Funny Show of Circus (3)
“That was fun!” Franc said with a bright smile as we left the audience seats after the circus ended. “The elephants were a little scary, but it was so cool how they all moved! And that girl—Larilura, was it? She was amazing too!”
“Her acrobatics were impressive, but that magic at the end was something else.”
“Oh, right. Do you know what that magic was?” Franc asked curiously. The only thing that could really be called magic was the one the clown girl used at the end, so that had to be what she meant.
“You mean the magic that controlled the puppets? That’s a spell called Puppetry.”
“Puppetry? Ah, so it’s magic for controlling puppets.”
“More precisely, it controls a type of golem called marionettes. It’s a pretty high-difficulty spell.”
As an archaeologist, I knew a fair bit about golems. The only monsters that moved around in ruins abandoned for hundreds of years were golems and undead. And the golems of ancient civilizations were terrifying enough that I never wanted to think about them again. I’d only seen one, and it had given me serious trauma.
“Are marionettes different from other golems?”
“The principle is similar. The function is completely different, though.”
I answered. Marionettes and heavy-type golems differed in both purpose and cost. The gap was as big as the one between a walkie-talkie and a smartphone.
“Standard golems have thinking circuits and cores installed. They also fill in parts like muscles and bones so they can move on their own. That’s why they end up so bulky.”
That was the reason behind the massive size people associated with golems. They didn’t deliberately make them large—the size just happened as a result of the construction.
“I thought mages made golems out of clay.”
“Those are golems from necromancy or alchemy. They’re usually clay dolls that act like servants following a mage’s orders. They disappear when the magic is cut off, but marionettes and standard golems are different.”
“Because they can move without a mage?”
“Exactly. So you can think of marionettes as something in between clay dolls and standard golems.”
They had no internal moving structure, so they couldn’t move without borrowing magical power, but in exchange they didn’t consume mana to maintain. That was why it was common to only build the joints on marionettes and fill the body with other gimmicks—things like firing rocket punches or opening the chest to launch bombs.
“The biggest advantage of marionettes is that they’re cheap. They’re much easier to make than golems.”
I recalled nearly fainting after seeing a golem production receipt. I never expected the security golem rolling around the university to cost forty silver each. Those worthless lumps of rock going for twenty Nord? Compared to those rip-off golems, marionettes that cost less than one silver each were incredibly appealing. They were as reliable as a bowl of rice soup. When it came to golems, I could become a racist.
“Aha, I see. Nord really does know a lot.”
“Heh heh. You can praise me more if you want.”
—Murmur murmur.
We were chatting like that, squeezed among the audience as we exited the colosseum, when we spotted two clowns doing solicitation work.
“Come, come, come, come!! This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day!! Our Chrysos Circus will finally begin performances the day after tomorrow!! If you miss this chance, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!!”
They were men with red clown noses. While the Plangungkula Circus members looked ordinary except for the clown girl, these ones gave off a strong impression of trying to look ridiculous from their very clothing. It felt like some kind of otherworldly jester.
“We are the greatest circus troupe in Romania, praised even by the Lord of Heisvent himself with roaring laughter!!”
The bald man with white face paint kept chattering while handing out flyers. But advertising their own show right in front of someone else’s venue? What rude bastards.
“Those who wish to gain rare experiences and have stories to impress the opposite sex! Those who want to tell wonderful tales to their children! Among such people, the wise ones all come to our Chrysos Circus with one heart and mind!!”
The flyers the clown man was distributing were also thrust toward us as we passed by.
“Come, come!! Even the beautiful lady passing by there, please do visit us!”
“Oh, uh?”
I ignored it completely thanks to the flyer-avoidance technique I’d honed in the 21st century, but Franc accepted one without hesitation.
“Hehe. I ended up taking it for no reason. We’re leaving tomorrow, so even if we want to see it, we can’t.”
Franc looked at the performance date on the flyer and gave a small laugh. We were planning to return to Sargadis the day after tomorrow. We also had to get our Bronze promotion done.
“Franc. Should we stay here a few more days before leaving?”
But after weighing everything, I asked that. Franc’s eyes widened at my words.
“What? No. If you’re saying that because of me, there’s no need.”
“It’s not just because of that. Of course Franc enjoying it is a big reason, but honestly, I’m curious too.”
I also felt a strong desire to stay in Heisvent. Seeing the circus show just now had given me the feeling that I’d grasped a clue to enlightenment.
‘Humans are weak creatures compared to monsters.’
Even I, who had gained power beyond ordinary people through Beast Regression, wouldn’t stand a chance against monsters stronger than me. I had learned that firsthand while fighting Tabula in his beast state. To fight at even higher stages from now on, overcoming this weakness was essential. Not being swayed only by mana, but honing the human body’s natural physical abilities! That was the physical challenge I now carried. The magical challenge was finding a way to inscribe runes onto objects.
‘To overcome this, learning martial arts would be best, but……’
If learning for a day or two could make someone a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, there wouldn’t be any difficult things in the world. And I had already learned the general concepts of martial arts from Professor Brammaton. It was just that I was an idiot who couldn’t embody them.
‘Just as important as overcoming weaknesses is making the most of strengths.’
Instead of spending time learning systematic martial arts, I should increase my mana capacity to raise the output of Beast Regression. When you thought about it, honing physical abilities was part of that too. Having thought that far, I spoke.
“And Franc. You want to see other circuses too, don’t you?”
“Yeah. They even got praised by the lord.”
Franc nodded and pointed at the flyer.
“Look here. It says they performed at the lord’s mansion until just yesterday, and now they’re finally starting performances for the citizens too.”
“That’s impressive.”
Though I said that, the promotional text felt somewhat unsettling. Maybe because I had a bad impression of Heisvent, the lord also seemed like some potbellied, mustached scoundrel who’d earned the triple crown of being a good-for-nothing.
—Rustle.
That was when it happened. While reading the flyer, I sensed a presence approaching from behind and placed my hand on the sword at my waist. It wasn’t because I was some sword master—it was a warning to the person behind me that I’d noticed them, so they should behave.
“Who are you?”
With my hand on the sword, I shot a sharp look. The woman who had been approaching with both hands raised playfully blinked.
“Oh? My, I’ve been caught.”
She was a female clown dressed similarly to the clown girl. Were women the norm among clowns here? Her red-toned clown outfit had good quality despite its playful design. There was no face paint at all, but she seemed like she’d be popular with children.
“Ahaha! I’m sorry! It’s my hobby to suddenly talk to people from behind like this and startle them!”
The female clown bowed elegantly, apologizing. Her movements looked quite practiced, so she was probably someone who worked with nobles.
“I couldn’t help but speak up when I heard you talking about visiting our circus. I’m really sorry about this—what should I do?”
“Ah, so you’re from the Chrysos Circus?”
“Yes! I’m Anasiss Serpia, a clown.”
Anasiss said with a beaming smile.
“Our troupe leader really likes rare animals. He spends all the money he earns on them, to the point I’m worried! Ah, but I’m sure the audience will definitely enjoy it!”
“I’m looking forward to it. I’ll definitely go.”
I answered politely as well. Rare animals. Like a safari zoo? I’d only been to zoos a few times as a child, so I was looking forward to it too. Of course, if the circus members’ skills were mediocre, it wouldn’t help my goal much.
***
The next morning, I submitted the thesis to the Heisvent transport guild and returned.
“Was it okay going without a mask?”
“No problem. I wrapped my face in cloth and used rune magic.”
I answered while unwinding the cloth wrapped around my face. I had roughly figured out the application range of the Kenaz rune from the rune magic book. Just covering the face with anything would produce the effects of Impression Camouflage and stealth. When processing it as a magic item, a mask was still best, though.
“What do you want to do today? There’s an Audumla Guild here too—should we take a same-day request?”
“That’s probably not a good idea. Our promotion details probably haven’t reached here yet.”
“Ah, damn. You’re right.”
I sighed. This was a medieval fantasy world with no computerization or telecommunications. Unless we wore our Bronze plates, we’d only be able to take D-rank requests.
“Then let’s just look around the city. There are a few things I’m curious about too.”
“……You mean the child kidnapping cases?”
“……Well, yeah.”
When Franc noticed and asked, I nodded. There was a chance I could get some information by asking the animals. Besides the bandit group I’d wiped out, there were probably other groups, so I planned to investigate. Sticking my nose into other people’s business wasn’t my hobby, but leaving child kidnapping cases alone would give me nightmares. I also had investigative methods that others didn’t possess.
“Got it. Let’s go together.”
Since Franc agreed, we wandered through back alleys questioning stray cats. But we didn’t get much results. Unless they’d directly witnessed a kidnapping scene, the meows weren’t very interested in human affairs. That was unavoidable too.
‘Even if we saw a cat carrying a kitten around, we’d think of it as parent and child.’
The cats were the same. Since the kidnapping method wasn’t clearly identified either, investigating was difficult even if we tried.
“Don’t blame yourself too much, Nord.”
Franc spoke to me as I felt empty from not getting any information. Her voice was quiet so no one would overhear.
“You saved three kidnapped children. Those kids have probably returned home by now too. I think you should be proud instead.”
“……You’re right. There’s no point in me being depressed.”
I cheered up after hearing Franc’s comfort. I’d asked the cats to look into it. If any information came up, I’d think about it then. As I was consoling myself like that, several children passed in front of me.
“Let’s go together!!”
“You run faster then!!”
Children racing down the street. I was surprised that parents would let children out on the streets in this situation, but their clothes were quite shabby. They were probably slum poor or orphans. The children who ran off gathered at a park some distance from the bench where we were resting. I looked over, wondering if something had happened, and ended up blinking blankly.
In the park in front of a large inn, a girl was juggling with a ball.
‘Larilura?’
Pink hair and a mismatched clown outfit with different colors on each side. It was Larilura, the ace of the Plangungkula Circus. Was she doing solicitation work? I’d heard that circuses did small-scale performances to persuade people who weren’t interested in circuses, so this might be part of that.
Larilura was surrounded by adults and boys and girls who had come to watch her performance. There were children who came with their parents, and poor children wandering alone. I thought it was bold given that kidnappers existed, but then again, even during epidemics on 21st-century Earth, some people went about their business just fine. It seemed that lack of safety awareness was something that transcended eras and worlds.
“Ah, that clown girl from back then.”
Franc also noticed the group gathered in the park and became interested. The performance over there seemed quite entertaining too, as cheers could be heard from time to time.
“Should we go watch too? Even if we tip, one or two copper should be enough.”
I stood up, brushing off my rear, partly to lift my spirits. If we were lucky, I might even get to ask how that girl practiced her acrobatics.