10. Demon in a Bottle (8)
10. Demon in a Bottle (8)
A full-body stocking so sheer you could see right through it, a cropped vest that barely covered her chest, and shorts that left her thighs completely bare.
Long, fiery red hair, fierce eyes, and a sharp jawline.
She'd walked into the uniform shop, so she was probably around the same age.
Maya had never seen her before.
Judging by the cautious way the girl approached, she hadn't seen Maya before either.
Maya tilted her head and asked again.
"Who are you?"
Cold and blunt. But no dismissiveness or wariness behind it. Just curiosity.
Strangely enough, Karen liked that about her. She steadied her trembling voice and answered.
"Me? I'm, I'm Karen... And you?"
"Maya."
"That's... that's a pretty name. Ha-ha. I'm enrolling at Rekachev as an auditing student this term... you too?"
"Yeah."
They traded a few more words.
Which troupes they belonged to. What their specialties were. Which classes they planned to take.
Karen could feel herself relaxing the longer they talked.
Maya was different from every other girl she'd ever met.
It wasn't that Karen had always been skittish around girls her own age.
Until she was ten, she'd hung out with girls from other circus troupes fairly often. She'd joked around with them the same way she did with the boys — rowdy, teasing, easygoing.
No malice in it whatsoever. She'd only ever wanted to be friends.
But the other girls met her overtures with wariness. They drew lines, sizing her up with appraising looks.
Like most boys her age, Karen missed those subtle social signals completely and carried on having fun by herself.
Then one day, coming back from the bathroom, she overheard them talking about her.
That weird girl who sleeps and bathes with the boys. The way she talks and acts — something's off about her. She's faking it, pretending not to notice.
Insults and cutting remarks were things she traded with the boys all the time.
— What?! I'm not faking anything!
Karen had barged in, laughed it off like nothing was wrong.
But it definitely did something to her.
After that, she'd flinch whenever she faced another girl. If they pointed something out, even as a joke, she'd shrink like she'd committed a crime. Every time they whispered among themselves, she tensed up, certain they were talking about her behind her back. Even when girls approached her with genuine goodwill, she'd break into a cold sweat and stumble over her words.
Now that she was older, her head understood why she reacted that way and why they'd done what they did. But her heart still couldn't accept it. Her body locked up on instinct whenever she stood in front of other girls.
With Maya, though, she didn't sense that usual girlish atmosphere.
Maya said exactly what she meant and nothing more. She gave off none of the social signals most people broadcast constantly. She was so unexpressive she came across as cold, but Karen found that a relief. Nothing about her flipped those trauma switches.
"So you're saying you barely know anything about acrobatics?"
When Karen realized Maya wasn't a trained acrobat, a little confidence crept back in. She had something to offer.
"Yeah. I don't know."
Maya's voice had a faintly sulky edge, and she moved to walk past. Karen panicked.
"No, no. I'm not looking down on you..."
She didn't want to part ways like this. She mustered her courage and spoke.
"I just — I want to help! I've been training since I was four... C-can I help you out? With registration, with buying supplies — you said you don't know this stuff..."
Maya seemed to think it over for a moment, then nodded.
"Fine."
I did it.
Karen couldn't hide her excitement; her voice rose.
"A-are you sure? But, don't you have other people in your troupe? Is it okay to go with me?"
A face surfaced in Maya's mind.
The Deputy Leader.
She knew the circus world inside and out, and she'd gladly help if Maya needed it. She'd pull strings for her at school without a second thought.
But Maya didn't want her help. She shook her head.
"There are people. But I'm not close with them."
Her thoughts drifted back to what had happened at the café earlier.
Ella had opened her mouth, waiting for someone to feed her.
The Troupe Leader!
Maya had stared blankly, unable to process what she was seeing.
Sure, Ella had been clinging to him ever since she lost her memory, but asking for that?
She'd silently screamed at Wonderstein.
Say something, Troupe Leader. This isn't right.
But he hadn't scolded her. He'd shaken his head like he was dealing with something hopeless, then picked up the spoon and fed her.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Every time he held out the food like a mother bird, Ella accepted it like a chick, smiling blissfully.
They hadn't done anything particularly wrong. It wasn't out of place for the setting.
After a few bites, Ella stopped anyway — she said she could barely taste anything and it was uncomfortable.
But those few moments had lodged themselves in Maya's head and wouldn't stop needling her.
Her magic power stirred again, moving on its own. Part of her wanted to let her telekinesis loose and hurl the food right into Ella's face.
The way she'd done with Reina's cake.
But she couldn't pull the same stunt in front of the Troupe Leader. Forgiving as he was, even he might get angry this time. She'd had to focus every ounce of concentration on keeping her power in check while she watched the two of them eat together like old friends.
"Oh, it's time to pick up the uniforms."
"I'll see you this evening, Miss Maya."
Arm in arm, chatting warmly, they'd walked off as if they had no idea what was going on in Maya's head.
Maya had stared at the empty seats they left behind. Her expression hadn't changed.
Her attempt to sort out her feelings for Wonderstein had failed again. Things hadn't gotten clearer — they'd only tangled tighter.
The Papilax had intensified. It had taken a serious exertion of willpower to suppress that last surge of telekinesis.
Maya sipped the drink the elderly shop owner had brought her as a gesture of comfort and thought it over.
Why was the Troupe Leader so soft on Ella?
Why had he gotten so close to Reina so quickly?
Was it looks?
She caught her reflection in the shop mirror. A girl sat there, pale to the point of translucence.
Maybe he doesn't like the way I look.
She'd been told she was pretty, often enough. But she knew standards of beauty varied from person to person. It was entirely possible that in the Troupe Leader's eyes, she was downright unattractive.
Does he prefer healthy women?
Ella and Reina both had exceptional physical ability. They were among the best acrobats of their generation — people said no one their age could match them. Maya, by comparison, struggled just to keep up with the troupe's basic conditioning drills.
But Viscountess Bergson was frail too. The woman could barely stand in direct sunlight. Health couldn't be the reason.
She mulled it over, and then her eyes snapped open as if she'd received a revelation.
The common thread between Ella and Reina.
What Wonderstein liked.
The answer was staring her in the face.
Acrobatics!
How had she missed it? The reason he valued those two was deceptively simple.
All this time, she'd thought of the Troupe Leader as a scholar who'd developed groundbreaking magic, a Madosa skilled enough to send a Reaper back to the Abyss. That was why she'd been trying so hard to earn his recognition in that arena.
But was Wonderstein even the type of person who cared about that?
Here was a man with that kind of power, and the only thing he poured his passion into was the circus.
She didn't know why someone with his abilities was so fixated on the circus, but she wasn't about to judge him. Hadn't she herself turned down every recommendation to join IMT so she could devote herself to Illusion Magic?
The point was, she'd ignored the thing he actually cared about. She'd blown off basic practice because it was too hard, never even considered learning elementary acrobatics.
No wonder he didn't see her as a real student. No wonder he kept her at a distance.
'If I learned acrobatics...'
She didn't think she could match girls like Ella or Reina in raw physical ability. But she did have one edge over them.
She recalled what the examiner had said about SPECIAL during the entrance exam.
The P stood for Perception.
The ability to track moving bodies, calculate distances, and precisely control the force at her fingertips.
That, at least, was something Maya could claim to be better at than Ella.
But vague talent didn't mean she'd magically pick up acrobatics on her own. She'd need someone to teach her the basics.
She had no intention of asking Ella or the Troupe Leader for help. She wanted to learn by herself and surprise them both.
If she could pull that off... he'd look at her differently.
Maybe even...
The way he looked at Reina...
— Miss Maya, why don't we discuss acrobatics further tonight? Come to my bedroom.
The cup trembled in Maya's hand. Her mind went white-hot again.
The image of Reina undressing in front of the Troupe Leader surfaced.
And if she were the one standing there...
The Troupe Leader approaching from behind as she stood nearly naked...
"Maya?"
The shop owner's voice jolted her back to reality.
White steam was rising from the cup in her hand.
Her telekinesis had compressed the drink under pressure and flash-frozen it into ice. The enormous heat of solidification had been released at the same moment, scorching the cup.
"I'm sorry."
She quickly cleared the table with her telekinesis.
What was I thinking...
She shook her head vigorously.
Right. That was definitely Sinepekus whispering in my ear. Trying to stir up my Heart Demon even more.
She emptied her mind.
Getting caught up in those whispers — that was exactly the trap ascetics and scholars fell into.
She couldn't confuse the means with the end.
Deepening her relationship with the Troupe Leader was only a means to understand the Mystic. The real goal was to fill the Canvas of the Mind and strengthen her magical foundation.
She left the café and headed toward the street in front of the school.
To prepare for auditing at Rekachev.
But now that she was actually trying, she realized she didn't know anything. When the Troupe Leader had suggested she try auditing, she'd brushed it off as uninteresting.
She didn't want to go back to the lodging and ask for help now, either. The Troupe Leader and Deputy Leader would jump in to assist, and she'd just end up standing there blankly watching them do everything again.
The only reason she'd come to the clothing shop was because Ella had mentioned uniforms earlier. And then this girl had shown up offering to help.
"Let's start with the uniform. You can get your gym clothes here, but for athletic shoes you'll need to go somewhere else. What's your shoe size?"
Karen. She was talking in a bright, lively voice now, as if her earlier stammering had been an act.
She'd said she was with the Papael Circus. Maya knew the name. She'd passed by them in Rouge once, and they'd earned a star from the Christian Guide.
Useful, then. That was why Maya had accepted her offer.
Still, Karen's sudden shift in demeanor threw her off a little.
"Hey, look at this. Are you thinking of taking taming? I've always wanted to raise an animal."
She chattered on excitedly whether Maya responded or not. She laughed off one-word answers and indifferent looks like they were nothing. Her energy level was almost exhausting.
But Maya didn't find it irritating or annoying. If the question was worth answering, she answered. Otherwise, she just let it go.
Luckily, taming was a subject Maya actually had something to say about.
"I've raised a cat before."
Karen beamed and nodded, then launched into another monologue about all the animals she'd always wanted to raise.
About a month and a half until the preliminaries in October.
Maya figured this wasn't going to be a very long acquaintance.