I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Chapter 174: Demon in the Bottle – 13

Once all the freshman students had arrived, the tour began.

They followed the guidance of the senior students into the school building.

As they entered the buildings entrance, they were greeted by a statue of a person wearing a crow mask.

The statue of the emperor in the correction facility seemed to have been erected out of respect for the sponsor.

However, the care given to this statue was incomparable.

The effort put into the statue itself was beyond words.

The height of the ceiling, the arrangement of the columns, the angle of the lighting, and so on.

Every aspect of the entrance seemed designed to maximize the reverence inspired by the statue.

Just standing at the entrance, gazing up at the statue, they could feel a sense of holiness.

But there were no names around the statue to indicate who it represented.

Only the letters Lekachep were engraved on a stone plaque.

The freshman students looked around at the statue and scratched their heads.

He seems like a very important figure, but who is he?

Was ther jester like that?

Seems more like a clown than a jester

Most of them murmured in confusion, but some recognized who he was and why his name wasnt there.

This is Saint Victor.

Lekachep was erected 28 years ago by one court jester and five acrobats.

At the time, the emperor spared no trick to break the power of the Church.

One of the ventures he undertook was buying ancient cathedrals and converting them into cultural facilities for the common people.

Lekachep was born out of that.

Such a grandiose stone building couldnt have been built just for a circus school.

This place used to be a grand cathedral of the Church.

Yes. The original name of the building we use is Saint Victor Cathedral. Its also known as the Miracle Palace. Im sure you all know about Saint Victor. Hes famous for defeating the plague lord, among other things.

Clara stood before the statue of the man with the crow mask and elaborated on Saint Victors achievements and the history of the cathedral.

Although unrelated to the circus, Claras eloquence captivated the students, who listened with interest to her explanations.

But why was Saint Victor portrayed so menacingly? With a crow mask?

Yeah. Usually, Saint Victor in stained glass windows is depicted as a handsome blond man.

Clara calmly answered the students questions with the composure of a model Lekachep student.

Of course, Saint Victor is usually depicted as a handsome young man. However, Yeterinpuurk, where we are, is the land where Saint Victor performed miracles. There are many records of his activities rescuing the sick. He always wore a crow-shaped mask when he was in lands plagued by epidemics. Thats why in the stained glass windows of churches in this area, instead of a handsome blond man, you can see a man wearing a crow mask.

Clara led the students around the school building, explaining the history and current usage of each area.

She had a knack for making the stories easy to understand and answered unexpected questions kindly.

Thanks to her, even the children who had vague reservations about Lekachep began to like her.

After skimming through the rough parts of the school building, they arrived at the center of the school, the garden.

Wow.

What is all this?

As they entered the garden, the children couldnt close their mouths.

It was surrounded by walls about 40 meters high.

The garden, as its name suggested, was full of bamboo.

However, unlike typical gardens, there was only one type of tree.

Only bamboo.

Our Lekacheps specialty, Jungle Gym.'

The relatively small garden was filled with bamboo trees, reaching tens of meters high, scattered about.

But being scattered was only about their vertical growth.

When considering horizontal and diagonal growth, this forest was quite dense.

The bamboo in the Jungle Gym grew straight up and then tangled haphazardly from the middle in all directions.

Ella didnt find the sight of the bamboo forest unfamiliar.

There was something similar in front of the schoolyard where she grew up.

The headmaster personally brought in lumber and used ropes and hammers to create a complex structure.

It was made for training strength and balance for the children.

What the headmaster made could be considered a miniature version of this.

But there was one difference.

It was that there were no artificial joints visible in these bamboo trees.

How did you make the bamboo grow diagonally and horizontally?

One freshman student asked, and the answer came from a messy-looking old man who emerged from the corner.

Its me!

He wore gardening gloves over his apron, which was covered in grass and soil.

I am the.

Are you a gardener? Ella raised her hand and answered.

The old gardener was surprised, opening his eyes wide. Huh, how did you know?

Just got a feeling.

Ah, I see. Would you perhaps be interested in learning horticulture? These guys here handle trees quite roughly. Every day, I have to take care of the parts that break or fall off. The strength and elasticity of the joints and the drugs used to maintain them were developed by the Alchemy Guild.

Suddenly interrupting, the old mans disorganized explanation made the atmosphere boring for the freshmen.

Quickly, Ella interjected and cut him off. Its okay. Were here to talk about the circus, not gardening.

It seems like rudeness isnt just limited to the students of this school! Anyway, those circus kids.

The gardener glanced at her once and then grumbled as he disappeared in the direction of the correctional facility.

Clara gave the students a sheepish smile. The gardener has a reason to get upset about this bamboo grove. We often cause damage because of our training. This bamboo grove isnt just for show. Our Lekachep students use this jungle gym to shorten the time it takes to move around the school.

She stood in the middle of the garden and looked up.

On the outer wall surrounding the garden, there were large windows on each floor, large enough for two people to pass through.

The next place were going to visit is the professors offices, right? Its on the fifth floor.

Clara stood near a bamboo and gave it a push vertically, then jumped, grabbing onto a horizontally stretched bamboo stem with both hands.

She tightly grasped the bamboo and swayed her body back and forth, performing a pendulum motion.

Then, at the right height, she let go of the stem she was holding onto and bounced her hips to propel herself into the air.

She landed on a diagonal stem, which flexed downward with her weight before bouncing back up.

Her body soared diagonally, facing upwards.

Although there were trees obstructing her path, she narrowly avoided them by pulling her legs towards her chest.

She could land on a horizontally stretched stem about 10 meters above the ground.

She moved her body on top of it as if she was running on the ground, then, with movements similar to what she had just shown, she climbed even higher.

In less than 20 seconds, she landed on the window sill of the fifth floor.

Because the building used to be a cathedral, even though it was the fifth floor, it looked over 30 meters high.

She smiled down at the freshmen who were looking up at her from below.

To move on to the next location, please line up here.

She still had a friendly expression and tone, but there was a cold mockery underneath.

Clara barely managed to suppress the urge to burst into triumphant laughter.

Did they think we would make being their guides easy?

If they want to be treated as guests by us, theyll have to endure this much.

Otherwise, they can just be treated as trash and outcasts, right?

As she looked down below, she soon realized something was odd.

The people below were looking at an angle above her.

Even the upperclassmen who were guiding them didnt look at her.

They were looking slightly higher than where she was.

Oh, this is interesting.

If we do this every day, its definitely good training.

It was the voices of two people.

They came from above Claras position.

Looking up, she froze.

Two people were standing on the bamboo spanning the highest point of the cathedral.

One was sitting on the branch, swinging her legs, and the other was standing still with her arms crossed.

It was Ella and Reyna.

When did?

Clara muttered incredulously.

Ella waved her hand upon hearing her voice.

Ah, I couldnt help but rush in after seeing the senior bouncing off the bamboo. And then Reyna followed suit.

I chose a route opposite to yours to avoid interfering with the paths. Its natural that you couldnt see me.

The muscles around Claras eyes trembled.

A later start than hers?

Turning back to accommodate her, even though it was difficult to run the optimal route?

But to reach a higher place at a similar time as her?

Clara alternated her gaze between Ella and Reyna.

A mix of awe, despair, and jealousy surged within her.

But in such a crowded place, she couldnt reveal her true feelings.

She barely suppressed the surging emotions inside her.

She looked down.

Fortunately, the upperclassmen had regained their senses and were proceeding with their plans as intended.

They were subtly provoking the freshmen with their words and expressions.

If its too difficult, you can also use the stairs over there.

Its break time, so there will be a lot of students, causing congestion.

Hehe, please understand.

As they said, on one side of the courtyard, there were open stairs and railings, and students from Lekachep were looking down at them, smiling slyly.

The freshmens faces turned grim.

This was Claras strategy.

Climbing up to the fifth floor using the jungle gym was by no means an easy task.

Even freshmen struggled to accomplish it after months of practice.

Skill was one thing, but repetition and learning the tactics played a significant role.

But today, the freshmen who had just seen the jungle gym for the first time couldnt possibly manage it.

Ella and Reyna were different.

To reach the fifth floor, they had to use the stairs.

But there, Lekachep students were waiting.

To mock them as they walked up the stairs in humiliation.

All the teenagers who came to Lekachep for their circus training received encouragement and attention when they left.

They were told to be careful with their bodies.

They were told that when they came to Lekachep, they would represent the circus.

Those who pride themselves as acrobats couldnt easily choose to take the stairs.

Claras move was subtle.

It was hardly considered humiliation.

Her demonstration was merely an introduction, saying, Our students usually move around like this.

And suggesting that if they wanted to try, they were free to do so, but if they couldnt, they could use the stairs, was a reasonable suggestion.

The students on the way up wouldnt openly hurl insults at them or anything like that.

They would express their mockery through light sighs, murmurs, or faint laughter.

Hurry up so we dont miss the tour!

Clara shouted loudly from upstairs.

The faces of the current students lit up with smiles, while the freshmens faces fell.

However, none of them stepped forward first.

Everyone hesitated.

At that moment, one person stepped forward.

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Chapter 173: Demon in the Bottle 12