EP.82 – I'm Not a Knight-Errant. Not Even a Knight (6)
Needless to say, Lee Han had no intention of lingering in this city.
He had no wish to be dragged into troublesome business, either, and it wasn't only because the maid was waiting for him alone outside the walls. It was simply—
"You crapped it out. You can damn well clean it up yourselves."
In the end, this was the city's affair. A sorry thing to say—no, he wasn't even sorry—but the people here were strangers to him through and through. If the demon bastards came at him first, that would be one thing. He was under no obligation to step forward and catch them himself.
A hint, he was willing to drop. Tell the lord who ruled the city, and wouldn't the man clear the mess away on his own?
"You told the lord and came back, yeah?"
"I-I didn't meet him in person. I did send a letter, though. Soldiers ought to come."
"For real?"
"......"
"Well. He'll handle it."
Right. This far, and no further. Lee Han had given the advice his conscience required of him. From here on—
"We found the right place, yeah?"
"...Most likely. I believe so."
"Then let's go."
"......"
"...What?"
"No, it's just... I-I thought you were handsome, so..."
"......"
"D-don't misunderstand! I only meant it that way!"
"...Don't walk behind me. You're giving me the creeps."
"?!"
Santa Rihan
Shrunk small and slight, Santa Rihan even wore a pair of spectacles with no prescription at all, eyes glinting sharp behind the glass. He had taken the form to see what had become of a former workplace he couldn't even be bothered to love or hate.
Eyes gathered. He was only walking, perfectly naturally, and still every person he passed stole a glance.
"Oh my..."
"He's handsome."
"The one in front is Corin, isn't it? Hmm. I always thought Corin was good-looking, but set him next to the genuine article and he comes up a little short."
"A new priest? Tch!"
They knew Corin's face, and they clicked their tongues. Resentment toward priests rode in the looks. Perhaps that was why the stares turned savage on the man wearing the same priest's robes as Corin. A kindly face took some of the edge off, but plenty still bristled at him for no reason except that he was a priest.
Curses weren't rare, either. They might have kept their voices down, yet every one of them spoke loudly enough to be heard on purpose. It was slander delivered to his face. Corin's gaze went murderous before the insults, and the crowd only snorted.
His looks belonged on the rough side, true enough, but the mere fact that he was a priest of the Light of Radiance was sufficient. People flung resentful stares and vented a hostility with no cause behind it. However frightening the man, once the many stood against him, there was no need to be afraid.
Corin ground his teeth, about to snap something back—
"Hold it in."
"But..."
"You planning to find out whether your master's alive? If you don't care, I can go alone."
"...Hah. I'm sorry."
"Forget it. I'll admit they're going too far."
He swallowed it. Sharp around the edges, yes, but not a bad sort. The others, though—
These people are too much.
Watching them bare a resentment that had no reason, he felt a sigh rise on its own. That was a mob for you. The temple had certainly done wrong. Even so, not everyone in it was guilty, and priests still filled an important role in the South. To scorn them and despise them to this degree...
Honestly, a man could grow sick to death of humanity over it, and no one would have a word to say.
Old man Raphael must be worn thin.
He pictured the elder, whose wrinkles had likely deepened under a pope-king's labors, and shook his head—but only for a moment. Then he clapped Corin on the back.
"Before I leave, I'll teach you a little hand-to-hand. Anybody comes at you, break their jaw."
"...Don't people usually tell you to be patient and endure?"
"I'm not one of the faithful. And my creed is that bottling it up makes you sick."
"...Somehow, you strike me as rather like my master."
"I do?"
"The way you speak is a bit..."
"I'll take it as a compliment. More to the point—are we almost there?"
"...We're here, as it happens."
"...?"
At that, Lee Han tilted his head. Walking openly down a busy street had already struck him as odd, and the claim that they had arrived only made it odder.
The next moment—
"...What is that?"
He blinked. Past the bustle rose an enormous tent, as if five buildings had been stitched into one. It stood near enough to the main street that anyone could have seen it, and he had barely begun to wonder what such a tent was doing there when—
"Ah, my lord..."
"Ahem."
"...F-Father Santa. We've been waiting. Haha..."
Giovanni greeted him with an awkward laugh, still staring as if he couldn't get used to the sight. Lee Han understood the feeling. There was nothing to be done about it.
My real face stands out too much.
The build was one thing, but the features ran heavy enough that he looked fierce besides.
This look stands out too, just not enough to draw that kind of attention.
Noticeable either way—and yet the form of Santa Rihan would pull less notice than the form of Ihan Turtle...
What kind of bullshit thought is that?
It wasn't even a real transformation. Wondering if this was what it felt like to be swallowed whole by a persona, he shook his head, then quickly pulled himself together and warned Giovanni.
"...I'm grateful you're doing the work, but go. I'm not joking. It's actually dangerous. There's no telling what kind of accident is waiting."
Giovanni was a sharp merchant, not a hardy fighter. Lee Han was thankful the man had stepped forward to repay a kindness, but if Giovanni got hurt, what use would any of it be? He wanted him clear of the place.
"No. I don't believe it will be dangerous."
"What?"
"I'm not doing this because I expect my lord—no, Father Santa—to protect me. As I see it, this place, at least, ought to be safe."
"?"
"...Look."
"......?"
Giovanni gestured at their surroundings. Lee Han turned, wondering what the man meant, and what met his eyes was this.
"You're excited, right?"
"Yeah!"
"???"
Citizens, walking into an assassin order's stronghold with children by the hand. The bright, innocent smiles on their faces only made it stranger.
"...Did we maybe come to the wrong place?"
"No. We came to exactly the right place."
"Then why is it like this?"
"Er, well, that is..."
"You'll rest easier if you see it for yourself."
The last of it was Corin's. Without a moment's hesitation, he flung open the flap of the tent.
Flutter.
"Welcome to the Black Moon Circus, where we gift you a fantastic dream!"
"...?"
Two bunny girls in rabbit ears had been the ones to welcome him, and Lee Han tilted his head. He wasn't sure what he was looking at.
"You said it was an assassin organization."
"Yes. That's right."
"Then what is this?"
General seating, thanks to the tickets Giovanni had bought. They sat in the highest row, so the whole place lay open, and Lee Han—eyes as keen as any man of the grasslands—could take it in with sharp clarity. A whoosh of silk through the air: somersaults, and a flying trapeze ridden with elegant flair. Dancers besides, singers, even a clown in ridiculous clothes putting on a one-man comedy.
This was...
"It's a real circus troupe."
Nothing about it invited doubt. It was a circus, and—though he hated to admit it—a drumroll thundered, a ta-da cracked the air, the crowd roared a great oooooh, and the show below was thoroughly professional and dazzling.
"...An assassin order, yes. A circus, also yes. There's no law that says an assassin organization isn't allowed a side job."
Corin shot it back deadpan, and Lee Han's expression only grew more complicated. It was Giovanni who added the rest.
"When I first heard the name Black Moon, I thought it was merely some place with a similar name. Seeing it in person, it was familiar. The troupe has been a landmark of Florentia for about four years. ...That it was an assassin order and a religious order both, I learned only today."
"Ha!"
Another hollow laugh. Why, today of all days, did so many things deserve one? Even so, anyone else in his place would have reacted the same. Imagine your old workplace had up and become a circus. The shock, the reversal, belonged with the ending of Saw—no. More precisely, with the ending of the first Saw.
"...The citizens don't know what this circus really is?"
"They don't. ...I can't be certain of that. Some of them must know. But as far as I understand, the Black Moon gets along quite well with the people of Florentia. They use the money earned through the circus to give the citizens free meals, and they've donated a considerable sum toward developing the domain."
"......"
"That's why I, too, failed to connect the name Black Moon with an assassin order. Shameful. A merchant who ought to stay ahead of his information, and I didn't even know this..."
"Hmph. Can't be helped. I only found out those bastards were an assassin order a little while ago myself. If they hadn't been swallowing the underground organizations whole, I'd have taken them for an ordinary circus too."
Set the two men's accounts side by side, and the meaning was plain. They had hidden what they were with absolute thoroughness. Even so, he couldn't make sense of why they had hidden it for four entire years...
Huh?
Wasn't there something like this before?
...The Tunnels.
Lee Han called up the memory of this season last year. People who had hidden what they were while they gathered strength, much as these had. The cultists of the Tunnels, quietly growing their power while they concealed their nature.
Have I really seen every last one of these cuckoo bastards...!
As he remembered it, they had built their strength in that place for roughly ten years. For the likes of them, four years of gathering power behind the mask of a circus—
Would hardly be difficult.
Putting the name on open display was the same trick. Darkest under the lamp: they hid themselves by showing themselves. Cunning bastards.
Only now did the rough shape of it come clear, and he was just getting a feel for the current when a barker with a booming voice strode out and seized the crowd.
We will now begin today's main performance!!
The expectant murmur swelled, like the herald of a show that had held everyone in this city spellbound for four years. And sure enough—
Screee! Screee—.
Kaaaa!!
Krrr...?
"We will now begin the Monster Performance!"
......As far as Lee Han knew, the most horrific, revolting performance of all was beginning.