The Freak Show Foreman

It was the mark of teardrops.

It seemed she had cried in her sleep.

Ella sighed and wiped her face with a handkerchief.

Crybaby Ella.

Do you cry at the drop of a hat?

Like a fool…

She had thought she endured well all this time…

But there was a suspected reason for it.

It must be because of the nightmares she had.

The day Wonderstein visited the village for the second time.

The tragedy that occurred in the village that day.

She confronted those memories after a long time.

"The man you brought… he’s not a person. He is a demon."

"That monster… the people of the village… our friends…"

"Why are you… unharmed…?"

Among the swollen, twisted, and contorted corpses, the man was laughing.

"Oh, I see. Haha, I didn’t want to show you this side of me…"

Wonderstein.

Yeah, that bastard.

Ella leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes.

She had tried to forget it for a long time.

No, she had tried her best to forget.

Otherwise, she couldn’t have endured for two years.

But why did she have the nightmare again today?

She looked at the magazine lying in the corner of the carriage.

She remembered the article she read during the day.

The 26th valedictorian of the prestigious Lekachep Circus School.

According to the article, he gave up entering the elite circus troupe, where only one person is accepted each year, and returned to his hometown.

The article didn’t provide detailed information about him, but she knew who he was.

Brown curly hair, tall stature, a long scarf fluttering over his chest, and a windproof coat.

Charlie.

He was a friend who grew up in the same circus school as her.

The master selected some of the children over 16 years old and introduced them to external circus troupes.

Since Ella had been in the school since infancy, she had to watch the younger friends graduate first.

She didn’t feel left behind.

After all, she was the best in the school in acrobatics and acting.

No one among the graduates surpassed her skills.

Except for one.

Charlie.

He was four years older than Ella. He entered the circus school when she was 9 years old.

"He says if you feed and shelter him, he’ll give you at least one less mouth to feed."

He walked a long way from his hometown to enter the school, talking with a calm face.

At first, Ella hated him.

To her, who swaggered around as the leader with a bit of lunch(?) power, he was a target of jealousy with his gentle attitude and soft guidance that gained popularity among the children.

So, she often played pranks on him during acrobatic practice.

Of course, it didn’t last long.

His talent was comparable to hers in every aspect.

In terms of age and physique, he even showed superior skills to her.

In the midst of monotonous talents, he was the first competitor to ignite a fire in her heart.

They competed with each other while fostering their skills.

When he turned 16, most of his peers chose to join a circus troupe, but he decided to enter Lekachep.

It was because he wanted to test his limits in a harsher environment.

And during the first vacation a year later, he came back to Alamo and said this to Ella.

"Lekachep, they call it a prestigious circus school… but well? They were all worse than us. Is the master amazing? … Why don’t you join here in three years? You can definitely be the first, right?"

Ella nodded in response to his words.

She wasn’t interested in prestigious schools or reputations.

"I don’t like it. I’ll join a specialized circus troupe for taming."

Charlie smiled regretfully.

"Haha. Ella, you haven’t changed. Your life is beyond taming. Haha, fortunately. Fortunately… Oh, um, well, I’m here… I liked you like that…"

At his shy words, 13-year-old Ella shouted with frustration.

"That’s because if I focus on taming, you can beat me in the other areas! Right?"

"…Uh… Haha! Right! Busted!"

That’s how they continued to see each other during vacations until she last saw him in August last year.

What would he have seen this time when he came back to his hometown?

What would the master and the remaining friends have told him?

She didn’t worry about the friends he left behind because she was sure they had seen the monstrous appearance of Wonderstein. That’s why she was confident they wouldn’t rush for revenge.

But what about Charlie?

As the eldest among the circus school kids…

And someone who always pursued justice…

Can he turn away from the deaths of his friends and compromise with reality to survive?

She didn’t want to see him in such a state.

However, she didn’t wish for him to confront Wonderstein and face death either.

What if he could just live without knowing anything?

As he sighed, feeling melancholy, he heard a noise coming from outside.

It was the sound that woke her up.

"Why is everyone being so noisy?"

"Oh, Ella is up!"

"Ringmaster!"

"Look at this!"

The members were gathered in the middle of the forest, sitting in a cramped space, singing and dancing merrily.

In the center of them, there was a small pot.

The Ringmaster and Maya had gone to the village to borrow a place to sleep.

Even though they were hungry, it didn’t seem polite to eat first while the two were struggling. They decided to quickly heat up the leftover chicken and potatoes for lunch.

Given the small amount and the fact that they would have a proper dinner later, they decided to play a game.

It was about mimicking each other’s performances.

"Isn’t this too advantageous for Sven?"

"Yeah. It’s like copying the master."

"Haha, then I’ll choose the last person standing!"

And so, the food wager began.

If you received more than half of the votes, you could eat one scoop with a ladle.

Since it wasn’t a serious betting game but rather for fun, they repeated it until they came up with entertaining performances. Thanks to that, everyone could taste the food fairly, taking turns.

Ella joined the game with a clever imitation using a towel to mimic the impressive way Sven’s head fell off. She received applause from the members, and even the Ratmen who were watching dumbfounded stood up with wide-open mouths. She immediately scooped up a ladle and enjoyed her meal.

Holding the chicken and potatoes, she told the others what had happened while she was asleep.

"Did they only send those two down?"

Ella, surprised by the news that Wonderstein and Maya had gone down, changed her expression.

Yurakne also looked worried.

"Sven said it’s been three hours since they went down."

Ella looked towards the bushes.

Considering the size of the fire and the direction of the smoke, it seemed that they could reach the forest path in about 30 minutes.

Three hours. Was it taking this long?

At that moment, she saw something moving in the bushes.

It looked like a person from the shape and size.

"Who’s there?"

Ella put down the plate she was eating from and climbed up on a rock.

The young man in the bushes looked her in the eyes and then ran away in surprise.

"Mo-monster… monsters…."

Stopping her steps to chase after him, Ella heard his muttering.

It was natural for someone to run away in surprise if they encountered members dressed as monsters in the forest at night.

Without feeling the need to chase after him, she turned back, but then she realized the direction in which the man had fled was towards the village.

’What on earth is happening?’

She felt a foreboding sense of unease.

***

Dvallchep’s streets were lively despite the night, reminiscent of a festival.

The hope shining through despair was powerful enough to create such vitality.

As neighbors summoned by the soldiers went one by one towards the church, looking completely healed, the joy grew.

While everyone was looking towards the church, waiting for their turn, a few people were moving quietly towards the back alleys.

They confirmed that no one was around, and then pulled out a piece of cloth they had hidden.

The cloth was stained and emitted a foul smell.

Carefully unfolding it, they exchanged meaningful glances.

"Oh, this is it!"

"Yes! Saint’s blood!"

An hour ago, while others were marveling at the generosity shown by Wonderstein and the miracles he performed, a few had secretly fed a piece of cloth soaked in his blood, which had fallen to the ground, and stored it.

These pieces of cloth were what they had just taken out.

"Can we really drink this?"

"It’s the miraculous blood of the high-ranking priest who healed us just by touching. Drink, drink."

"There have been many legends about this. Like becoming a devil if you drink the blood of a priest who has accumulated a lot of virtues."

The age still had the custom of watching public executions as a spectacle, and there were remnants of people rushing to eat bread dipped in the blood spilled from the neck of the executed person.

The belief was that by doing so, they could share the lifespan of the deceased.

Of course, educated people scorned such customs, calling them barbaric, but the lower classes didn’t think so.

Especially for the blood of a great clergyman like Wonderstein, whom they might have seen at least once.

With that in mind, they eagerly sucked on the cloth soaked in his blood.

They exchanged satisfied expressions, observing each other’s stained mouths.

"I feel like I can live a long and healthy life with this."

"Yeah, it’s the blood of the great priest with miraculous powers. Cheers, cheers."

"Let’s go have a drink. Drinking helps with the absorption."

"Let’s go, let’s go."

They headed towards a tavern.

Drinking the precious blood of the saint. They felt a surge of vitality and energy.

Of course, in reality, there was no such effect.

They just awakened the dormant debulroots in the saint’s blood, who gained consciousness right before the death.

Originally, once a debulroots left the host’s body, it would lose its power and disappear.

But just before dying, it regained strength as it came into contact with the human tissue again.

The debulroots had no will of their own.

Either they rampaged recklessly or were dependent on their master.

However, the ones abandoned during the dependence process gained the will to control themselves.

They inherited the desire of the master – ’Increase the number of debulroots.’

How can we increase the quantity?

They explored the host’s body.

What if we consume the bodies?

No, the efficiency is too low.

The free-spirited debulroots thought.

They created their own command.

"Eat."