Freak Show of the Circus (11)

“F-Franc sis! Senior’s talking to the horse! His head must’ve gone weird from being too pissed off!”

No, you fucking bitch. Still, the way she kept whimpering and sniffling really did make her look pathetic as hell. As I frowned at the thought, Bicorn spoke.

“Hiiirrrgh. Hihihihnghih. Hiiingpuruk. (I can undo it. Free me and I’ll help.)”

“Hing. Hing purrurupu. (Fine. Wait a moment.)”

I nodded. Helping one little pony while I was already committed wasn’t worth worrying about.

I listened to Rozanna’s replies and called out to Larilura. If I wasn’t mistaken, she probably had “it” on her too.

“Larilura. Have you ever had any physical contact with Anasis? Even from a long time ago, think hard.”

“Contact…? Ah, yes! That woman suddenly hugged me tight the first day we met and wouldn’t let go!”

A hug she wouldn’t release? I snapped my fingers.

“That’s it! Larilura! Go over to that Bicorn over there, lift up your top, and show her your back!”

“What?! W-why?!”

Larilura immediately covered her chest with her arms. Ah, right. I needed to explain why. Focusing on the presences outside the tent, I spoke quickly.

“Listen carefully. We don’t have much time, so I’ll make it fast. The mastermind behind the continuous child kidnappings happening in Heisvent is the Chrysos Circus.”

“Chrysos.”

“Yeah, Franc. Chrysos. Anyway, as you’ve all probably noticed, this circus troupe kidnaps kids from the city—like they did with Rozanna here—deforms their bodies, and raises them as freaks for the freak show. They turn them into clowns.”

Not every member of the freak show would have been kidnapped, of course. The bandit boss from last time had said it himself!

—Two girls under ten! One boy! And one lucky one-armed disabled man!

That should have already met their quota!!

The “one-armed man who used to be Robert” and “children who could be raised as deformed freaks.” The “standards” the bandit boss mentioned were the “product quality” criteria set by the Chrysos Circus.

“The circus bastards used every trick they could to avoid getting caught. They outsourced the kidnappings to local bandits, moved the children abroad so they couldn’t report their crimes, or placed tracking curses like this.”

I pointed at the back of Rozanna’s neck.

“Anasis put multiple layers of shackles on the children so they couldn’t run away. One is ‘enchanting’ some kind of magic onto the children to track their mana. The second is laying a ‘barrier’ over the settlement so the kids can’t even think about escaping in the first place.”

“Barrier… Is that why we kept getting lost?”

“Yeah. This one is a barrier designed to keep anyone inside the circus grounds from leaving.”

I explained that Anasis had just activated the magic circle she’d prepared to trap the children.

“Nor. That sounds off. If there really is a barrier like that, it should trap the other guests too. Besides, we started getting lost before we even reached this tent.”

Franc pointed out the contradiction in my words. Larilura let out a small groan as if she’d realized something.

“Ah… Could it be because of me?”

Franc reached behind her own back and touched it.

“There’s magic similar to what’s on Rozanna on me too, so Anasis noticed when I entered…?”

“That’s right. That’s almost certainly it.”

I nodded. That was why Larilura kept getting chased away every time she tried to enter. Every time Larilura stepped into the circus grounds, Anasis detected the reaction from the barrier and sent people after her.

“…I took my mask off while Franc sis was resting midway through. That must’ve been when Anasis noticed me and activated the barrier.”

“I think so too. A reaction suddenly appeared inside the circus grounds, so she took action.”

“So that’s why you told her to show her back to Bicorn. To check if magic was really cast on me.”

Larilura muttered as if she’d been hit by a shock.

“But that means… it means I dragged both of you into this mess because of me…”

“No, Larilura. It’s the opposite. The complete opposite.”

I placed a hand on Larilura’s shoulder and spoke ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠firmly.

“It’s thanks to you. Because you were here, we found the clue and caught a lead.”

“Huh…?”

Larilura’s eyes widened at my words. Even though she wore a mask, her emotions were clear just from her eyes.

“The activation of this barrier magic isn’t a checkmate. It’s a bad move made after overthinking. Unlike the ‘emergency protocols’ the circus bastards usually have prepared, there are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three variables in this incident.”

“Three?”

“One, that we left in the middle of the show. Two, that I know more about their information than anyone else in this city. And three—Larilura, the fact that you’re here.”

These three variables could become weapons for a counterattack. I continued.

“Think about it. Why would Anasis activate a barrier? She could’ve just let us go, but she deliberately trapped us inside and made us suspicious. Why do you think she did that?”

“That’s—”

Larilura brought a hand to her chin only to bump her finger against her mask.

“—The mask. It’s the mask!”

Realizing what had caused Anasis to activate the barrier, Larilura cried out.

“The mask with rune magic on it! Thanks to this! When I wear this, Anasis can’t track my location! That’s why she didn’t notice me even while I was watching the show!”

“Ah, that makes sense! To Anasis, it must have looked like Larilura’s signal suddenly appeared inside the circus grounds and then vanished again! She activated the barrier so she wouldn’t lose us! To avoid the worst-case scenario!”

Larilura and Franc spoke one after another. It was the correct answer. I grinned.

“Anasis must have realized that the ones who slipped out during the show were ‘Larilura and her group.’ That’s why this was a bad move made after overthinking.”

This confusing barrier was one she had frantically activated without even knowing where Larilura was.

—What if those bastards secured evidence and ran?

—It’s risky, but I have to trap them here and deal with them.

That was what Anasis had thought.

“T-then we should escape quickly! Let’s move right now!”

“Wait, Larilura! We still don’t even know what kind of magic is on you and that child! What if it’s dangerous!”

Franc stopped the impatient Larilura. After calming her down, Franc asked me.

“Nor. Can that Bicorn tell what kind of magic is on Larilura?”

“I don’t know that far. But if I show her where the magic is placed, she should be able to tell.”

After all, she was the one who had told me that magic had been enchanted on the back of Rozanna’s neck. I answered and spoke to Larilura.

“Larilura. You heard me, right? I’ll turn around, so go over to her in the meantime, take off your top, and show her your back. She says she can undo it.”

“Huh? Y-you can talk with Bicorn?”

“I learned basic conversation. It’s a global era these days, you know? Multilingualism is an elite’s basic skill.”

When I joked, Larilura looked at me in astonishment.

“Um, excuse me. Just who are you people? Are you special forces from the royal palace or something?”

“Civil servants? Heh. I wish.”

I brushed it off vaguely and pushed Larilura’s back.

“Anyway, go get it checked. It’ll be fine. If it was magic meant to hurt you, Anasis would’ve activated it already. But there’s been no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠problem, right?”

“That’s… true.”

“See? Besides, if it was such a powerful curse, you would’ve noticed it yourself, Larilura. Relax. If my guess is right, it’s not dangerous magic. Franc, can you help her out over there too?”

“Got it.”

With that, I took Rozanna and turned my back.

—Rustle.

The sound of fabric being moved came from behind—Franc must be helping Larilura undress.

That damn pony bitch. If she was lying about being able to undo the magic, I’m leaving her behind.

If she’d lied just to survive, she’d better be ready to die when she got caught. As I thought that and focused on the presences outside, a sudden scream came from the pony behind me.

“Puheeeeng tuuurrrr!!! (Virgin scent!!!)”

“Kyaa?!”

“What?”

I almost turned around at the piercing horse cry. What the hell now? I didn’t know what was happening, but I closed the tent entrance so the sound wouldn’t leak out and carved a rune.

—Whiriririck!

When the magic activated, no sound could escape outside. People wouldn’t come running because of that damn pony bitch’s screams anymore.

“Hihihi— Heeng!!”

“Nor! Do something about her!!”

Franc’s cry for help reached me. I turned around to see what the pony bitch was doing. Runes were floating between her horns, and mana was gathering there, even if only a little!

“You fucking horse bitch!! I told you to undo it, so what the hell are you doing!!”

“ᚴ(Kaunan)!!”

Rune magic shot out from the pony bitch’s horn! I ran toward Larilura and Franc to take the rune magic instead, but the flying characters slammed into me as if they had been aiming for me from the start!

Whiriririck—!

I blocked the rune characters with my arm. Then I felt something like a thread tightly connecting my forehead to the pony bitch’s.

It wasn’t an attack spell?

At that moment, the pony bitch spoke to me with her mouth closed.

【What the fuck?】

Bicorn’s words rang directly inside my head. Surprisingly, it was a feminine voice. Was this the effect of that rune magic?

【Hey, you fucking bitch! Is it that hard to just take one look at whether magic is cast on her?!】

What the hell was this crazy non-virgin-hating bitch saying? I stared in disgust at the pony bitch’s ranting, my eyes bloodshot.

The non-virgin-hating pony thrashed around, throwing a fit.

“Agh, you horse-faced bitch. We don’t give a shit about your gender or your backstory. Got it?”

I snapped. How many creatures in this world don’t have some tragic backstory! This other world was one where ancient ruins popped out of caves in the mountains behind your house! The backstory of non-virgin-hating horse-cunt bitches? It was completely irrelevant to me. If it became something I needed to know later, I could look it up then!

—Thrashing!!

The pony screamed while still bound. Feeling irritation rise, I grabbed her horn tightly.