The Freak Show Foreman

Contrasting against his pitch-black suit was his fair skin and dazzling dark hair.

His appearance in the moonlight exuded an eerie charm.

His relaxed smile, inappropriate for the tense situation, added to the strange atmosphere.

Anais couldn’t take her eyes off him, as if she were captivated by him.

Am I dreaming?

Is this a hallucination due to oxygen deprivation?

Just moments ago, she had been ready to give up everything.

But now, she was desperately lifting her head.

That man is right there.

The man you thought of as...

She bit her lip tightly.

Don’t cry.

Don’t cry already.

There’s no evidence of anything.

Don’t get your hopes up.

Don’t rely on people.

You saw it, didn’t you?

How the person you trusted the most changed.

It’s your uncle.

Pierre, your beloved uncle, wanted to kill you.

What kind of irresistible offer could it have been?

Why did you betray me, Uncle?

Why do you want to kill me?

Was everything fake from the beginning?

Did you never consider me family?

That man is probably the same.

He only intends to use you.

Look!

He’s smiling.

He’s smiling while you’re in so much pain.

He enjoys seeing you suffer.

Amidst her tangled thoughts, Anais’ consciousness became hazy.

"W-who are you... ugh!"

Pierre, who had been stepping back hesitantly, stopped with his foot caught on a table.

"I’m falling behind in a retreat?"

Pierre swallowed hard.

He felt a dangerous aura emanating from that man.

The man briefly scanned Anais’ condition and greeted Pierre.

"We met briefly earlier, didn’t we? I’m Frank Wonderstein, the ringmaster of the wandering monster circus."

An overly cheerful voice that didn’t suit the situation.

It was as if they had crossed paths while taking a night-time stroll in the garden.

In an instant, the tension dissipated, and Pierre felt himself growing weak and nearly collapsing.

What’s going on? What’s this situation? What does he know?

Wait, if he’s from the wandering circus...

"Oh, you mean the one who was imprisoned during the day...?"

"Oh, I escaped."

Wonderstein replied shamelessly, as if asking what was wrong with that.

But Pierre was even more astonished by his next words.

"Because there was information that you were targeting Lady Anais’s life. You were planning to sabotage the machine and stage an accident to disguise it as a death, right?"

Wonderstein casually revealed his secret.

Most people would be more flustered in such a situation.

But Pierre, on the contrary, suddenly regained his composure.

The change in the situation actually made him calmer.

Like a reflex honed through countless crises.

He quickly assessed the situation of his opponent.

A wandering circus magician.

Was his argument with Anais all an act?

No, that wasn’t it.

She seems surprised too right now.

Above all, he didn’t bring the butler or anyone else.

How did he know and find his way here?

A seer? Clairvoyance? Precognition?

If he’s a magician, it could be possible.

Among artists and acrobats, there are often people who display strange powers.

But no matter what.

The situation is in his favour.

"I see."

Pierre casually turned his waist.

It was to hide his hand going into his pocket from the opponent’s view.

"Yes, I did."

In his pocket was a weapon he had purchased not long ago.

A robust revolver with the latest technology from the Deloros Republic, the Col viper S32.

It was a weapon he carried for self-defense, as it was difficult to inflict harm on knights in armor or mages with protective shields.

But it was sufficient for a surprise attack.

"Um, excuse me... Are you okay?"

Is she the magician’s assistant?

A girl who couldn’t be more than in her late teens approached Anais.

A girl of similar age to his daughter.

He hesitated for a brief moment.

But that moment didn’t even last a second.

Pierre drew his revolver and shouted.

"Guards!"

All he needed to do was kill Anais somehow.

The accident would turn into a murder case, but that was fine!

That’s right. These shameless swindlers had even escaped in addition to their plan to deceive Jacque.

And they had intruded into the room, threatened him, and tried to steal the valuables.

In the midst of that, they attacked him, took his gun, and killed his niece.

Soldiers would rush in upon hearing the gunshots.

Desperately calling for them would only strengthen his case of innocence.

It was a hasty plan, but it was good enough.

There were even advantages compared to the original plan.

The technicians of the Underground Guild were confident that no traces would be left, but Pierre was no fool to blindly believe that.

He would somehow manipulate the evidence, but if, by any chance, Anais’s death revealed itself as not an accident...

But in this situation, there would be no problems at all.

They would surely argue, of course.

That he was trying to kill Anais.

But with no clear evidence in this situation,

An escaped wandering magician and the younger sibling of the late Lord.

Whose testimony will the people of the mansion belief more?

Pierre pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang bang!

Pierre wasn’t a fool to shoot once and check if the opponent was dead.

The instructor who helped him with shooting practice had said.

Always shoot twice.

He was more cautious.

He fired all six rounds that were loaded.

Once he shot, he had to throw the gun away at the magician’s feet.

At least he couldn’t be holding it.

But what if that guy tried to shoot him with it?

The gun needed to be emptied.

His quick thinking and action even in unexpected situations stemmed from the cunning inherent to a merchant. The decision to fire all six rounds was born from the meticulousness typical of a merchant.

However, there was one thing he couldn’t predict.

That was...

A mere wandering magician...

Stumbling, stuttering...

"Hehe, this hurts a bit..."

Could it be that he threw himself in front of Anais to protect her...?!

"...Are you okay?"

Even after being hit by all six bullets, the man was smiling.

Anais couldn’t believe her eyes.

Why...?

The man she had just thought of as a street hustler...

The man she had thought was a smooth-talking con artist...

He had taken all the bullets with his bare body to save her.

"Ah... Blood..."

Red blood was spreading across the man’s shirt, and torn flesh stained his suit and the floor.

A total of six bullets.

Even if he was a knight, he couldn’t remain unscathed after being hit with them bare-skinned.

But he had jumped in without any protective gear.

Why?

She had never done anything to earn his favour.

She had teased, ignored, labelled him a pervert, and thrown him in jail.

Yet, he had thrown himself in harm’s way to save her.

Bullets are fast.

He had jumped in almost reflexively.

There was no room for any sly intentions of trying to score points with her.

No, even if there were such intentions, who would willingly take bullets with their bare body?

You could die from that.

"Lady Anais..."

He seemed precarious, as if he might collapse at any moment, but he didn’t take his eyes off Anais.

"I’m glad you’re safe..."

A forced smile hung on the man’s lips.

It was evident to anyone that it was forced.

Looking at his pale complexion and the red-stained shirt hem, it was clear.

He was enduring what seemed like excruciating pain to reassure him.

Idiot.

Both sacrificing his life for others...

And enduring his own pain to smile for others...

He seemed like a fool.

A fool?

Is he really?

Didn’t her father say so?

Commerce arises from human selfishness.

If the world were filled with altruism, commerce wouldn’t exist.

People who sacrifice themselves for others are fools.

Is that so?

Then that’s it.

To him, you’re not like others.

What?

No, no, that can’t be.

Look at me?

Look at me!

With metal tubes stuck in my body, always wearing a mask, with a creaking body...

Who would truly...

Ahaha!

Why are you laughing?

You’re right.

It’s not great.

You can’t be in love with someone like that.

...Right.

But hey.

What was that man planning to do to her?

...Oh.

Ah, Anais sighed inwardly.

"Ugh!"

"Good job, Chick!"

Pierre wriggled on the floor, his finger bitten by a mouse that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

But Anaïs didn’t hear anything.

Even her uncle, who had tried to kill her, was now beyond her concern.

All her attention was focused on the man holding her.

His smile, his voice, his trembling, the smell of his blood.

She was feeling everything about him.

"Are you okay?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Why did you do that?"

She wanted to say so much.

She had so many questions.

But now her breathing was almost stopping.

Even holding onto her consciousness was a struggle.

But unlike earlier...

Tears didn’t come.

Instead, laughter did.

She couldn’t believe it herself.

In a dying situation, she couldn’t help but laugh,

Truly delighted.

Even though her lungs had stopped working and no sound came out,

"Haha."

This was clearly laughter.

But she shouldn’t be doing this,

At least not in front of the man who had sacrificed himself for her.

"Ahaha."

She was too happy, and her laughter wouldn’t stop.

"I too... from someone... truly."

She hadn’t expected it at all.

She had never expected it in her life.

Even the love she had as a family member had been denied.

But now, at the very end...

From an unexpected direction...

Love had come.

"I knew... I actually knew..."

Why her nerves had tensed the moment she saw him.

Why her heart had fluttered when she heard his voice.

Why she had been angry that he was someone outside her world.

She knew.

From the moment she laid eyes on him,

From the moment she heard his words,

From the moment she saw his confident smile.

"...I fell for him."

Why she had been so harsh with her words,

When she looked into his heart,

She was afraid of finding something different from what she had hoped for.

"Why couldn’t I be honest?"

Regret came late.

And even later, she felt the joy of confirming his feelings.

Mixed with these two emotions, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Thank you..."

All she wished for him now was that he didn’t think too badly of her, even if she seemed like a terrible woman.

Was it a heart-to-heart connection?

He smiled at her too.

But the words that came from his mouth were not a farewell.

"I won’t have time to ask for permission. I’ll get to work right away."

Huh?

What is he talking about...?

"Lady! Are you okay?"

The butler and the soldiers rushed into the room.

And in front of them.

Wonderstein...

Tore the clothes off of the mistress and placed his hand on her chest.