The Freak Show Foreman

Legend card, special card, rare card, common card.

Four types of cards, each assigned a score.

And until the closing time, the person who composed the deck with the highest score would be promised a prize.

There were some restrictions, though.

First, you couldn't include the same type of legend card in the deck. For cards other than legend cards, you could only include up to two of the same type. The score was calculated by pairing matching cards, with three of a kind counting as a pair. Lastly, the deck had to be composed of 30 cards or fewer.

Of course, to win, you needed to fill all 30 cards, and this was a quantity that was difficult to collect alone. Even those who bought high-value tickets had already spent a lot of coins, making it challenging.

People exchanged their drawn cards with each other or joined forces to create decks.

"Wait! I have one legend card and one special card. Please fit them into the deck."

"What cards are they?"

"The legend card is a crimson-plated armor, and the special one is a general's dress uniform."

"Sorry, but we already have the crimson-plated armor. Check with another team."

"Wait! Did you say you have a general's dress uniform? How about exchanging it with us? We have one general's dress uniform on our side. We'll give you one special card and one rare card from our side."

As I hurriedly put on makeup, I heard voices from outside.

I didn't expect to go on stage again today and had already removed my makeup, thinking there wouldn't be another occasion for the clown.

After a week of repeating the makeup, I had become proficient enough to do it alone.

I laughed aloud while looking at myself in the mirror.

Now, the appearance and the laughter were familiar to me.

The only regret was that my long-time partner wasn't by my side.

Ella was asleep on the table when I came out with a tomato.

She was the one who fell asleep on stage with a delicate posture.

Since she had been enduring with forced humor, so it was no wonder her energy was depleted.

I took the sleeping Maya and returned to the hotel.

She had nothing to do here anymore.

As I waited, it was already 7 PM.

The bell announcing the end of the third-week showdown at the Rose Windmill Cabaret rang.

The members, who had finished their makeup, were waiting for me in the practice room.

Yurakne, dressed as the Black Countess, looked at me and said, "There was a call from the hotel. Both of them arrived safely."

"That's a relief. Let's do our best until the end. We don't know the result, but let's not neglect our acting."

I took them to the lobby.

The audience had formed pairs, eagerly waiting for us.

On the other side of the snack bar, members of the Satbyeol Circus were looking at us.

They, too, seemed quite bewildered by the unexpected situation that had unfolded at the last minute.

Batel, Anais's butler, was in our snack bar kitchen making cocktails.

He skillfully wielded a knife without showing any signs of tension, even under the gaze of hundreds of people.

With a sharp sound, the tomato split open, and golden juice spilled out.

After a few more swings of the knife, the tomato flesh was finely diced and fell into a glass bowl.

He mixed various liquors and herbs in it.

Finally, he divided it into three glasses.

The last touch was decorating it with pre-cut tomato pieces.

People looked at the three shining golden cocktails with greedy eyes.

One was for Anais, one was for me, and the remaining one was for the winner.

To avoid any impropriety in using the tomato received as a gift as a prize, we had prepared it in this form.

Among the crowd with greedy eyes fixed on the cocktails, Lord Dosville was also there.

He met my eyes and smirked.

Despite his initial intention to interfere, he soon closed his mouth and retreated without saying a word.

It seemed he had already guessed my intentions.

For now, he cooperated with us to get the prize, but if we failed, he would attack us again during the settlement tomorrow. He was a person who could overturn his own logic if necessary.

Anais, anticipating this, had been studying the rules of the final showdown hard.

There would be a heated debate, just like during the trial.

I had to believe in her now.

I finished a brief greeting and immediately proceeded to the drawing.

The first team to submit their deck scored 215 points.

As the first score was announced, half of the participants looked disappointed.

The deck they created did not reach that score.

With each opening of the decks, the highest score kept changing.

Later on, it reached up to 262 points.

The owners of that deck stepped forward with confidence.

However, before they could come to me, their place was taken by someone else.

"281 points!"

As I declared, the people who were stepping forward froze in their tracks.

The audience murmured, looking at each other.

Who owned that deck?

Since I was on the stage, I could easily identify who it was.

Lord Dosville walked out with a group of thugs behind him.

They hadn't come purely to enjoy the performance in the first place.

So, they barely spent any coins, allowing them to draw many cards.

He smirked with a malicious smile, tilting his head.

"I wonder if I can join the two of you for the cocktail party?"

His eyes, gazing at the cocktails, were sharp.

It was a tomato that came out less than 30 times a year.

Arithmetically, having a glass of that cocktail was an impossible occurrence within a year.

The thought of tasting something rumored made his eyes light up.

Just by drinking it, he would become a topic in the social circles again.

I couldn't decide whether to be angry or happy about it.

If he got hold of it, I would have one less formidable enemy in tomorrow's settlement.

But I wasn't pleased that he, who had been tormenting us repeatedly, was taking possession of this precious item.

I looked around at the audience.

Everyone was looking at us with dismayed expressions.

It seemed like there wouldn't be a score higher than this.

I opened the remaining envelopes one by one.

There were no updates to the scores.

Now, in front of me was the last envelope.

I opened it and pulled out the deck.

The first five cards were legendary cards.

100 points.

I scored it and moved on to the next five cards.

Another 100 points.

I was surprised and quickly flipped the cards.

The next five cards were also legendary cards!

Another 100 points!

With just that, it had already surpassed Dosville's score.

The following cards were equally astonishing.

One legendary card and all the rest were pairs of rare cards.

I shouted the score.

"425 points!"

An overwhelming difference compared to the second place.

Astonishment was written on everyone's faces.

Especially the expression on Lord Dosville's face was worth seeing.

I flipped the envelope to check the name of the submitter.

This is insane.

There was no laughing man among them; they had the same expression as everyone else.

***

Ella woke up and immediately sat up.

The blanket slid down.

She realized she was wearing pajamas.

'What happened?'

She looked around.

The place she was lying down was her room in the hotel.

She didn't know how she ended up here.

Wasn't she in the middle of the competition?

And it was definitely towards the end.

Could it be that she fainted again?

Her heart pounded at the ominous thought.

The butler Batel, who was sitting on the sofa in the corner reading a book, greeted her as she looked confused.

"Are you awake, Madam Ringmaster?"

Ella looked at the old man who had become close to her over the past few days.

He had a talent for naturally comforting people with his expression and voice.

She felt her heartbeat calming down a bit.

"What's going on, Mr. Batel? Why am I here? And what about the others?"

"The others have all gone to participate in the settlement."

"Settlement? Wait, does that mean today is Sunday?"

Only now did she realize how bright it was outside.

The butler nodded.

"You've been asleep for 16 hours."

She felt her pulse calming down a bit.

"I see. Batel, can you tell me what happened during the competition?"

However, the caretaker who had approached her suddenly gently pushed her shoulders upright.

"I was asked to make sure you don't leave the bed under any circumstances."

"Uh, by whom?"

"Director Wonderstein."

Ella felt her body go limp.

Was it resignation or trust?

The moment she heard his name, a feeling of 'Well, whatever' came over her.

She sighed deeply and lay back on the bed as he pushed her back.

"Okay. What happened?"

Bartel calmly explained the events of the previous day.

The arrival of Anais and the golden tomato.

Up to the dramatic draw of the last reversal.

Despite her relief at having overcome the crisis, she felt something akin to defeat.

She didn't want support from sponsors for the exam…

"So, what about the cocktail? Did Lord Dosville win the prize?"

"No, he didn't. Quite gracefully, he came in second place."

The caretaker burst into laughter.

He had mentioned Lord Dosville a few times while they were together. He couldn't like someone who spread rumors about Anais and engaged in behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

Ella smirked.

She enjoyed seeing a person who threw tomatoes at her get a taste of his own medicine.

"Well, by now, there must be a tremendous commotion going on."

"Haha, well…"

The caretaker smiled somewhat mysteriously.

Ella raised her eyebrows, trying to figure out what he meant, but at that moment, they heard the sound of carriages coming in from outside.

The caretaker smiled and stood up.

"It seems that the party has returned. Well, whether it's a celebration or consolation, I don't know, but I'll go prepare a small party."

"I'll help too."

She grabbed the edge of the bed to get up, but the caretaker gently pushed her back down.

"The director told you to rest."

"I'm really okay!"

Despite her words, the caretaker smiled and said, "What happened when you disobeyed the doctor's advice and went on stage?"

"Uh, it was fatal."

She remembered collapsing on stage yesterday, and a sense of defeat similar to that moment washed over her.

The old man covered her up to her neck with the blanket and left the room.

After the caretaker left, it didn't take long for the sound of people coming up to be heard.

Ella leaned toward the door, listening to the lively voices of the members passing through the corridor.

They seemed excited, whether it was because they had shaken off the pressure of the exam, or because of the joy of victory, it was hard to tell.

Amidst this, the door opened.

She felt a strange sense of relief when she saw the person entering the room.

Of course.

It was Wonderstein.

He was wearing his usual black suit with a black cape.

Even though it had only been a few days, she felt a twinge of regret at not being able to see the playful side of him again.

Would she never see that appearance again?

While others were in an uproar about his eccentricity, she felt a sense of comfort in that appearance.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah."

Wonderstein took off his hat and hung it on the hanger.

"The other members are removing their makeup, so I came."

"They went with makeup on?"

"It seems that the monster members are afraid that standing on stage with ordinary faces, which would kill the impression. Was it an excessive worry?"

"No, no. You did well."

She smiled quietly under the blanket.

"You seem more like a director now."

"Oh, really?"

They talked for a while about the events of the past week.

They didn't mention the results of the contest at all.

As they chatted, when Wonderstein's laughter subsided, Ella brought up the conversation she had wanted to have.

"I heard the story about yesterday from Grandpa Bartel."

"Is that so?"

After taking a deep breath, Ella spoke.

"How did the settlement go?"

Wonderstein looked at her for a moment before opening his mouth.

"The organizers discussed the results"

He gave a smile that was hard to read emotionally.

"The profits from the golden tomato have been treated as if they never existed."