6. The Reversal Opening Ceremony (7)
6. The Reversal Opening Ceremony (7)
The road from the hotel to the theater was packed with people.
The crowd was so thick that even in the middle of the main thoroughfare, the carriage could barely manage any speed.
Before long, we were moving slower than a person could walk.
Just as I began to worry we wouldn't make it in time, the carriage suddenly picked up pace again.
From the city hall to the theater entrance, the police had set up barricades to secure a clear access route.
Is this what it feels like to fly down the shoulder of a gridlocked highway?
The coachman informed us we would arrive in three minutes.
As our estimated arrival drew closer, the inside of the carriage grew busy.
Anais adjusted the ornaments on her hat with her handmaid's help, Ella straightened the collar of her uniform, and even Maya, who had seemed indifferent to grooming, combed out a stray lock of hair.
Sir Porshu even peered into a mirror to trim his mustache.
I simply watched them.
I had no need for such preening.
Wonderstein's body was unlike that of an ordinary human.
It maintained a constant state without washing or grooming.
Invading bacteria, dust, and the like were repelled by the skin layer on their own after a while.
Even after days of sleeping rough, there was never a trace of grease or sleep in my eyes.
Washing myself was purely a leisure activity.
The carriage stopped in front of the theater, and the door swung open.
A roaring wave of cheers and heat crashed over us.
The old me might have been overwhelmed by the atmosphere and found it hard to breathe.
But the Smiling Man greeted the crowd's gaze with a relaxed smirk, accepting it all naturally.
We walked to the theater entrance under police escort.
A red carpet rolled out across the ground and a cordon of cabaret staff stood in welcome.
I had decided to part ways with Ella and Maya here.
"If sightseeing wears you out, you two can head back to the lodging first."
At my words, they exchanged a brief glance, then shook their heads in unison.
"We'll go back together. You'll have to tell us what you saw and heard in there."
"I'll wait."
"Heh. Then I'll see you in four hours. Enjoy the show."
"You watch yourself. Don't go causing trouble. Don't pick any fights with the other troupes, either."
"You'll do fine."
The two girls walked off together, disappearing behind the police barricades.
I was relieved to see them getting along.
When Maya first said she'd join the troupe, I'd worried her personality might clash with Ella's.......
But being the same age must have helped them grow close quickly.
"Troupe Leader, may I ask for your escort?"
Anais held out her hand, her face coloring slightly.
Over the past few days, I'd learned etiquette from the tutors she had hired.
I accepted her hand with a smooth bow.
"Heh, of course. Shall we go?"
My response seemed to have been appropriate.
A bright smile lit her face.
But was it just my imagination, or did that smile look sadder than it did happy?
Together, we entered the lobby.
Inside, press from all over the world were busy taking photos and conducting interviews with the Circus Grand Prix attendees.
"A tournament resumed after a full seventeen years, is it not? To finally set foot on the stage I adored as a child is a tremendous honor. Passing the preliminaries is not my goal. My sights are set on victory......."
Someone had gotten there before us.
A booming voice filled the lobby.
I glanced over, finding the tone familiar, and saw a face I knew.
'Rooster' Minova.
True to his name, he was a striking man with a red mohawk and beard evoking a rooster's comb, and a massive black feather ornament on his back shaped like tail plumage.
With his overdeveloped, muscular upper body, he always boasted of being a man among men, but his conduct was notoriously petty beyond compare.
He dragged out a string of platitudes in a pompous speech that visibly bored the reporters. Even as he talked, they kept glancing around and tuning him out.
Then one reporter's eyes met ours.
He stared at Anais, his eyes going wide, and suddenly let out a yelp.
"......It's Viscountess Bergson!"
"Huh?"
"Wait, really?"
"Of the Bergson Trading Company?"
"Is that the rumored man beside the Viscountess?"
The press's attention snapped to us in an instant.
Minova, mid-interview, was abruptly shoved out of the spotlight.
Reporters clamored for us to hurry and stand in front of the cameras, and the event emcee hastily ushered Minova down from the platform.
Minova's face flushed as red as his hair.
He shot me a glare full of resentment.
Hey, they were all bored with you anyway.
I looked away from him and reviewed the lines I had prepared.
Ella had scripted them for me in case I slipped up during an interview.
The questions were mostly a set of standardized topics anyway. Memorizing them wasn't hard.
-Winning is a distant goal. For now, I'm just focused on doing my best.
-The acrobat I respect most? Naturally, Ursus.
-That's a secret. A magician can't reveal his own tricks.
But not one of the questions fired at us was something we had anticipated.
"What exactly is the nature of your relationship?"
"Are you really involved, as the rumors say?"
"What occasion brought you together?"
A barrage of questions from a mob of people.
Flashes popping from every direction.
The content of the questions was something I'd never expected either.
I was seriously thrown.
What? Anais and I are involved?
What rumors?
The Smiling Man helped me keep my composure, but it didn't teach me what to say in a situation like this.
This was territory beyond any game strategy guide.
As I stood there smiling vacantly, Anais thankfully stepped in to handle the situation.
Today is the opening ceremony.
We won't be taking personal questions.
We will arrange a formal setting to address the circulating rumors.
Soon enough, the next participants arrived, and we narrowly escaped the press area.
"What's going on?"
Her composed response was no spur-of-the-moment improvisation.
She had clearly known this was coming.
She flashed the same sad-looking smile I'd seen earlier.
"I'll explain everything once we're in the room."
The opening ceremony was being held in the Rose Windmill's Hall No. 1.
It was the same place where Ella had worked as a double in <Count Wolfenstein>.
The seating in Hall No. 1 was divided into two main types.
First, ground-floor tables with an up-close view of the stage. Second, balcony seats on the second, third, and fourth floors overlooking the stage below.
The ground floor was already packed.
It was filled with local dignitaries and influential figures who had cooperated in hosting the Grand Prix.
Grand Prix participants were assigned to the balcony seats on the upper floors.
As we headed for the stairs, we bumped into someone at the entrance.
"If it isn't Viscountess Bergson."
"Baron Dosville."
A young man with chestnut hair and a frivolous look sauntered over to us.
He'd been addressed as a baron, so he had to be a noble.
Though, how many non-nobles would even be here in the first place?
"Goodness, so the rumors of your recovery are true. No sign of that dreadful machine, either."
Keeping his oily attitude, he raked a sticky gaze over Anais's body.
Anais scowled deeply at the look.
"What brings you here, Baron?"
"Didn't you know? I'm a VIP client of this cabaret."
Baron Dosville winked.
Given the level of his humor, Anais's reaction, and the way Sir Porshu's expression hardened behind her, the man clearly had a poor reputation.
"And who might this be?"
He did a theatrical double-take, as if just noticing me.
"...This is Troupe Leader Wonderstein, who leads the circus I am sponsoring. Troupe Leader, this is Baron Dosville. He used to come to my manor to tutor me. He's more learned than he looks."
He didn't take offense at Anais's sarcasm.
Instead, he snickered.
With exaggerated gestures, he expressed his delight at meeting me.
"Oh, to meet the man of the rumors! It's an honor to make your acquaintance! My, what a remarkable face you have. I can certainly understand why the Viscountess is so smitten. I once made advances toward her myself, you know, and was soundly rejected! Haha!"
He deliberately raised his voice to draw the attention of everyone nearby.
There was an unmistakable sneer on his lips.
Anais's face twisted.
People around us began murmuring.
The looks they gave us were anything but friendly.
-What's that? Viscountess Bergson? What's going on?
-Haven't you heard the rumors? You know. The circus leader she's taken up with.
-That man? Wow, he is handsome.
-Word is she's lost her head over a man and is running the company into the ground.
The whispers were clearly meant for us to overhear, and they were hard to stomach.
He had approached us specifically to goad this kind of reaction.
[Circus Troupe Fame has decreased by 2.]
Damn it.
Our troupe's fame had been plummeting over the past week or two.
I'd wondered if it was due to our long hiatus from performing, but it looked like those rumors—or whatever they were—were the real problem.
Fame wasn't simply a matter of being widely talked about. If infamy built up, it could drop.
The malice woven into the stares aimed our way was easy enough to read.
What the hell was going on?
These rumors.
"C-come, let's go."
Anais, seemingly unable to look me straight in the eye, hurried ahead.
We left the prying stares behind and climbed the stairs.
The seats we were assigned to were on the fourth floor.
The cabaret's balcony seats were similar to those in other theaters, but with one difference.
Each came with a lavish bedroom attached at the back.
"Ah...... the bedroom is so pretty......."
Anais spoke in an airy voice.
A bed studded with provocative red heart decorations.
A small raised platform with a pole for dancing.
And in the corner, a whip, a gag, and even a dog collar, for some reason.
With all the red lighting and curtains, I felt like I'd walked into a love hotel.
We stepped out onto the balcony and took our seats.
The full panorama of the hall spread out below us.
The table was set with welcome drinks—several kinds of top-shelf liquor and refreshments.
"You enjoy tea, don't you, Troupe Leader?"
Anais poured me a glass of iced black tea and handed it over.
I accepted it but didn't drink.
It was simply because I was tired of tea, but Anais seemed to think I was silently swallowing my anger. She fidgeted, restless.
"You were quite startled today, weren't you?"
"A little."
I said it with a smile, but that only seemed to make her more uneasy.
She kept glancing my way, hesitating to bring something up.
A faltering, diffident attitude.
Was this the same woman who always faced every situation with a sneer and a proud, cutting remark?
I'd been on the receiving end of it plenty, and I hadn't much cared for it.
Still, seeing her so cowed wasn't pleasant either.
I'd have almost welcomed it if she'd spent the time downstairs sharply mocking the nobles gossiping behind her back.
What had made her shrink into herself like this?
After studying my expression carefully, she got to the point.
"The truth is, a rumor started circulating a while ago. That you and I are...... involved."
Her face heated to a bright red.
Anais, bashful?
I'm seeing all sorts of rare sights today.
"It didn't seem to end there, though."
If it were just that, our fame wouldn't be bleeding out like this.
Her attitude, and the way people were whispering about us earlier, both hinted at something else.
I could tell there was more to it.
She nodded.
"I can guess who's spreading the rumors."
She ran a finger along the rim of her glass, then spoke a name I knew well.
"Pierre Maupassant."
I hadn't expected that name to come up here.
A wry smile crossed my face.
"The Viscountess's uncle, you mean."
"The man who tried to kill me."
"He wasn't caught?"
"It seems he's already gone into hiding somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. Down there, there are hundreds of nameless islands alone. Once he's in, finding him is nearly impossible."
When I heard his name, an internal sense of inevitability settled over me.
A quest that had ended differently than in the original had finally come back around as a butterfly effect.