2. Spider Woman Yurakne (2)
2. Spider Woman Yurakne (2)
The members of the Monster Circus Troupe gathered at their campsite after a day that had passed without incident, holding a small after-party.
No matter how successful the performance, they could never expect cheers or applause.
However much blood and sweat they poured into preparation, however tirelessly they rehearsed their acts, all that ever came back to them were looks of disgust.
Providing people with a target they could comfortably despise, rage against, and heap insults upon.
That was the essence of the monster circus.
For that very reason, gatherings like this one held a special place in the troupe members' hearts.
The after-party itself was nothing grand.
It was simply a chance to tell each other they had worked hard.
"You have all truly put in so much effort. The crowd fell for your acting hook, line, and sinker!"
Deputy Leader Ella made the rounds to each member, pointing out what had startled the audience and what had made their performances magnificent, lifting everyone's spirits.
These were the members who had been locked inside a booth for four hours, performing every kind of filthy, humiliating act imaginable.
Their hardships were far from ordinary.
It was acting, yes, but exposing their own deformities as a spectacle and becoming objects of scorn was not something just anyone had the mental fortitude to endure.
A trivial compliment or a word of encouragement became a profound comfort.
"You worked hard."
"You too."
"Hee-hee, it was rough on everyone."
"Ugh, my shoulders are killing me."
Many of the members had stiff arms and legs from being cooped up in confined spaces.
Umon, the largest among them, was groaning and kneading his shoulders with particular vigor.
Over two meters tall.
Rough, red skin like a crocodile's hide.
Horns sprouting from his head and tusks jutting from his mouth.
He looked menacing, but he was a boy who had only turned ten this year.
The troupe's youngest member, he giggled as the older brothers and sisters massaged him.
"Hehehe, it tickles!"
"We're pouring all our strength into this!"
"His hide's way too tough."
"Ow! I pricked myself on his spiky bit!"
"Hee-hee! Be careful. Last time I was messing around with this guy, my neck nearly got lopped off."
"It wasn't that bad!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Acting the monster wore down both body and soul.
In a way, it was a show that prodded at their own traumas.
Yet not a single member regretted joining the Monster Circus Troupe.
Most of them thought to themselves:
It was only after entering here that they had finally met true friends.
Discriminated against by society and called monsters for their inborn appearances, they understood each other's pain deeply.
Just being together like this gave them the feeling that their wounds were healing.
"Alright, everyone! Supper's ready!"
Six arms appeared.
Each one bore a tray loaded with food.
The owner of those arms was a mature woman with her violet hair pinned up with a hairpin.
The way she walked, balancing those six trays, made every step look alluring—perhaps because of that precarious sense of equilibrium.
Her cheeks were flushed red from the heat of the stove, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead.
Spider Woman, Yurakne.
Outstanding in the kitchen, she was in charge of the troupe's meals overall.
Noticing her emerging from the kitchen, Ella sprang up from her seat, chiding herself for not realizing sooner.
"You went and did everything all by yourself again? You should have called me. I told you I'd help."
"Heh heh, it's fine. I appreciate the thought. I can't be putting this kind of work on the Deputy Leader."
Yurakne smiled gently, and Ella scratched her head sheepishly.
Ella used casual speech even with Sven, the eldest skeleton, but for some reason, polite language came out when she spoke to Yurakne. Unlike Sven, who acted like a child, Yurakne carried a sense of elder dignity.
"I'm definitely helping with breakfast tomorrow."
"It's all right. I can manage on my own."
"You don't have to feel like it's a burden."
"Re-really, it's okay..."
Yurakne was starting to hem and haw, growing visibly anxious.
"You don't need to go out of your way to look after me."
"No, it's not that..."
The truth was, Yurakne's reason for keeping the Deputy Leader out of the kitchen was not solely out of consideration.
There was another, separate reason.
Everyone except the Deputy Leader knew what that reason was.
Members who had reached their limit stepped in to dissuade Ella.
"Deputy Leader, please...!!"
"Why won't you take a hint!"
"Yura's just too nice to say it outright."
"Ella's cooking is... well..."
That was when Umon, who had been sitting quietly, straightened up with a dead-serious face.
"The food Ella makes is torture!"
"Well said, Umon! Ella, you remember that day everyone got food poisoning, right?"
"Squeak! Humans! Stay out! Of the kitchen!"
Before anyone knew it, even the Ratmen from the corner had swarmed over.
Ella's face turned bright red at the fuss.
"Sh-shut up! Food poisoning? That's ancient history! And the ingredients had gone bad—that's why. I can cook fine now! And Ratmen! What right do you have to critique taste when you eat food scraps!"
"Squeak! Even scraps! Have a hierarchy!"
"Right on!"
"Good food! Leaves good leftovers!"
It was the first time I had seen the ratfolk, who only ever seemed to bow and scrape, raise their voices and air their opinions with such fervor.
Ella, flustered by embarrassment, shouted at the members.
"Fine! Then you lot help out instead!"
At Ella's words, everyone looked around at one another and shrugged.
Bones-Sven, whose arm popped off at the slightest bump.
The Trimery Triplets, who fought for control over their own body.
Bandik, wrapped in bandages, whose very presence raised worries about flakes of skin or pus falling into the food.
Many of the members had physical conditions that made them unsuited for cooking to begin with.
Not to mention the Ratmen, whose very nature placed them worlds away from the concept of hygiene.
That was why Yurakne had no choice but to prepare the meals alone.
"Ella, I really am all right."
"...Ha, but the amount of cooking has increased enormously lately. Before, we just made do with a bowl of soup, but now every meal is a full spread..."
The fuller table, thanks to the increased budget, was a good thing.
But that also meant the person doing the cooking was suffering more for it.
And had they not just started performing again today, on top of everything?
Acting, and preparing meals too.
Ella worried Yurakne's body might be under too much strain.
"Heh heh, don't worry. I manage fine on my own. We're not that large a household, and besides, I have six arms."
Yurakne, a little shy, brought together the two arms attached behind her shoulders and the two on her waist in a neat, orderly way.
'If only she didn't have those four arms, she'd be a real beauty...'
Truth be told, her skin was remarkably fair for someone who hailed from the countryside.
Despite doing hard labor every day, not a single blister marred her hands.
Her waist was slender, and both above and below it, she possessed an enviably full, curvaceous figure.
If she merely dressed well, anyone would believe she was a nobleman's daughter.
No, more than the clothes, if she just lacked those arms...
Damn. What am I thinking?
This is wrong.
The very thought is an insult to her.
She was beautiful and a good person, here and now.
To treat her appearance as a problem just because she looked a little different from others was a discourtesy.
'The textbook example of the opposite is right over there, after all.'
Ella's gaze flicked toward the wagon that housed the Troupe Leader.
Frank Wonderstein.
He was undeniably a handsome man. Even his smile was charming.
That much even Ella, who detested him, would admit.
But what lay inside was a cunning demon miming a human.
To him, with the ability to change his shell at any time, outer appearance was meaningless.
These last few weeks, he had been suspiciously quiet, but Ella was not fooled.
At any moment, he could turn and become as cruel as he pleased. That was the kind of creature he was.
"Today's MVP was Yurakne, for sure!"
"Pff-hahaha! Oh, right! Yura's the best!"
"No argument! A hundred percent!"
The members had already begun critiquing the day's performance among themselves.
The two most talked about were Umon and Yurakne.
Umon's case was obvious, thanks to his overwhelming presence, but Yurakne, who wore a relatively tame costume, also came up frequently.
That was because the act she had performed today was worlds apart from her usual image.
-Kihihi! If not for these bars! I'd devour you humans again for good measure! Come here! I said come here! Kihaaak!
The shy, considerate woman had donned a terrifying getup and played the part of a seductive man-eater.
The audience had been terrified, but the other members watching her act had nearly died trying to hold in their laughter.
"Ooh, come here! Come here, I say!"
"Kihihi! Kihaaak!"
Sven the skeleton and Yobel the dwarf, never ones to miss a chance to tease someone, flailed their arms at each other, clumsily mimicking the 'Spider Woman's' performance.
It was sloppy, but they nailed the core elements so well that you could immediately picture Spider Woman's act.
All the watching members burst out laughing.
Even Ella could not hold back a giggle.
Yurakne's face turned as red as a ripe persimmon.
"Ooh! No dessert for either of you!"
"Oooh, Yura! Don't you know? I don't eat anyway? I don't eat? I don't eat?"
The skeleton gleefully rolled his shoulders and danced.
The other members clapped their hands to egg him on.
Yurakne now understood the feelings of that dockworker who had been his plaything earlier today.
She had the urge to send his skull flying.
"Honestly..."
Yurakne thrust her lips out in a pout and glared at him.
"That's mean, Sven."
"Sorry~ I'm sorry~ haha! I'm sorry~"
"Ugh, I'll just keep my mouth shut. Here. Everyone, help yourselves."
Meals, which had been on a strict tiered-rationing system until recently, had now been switched to a buffet.
When the circus was poor, there had been no choice, but now, with generous sponsorship, everyone could eat their fill at the same standard.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot. The merchants' association sent over a present—said they were satisfied with the turnout today. It's a whole roast pig! It should be just about done, so I'll go fetch it!"
Yurakne began heading back toward the kitchen.
At that, Ella shot Umon a meaningful look.
Although his appearance suggested a dull wit, Umon, for a ten-year-old, was a clever boy.
He sprang up from his seat.
"Yura, you sit down. You've been on your feet nonstop. Ella and I will go get it."
"You should rest. This isn't cooking. Umon and I can handle it."
"Mm... all right, then. I'll leave it to you."
Watching Ella and Umon walk off side by side, Yurakne fell into thought.
Ella—the only ordinary human in this circus troupe.
She was always telling Yurakne how grateful she was.
Grateful that she acted as an emotional pillar for the members—something a girl her age could not be expected to do—grateful that she played the role of the eldest sister.
But did Ella realize?
That it could not begin to compare with the gratitude Yurakne felt toward her.
Ella had given them hope.
The hope that they, too, could live and mingle with ordinary humans.
If only people would not fear them vaguely and would just approach them—they were humans, no different from anyone else.
Why did people do nothing but fear them?
Just then, a thought flickered through Yurakne's mind.
A circus troupe where everyone lived like family.
Yet even here, one person received treatment akin to what they suffered from society.
Troupe Leader Wonderstein.
Were they not all, too, afraid of him, thinking him a monster, and avoiding him just the same?
'Does the Troupe Leader feel the same way?'
The Troupe Leader, who only ever smiled.
She had never seen him raise his voice or get angry, not even once.
Nor had she ever caught a flash of fear or contempt from him toward them.
Was he not lonely too?
Yura soon realized she was extending her empathy into territory that bordered on absurd.
If the other members knew, they would have told her to stop talking nonsense.
The Troupe Leader was not treated like a demon because of his outward appearance.