7. Trial of the Rose Windmill Cabaret (4)
7. Trial of the Rose Windmill Cabaret (4)
Ella was more on edge than usual.
You could tell just by looking at her.
Not only her collar and sleeves but even the folds of her skirt were pressed into razor-sharp creases. Her shoes and epaulettes gleamed brightly enough to reflect a face, and the feather ornament on her hat had a glossy purple sheen, as though she'd replaced it with a brand-new one.
Even the animals she handled had been decked out.
Gudol the pigeon sported a black bow tie around his neck, and Jjiksun the mouse had a pink ribbon tied at the tip of her tail. Both wore tiny hats on their heads, identical in style to Ella's own.
Where on earth had she found props like those?
At my question, Ella shrugged as if it were nothing special.
"These? I bought the materials at a fabric shop and tailored them myself."
She tapped the tiny hats on the pigeon and the mouse with the tip of her finger.
Despite all the bits and bobs attached to their bodies, Ella had managed everything so unobtrusively that the two of them cooed and squeaked in obvious contentment.
"Miss Ella, your versatility truly knows no bounds. Heh heh."
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean, all of a sudden...?"
Ella averted her gaze, a small pout forming on her lips.
I simply offered her a gentle smile in return.
"But tell me, why is your drawing skill so... unique?"
"Urk."
The moment the topic of drawing came up, her face instantly crumpled.
Even the normally stoic Yurakne and Sven let out a chuckle.
Everyone was clearly recalling the incident from the day before yesterday.
"Oo-hoo, that? It was truly something spectacular."
"Ha ha, I had no idea what it was supposed to be, but it certainly had the kind of appearance that would qualify it as a member of our circus troupe."
At Sven's remark, Yurakne poked him in the side.
"That was the Troupe Leader, you know."
"Ah, blast! I assumed it was some kind of starved mutant monkey with golden fur...."
"Sh-shut up!"
Ella yelled, her face instantly flushing bright red.
Her cheeks burning, she stole a glance at my face.
"D-did you really have to bring that up...?"
"I'm the one who's disappointed. Just how did you draw it to get this kind of reaction from everyone...?"
"I don't know! I don't even remember! I burned it, so just drop it!"
Ella yanked her hat down so low it nearly covered her eyes and slumped roughly into her seat.
"Maya will handle it well enough. She says she's been learning to draw since she was a child. I'm sure I could've managed at least that much if I'd learned, but...."
The day before yesterday, Ella had gathered the troupe members and proposed they paint a signboard.
Putting together what Bwallet had implied at the opening ceremony with information she'd gathered from the cabaret staff, she concluded that winning the favor of this city's residents was likely to play a major role in the test.
Wouldn't it help, she'd suggested, to hang a large signboard in front of the hotel?
A signboard was one of the most important promotional tools for any performance.
We already had one, painted for us some time ago by the Axville Merchants Association.
But that had always been a stopgap, and it looked terribly shabby compared to the ones other circus troupes put up.
So we'd decided to paint a new one.
Even in an era where illusion mages played an active role, an actual painter was still the better choice for a job like this.
A signboard had to hang outside for days, even weeks on end, and without rotating dozens of mages, maintaining a consistent illusion of that scale was impossible.
Even a prodigy like Maya would struggle to sustain an illusion large enough to serve as a signboard for more than an hour.
And so, with supreme confidence, Ella had picked up a brush and begun painting the signboard illustration.
Given the exceptional talent she'd displayed in so many other fields, I'd assumed she'd handle this one just as well.
The result, however, was a complete disaster.
It was so bad that the members seriously debated whether it wouldn't be better to just glue the old, broken Axville Merchants Association signboard back together and use that instead.
I truly regretted not being able to see it with my own eyes.
"I'll paint it."
Unable to watch any longer, Maya stepped in, brush and palette in hand.
She had learned to draw from her father, who was a painter.
Seeing the precision she applied when constructing illusions, painting a signboard for the circus entrance was well within her capabilities.
Once she began a task, the level of her concentration was almost frightening.
She even refused to attend the preliminary task presentation, insisting she had work to do.
She shook her head even when Yurakne tried to persuade her that it wouldn't take long.
Today's event involved no celebratory performance or special introductions of dignitaries.
It was merely a simple meal with light refreshments, the announcement of the test assignments, and a couple of random draws.
We'd probably just be sitting there for about an hour and then leaving.
That was the only reason Yurakne and Sven were able to volunteer to come along.
The troupe members still felt uneasy about venturing into crowded places. Today, because the stay would be short, the two who were least shy around strangers could join me.
The event was being held in the very same hall where the opening ceremony had taken place.
Hall No. 1 of the Rose Windmill Cabaret.
This was my third visit.
I found myself idly glancing up at the ceiling where the electric light had fallen, and my eyes also drifted to the stage where I'd once stood as a defendant.
This place had offered me thoroughly unpleasant memories on every visit.
I just hoped today would be an exception.
"Hey, there you are!"
From a table across the way, a man sporting a red mohawk and a red beard that swayed like a rooster's comb approached me.
Rooster Minova.
The leader of the Morning Star Circus.
I hadn't cared for him at first, but ever since he'd taken my side at the trial, I'd developed a certain goodwill toward him.
"Ha ha! Good to see you! And this must be your Deputy Leader? A pleasure! Word of mouth doesn't do you justice — you look impeccably sharp. Ooh, and an absolute beauty here! Hmm, and you there — you're covering your face. Ah, who cares, ha ha!"
I matched his cheerful greeting, smiling back and asking after his well-being.
Deep down, though, I felt a faint sense of dissonance.
Could a person really change this much?
It was difficult to imagine that in just two years, this seemingly pleasant man would be warped into someone so twisted and malicious.
Minova doubled as both a singer and a strongman. Perhaps because of that, he was heavily built with well-developed muscles.
His upper body was disproportionately large compared to his lower body, and his impressively wide shoulders were particularly striking.
By rough estimate, each shoulder seemed to span more than 30 centimeters.
As if he wanted to emphasize that point, he'd even perched a large doll on one shoulder.
It was a chick-shaped doll, a fitting match for his "Rooster" nickname.
As I was quietly observing this, the chick doll suddenly spoke.
"Hello...."
I flinched in surprise, but — thanks to The Smiling Man — I managed to nod calmly, as if I'd known all along that it was a real person.
A human face revealed itself from under the hood.
It was a little girl, not even five years old.
She was wearing a one-piece animal onesie made of fluffy yellow fabric.
What I'd mistaken for a doll was actually her.
Minova grinned broadly, like a man who'd been waiting for someone to finally notice.
"Allow me to introduce you! This is our circus's darling little Deputy Leader, Miss Ruelo!"
He hoisted the girl on his shoulder up high as he announced this.
The child in his hands blushed and hid her face behind her yellow wing decorations.
"N-no, I'm not... I'm just Daddy's daughter...."
Ruelo squirmed, trying to wriggle free of her father's grasp.
The motion made her look precisely like a chick flapping its wings.
A smile naturally spread across my lips, and my troupe members, Ella included, giggled among themselves. The child's flustered reaction was simply that adorable.
Perhaps because of the commotion, the gazes of those around us began to converge on our table.
-What? Who's that?
-Ah, isn't that... is that the Wonderstein guy?
-The one from the news?
-Wow, he's handsome. My eyes are feasting a hundred times over!
-Who's the man across from him?
-No idea.
-I think that's the leader of the Morning Star Circus.
-Ugh, noisy guy. Has a terribly loud voice.
Most people's attention was directed at me.
It was because of the trial business at the opening ceremony.
But Ruelo, thinking everyone was staring because of her father's loud introduction, hid her face with her wings and let out a few soft, huffing sighs.
I was gazing at her with a fond smile when I turned to Minova and spoke.
"You have a daughter?"
"Of course! I'm over forty now — you think I wouldn't be married?"
At his words, I felt as if something heavy had come crashing down on my head.
In TT1, he'd worried about his missing troupe members, sure, but he never once mentioned his family. Neither his profile nor his backstory ever said a word about a daughter.
The reason his personality would warp two years from now.
The reason he was going out of his way to act so friendly toward me.
Both were connected, leading to a single conclusion.
I realized that his sudden, loud performance cheering for me at the opening ceremony had begun the very moment it was revealed that I had healed Anais's illness.
I whispered to him.
"Is she ill?"
Minova's shoulders jolted.
"Waaah! So cute! So adorable!"
Ella plucked Ruelo from Minova's hands and scooped her into her arms.
She had a deep love for animals and all things cute.
The sight of Ruelo in her chick onesie was exactly the kind of thing that made her gush uncontrollably.
Minova watched the scene with a fond look, then his expression sobered for a moment as he whispered back to me.
"How did you know?"
"...I just had a feeling."
"As I thought...! So the rumor that you cured Viscountess Bergson's illness was true, then."
With that, he clamped his mouth shut.
I could feel him hesitating, wanting to say more.
What he wanted to say was something even a fool could guess.
Before giving a premature answer, I used my Evolution Lab's Diagnosis Function to examine her illness first.
Fortunately, it was a treatable condition.
The Lab immediately gave me an estimate.
"I can cure her."
There hadn't been a question, but I answered anyway.
Minova looked startled for a second, but his expression quickly hardened into resolve.
"I apologize. I should have been the one to ask you first."
"Heh heh, don't mention it."
Just then, the child in the chick onesie called out to us.
"Daddy, look at this!"
There, the mouse and pigeon Ella handled were performing tricks for a single onlooker.
Jjiksun stood up tall on her two hind legs and launched into a series of back tumbles, while Gudol performed precarious aerial maneuvers, his wings folded tight against his body.
Minova, who'd been wearing a somber expression, immediately broke into a beaming smile when he saw his daughter laughing back at him.
Ruelo, looking as proud as if she'd personally commanded the animals, began pestering Ella to show her even more tricks.
Minova stared vacantly at the scene for a moment before murmuring in a subdued voice.
"It's a wondrous thing... having a child."
"Is... it?"
He let out a deep sigh.
"I might not look it now, but when I was young, I was the worst kind of scoundrel. A wandering acrobat by name, but in practice, I moonlighted as a robber and a thief. I'd do anything, as long as it paid. I hit people, stole their money, set fires... I didn't spare a thought for anyone else's pain. I'd squander the money I made on drink and women, doing nothing but spewing complaints about the world. I envied and cursed every man who worked harder than me and made something of himself."
He flexed his fist as he spoke.
He was talking about his past, but to me, it sounded like he was describing his future.