The Freak Show Foreman

On the way back to the campsite.

Wonderstein, who had distanced himself from the marketplace, released Yurakne’s hand that he had been holding.

There was no need to continue their performance as a couple where no one could see them.

His head throbbed.

Thanks to the ’Rapid Stiffness,’ there wasn’t much bleeding, and thanks to the ’Smiling Man,’ the pain was minimal.

But what truly angered him wasn’t the fact that he had been hit.

"I’ve done it again."

He was angry with himself.

To what extent was he just playing a role in the game,

He had boasted about being Wonderstein, just acting the part,

But just now, he had genuinely stepped forward.

It was a different situation from when he had taken bullets for the sake of a quest.

But now?

"Because of the Smiling Man."

An impulsive and reckless act.

It was all because of the curse that afflicted his body.

Otherwise, he would never have thought of taking on such a piece of lead with his bare body.

He scolded himself like that, but the uneasy feeling didn’t dissipate.

An eye tracker.

The controller for an electric wheelchair.

The assistance of caregivers from the welfare Centre.

He had never once stood up and acted on his own since the day he was born.

He was accustomed to passive, defensive, and dependent choices.

For personal reasons, not for game strategies or quests,

It was difficult for him to accept the fact that he had taken the initiative for someone else.

Yurakne looked at him with a mixed expression of doubt as she walked along.

He had protected her and got hurt.

She made an effort not to think too sentimentally about that fact.

He was a man who could deflect blades with his bare body and crush skulls with his fingers.

Getting hit by a mere piece of iron wouldn’t be a significant danger.

But... she couldn’t help but worry.

Because it was a wound he received while trying to protect her.

"Um..."

"I don’t have any intention of causing harm to those people."

"Huh?"

"Weren’t you asking about that? Ella often worries about it whenever I get into even the smallest trouble. Even when I refused to board the ship the day before yesterday, she was like that."

Considering the things he had done so far, it was a reasonable concern.

But it wasn’t what Yurakne wanted to ask right now.

"No, it’s not that... um, well, you see..."

There were many things she wanted to ask.

But when it came time to speak, she didn’t know what to say.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally asked the biggest question she had always had.

"...Why, Ringmaster, don’t you get angry? How can... you keep smiling?"

Wonderstein stopped in his tracks.

He took a moment to catch his breath before answering.

"Why are you curious about that?"

"Just... I just want to understand you better."

Yurakne blushed at the confession-like words that slipped out unintentionally.

Fortunately, the ringmaster interpreted it differently.

"...I suppose you won’t understand from your perspective. I...."

He looked into the empty air without looking at Yurakne.

Quest Window - Smile of Truth

: Yurakne is curious if your smile is genuine.

Conditions for Completion

: Make her believe whether it’s true or false.

Success Reward

: [Debulroots x2］

Failure Penalty

: [Yurakne’s affection -1］

Seeing the quest pop up, he felt relieved.

The guiding star he should follow.

The instructions given to him on this stage.

He had no confidence in weaving lies.

So he decided to speak honestly.

"Miss Yurakne, it hurts when I get hit too."

He said as he wiped the blood on his forehead with his hand.

"When I’m insulted, I get angry, and when I face death, I feel sad."

He was speaking as a human who could feel emotions.

Not a devil or a monster.

"Why then...?"

"An illness? No, it’s not quite right. It’s more like a curse. Yes, a curse. I’m cursed to laugh. No matter how angry or sad I am, I can only express it by laughing.

I can’t even shed tears. I can only laugh."

"Is that true...?"

That was the simple reason.

Yurakne looked at him with disbelief.

Even when the members turned their backs on him.

Even when she avoided him.

The smile he wore... was it all just a façade?

"Then... why didn’t you tell us until now? If you had, there wouldn’t have been any misunderstandings..."

"What misunderstandings?"

"What?"

Wonderstein turned to look at her with a smile.

It was the same smile as always.

Seemingly crafted, mocking, contrived.

But now that she knew the truth, his smile seemed different to her.

Bitterness, pain, sadness, and... loneliness.

It might just be her misconception, but...

"Even if you know the truth, will it change anything? You’ll still fear me and avoid me. I understand."

With those words, Wonderstein turned away.

Accepting that it’s okay for her to hate him.

He said so and walked away.

Yurakne followed him, pondering his words.

Even if she found out the truth, would nothing change?

...No.

No, that wasn’t true.

There was something that would change.

"When I was surrounded by people..."

Since she heard his confession, there had been something she had been curious about.

"...The Ringmaster was smiling."

Wonderstein’s steps came to a sudden halt.

"What kind of expression did you really want to have back then?"

Wonderstein stood still in his place, not making any move.

As Yurakne followed behind him, she got closer and closer to him.

When there was just one step left in that distance, Wonderstein finally spoke.

"I hated this curse more than anything at that time."

Yurakne’s footsteps also came to a stop.

Right behind him.

"When I saw you crying while surrounded by people, I... also..."

Wonderstein looked back at Yurakne.

A bright smile adorned his lips.

"If I said I wanted to cry, would you believe me?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walked quietly toward the tent.

Yurakne stood there for a long time, pondering the laughter he left behind.

***

The next day, breakfast at the Monster Circus was not as satisfying as usual.

Yurakne had promised fish stew the day before.

It was disappointing, to say the least.

There was no trace of fish meat, and even the potatoes seemed strangely small.

"It’s because of Wonderstein," Sven said with conviction, his bones creaking.

"I saw him yesterday morning, and he was bothering Yurakne. He even followed her all the way to the market."

In the middle of the night?

The members were all surprised by the news that Yurakne had confronted Wonderstein on her own.

"What did you do?"

"I came back and went to sleep again."

"You’re fearless."

"Do I have the audacity to confront the ringmaster? Anyway, something bad definitely happened. I saw Yurakne when she returned, and she was a complete mess."

Everyone was curious about what had happened overnight, but Yurakne, the person involved, remained tight-lipped.

When I woke up, the sun was hanging in the sky.

I had overslept due to wandering around until dawn.

All the wounds had disappeared and were nowhere to be found.

Thanks to the "Rapid Stiffness" that suppressed bleeding and the cell regeneration I had set to 3.0 before going to sleep.

Name: Frank Wonderstein

Age: 27

Occupation: Biomancer

Attributes: (2/20)

Muscle Strength: 2.0 (Physical Training)

Tissue Hardness: 2.0 (Leather Armor)

Cell Regeneration: 3.0 (Sprinting)

Traits: [Smiling Man], [Rapid Stiffening]

The description of cell regeneration had changed from 1.0 to "Crawling," then to 2.0 as "Walking," and now it was "Sprinting."

My walking speed had increased fourfold compared to crawling.

Did that mean my running speed was four times faster than walking?

Recovery speed also seemed to have increased proportionally.

In other words, I now had about 16 times the normal person’s regenerative ability.

It was an unexpected expense, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

The basic attributes had to be increased eventually, and among them, tissue hardness and cell regeneration took priority.

This wasn’t a game; there were no retries or the so called ’Return by death.’

I only had one life.

I had to survive somehow to seize the next opportunity.

Défense and recovery were the first steps.

Thunk.

Someone knocked on the carriage door.

From the silhouette alone, I could tell who it was.

There were only two people who could come to my carriage anyway, Womon and Ella.

It was definitely Ella, as her shadow was smaller.

"What’s going on?"

But the voice I heard was unexpected.

"Um... it’s Yurakne."

I was surprised to hear the spider-woman’s voice, but I quickly composed myself.

I recalled the message I received before going to sleep.

[Yurakne’s affection has increased by 9. Current affection: 12. (Next reward: Affection 15)]

Ella had 9, Womon had 4, and the rest had 1 or 2, but she had gone from 3 to 12 in just one night.

Whether it was because he helped with the shopping, prevented the lynching against her, or because I told her about the ’Smiling Man,’ I wasn’t sure, but I was relieved that my efforts from the previous night had not been in vain.

I see. It was all for the sake of improving favorability.

So, there was a justification for me.

"What’s going on?"

"Well... Since you skipped breakfast... and you went through something like that yesterday... I thought I should make some porridge."

Gulp.

I opened the door.

Yurakne was standing there with her violet hair tied back with a hairpin, wearing an apron.

A tray in her hand.

A bowl of porridge on top of it.

I smelled a familiar aroma coming from there.

"Abalone, huh?"

"Yes... It’s a gift to apologize for what happened in the morning at the merchant’s meeting."

"Hehe, giving something so valuable. It seems our performance was quite successful."

I accepted the tray.

Shake, shake.

Her hand was trembling slightly.

Not out of fear.

I saw the sweat running down her forehead and the shadows under her eyes.

"You didn’t get any sleep at all, did you?"

"Oh, no. I slept for an hour or two earlier."

Taking care of three meals for the members alone was not an ordinary task.

Even though we divided the time and took turns sleeping, when unexpected situations like yesterday arose, it led to overwork.

"Thank you. I’ll enjoy it."

I smiled at her.

But she gave me a strange look.

A hesitant expression as if she wanted to ask something.

"Well, um... What kind of expression do you want to make right now?"

Did she really want to know that?

I laughed and replied, "Just be yourself."

Hearing my words, she nodded in relief.

"Now, go get some sleep. We have another performance in two hours, right?"

At my words, she nodded.

"Hehe... Yes!"

Huh?

As she quickly walked away, I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Did I hear wrong? It seemed like she was smiling... now.

Maybe she can finally get some rest.

I sat down in front of the carriage and ate the porridge.

I could see some of the members in the distance, huddled together and chattering excitedly.

They scattered in a hurry when they caught a glimpse of me looking their way.

We still have a long way to go.

But It can’t be helped.

I had to lead them all and challenge the Circus Grand Prix.

I couldn’t make choices like giving up everything and living in the mountains now.

Main Quest - Circus Grand Prix

The Sky City Hippodrome is calling for Wonderstein.

Objective:

Advance to the main round of the Circus Grand Prix.

Success Reward:

Ability to bring all acquired Debulroots and Biomancer abilities into reality.

Failure Penalty:

None.

Someday, I would walk on my own two legs and feel the world with my own two arms.