The Freak Show Foreman

She was floating on the water, seemingly unconscious, perhaps due to the shock of falling down.

I shook her a few times, and fortunately, she didn’t seem to have ingested too much water.

The calmness of the river helped with that.

I held her in my arms and swam towards the riverbank.

However, it was not as easy as I had thought.

The surface of the water was calm, but the current was quite fast.

Before I knew it, I had passed the rock that I had set as my target.

Gasping for breath

Since this was my first time swimming, it was difficult to move in the desired direction.

The fast current and limited visibility made it challenging, and I found myself drifting away from the riverbank.

The only reason I had been able to catch Ella earlier was not because of my swimming skills, but because she happened to be in the exact path of the river’s flow.

What should I do now?

My current muscle strength is 2.1, according to the description, which is the level of a "sports club senior."

With this level of strength, it would be impossible to swim against the fast current while carrying another person.

What should I do?

I have no other route to take...

As I pondered, Ella and I continued to drift downward.

The ship was now far away.

In the end, it seemed like I had no choice but to gamble...

My special abilities are similar to "equipment."

Once I created a special ability, I could deactivate it at any time.

In other words, I didn’t need to openly display any unusual modifications I made to myself; I could activate or deactivate them as needed.

However, the concept of "decomposition" of abilities was entirely different from "deactivation."

Decomposition involved completely destroying the created ability, reducing it back to Debulroots, which could then be consumed again.

The return rate was 50%.

Although it was a pity to decompose an ability I had created just ten minutes ago, I had no other option at the moment.

I guess I’ll have to live with it.

["Rapid Rigidity" is being decomposed. 1 Debulroot will be returned.]

["Gills" is being decomposed. 9 Debulroots will be returned.]

I only left the "water claws" on my hands and feet and decomposed everything else.

The bubbles rising from my throat disappeared.

I no longer had gills.

My lungs eagerly began to inhale air again.

Cough

A few drops of water splashed into my lungs.

I coughed.

There was no time to hesitate.

I quickly invested all 10 points that were returned into "muscle strength."

*Muscle Strength: 3.0 (+0.15 from Yurakne’s Sincerity) (Beginner-> Three Sets of 300kg)

I recalled something I had seen on a humor website.

If the sum of the three main exercises in weight training is 300kg, it’s considered a benchmark that an ordinary person leading a healthy social life can achieve.

I exerted all my strength to swim while taking deep breaths.

Even though it was still challenging, I at least had some basic techniques now, better than being completely clueless.

With my enhanced strength, I could more easily swim against the current and approach the riverbank.

Gasping for breath Cough Cough

My feet sank deeply into something.

It was soft but solid at the same time as I stepped on it.

Is it mud?

I lifted my foot off the weight pressing down on my ankle, and with effort, I moved my next foot forward.

Then my shoulders emerged from the water.

Haha, finally!

One by one, my chest, stomach, waist, and knees surfaced.

I took one step after another and moved out of the water.

"Phew!"

Completely out of the water, I laid Ella next to me and lay down on the ground with a thud.

The clear air tickled my lungs.

My wet dark hair clung to my cheeks.

With a deep breath, I looked up at the sky.

[You have completed the "Chapter Quest - Save Me!"]

[As a reward, you receive 15 Debulroots.]

"Huff, huff."

I moved my arms and legs and it felt like I had accomplished something for the first time.

Unlike the quests that had been resolved through favorable circumstances, this time, I had moved, judged, and decided on my own.

With my own arms and legs...

"Huff, huff."

I couldn’t help but laugh.

***

Tadak, tak.

The sound of a crackling campfire.

The warmth of the fire warming my body.

I had become accustomed to it during my travels over the past six months.

Driving the carriage, lighting a fire at the campsite, sitting around with fellow members and sharing stories.

I had often dozed off just like today.

It seems like today is no different.

It’s nice...

Hmm, but where were we traveling to?

She paused to think.

Her memory quickly returned.

Oh, right. We were sailing up the Dragoneu River on Vergsong’s expensive cruise ship.

Then, if we were on a ship...

Where did we build this campfire?

Ella opened her eyes.

Under a tree by the riverbank, in a place she couldn’t quite recognize.

A small flame crackled, making a tapping sound.

There were no other members around.

She was alone.

"What’s going on?"

As she tried to get up, Ella suddenly realized that she was drenched.

Her clothes were soaked and heavy.

"What’s this, as if I fell into the water... Oh!"

Her memory finally returned.

She had been desperately trying to hold on to Inspira.

But she had accidentally fallen into the water.

Water had entered her mouth and nose, and her head had become dizzy as she lost consciousness.

She had even thought she might die.

But why was she in a place like this now?

Had she been swept ashore by the river?

No, then who lit this fire?

Coo, coo.

She heard a familiar cooing sound right next to her.

It was the White Dove.

He affectionately nuzzled her cheek, expressing its joy.

"Were you very worried?"

Coo, coo...

The dove’s pitiful cooing.

"I’m sorry. I gave you unnecessary orders..."

She gently stroked its feathers.

"But what exactly happened? Did a passing fisherman rescue us?"

At that moment, there was a rustling sound from the dense grass on the opposite side.

The dove happily flew over and circled around someone who emerged from there.

Gruk! Gruk!

Ella narrowed her eyes after confirming the man’s presence.

"You..."

"Are you awake, Miss Ella?"

It was Wonderstein.

As always, he greeted her with a cheerful voice.

In his arms, there was a bundle of twigs.

"If we want to dry our clothes quickly, we should probably make the fire a bit bigger."

"Dry our clothes?"

"Yes. We can’t just stay in wet clothes."

It was only now that Ella realized that Wonderstein’s clothes were also soaked.

It was only then that Ella realized Wonderstein’s clothes were also wet.

"Why are you..."

She felt like she knew the answer, but she asked anyway.

His smiling face seemed to penetrate her thoughts.

"Ella, I heard the sound of you falling into the water, so I rushed to save you."

"...You saved me?"

Ella suddenly felt melancholic.

To hear directly from him that he was her savior

Humiliation, misfortune, frustration.

A sense of defeat.

She felt her strength drain from her body.

"Before we talk, you should at least take off your clothes."

"What... what?"

"You need to dry your clothes, right?"

Ella’s forehead wrinkled at his teasing tone.

This mischievous devil!

"You expect me to undress in front of you?"

"Your clothes are right here."

Wonderstein pulled out a leaf from his hand.

It was an ordinary leaf about the size of a human palm.

"What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Do you not know the power I possess?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the leaf in his hand twisted and began to grow, as if it was alive.

A rapidly growing leaf.

Soon, in his hand, there was a leaf large enough to wrap Ella’s entire body twice.

He smiled and handed it to her.

"This should do, right?"

This human certainly surprised people in various ways.

"You’re not going to watch me change in this, are you?"

"I need to change too, hehe. I’ll go over there into the bushes."

In Wonderstein’s hand, a leaf had grown to three times the size of what he had given to Ella.

She confirmed that he had completely disappeared into the bushes and then undressed.

She hung her wet clothes by the campfire and wrapped the "leaf blanket" he had given her around her body. Strangely, there was something soft like cotton inside the leaf.

She didn’t want to admit it, but it felt great.

It was quite soft and warm.

"I should use this skill more gracefully in the future."

She sat quietly by the campfire, warming herself, and then Wonderstein emerged from the bushes.

Poof.

The moment she saw him, laughter burst from Ella’s lips.

Wonderstein, who had always insisted on wearing a perfect black suit, was now wrapped in leaves like a forest fairy.

His hair was a mess too.

It was a sight she could never have imagined...

Somewhat disheveled.

"It’s funny."

"You look the same way, Ella."

Wonderstein sat across from her with a mischievous smile.

There was a moment of silence between them.

He stared at the flames in silence.

What should she say?

After all, he was her Saviour.

Should she express her gratitude?

As Ella pondered, the words that came out of her mouth were unexpected.

"You’re good at it."

"...Good at what?"

"Yeah."

Silence again.

Ella frowned for a moment, wondering if that was appropriate, but she continued.

"The script."

"Oh, you mean the one you and I co-wrote?"

She made a somewhat puzzled expression at his words.

"Together? It was mostly your work..."

When Wonderstein declared that he would participate in the Circus Grand Prix, Ella was the first to start working on the outline of the performance. She had in mind an exhibition format reminiscent of a monster circus.

The problem was the script.

Who would play what character, what makeup to use, how to deliver the lines—everything was a challenge.

In a monster circus, the emphasis was on highlighting each performer’s physical features.

Human elements had to be excluded.

The weirder and more mysterious, the better.

There could be a background story, but it had to be minimal.

The lines had to be not too cheesy and realistic.

The characters had to suit the performers.

The acting and skills had to be within the performers’ capabilities.

Building everything from scratch was daunting.

Even though she had trained at a circus school from a young age, she was only 16 years old.

Doing this alone was impossible.

That’s when Wonderstein stepped in.

"May I help you a bit?"

"Heh. You, of all people?"

She reluctantly gave up her seat, thinking he was going to drop out soon.

"kufu! humans are quite difficult," he said as he piled on such remarks.

But the result was the opposite of what she expected.

The characters he assigned to the performers.

Matching makeup and lines.

Appropriate acting.

Skills that were easy for each of them to learn.

Adequate stage direction.

Everything was perfectly planned.