Flames of Wonder
As befitted a circus troupe that specialized in fire, there was no need for stage lighting.
In fact, artificial lights would only dull the brilliant splendor of the flames rather than enhance them.
The fire that reappeared was the ability of the troupe member named Kim Jeong-hyeok, who had vanished moments before.
It provided only the bare minimum of visibility using flames instead of lights, a demonstration of just how delicately and how long he could sustain his power.
“Nice to meet you.”
Though the speaker had yet to show themselves, a pillar of fire erupted from the floor in time with the voice.
There was no variety of color, but several pillars resembling miniature storms swirled around the edge of the stage.
The greeting consisted of nothing more than a simple “nice to meet you,” their name, and their Hunter rank. After that, all that remained was to showcase their ability.
The numerous small pillars of fire circled the perimeter before gradually converging at the center, merging into one colossal column of flame.
The fire circus had an open ceiling.
It wasn’t intentional. After repeated performances, the ceiling would burn away every time, and though they had repaired it several times, they had eventually given up.
Thanks to that, the pillar of fire soaring unobstructed into the night sky was visible from well beyond the shopping district, its majesty on full display.
“Ahh!”
The pure blaze was dazzling to the eyes.
The pillar radiated such intense light that even Seona and Jeong-woo had to shield their eyes with one hand. Yet Seona was doing her best to take it all in.
She hadn’t lived long, but this was the most beautiful sight she had ever witnessed in her life.
Her eyes, which had been sparkling simply from watching something lovely, were now filled to the brim by the towering flames. Seona wore a radiant smile, too awestruck even to voice her wonder.
“Whoa…”
Jeong-woo was hardly any different.
So this was the kind of world that existed.
Things he had only seen in comics or novels were unfolding right before his eyes. He couldn’t even find the words to express his amazement.
Sitting all the way in the back had been the right choice. Because of their height difference, Seona was watching the circus from Jeong-woo’s lap.
Whenever a pillar of fire surged upward, he could feel her small hand gripping his arm tighter as he held her at just the right height.
This circus was completely new to him, yet strangely, more eyes seemed drawn to Seona than to the performance itself.
Because her expressions were ones no one had seen before.
It wasn’t magic—it was true magic.
Jeong-woo had at least encountered such things through comics and novels, but Seona had not. To her, magic had only meant tossing around tiny sparks. Today’s circus far surpassed anything she had imagined.
“Thank you.”
By then, the Hunter’s fiery performance had ended. The surroundings plunged back into darkness.
“How was it, Seona?”
“It was the best! The wizard uncles were amazing!”
“Hehe, I’m glad you enjoyed it. That makes this old man happy too.”
The circus continued.
Though every performer wielded the same fire-based abilities, each handled the flames in their own unique way. Some manipulated them with delicate precision, while others produced the fierce, flamboyant blazes that people usually pictured when they thought of fire.
The area darkened once more.
Normally, sparks would have risen first to illuminate the space as before, but this time was different. A sound came first instead of flames.
It was a harsh, metallic scraping noise, like something made of iron being dragged across the ground. It was not the kind of sound that brought any sense of comfort.
“Kuuuuaaaargh!”
With a monstrous roar, the surroundings brightened.
Just like earlier, flowers of flame bloomed in midair to light the area, but this time they didn’t merely provide visibility—they bathed everything in brilliant illumination.
At last, the source of the sound came into view.
Inside an enormous iron cage large enough to match the deafening noise that had shaken the entire venue, a Magic Beast with green skin and a massive frame was imprisoned. It was an orc.
The caged orc was visibly agitated, repeatedly letting out savage roars as if it might shatter the bars at any moment.
“This would be tonight’s main event.”
The leader of the fire circus troupe finally appeared in person. What followed was a display of the full power of the members who had performed from the very beginning.
And this performance wasn’t limited to the stage inside the circus tent.
Beneath the circus arena lay a space that was usually empty, a place no one visited unless maintenance was needed after a show.
Two Hunters were already waiting there, biding their time.
“Now?”
“Yes. Now. Begin. Don’t make any mistakes.”
“Well, it’s not difficult. It’s just one child.”
Right on cue, the sound of metal scraping across the floor echoed above them. At the same moment, the Hunter with ice abilities began channeling his magic power.
Though classified as an ice ability, this Hunter specialized in creating illusions. The target was located directly above him.
“Hoo…”
A sigh escaped along with a puff of visible breath as he manipulated his power. The magic surged upward and reached its target.
“Did it work?”
“…Success. Proceed as planned.”
“Good. Thanks for your help.”
Illusions were not the kind of ability one could simply start and stop at will. Unless the user was a much stronger Hunter, maintaining the effect required continuous focus. Besides, this wasn’t even his primary specialization.
Still, if this part succeeded, there was no need to worry about the rest. All that remained was to wait for time to pass and for the circus’s main event to conclude.
A non-Hunter would have no way of knowing that someone was using an ability on them.
“Why did it suddenly get cold?”
Jeong-woo felt a sudden chill but dismissed it as nothing more than his imagination.
He failed to notice that Seona’s brown eyes had momentarily flashed with a blue light.
The blue glow in her eyes quickly returned to their original color.
‘This… wouldn’t Seona be better off not seeing it?’
Nothing alarming had happened yet, but Jeong-woo’s instincts were warning him.
What would the Hunters lined up in front of that caged orc do to it?
Its green skin would probably be charred black. Those fierce yet lively eyes would lose both their ferocity and their vitality.
Taking the life of a living being.
Jeong-woo didn’t feel particularly troubled by it. After all, it was a Magic Beast, a creature that killed people.
But he had no idea how Seona would react.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to show her the orc dying. He simply didn’t want her to witness the moment a living being’s flame of life slowly flickered out and vanished.
She had already lost someone close to her who had gone on a long journey.
So, just as the process was about to begin, he reached out to cover her eyes.
“……?”
“It’s all right.”
“Pardon…?”
What did she mean, it was all right?
More than that, the fact that she said it was all right meant she already understood what he was worried about. On what basis was she speaking so confidently?
“The child will see something else.”
“Something… else?”
“Yes. Things that are okay to see. Beautiful things.”
“What exactly do you mean by…”
“Would you like to see it together? What the child is seeing.”
It seemed everything had already been prepared. Was something like that even possible?
“Is that allowed?”
“Well, these days it’s harder to find things that aren’t possible.”
“Then… please do it.”
“Understood.”
The attendant gave a faint smile and lightly stamped one foot.
Magic power flowed downward along with the motion. The Hunter below, who had been maintaining the ability, immediately began channeling an even greater amount of power.
“Kwaaaaaah!”
Just before the ability took effect on Jeong-woo, the last thing he saw was a scene inside the circus tent. It resembled the flames that had been lighting the arena, only far larger and hotter, engulfing the orc’s body like blazing flowers.
A sudden shiver ran through him.
At the same time, the scene before his eyes changed completely.
“Huh…”
The orc remained where it was, but the iron bars that had blocked its path had vanished.
The orc began using the same flames the other Hunters had wielded.
“Waa… it’s so pretty…”
Only then, upon seeing the same scenery as Seona, did Jeong-woo hear her voice.
‘To this extent…’
Before the chill had set in, the scene had shown Hunters hunting an orc. Now it looked as though the orc and the Hunters were in some kind of harmony.
Harmony with a Magic Beast.
It was an ill-fitting image, yet for that very reason it felt all the more dramatic.
The harmony between the orc and the Hunters did not last long. In reality, the orc had likely already lost its life.
At that moment, the illusory orc stepped off the stage on its own.
Once again, Jeong-woo felt the chill. The scene changed naturally. When his eyes briefly met Seona’s, he saw that her pupils had turned blue.
“Ah! Daddy’s eyes!”
“Hm? Oh, they turned blue, huh?”
“Yes. They’re pretty.”
Apparently fascinated by Jeong-woo’s blue eyes, Seona reached up to touch his face, smiling brightly.
Seona with blue eyes.
When her eyes were brown, she gave off a warm, cozy feeling. With blue eyes, she seemed refreshingly cool and clear. It was the kind of look that made you think she should be in a sports drink commercial.
“You’re even prettier, Seona.”
“Hehe. I was waiting.”
“For what?”
“I was waiting for Daddy to say that.”
“Haha. Were you really?”
She had been waiting for him to say she was prettier.
Usually she resembled a cat, but when she smiled she looked like a puppy. And when she spoke like this, she somehow seemed like a little fox.
While they shared this brief conversation, the illusion had already faded. The orc and its iron cage had left the stage as well.
“Thank you. And now for the finale…”
This was the final moment of the circus.
All the Hunters appeared together, combining their abilities to create new flames. Pillars of red fire bloomed with blossoms of different colors. Arrows of flame were launched into the air. And so the fire circus came to an end.
To others it might have been a new beginning, but for Jeong-woo and Seona, this was the conclusion.
“Waaaaah!”
A voice filled with deeper emotion than anyone else in the tent, accompanied by enthusiastic applause, rang out through the once-quiet circus arena.
Perhaps because of that, everyone seated in the front rows turned their heads at once to look at the source of the sound.
All eyes converged on one spot in an instant.
Seona had been so captivated by the beautiful sights that she had gasped and clapped without thinking. But when all those gazes—especially the Hunters’—suddenly focused on her, she couldn’t help but shrink back.
“What’s this? A little kid?”
“Why is a child here?”
The voices held no hostility, only curiosity.
Had she done something wrong? Was she not supposed to clap or make noise?
More than the thought that she had done something unnecessary, the instinctive fear that she had done something she shouldn’t have gripped her. The only refuge she had right now was her father, so she could do nothing but bury herself tightly in his arms.
“Waaaaah!”
“That was the best!”
Then, as if on cue, the other Hunters began clapping and cheering.
Jeong-woo glanced at the attendant, wondering if this had been planned too, but the man’s surprised expression suggested otherwise.
“How was it? Wasn’t it fun?”
“Today was especially good, wasn’t it?”
“Little one, was this your first time?”
When the other Hunters smiled and spoke to her, Seona cautiously peeked out from Jeong-woo’s embrace.
With a shy little smile.
“…Yes!”