The Freak Show Foreman

"What kind of hospitality is this? We made an appointment four days ago," Ella complained, tapping her foot impatiently.

We had been at the mansion for a whole three hours, and yet the owner of the mansion had not shown her face. When we inquired about the situation, all we received were repeated requests to wait.

"In my next life, I better be born as a noble. Seriously," Ella muttered, not caring that one of the maids was listening.

Her purpose was to show that she was angry from the start.

But no matter how much she frowned and grumbled, to others, it looked like nothing more than a cute tantrum from a young girl.

"Just a little more patience, miss. I believe they will arrive shortly," the maid replied calmly, causing Ella to have no more words to say, except to scratch her head awkwardly.

No wonder she seemed just like a petulant child to others.

The maid seemed to share the same thought and let out a small laugh.

***

Ella raised an eyebrow. "Uh, is there something funny?"

"Hehe, my apologies."

Ella checked her watch and said, "...At this rate, lunchtime will be over."

"Should I bring some snacks then?"

"Never mind. What about the master... no, never mind."

She seemed like she wanted to press further, but when she looked at me, she quickly dropped her head.

As the head of the group, it wouldn’t be easy for her to say more in this situation.

Of course, I wasn’t always easy-going either.

I was getting bored and irritated just sitting in this room. It wasn’t as if I enjoyed being cooped up here.

But I couldn’t get angry.

I couldn’t even furrow my brows.

I was the smiling man.

A unique trait of Wonderstein.

Thanks to this absurd trait of always maintaining composure and only smiling, I could appear composed even when I wanted to scream inside.

"Anyway, can you tell us what the plan is?" Ella asked. "What’s the scheme?"

"Scheme?" She made a displeased expression at my simple reply.

"What are you going to do now? You said we might find some money here when we came."

"The Vergsong heiress is quite wealthy."

Ella raised her head. Her short black hair swayed slightly.

"If she’s wealthy, so what? Judging from the way we’re being treated; it doesn’t seem like there’s much chance of getting anything."

"We won’t know until we ask."

"If she were a proper noble, she wouldn’t just give money to a wandering magician who asked for it."

At that moment, another voice interjected.

"That’s right."

The reply came from the entrance of the parlor.

A woman with long hair that seemed to emit a green light entered. Her slender frame made her pale skin look almost fragile.

"I apologize for making you wait. We had an unexpected important guest."

A completely meaningless apology.

I felt my mood sour as soon as I heard it.

Gee, does that mean we’re unimportant guests then?

"I am Anais Vergsong, the lady you mentioned. Are you the person who could cure my illness?"

"...Yes. I am Frank Wonderstein. Nice to meet you, Lady Vergsong."

I stood up and offered a friendly handshake, but Anais stared at me, completely ignored the gesture, and walked past me to take her seat.

"It seems you may not know etiquette, but Charlotia nobles do not engage in physical contact lightly."

At times like this, I was truly grateful for being the "smiling man."

If it had been my usual self, my face would have turned bright red from unexpected provocation, and my expression would have crumbled.

I would have felt self-conscious about reacting to the other person’s provocation.

But now, I was not my usual self.

I am Wonderstein.

I am a smiling man.

"Haha, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry."

I sat opposite her with a relaxed smile.

She looked at me with a surprised look.

I confidently raised my head and looked at her.

Her appearance reminded me of the one I saw in the game.

The upper body of a person protruding like a tentacle from the head of a giant frog-like monster.

The monster and the person were entangled, as if their skin, veins, and muscles were intertwined, making them seem like one organism.

The person attached to the monster was tearing at her hair, sobbing as if in agony.

I just wanted to be free... to wander the world.

The entire mansion trembled as her cries resonated throughout.

The entire mansion pulsed as if it were a living creature.

The knight drew their swords and prepared themselves, the thieve raised their bows and took a combat stance, and the mage bit down on his staff.

The battle turned the entire mansion into a stage.

With the strength of the knight, they broke through stone walls, the thieve used their bows to bring down decorations, and the mage used his magic to obstruct the monster’s path.

The frog-like monster chased the three of them and followed them to the mansion’s entrance.

Victory was within reach now.

The frog took a deep breath, and its cheeks swelled.

The monster tried to bury the three heroes under the collapsing mansion with an explosive blast of air.

At that moment, the ghost butler appeared on the chandelier in the ceiling.

He struck the chandelier with his staff.

The ornate chandelier adorned with sharp golden decorations and jewels.

It fell onto the monster’s head.

Crash! Thud!

The central axis of the chandelier pierced through the monster’s head, and the chandelier’s decorations and jewels pierced into the person’s body without mercy.

Aah!

Black blood spurted out, and the woman who had merged with the monster let out a sharp scream and crumpled forward.

The ghost butler slowly descended from the ceiling to the floor.

The lower part of the woman’s body, which had been merged with the monster, became loose.

The ghost butler held the fallen woman’s body.

Vergsong smiled faintly at the ghostly figure that caressed her cheek.

Her eyes, which had been filled with madness and bathed in red, returned to those of an ordinary person.

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry, everyone. Thank you, Butler..."

"Now you can rest, Lady Vergsong."

Vergsong closed her eyes.

The ghost butler bowed to the three heroes.

Soon, his body faded and disappeared.

With that, the prologue stage of TT3, Vergsong Estate, was cleared.

The woman in front of me was not a monster, but a fragile and delicate woman.

"Is the show over now?"

It seemed she misunderstood my gaze.

Her expression became cold.

Next to her, Ella gave me a disdainful look.

I thought I had a serious expression, but the "smiling man" forced me to have only one expression.

A slightly artificial and insincere smile.

I tried to make some excuses, but Anais intervened, extending her hand to stop me.

"Well, it’s over, rude magician. So, what do you think? I heard you have a lot of knowledge about medicine, but can you tell something just by looking?"

"Well, it seems like you have some respiratory problems."

"Wow, you noticed that I have a respiratory illness just by looking at my appearance? You truly are an amazing person."

Sssss...

The sound of a pump filled the quiet room.

Anais’s words were filled with sarcasm.

She glared at me with a probing gaze.

"Excuse me, but may I ask which university you studied medicine at?"

"I didn’t attend a university."

"Then what do you do now?"

I replied with a broad smile.

"I lead a small circus troupe."

"Ah."

That "Ah" held a lot of meaning. I could tell from Anais’s expression change.

She let out a loud sigh.

"Another wasted day."

"Ma-Master..."

The butler looked awkward.

A smirk played on Anais’s face.

"Until now, I’ve been accommodating to the butler’s wishes, but please stop bringing in people like this now. Traveling circus performers... what do they know about anything?"

For a moment, I seriously considered planting the seed of a monster in her. Her words had crossed the line, even considering the difference in status. While I was ignorant of the customs of this world, I could tell from Ella’s reaction that her comment was excessive.

"What’s wrong?"

Ella suddenly stood up.

I quickly raised my hand to stop her.

"Ella, calm down."

"...Okay."

She bit her lip and sat back down roughly.

Anais Vergsong.

She was just as I expected.

As I read through the records left behind while investigating Vergson Estate stage, I could learn quite a bit about her. She had been fragile since childhood, surrounded by people who worried about her, spending most of her life within this small estate.

Thanks to her exceptional intellect, she grew up hearing terms like prodigy and genius, and while handling the affairs of the estate, she gained confidence in her abilities. As a result, she never learned how to build proper human relationships. To her, a friend was someone kind and devoted, and the world was just words and numbers written on paper.

Her cynical and sarcastic nature stemmed from there.

Of course, I had no intention of backing down now. I had promised to clear this stage confidently just this morning. If I couldn’t even accomplish a quest like this, how would I endure the next two and a half years?

"Your impatience is quite evident, huh? Well, I do have a way to cure Lady Vergsong’s illness."

She stared at me intently.

There was a hint of surprise in her eyes.

Well, considering how she had been reacting so far, most people would have found her comments unpleasant.

But I didn’t show any reaction.

My inherent trait, "The Smiling Man," ensured I never lost my smile regardless of the situation.

Did she find something interesting about my attitude?

After hesitating for a moment, she sat back down.

"Fine. Fool me."

She gave me a sidelong glance with a pout.

"What’s this method then?"

"It’s my magic."

"Magic?"

Anais let out a scoff.

"Quite a believable method, I must say. So, what kind of magic is it?"

I smiled at her and replied, "I will replace Lady Vergsong’s lungs. With healthy ones."

I was quite confident.

In front of me, there was a status window.

The [Evolution Research Lab] showed me a quote for the conditions I had requested.

Trait: Healthy Respiration

Applied Area: Lungs

Effect: Replace with normal lungs.

Cost: [Debulroots x8]

"Replacing the lungs... Are you serious? There’s no way something like that is possible!"

The looks they gave me were full of disbelief. Even I, having experienced modern medicine, found it hard to believe that you could simply swap out human organs like spare parts.

Ella, the only one who seemed nervous, nodded slightly.

She must have seen Wonderstein’s power up close and knew what it was capable of.

Anais, after scrutinizing me for a while, finally spoke.

"So, what do you need? Can you use that magic right now?"

"Of course. I can do it right now."

Anais stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

She looked down at me with a haughty expression and said, "Alright. Go ahead and try it. If you can really cure my illness, I’ll grant the conditions you requested from the butler."

That was surprisingly easy!

For my first quest, at least. It was practically a freebie.

I thought it would be over with just a few words exchanged.

I extended my hand. Activating the Biomancer skill was simple. I didn’t even need to memorize any spells.

Just...

Just...

...Damn it.

I stopped my actions.

"What’s the matter? Do you need to charge mana or something to use it, is that the pattern?"

I couldn’t bring myself to respond to her teasing.

Wonderstein’s ability.

To use it, there was a condition.

A very simple condition, but...

"Lady, my magic requires physical contact with the target... their... bare skin..."

My words made Anais furrow her brow slightly.

’Weren’t Charlotia’s nobles cautious about physical contact?’

Fortunately, she obediently extended her hand.

But I wasn’t pleased at all.

It was just that much, not enough to make me flustered.

I nodded.

"You need to touch a location close to the affected area."

"Affected area? Where should you touch..."

Anais couldn’t continue her sentence.

The expressions of everyone in the room stiffened.

It’s a serious situation.

This is about treating an illness.

I tried to maintain my composure by putting myself under a trance.

But my efforts were in vain.

"May I touch you?"

The smiling man smiled.