3. Deputy Leader Ella (2)
3. Deputy Leader Ella (2)
The four-day voyage since departing Axville had been uneventful.
No incidents. No accidents.
Just an endless cycle of eating, lounging, eating, lounging.
Anyone complaining?
Not a chance.
These were people accustomed to sleeping in tents and wagons. A hot shower and a real bed every night was a staggering luxury to them.
They welcomed this comfortable, easygoing cruise with open arms.
The happiest among them was probably Yurakne. Meals came with the ship, which meant she could set aside her role as caretaker for a while.
"Troupe Leader, I tried using a different leaf today than yesterday for the tea."
That didn't mean she was content to sit idle. It wasn't in her nature. She needed to find some small task and throw herself into it to feel at ease. A kind of occupational hazard of the homemaker, perhaps.
Her latest fixation was brewing tea.
- Yurakne, do you know how to brew tea?
- Tea?
- Yes. Steeping leaves in water.
- I—I know what it is, but... why all of a sudden...?
- Oh, I just felt like drinking tea made by you.
Once, that request would have made her tremble. What was his angle? Was he looking for an excuse to scold her if she did it wrong?
But that was then. Maybe it was because she now shared a fragment of his secret. His true nature remained an enigma, his real intentions unknowable, but she no longer feared him the way she used to. The fact that he had asked something of her genuinely pleased her. She liked being asked. And she liked granting those requests and watching the other person smile.
Definitely a homemaker's occupational hazard.
Tea she had steeped herself. Leaves she had fussed over a little more than necessary with her own hands.
She studied the Troupe Leader's face as he drank it. When a smile formed on his lips, the corners of her own mouth lifted in response.
"How is it?"
"Wow, the aroma's definitely deeper than yesterday's. Heh, at this rate I won't be able to live without your tea, Yurakne."
At his praise, a laugh—pff-heh-heh—escaped her before she could stop it.
Ah, was that laugh too eager?
No, no. You were just smiling back at his smile, that's all.
She took a delicate sip from her own cup. A sweet sensation tickled her tongue.
Strange. She hadn't added any sugar. There was no reason for sweetness. Then she looked at the Troupe Leader's face, smiling at her, and understood. Synesthesia. A sweetness born from the pleasure of watching that man.
"The ship belongs to a trading company president, so I suppose all the blends are high-grade."
Ahh, the company president. Must be nice, having all that money.
But what good does it do you?
The Troupe Leader only drinks the tea I brew for him. Tee-hee.
I saw everything from the terrace yesterday. Even when you offered him a beverage, he just held onto his cup and said—
- This is my favorite.
Too bad, rich young lady.
You looked so happy, watching the smile he gives you...
But you don't know, do you? The meaning of that smile.
I do, though. Tee-hee.
Bwooo, bwoo, bwoooong—
The paddle steamer pushed up the Dragonyu River, its horn sounding in a long, lazy note. They were two days out from their destination.
On the bridge terrace, Wonderstein, Yurakne, and Ella had finished lunch and were taking their tea as usual.
Regrettably, the other troupe members couldn't come up on deck. Sailors were a superstitious lot. If the members loitered near the gunwales and were spotted by another ship, there'd be hell to pay. Still, the cargo hold was spacious with no other freight, and the amenities were well-appointed, so nobody complained.
"Ella, how's your tea?"
"...It's fine, I suppose."
Ella seemed sullen. Even when Yurakne tried to chat, she only nodded half-heartedly. She'd been like this since boarding.
No—the signs had been there even before. An edge to her mood. A simmering discomfort.
Yurakne had her guesses about the cause, but she kept them to herself.
"Troupe Leader, now that I think of it, the Viscountess hasn't been seen much since the first day. She's our sponsor—I'd love to serve her some tea."
"She told me her work keeps her confined to her cabin. I only managed to see her briefly yesterday myself."
Yurakne smiled at Wonderstein's reply.
"She's the head of a trading company, so I suppose being busy comes with the territory. Though it does make you wonder. If she's that swamped with work, why take a cruise at all?"
There was an uncharacteristically leading undertone in her voice. Wonderstein didn't pick up on it at all. He just gave a faint, untroubled smile and answered in an even voice.
"She's been shut away in her manor for a long time. Maybe she wanted fresh air, a chance to see the world."
"I... suppose so?"
Yurakne let out an awkward laugh and averted her gaze.
Does the Troupe Leader really not know? Or is he just pretending?
If I wipe that teasing smile off his face and take his words at face value... he really doesn't know, does he?
She felt a silly swell of pride. As she was stifling her laugh, her eyes met Ella's. The girl was staring at her. Yurakne flinched, like a child caught being naughty.
The Troupe Leader might not notice, but a sensitive girl like Ella certainly would.
The intent behind my question. The feeling hiding in my smile.
- Are you marking your territory?
- M-marking territory?
- You're fishing to see what the Troupe Leader thinks of the Viscountess.
- Uhm... was it that obvious?
- Yes. But that clueless demon wouldn't have caught on. He's hopelessly thick about human emotions...
- Haha... true. He really does seem clueless.
Neither of them spoke a word. The exchange above was pure imagination. They communicated solely through glances, through minute shifts in expression.
- What I'm curious about isn't the Viscountess. It's you, Yurakne.
- Me?
- Yes. Why are you acting so chummy with that demon all of a sudden?
- I... I just... well, he is our Troupe Leader. And I felt like we've been giving him the cold shoulder for too long...
- That's a lie.
- ...
Over the past few days, they'd danced around this topic. Never directly addressed. Just casual probes disguised as passing remarks. None of the conversations above or below had actually been spoken aloud. Yet their words and actions unmistakably carried that subtext.
- You liked that demon from the very start.
- That's... true.
- Then you saw what he really is and gave up, didn't you?
- I did, but...
- So why are you getting friendly with him again?
- That's...
- What happened that dawn?
- N-nothing happened.
- Did he seduce you?
- Don't talk about things you don't understand!
That last one had been said out loud. Did he seduce you? At those words, Yurakne had momentarily lost her composure. And in that moment, Ella had realized: Ah. The Troupe Leader didn't seduce her... She's fallen for him again all on her own.
- Ha... fine. I'm sorry. I was just curious, that's all. How you, who feared him so much, could turn around like that.
- That's... well... you're one to talk, aren't you?
- Me?
- Yeah! You hated him so much, loathed him... and lately you've even eaten meals with him, shared conversations late into the night in the wagon...
Yurakne had fired that one right back. Spent the whole night with the Troupe Leader and got friendly, did you? It must have struck a nerve. Ella's glare, fierce and sharp, still lingered in her memory.
- That was work! Work! Do you have any idea how hard it is to plan a performance? The stage design, the costumes, the script—we were up to our necks in it! You think I enjoy being around that demon?
- S-sorry... I was just wondering...
- ...No. I'm the one who got snippy.
- ...
- ...
There was no need to interrogate her, really. The answer to why Yurakne was acting this way was obvious.
- I just... like him. That's why.
- You like a man who laughs while killing and torturing people?
- O-of course those things he did were terrible... but the laughter, that's...!
- That's...?
Yurakne wavered for a moment, then shook her head.
I can't say it. That's a secret between me and the Troupe Leader.
Ella, if I told you, it would be a betrayal of the trust given to me.
Ah, I'm sorry. I'll be honest.
I want to be the only one who understands him. The special one.
- It's... ah, never mind. Anyway, I'm not as afraid of the Troupe Leader as I used to be.
- Yurakne...
- I know he's someone who exists outside normal bounds. He's... broken, in some way. The way he treats human lives so carelessly, that among other things... but I've seen a different side of him. You probably won't believe me... but he was crying.
- Crying? That man?
- Ah, no... he said he wanted to cry. And I didn't think it sounded like a lie.
- Ha...
- I want to believe him. So I decided to. To take his words and actions at face value...
- ...
- ...I know. It's foolish. Maybe I've just fallen for the devil's temptation again.
- It is foolish. And you have been fooled. Pfft.
- ...
- Do as you like. It's not my place to tell you what to do. As long as he hasn't forced you into anything, I don't care.
- Thank you. And... I'm sorry.
- I said it's fine.
Ella didn't want to admit it, but she could understand her.
Strictly speaking, the troupe members had no real cause to be hostile toward Wonderstein. The problem was the brutal, inhuman acts he'd committed elsewhere—not anything he'd done to mistreat them. In fact, it was the opposite. He always treated them with courtesy, never uttered a disrespectful word. He saw to their basic welfare—meals, sleeping arrangements. The man who had toyed with hundreds of lives never laid a harmful finger on his troupe.
Well. All but one. The member who had turned to stone.
And in the last month, he hadn't done anything particularly evil. If anything, he'd made more gestures of consideration toward them. It was only natural that the members' wariness had begun to thaw. Yurakne, especially, had always harbored feelings for the Troupe Leader. It was no surprise that her turn had come earlier than others.
But Ella was different. No matter how kindly he treated her, she could never bring herself to like him.
No—she must not like him.
- Ella... run... monster...
- A man in black clothes...
- Demon...! A demon's appeared!
- Don't go to the school...
A circus school that gathered children with nowhere to go and taught them skills. It stood along a route frequented by desert caravans. Ella had been there for as long as she could remember. Calling it a circus school was generous—it was an orphanage in all but name. Poor, with shabby facilities.
But there were friends she'd trained alongside since childhood. A strict yet kind old master. Warm, friendly villagers. Traveling merchants who'd stop in for a drink and enjoy their little shows before moving on.
All of them had been precious.
Wonderstein had destroyed all of it. Half a year ago, the demon who had come to her village had slaughtered the villagers, and most of her school friends along with them.
One whose whole body had melted like candle wax.
One whose skull had split open, a tangle of tentacles bursting from the crack.
One who had vomited out her own entrails.
- If Miss Ella comes with me, the rest can live.
That had been his entire purpose. That was how his mind worked. Ah, I need this person. Anything that gets in the way, even a little, needs to be swept aside.
So he'd killed the villagers. So he'd killed her circus friends.
With only the master and a few others spared, he'd calmly smiled and repeated his offer: come with him if she wanted the survivors to live.
He was a demon.
But... she had never told the other troupe members what he had done to her. She was afraid they might turn hostile toward him for her sake. And that they might end up like the people of her hometown. The contract Wonderstein had made was with Ella alone. The rest he could reach at any time. Look at the troupe member who'd dared cross him and was now a statue.
Watching Yurakne grow cozy with Wonderstein was deeply distasteful—but it was better to let it be. Better for Yurakne's sake, too. The same went for the other members.
But... what about me?
What am I supposed to do...?
- Have you heard of the Circus Grand Prix?
Of course she knew. She was a circus school graduate, after all. The fact that his filthy mouth dared even utter those words was what enraged her.
- Hello, everyone! I'm Ella, a trainer with the Monster Circus Troupe!
Most of the friends she'd promised to stand on that stage with had left this world... while she...
- Today's performance was another huge success!
...was enjoying herself. Drafting scripts, preparing stages, leading performances—and smiling. Heart fluttering at the thought she might one day step onto the stage of her dreams. She was enjoying this life. This journey.
And Ella could not forgive herself for it. For looking at Wonderstein and thinking, 'Maybe he has some good points after all.'