her hand had done.

She quickly tried to erase other words to send the reply.

There’s more to say.

But her body didn’t flinch.

A corner of her mind whispered.

It was clearly a voice detached from her sincerity.

A voice planted by her father.

It whispered.

Do you want to disappoint your father?

“But, but then Wonderstein’s director…”

Ah, that fake?

“The fake…no…”

She retorted with a growl, but her opponent only sneered at her as if she was pathetic.

“Fake. That laughter, that warm words too.”

“Just acting because of a contract with you.”

“Do you really think that makes you a real family?”

“Really? Huh?”

“Compared to real father’s love, that’s just a game, isn’t it? Right?”

She couldn’t argue.

While she hesitated, Simon left specific instructions and ended the conversation.

That was this morning’s affair.

While the Lekachep people were reviewing the contract, Rayna read the contents of the note.

She sighed deeply inwardly a moment later.

She felt like vomiting.

It contained testimony about how monstrously the members of the circus were treated, how primitive and savage their practices were, how pathetic their performances were.

It was a writing oozing with her father’s malice.

But nothing disgusted her more than the testimony about Wonderstein.

“The man named director was a man whose behavior was as dirty as his status, not only touching me all over my body during practice but also breaking into my bedroom at night to play tricks.”

Normally, in such situations, the slander would lead to a brawl if refuted.

The accuser could also suffer serious damage to their reputation.

But Simon had an ace in the hole, Ella.

He planned to go on stage next and immediately let people know that her testimony was true.

Moreover, she was going to stay at the Golden Carnival.

It was unbelievable.

They had been sincere to each other.

Reyna realized how things were going.

It’s her father.

Her father must have done something wrong.

Threats, temptations, brainwashing.

That’s what shook her mind.

After today, Wonderstein would undoubtedly be buried in the circus industry.

It was the recent biggest scandal with two promising children testifying.

One of them was even a former Assistant Director.

Credibility was high.

Even if only half of the disclosed content was true, people would listen to the two girls’ words rather than an insignificant circus director.

He who trusted and loved people would be betrayed by people like that.

Reyna barely managed to suppress the urge to burst into tears.

I’m sorry.

She silently apologized in her heart and stood on the stage.

And holding out the note, she began to speak.

“Wonderstein’s circus was, well, decent enough. That’s all.”

I’m sorry, Father.

I couldn’t betray them.

With a brief expression of her thoughts, she stepped back.

Compared to what others had done, it was truly an indifferent and insincere attitude.

“Tsk tsk, even if you stayed for two weeks, a few words of praise would have been appropriate for courtesy’s sake.”

“How arrogant.”

“Did you need a note to say that?”

Professor Elpara, with a stern expression that seemed unyielding, responded with a puzzled tone.

“Ah, don’t you have any aspirations or words you want to leave for the future?”

At her words, Reyna grimaced.

Jeers erupted from the seats where the Lekachep students were sitting.

How dare they show such attitude towards their mentor.

However, Reyna disregarded the reactions around her and spoke her mind.

Her voice was stronger than before.

“I want to say thank you. I’m sorry, and I love you…to my father.”

That should be enough.

With that, he’ll understand my feelings.

Reyna left the stage and stood in the Golden Carnival camp.

“Why didn’t you follow instructions?”

Lord Fantastic greeted her outwardly as her father, murmuring lowly towards her.

Avoiding his gaze, Reyna muttered.

“I didn’t want to do that to people whom I owe debt.”

“Hmph. Sympathy? And at the end, saying such trivial things. Didn’t you think your character would collapse? Pitiful girl.”

He turned his head away from her.

He still had Ella.

He believed that with her wit and resourcefulness, she could skillfully manipulate Wonderstein even in this unexpected situation.

“Decent enough place?”

Ella, who had stepped onto the stage, frowned.

Simon thought she was triggering.

She was under his brainwashing and implication.

Her heart was filled with revenge and hatred towards Wonderstein.

Simon thought he had done nothing wrong.

He could tell from Wonderstein stopping the ‘treatment’ by the old man after returning from the factory.

Since Ella had caught them, they coudnt manipulate memories anymore.

Simon had also seen gasps and fights between Ella and the old man.

Ella could package herself with excellent acting, but the old man couldn’t.

His stubbornness as a craftsman for many years was strongly evident.

He was never an easy person to act.

His contempt and annoyance towards Ella were real.

Only then would Ella have realized.

The deceit surrounding her.

Simon implied her confusion so he could manipulate her intentions as he pleased.

He felt no remorse.

He considered it natural to repay the favor of saving her from near-death in that obscure circus troupe. However, the situation unfolded differently from his expectations.

“It’s not just okay, it’s really great there! Do you know how handsome our Director is?”

She praised Wonderstein and the Monster Circus, not raising her voice in an attempt to dispel prejudices. She used some amusing anecdotes from their daily life there, eliciting laughter among the crowd. She also testified to her life at the Golden Carnival, which was as enjoyable as the previous place, but she complained about how annoying the Director was.

She revealed how irritating, picky, and neurotic Lord Fantastic was behind the façade he presented. People who knew the rumours in the industry thought it might be true and spread stories to those around them. The hall became noisy.

Simon couldn’t refute Ella’s words. Her testimony was more exaggeratedly packaged as “Unstoppable Simon, the ringmaster” rather than malicious. More importantly, his colleagues behind him responded to her words by whistling or cheering.

It was only then that Simon could realize that his colleagues were siding with Ella and secretly mocking him.

He looked at his snickering colleagues. They were a planning circus troupe. Each member was a first-rate acrobat. If they were just ordinary people, they might obsess over competitions and sponsors, but they were conscious that if things went wrong, they could look for another circus or just go back to their hometowns and continue what they were doing.

In that case, it would only be difficult for Simon as the person in charge among the members and sponsors. They had respected him as the ringmaster until now, but they couldn’t stand idly by when it came to dealing with Reyna or making schemes against Ella.

Simon thought the members were sympathetic to what he was doing. They also wanted to be with Ella. So, he thought they would just watch even if he conducted a brainwashing operation on her. However, that was his misconception.

They couldn’t bear to see the children being hurt by Simon’s connivance.

As Simon, who had become a laughingstock, stood up from his seat, the students from Lekachep, shouted at him louder.

“Go back.”

Simon walked ahead.

He seemed quite hurt in his pride.

The members of the Golden Carnival followed him with wry smiles, not expecting the response to be so enthusiastic.

“Seniors! It was fun!”

Ella waved to them from the stage.

“Stop it! Stop it!”

On the stage that had suddenly turned into her talk show, Elpara snatched the microphone from her.

That’s how all of Draft’s schedule ended.