The Freak Show Foreman

My unfamiliar short hair still tickled my face.

The sound of water splashing against the wheels.

The noise coming from the engine room.

The occasional creaking of the ship.

The ship was moving slowly enough not to disturb people’s sleep, just as it was customary in these upper reaches of the river. However, since there was still a considerable distance to our destination, we were pushing on even at night.

I turned on my status screen to check the time.

Oh, has it already been an hour?

Should I have another cup of tea?

This quest is getting annoying.

There was a cup of tea on the desk, which Yurakne had prepared and left for me in case I needed it. Since I couldn’t call her at this hour, I had taken it in advance.

I poured some tea into the cup.

"Ugh."

As I looked down at the tea in the cup...

Well, of course, I must be smiling.

The smiling man always smiles.

But...

It wasn’t how I truly felt.

Just smelling the tea’s aroma was getting on my nerves by now.

I had already had nearly twenty cups of tea today.

Ugh, how annoying.

Honestly, I preferred the sweet and refreshing fruit drinks.

I felt sorry for Yurakne, who worked so diligently to prepare the tea, but I had to drink it out of obligation.

My purpose was not to enjoy the tea but to engage in the act of drinking it.

"Ringmaster really loves tea!"

Yurakne, who would cheerfully watch me whenever I drank tea. Besides, I couldn’t exactly say I didn’t like it. I just nodded in agreement when she commented like that.

It was fortunate that there was a smiling man by my side during such times. I didn’t have to force a reluctant expression and choke down the tea.

There was a reason why I was diligently drinking a tea that I suddenly didn’t like.

"Subordinate Management."

The TTT interface appeared before my eyes, and among the ten subordinates, I selected Yurakne’s profile.

Name: Yurakne

Age: 26

Favorability: 23 (Next Reward: Affection 30)

Title: Spider Woman

Occupation: General Acrobat

Special Trait: [Yurakne’s Sincerity]

Her favorability had unexpectedly risen to 23. Annoyed by the constant stream of messages, I had turned off real-time notifications, but it seemed to have continued to rise without my knowledge.

The day before the ship’s arrival, Yurakne’s affection had surpassed 15. Ever since the incident at the fish market, her affection had been increasing by 1 point each day without me doing anything. On days when we went for a night stroll together, it even went up by 2 points.

Compared to other subordinates who didn’t move an inch like bricks, this was a welcome development.

[Yurakne’s affection has increased by 2. As a reward for reaching Affection 15, this reward is granted to Yurakne.

Current Favorability: 16 (Next Reward: Favorability 30)]

Special Trait: Yurakne’s Sincerity

Applicable to: Tea brewed by Yurakne

Effect: Drinking tea increases the three basic attributes of Wonderstein by 0.1% for 1 hour.

Requirements: Yurakne’s affection must be 15.

When I drank tea prepared by Yurakne... my abilities increased for 1 hour...?

So, this was a growth-type trait.

I paid attention to the "0.1%."

Ah, this is an incremental trait.

As if on cue with my muttering, a message appeared in the notification window.

*Subquest - Yurakne’s Sincerity: Yurakne will continue to brew tea with even more sincerity every time you drink it.

Conditions for Completion: Drink 1000 cups of tea brewed by Yurakne (with intervals of at least 1 hour).

Rewards upon success:

[Yurakne’s Sincerity] +0.1% increase per cup

Failure Penalty:

None

"Yurakne’s Sincerity" was indeed an excellent attribute to unlock early on, offering a significant advantage. With a 0.1% increase per cup, drinking 1000 cups would result in a whopping 100% increase in ability.

In situations requiring a boost in ability stats, her tea could double your capabilities. However, this growth-oriented attribute couldn’t be used immediately; it required completing sub-quests to unlock.

That’s why I had been asking Yurakne for tea every day. Thanks to her, I had been steadily sipping tea for the past ten days, and today I finally surpassed 50 cups. Yurakne’s Sincerity had now increased my abilities by 5%.

Name: Frank Wonderstein

Age: 27

Occupation: Biomancer

Debulroots: (22/30)

Muscle Strength: 2.0 (+0.1 Yurakne’s Sincerity)

(Fitness Club -> Fitness Club Senior)

Tissue Resilience: 2.0 (+0.1 Yurakne’s Sincerity) (Leather Armor -> Cowhide Armor)

Cell Regeneration: 3.0 (+0.15 Yurakne’s Sincerity)

(Sprinting -> Dash)

Traits: [Smiling Man], [Rapid Stiffening]

Currently, the effects might be minor, but once all quests are completed, achieving +100% will be significant. It shouldn’t take more than two months to finish it....

Ding. Ding. Ding. Huh? Continual message notifications. Did I unknowingly request something from the Evolution Research Lab?

I raised my eyebrows as I read the popping notification window.

[Ella’s Favorability] [Ella’s Favorability] [Ella’s Favorability] [Ella’s Favorability]

What’s going on with her?

There were no sails on the steamship, but there was still something that played a similar role to masts. A large column stood tall in the center of the ship’s deck, a chimney. The flag attached to it represented the ship’s status, and the ladder hung from it served to climb high for distant observations. The height and size of it symbolized the power the ship could exert.

A smoking chimney emitted hot brown smoke. It connected directly to the engine room, the heart of the steamship. The engine room at night was less hot and less noisy than during the day. The ship was cruising at a slow speed to ensure passengers’ peaceful sleep.

There were only two people in the engine room: a young engineer and one stoker. The stoker was checking the condition of the furnace while humming a tune, and the engineer was dozing off in a corner chair.

Ding-a-ling.

A bell hanging in the center of the engine room rang. The engineer, who had been dozing, jumped up. It was a signal from the bridge. He approached a pipe next to the bell.

The pipe served to transmit sound and was called a "Sono phone."

The engineer opened the cap of the Sono phone and put his ear to it. He heard the voice of the navigator on duty in the bridge. The navigator ordered to increase the speed slightly.

The engineer checked the engine’s speed and instructed the stoker on how much coal to put in. As the stoker threw coal with a shovel, the engineer watched the flames and then started to doze off again.

Flames roared as new coal was thrown in.

While the old-style boiler heated the entire boiler room like a giant cauldron, the modern boiler used heating coils. This was more efficient than heating the entire boiler room at once. The heat transferred through dozens of coils rapidly heated the water.

The high-pressure steam thus generated was conveyed through the pipes to the cylinders.

In contrast, the old steam engines pushed steam directly into a single cylinder, which was a rather primitive method.

It was riskier due to the back pressure of the steam and the energy wasted due to friction and rebounding forces.

However, the modern steam engine was different.

Some of the steam that entered the first cylinder naturally sprayed into the next cylinder due to the pressure. The sprayed steam pushed the second cylinder, and some of it flowed into the third cylinder.

Air had the tendency to move from a narrow space to a wider one.

By making the first cylinder the smallest and progressively increasing the cylinder size, it created a path for the steam to move forward.

The three cylinders worked in an alternating fashion to rotate the engine’s shaft.

This was similar to the way galley rowers operated in the past.

Three people would row a large oar: a small, sturdy person on the inside, and a tall, long-armed person on the outside. When the two on the outside rowed, the one in the middle pulled, and when the two on the outside pulled, the one in the middle pushed. Since the force of a person’s effort depended on their weight, pulling was easier than pushing.

Mixing the rowing forces by having the rowers sit alternately made propulsion much more stable.

Of course, the rotation of three cylinders was entirely unrelated to this.

It was merely a result of the design.

As the shaft rotated, the paddlewheel pushed water out, propelling the ship forward.

In a corner of the engine room, a mouse watched all of this happening.

But the mouse couldn’t understand the engineering process.

The girl who watched with the mouse was no different.

They both simply observed for a moment because the three thick cylinders rotating reminded them of a circus act with three identical twins.

If they got along so well, they might live more comfortably.

They were always arguing over who was in charge.

The mouse twitched its head.

Lately, the ringmaster’s voice had been ringing in its head.

Even in situations where the ringmaster was not present, it felt like the ringmaster was constantly following her.

As the mouse scurried around, Ella’s field of vision moved with it.

Right now, she was inside Chick’s body, seeing the world through Chick’s eyes.

In reality, her body was sitting quietly in the room above, with her eyes closed.

It was like a magical and mysterious phenomenon.

Acrobats called it "Inspira."

Inspira was the power that circus performers and talented individuals received from the circus god, Kirku.

A magician who walked in the air.

A fire dancer.

A strong man who could chew rocks.

All the world-famous circus performers received Kirku’s grace.

The Kievan Orthodox Church might have considered Kirku nothing more than a minor deity, but for those in the performing arts, accepting Kirku’s blessing was a once-in-a-lifetime honor.

Ella had felt the same way.

A blessing that only a very small number of circus performers could receive.

She had dreamed of the day when she would obtain such a wonderful Inspira.

But now that she had actually obtained Inspira, her emotions were incredibly confused.

A few days ago, after successfully completing the performance in Aksville, Ella had been full of a sense of accomplishment.

"Ella, join another team. You’re getting in the way."

"That’s right. Animals like mice and pigeon can’t attract the audience’s attention."

"Because of you, our team’s earnings have dropped this month."

Just a year ago, she had been ranked at the bottom in terms of recruitment at the circus school.

But now she was a deputy leader of a circus troupe, the ringmaster, and the star of a show.

She had walked the path she had always dreamed of.

She might even have to thank Wonderstein for that.

In that moment, she had a ridiculous thought.

A voice penetrated her mind.

"Call the name of the friend you’ve tamed in your heart three times. Then that friend will see the world through your eyes and hear the world through your ears."

As soon as she heard that voice, tears welled up in her eyes.

This had been a description of the moment when the assistant ringmaster of the circus received blessing from Kirku.

A sense of abundance, ecstasy, and exhilaration...

An indescribable sense of fulfilment had flowed throughout her body.

What Ella was feeling now was exactly the same.

Oh, it’s wonderful. It’s so wonderful.

This is the blessing of the circus.

Inspira.

Her attempt to use her newfound ability as an experiment had worked perfectly.

She looked at herself through the eyes of the mouse, and then she looked at herself through the eyes of a pigeon.

The happiness of being a trainer, able to communicate with the beast she had tamed!

It was a great joy as a trainer.

She wanted to show it to her friends.

What she had achieved.

Leaving school, how she had come this far, she wanted to brag...

To brag...

A smile slowly faded from Ella’s lips.

Her expression froze rapidly.

Fear and anger spread.

To show her friends...?

Her friends...

Most of them...

At a moment when Ella should have been extremely proud, she felt intense self-loathing.

Her heart sank coldly.

The voice of Wonderstein came to mind.

His voice mocked her.

Are you happy, Ella?

Are you happy, Ella?

Are you happy, Ella?

Are you happy, Ella?

How...

How did you come this far?

Haha.

Hahaha.

Are you going to say it?

Huh?

Are you going to brag?

In front of your friends’ graves...?

Haha.

You’re garbage, you know that?

You’re trash.

You thought it was okay, didn’t you?

You thought it was fine?

That you came on this journey with Wonderstein.

Getting out of that boring school made you happy.

Oh, really?

It’s probably not true.

But you did think for a moment.

That it seemed okay.

Suddenly, tears welled up.

She wanted to sob uncontrollably.

Corpse. Monster. Corpse. Monster.

The people of the village.

Her friends.

The merchants.

They’re all dead. Almost everyone except a few.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry to all of you who thought of me as a friend, even though I’m so selfish.

Hatred for Wonderstein.

Self-loathing.

Regret for the time that had passed.

All of it mixed together.

In that moment, the Inspira that had come to her disappeared.

Kirku must have withdrawn his blessing from her.

Why was that?

Because she was disappointed in herself?

She felt oddly relieved.

Yeah. I’m not qualified.

I’m just a novice.

After putting down her worries like that for only a few hours,

Inspira came back to her.

Ella was confused, overwhelmed by self-blame and anger again, and Inspira left her once more.

She had been wavering like this for days.