10. Demon in a Bottle (25)
10. Demon in a Bottle (25)
Contrary to Ella's fears, Wonderstein's lecture went off without a hitch.
Far from provoking hostility, the Monster Circus label seemed to intrigue the students.
Like most artistic elites, they had a sharp eye for flaws in the orthodox but were surprisingly lenient toward the unorthodox. The unconventional earned their tolerance far more readily than it would from the general public.
Using scenes from his own script as examples, Wonderstein demonstrated that their shows were not, as rumor commonly held, exhibitions that paraded and mocked the victims of the Curse Plague. It did something to chip away at the students' preconceptions about the troupe.
But the lecture's smooth reception owed itself most of all to the sheer magnetism of the man delivering it.
Every time he glanced their way, every time he smiled, a fresh ripple of muffled shrieks and sighs ran through the seats.
"Insane. Absolutely insane."
"Oh no. I think I just used up all my sleep for tonight."
"If I had to sum up this lecture in one sentence... Troupe Leader Wonderstein is hot."
The female students stared at his face, utterly spellbound. They fabricated questions out of thin air just for the chance that he might look at them, and launched themselves at every problem he posed, desperate to hear him speak their name.
Not everyone was charmed, of course.
The male students stuck to their original battle plan.
"How exactly did you draft a labor contract with a Red-Blood Ogre?"
"We heard the terms include twenty kilograms of human flesh per day."
"Is it true that you've surgically created some of your monsters yourself, Troupe Leader?"
Yet no matter how they needled him, Wonderstein's smile never cracked. He simply offered an easy grin and fielded each question in turn, working through the replies Ella had prepared.
Even the cards, coins, and rubber balls they lobbed at the back of his head failed to find their mark. Wonderstein continued his lecture with an utterly unruffled expression, snatching every projectile out of the air with just two fingers.
A Skillbook, his naturally exceptional dynamic vision, and muscle strength reinforced by Devolut made the feat possible.
"How is that even possible?"
"It took me half a year just to learn how to catch a flying card!"
His dexterity rivaled what Lord Fantastic had demonstrated the week before.
He deposited each intercepted object into a "Lost and Found" bin he had brought along for the occasion.
"Anyone who dropped something may reclaim it after the lecture."
A mockery that cut deeper than any jeer they had thrown at him.
By the time the lecture drew to a close, even the male students could not help being impressed. It was not just his skill—it was his composure. Lord Fantastic had grown visibly irritable as his own lecture wore on, his self-control fraying into snappishness. Wonderstein met every provocation with unshakable calm and answered every attack with a smile.
Maya checked the clock and let out a small sigh.
This was her revered teacher's lecture. Even if the subject was circus arts rather than magic, simply watching him stand at the podium made her heart pound.
Now, with the lecture nearly over, her mind was occupied by a single question: when to hand him the invitation.
She ran through every statistical estimate, every foreseeable variable. After lengthy deliberation, she finally identified the optimal moment.
The dagger-throwing practical session this afternoon. Right after she executed a flawless acrobatic finish. She would call him "Teacher" in front of everyone and present the invitation.
Dramatic. Perfect. It could not possibly be more impressive.
The prepared lecture concluded, and during the remaining time students tossed out free-form questions. Amid the casual back-and-forth, one female student abruptly raised her hand.
"Troupe Leader, by any chance—are you seeing someone?"
The bold question stilled the room. Wonderstein smiled placidly.
"I am not currently in a relationship."
The inquiry had not appeared on Ella's prepared list, but he handled it smoothly. During his YouTuber days, he had fielded far more disconcerting questions than this. These teenagers' mischief was innocent and endearing compared to the dedicated trolls who dwelled online.
"Then are you a virgin?"
...Or perhaps not.
Bedlam erupted. The questioner's friends smacked her back and waist, shrieking with scandalized delight. A few students flushed crimson. The majority simply found the whole situation hilarious.
Wonderstein shook his head as if confronted by the irrepressible. "Yes. I have yet to share a bed with anyone."
His answer only amplified the buzzing throughout the lecture hall. Some looked astonished, some skeptical, and some regarded him with eyes bright with mischief.
Liar. As if a man with his level of experience with women...
Maya watched his shameless smile and grumbled inwardly. But she could not dwell on the thought for long.
The next question blew past anything she could have imagined.
"Would you, perhaps, consider sleeping with me? I could teach you a lot!"
"I'll—I'll get in line too! I can ride a horse bareback using just my thighs, you know?"
"M-me too!"
Wonderstein closed his mouth. The smile remained, but his gaze darted about, momentarily at a loss for where to land.
Laughter exploded from every corner.
Rekachev was a school that blended the character of both an athletics institute and an arts conservatory. Throw together young men and women with exceptional physiques and heightened sensibilities, and romantic entanglements were hardly rare.
Prestigious academy or not, at their core they were street-performing clowns. Some professors even wove ribald jokes into their lessons. Still, directing such talk at an outside guest crossed a clear line. Professor Elpara, who had been quietly observing from the back, finally lost her patience and barked out a reprimand.
"Mind your manners before a guest! Any further questions of that nature will incur penalty points!"
Known for her strictness, her glare swiftly doused the laughter. With her, jokes and excuses alike were useless.
Wonderstein offered a rueful smile.
"Heh heh. Well, then. Are there any other questions?"
The very student who had just launched a volley of audacious questions raised her hand again. Professor Elpara fixed her with a glare, but she paid it no mind.
"Th-then, maybe... would you be willing to come as my partner to the Freshmen Welcome Party?"
Curiously, her face burned redder now than it had during her earlier questions. The difference between a question framed as a joke and one carrying genuine hope.
Maya's fingers fidgeted anxiously at the unexpected ambush.
What is wrong with these people? They are even worse than Ella. Refuse. Refuse it.
As if her silent plea had reached him, Wonderstein shook his head.
"My apologies, but that will not be possible."
Maya clenched her fist in triumph—until his next words gutted her.
"I have already accepted an invitation from my deputy."
He produced the invitation from inside his coat.
In the front row, Ella sat with her arms crossed, smirking. The moment she had received her ticket that morning, she had used Hat Magic to send it straight to him.
Wistful sighs filled the room. The girl who had asked the question had already vanished from her seat.
The bell rang to signal the end of class. Students began rising and filtering out, one by one.
Just as a few lingering female students were gathering the nerve to approach Wonderstein, Ella darted forward and threw her arms around him in a sudden embrace, pressing a light kiss to his cheek.
"Hehe, well, I am off to class! See you later at the school gate, boss!"
She waved and departed.
The students grasped exactly what her display had meant. A clear, unequivocal warning: he is mine—hands off. With their bond so indisputably staked out, there was no room to wedge between them. The female students retreated with lingering regret and filed out.
"You okay?"
Karen studied Maya's expression. Maya remained planted in her chair like a stone statue, staring vacantly at the stage. Her gaze was locked onto Ella leaving the lecture hall.
Numb. She had pinpointed the perfect moment so meticulously. And while she had agonized, Ella had simply acted.
"Maya, you are in the same troupe. Ask the Troupe Leader. Tell him to go with you this time!"
"He already publicly announced he is going with the deputy. And if it comes down to a contest against her... I have no chance of winning."
The Freshmen Welcome Party apparently featured couple-based circus quizzes and simple tandem acrobatics segments. Given the choice between her and Ella, he had no reason to pick her.
"What 'chance' are you talking about? Just ask him!"
"No."
It is fine. From the beginning, being acknowledged as his student was enough. I almost let another Heart Demon take root just because I was trying to overcome the Papilax. This is it. This is the line where I have to let go.
She sprang up from her seat. Staring into the empty air, she murmured to herself.
"I need to buy a present."
"Huh?"
"It is the deputy's birthday today. I should get her something."
Being acknowledged as his disciple was enough. She did not need to covet anything more.
Ella. Yurakne. Reina. Viscountess Bergson. No matter how messy his entanglements with women became, none of it was her concern.
"Wh-where are you going? Hey, the next class is about to start."
"We are at the end of the roll anyway. I will be quick."
"Maya! Maya!"
And with that, she walked out of the lecture hall, abandoning all her belongings where they lay.
"Good grief, that girl."
Karen gathered up the scattered things Maya had left behind. Her friend's habit of zoning out like a sleepwalker was not new, but she had never seen her so thoroughly checked out as she was today.
Karen glanced toward the stage. Wonderstein was packing up his teaching materials, preparing to leave.
Whether because of Ella's little performance, no other female student ventured near him.
Karen smiled quietly. Maybe this was an opening.
***
Slagbort Confectionery operated branches throughout Yeterinpurk, including one right in front of the Rekachev school grounds.
Maya bought a gift set of cookies there.
Once she had drawn the line at "teacher and student" and nothing more, all the times she had kept the deputy in check felt pointless. The gift was by way of apology for that morning's incident.
That settles it. It is settled.
Gift in hand, she turned to leave—but something nagged at her.
- You are giving a present to Ella? She is the enemy! How humiliating... wait! You are giving a present to the enemy and not to me? That is just mean! Fine, I will just take this and eat it myself! I cannot stand by and let my friend sink to something so pathetic!
Maya exhaled softly. The thought of Karen seeing this and kicking up a fuss beside her was already giving her a headache.
Nosy, honestly. Why does she stick herself into other people's business? And what is this about calling herself my friend all on her own?
Friend. The word felt deeply foreign to her.
Even after spending months together, the deputy was still a fellow troupe member, not someone she considered a friend.
Had such a thing ever even existed in her life?
Emotionally obtuse, she had always been treated as an oddity wherever she went. Being called a doll was routine; she had also been called an emotionless machine, a witch.
And yet here was someone who, for the first time, insisted on calling herself a friend. Maya had no idea what about herself had earned Karen's goodwill. She still was not sure she truly believed Karen was a friend. But she had resolved to reciprocate, at least in kind.
"I will take one of those as well."
She pointed to a small confection labeled "Friendship Chocolate."
Karen had been a considerable help over the past two weeks. This was a fair return. More than anything, two weeks of experience had taught her that the most effective way to shut Karen up was to feed her.
Heading toward the practical session site, Maya suddenly remembered the belongings she had left behind. Karen had probably gathered them up as usual, but given today's earlier chaos, it was possible even she had forgotten.
When Maya stepped back into the lecture hall, the place was empty, as if the earlier commotion had never happened. Her seat was bare.
Karen must have taken her things, then.
She was about to leave when a sound reached her from behind the stage. It was coming from the guest lecturer's waiting room.
She focused her hearing. Two voices she recognized drifted from within—Wonderstein and Karen.
What are they doing?
Curiosity drew her nearer to the door. She pressed her ear close.
"Is that the real reason you approached Miss Maya? You've been deceiving her all this time. Your friend."
"I-I know it's wrong... But when you really like someone, people do get cowardly..."
Approached on purpose? Karen deceived me? She likes someone? Who?
Maya could not parse what she was hearing. But the words themselves carried nothing friendly. A cold premonition settling over her, she strained to catch the next exchange.
"And the invitation... you will not accept it?"
"Miss Karen."
"Am I not a better choice than Ella?"
What is she saying...?
Maya pulled back slightly from the door. She was not so dense that she failed to grasp what Karen's words implied.
This could not be real. She gave the Troupe Leader an invitation...? But why would she...? She...
Maya's face remained blank.
But inside, a maelstrom of ugly emotions churned.
- Maya, could you tell me a little more about the Troupe Leader?
- Of course I am curious about someone you respect that much.
- I saw him on the street, right before I met you. He really was handsome.
So that was why she had approached her under false pretenses. Do not tell me...
Then came the line that drove the final nail into her suspicions.
"To be honest... I like men like you, Troupe Leader. As a woman."
Across the canvas of Maya's mind, black ink spread outward. Darker than before.