I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Upon returning to the lodging, Simon grabbed Reyna and almost threw her into the training ground.

With her unique sense of balance, she tried to quickly regain her posture.

However, every time she attempted to steady herself, he swung his staff towards her center.

“It’s training.”

Side, thigh, ankle.

With each of his attacks landing, her body wobbled and staggered from the impact.

“Oof, ugh! Oh, father… ugh!”

“You’ve been lazy for two weeks. Your body has gotten dull.”

Despite his daughter’s suffering, he showed no mercy.

Watching his actions, members of the Golden Carnival shook their heads in disapproval.

“Here we go again.”

“He’d rather vent his frustrations on the wrong person.”

They pitied Reyna’s plight.

But unlike before, it was now difficult for them to intervene.

Formally, Simon was training her.

The training focused on maintaining balance and shifting center of gravity to avoid falling.

Although he seemed to be randomly striking, he was actually adhering to the training process.

However, pushing at such intensity left few within the Golden Carnival capable of enduring. It required the skill of a tightrope walker or the agility to barely keep up.

In this era, it was strongly believed that children who hadn’t reached adulthood were entirely the responsibility of their parents.

While he might genuinely injure or even kill her if he wanted, he was still restraining his strength within the boundaries of training.

Indeed, the members who had grown up enduring their father’s harsh discipline couldn’t condemn his actions, even if they found them unpleasant.

“With this level of skill, hmph. You might as well yield your position to Ella.”

Instead, he taunted her with his gaze and words.

Reyna momentarily paused at his mockery, and in that moment, his staff struck her again.

And so, for ten minutes, he mercilessly subjected her to violence under the guise of training before swiftly leaving.

As she rolled on the ground, pouring sweat and saliva, he offered no consolation.

He declared a calm ten-minute break and ordered autonomous training.

Although the members wanted to comfort her, they couldn’t bring themselves to act.

She always rejected their attempts. She was determined to fulfill any task her father set, regardless of the circumstances. And if they dared to criticize her father, she would push them away.

The only person she could relate to was one who had been sent on an errand by Simon today. Perhaps he intended to trade him away once he got Ella, but since the members knew Ella was merely pretending, they weren’t concerned about that.

Lord Fantastic had gone up to his room.

The members hurriedly entered the villa, casting pitiful glances at the crumpled Reyna on the ground.

They wanted to leave her alone.

As soon as they were all inside, curses poured from her lips.

The recent training hadn’t been that intense, really.

It was something he did occasionally when his mood soured.

If it were two weeks ago, she would have calmly accepted the situation.

She just need to work harder.

If she show a better performance, it will be okay.

She would have repeated these words to herself, trying to bolster her resolve.

But now, she couldn’t.

Perhaps because her uncle wasn’t here, it was harder to control her emotions.

Her chest heaved.

Tears flowed.

She clawed at the dirt with her fingernails.

The name of the emotion tormenting her heart was undoubtedly longing.

More pleasant practices awaited her there.

Colleagues who needed her were there.

The affectionate Director was there.

Though it had only been two weeks, it had become dearer to her than her hometown.

She approached the cliff.

Leaning against the wooden balcony railing, she looked down.

A narrow alley was visible several meters below.

If she followed that path, she could get there.

Just five minutes, no, three minutes’ walk away…

Then, cries of horses echoed from below the alley.

It was incredibly bad timing.

A carriage carrying those she longed for had just arrived.

Reyna quickly pressed herself against the railing below.

She feared they might spot her.

They passed beneath the cliff.

The sound of jovial conversation floated up the cliff.

Reyna blocked her ears.

She didn’t want to hear.

It was a place she could never return to.

Longing for it would only hurt her heart.

She had to let go.

She crouched like that for a few minutes.

She took her hands off her ears.

The alley was quiet.

They left.

Still, she could hear their voices and laughter as if they were ringing in her ears.

She stroked the sore spot where she had been hit and held the tender spot where she hadn’t been hit.

The day she fell asleep on Dad’s lap.

The day she looked at the stars with Dad.

The day Dad dressed her.

It felt like a dream from a distant time, even though it happened just yesterday.

She wanted to shout beyond that alley.

Dad, please save me.

Reyna is here.

It’s too hard here.

Can’t you take me away?

She leaned against the railing and wiped away tears.

She regretted it.

Should she have stayed behind, even if it meant throwing a tantrum?

Even if it made things awkward for the other person?

Should she have insisted?

Soon, her father’s allotted rest time would be over.

She had to go back to training.

She hated that she obediently got up.

Her instinct not to defy her father’s words moved her body.

As she was about to leave the balcony, she stopped in her tracks.

Something unbelievable had happened.

Someone was calling her name.

Right next to her.

The owner of the voice was someone she knew.

How could he be here?

It was utterly unbelievable.

But the voice was undoubtedly his.

He had come to see her.

She smiled broadly and turned to look beside her.

“Dad….”

Her smile slowly faded.

There was no one where the voice had come from.

Only silent darkness occupied that space.

Was it just a figment of her longing that she heard?

She let out a disappointed sigh.

Reyna took a step forward.

How foolish.

He wouldn’t suddenly come here.

It was a contract, stupid.

It’s fake.

How long will you live in fantasy?

It’s time to face reality….

“Reyna Maguire, can you hear me?”

She stopped her steps again.

It wasn’t a mistake that she heard it.

***

There were two categories for accepting members.

Putting their names on the system’s Member Management window and listing them on the competition roster.

There was a difference between the two lists.

The system initially counted the Triplets as three individuals.

Each of their affinities was separately displayed, and Inspira was also assigned differently.

And the worker, Ratmen, were excluded in the former.

On the other hand, the latter included Ratmen as an employee of the circus troupe. However, the Triplets were treated as one acrobat.

The system’s judgment seemed to involve some absolute existence, while the competition roster was based on administrative procedures.

During the entrance exam, he had to accept Gascon as a member to return him to normal because of Sven’s Inspira that was causing me mental distress, ‘Clown’s Falsehood,’ only applied to people outside the troupe.

Since the system considered him an outsider, I tried to add him to the member list. However, it didn’t work properly. Despite my efforts and commands, he wasn’t added to the member list. Eventually, I had to use one of the remaining additional selection rights granted by the competition’s regulations to recruit him officially.

Thus, by following the official procedure, I was able to recruit him as a member.

[Gascon Halidon has been added to the member list.]

Recruiting members wasn’t something I could do freely according to my will. It required acts such as the merger of individual wills or social procedures.

Reflecting on it, the same thing happened when Maya joined. I didn’t trigger the system then. She accepted it on her own.

But because of her action, Maya was added to the member list without my consent.

From these facts, I could draw one conclusion: recruiting members didn’t work through deception. It required acts such as the merger of individual wills or social procedures.

If I could add or remove members as I pleased, whenever I encountered a troublesome enemy, I could temporarily add them to the member list and use functions like the Dressing Room to equip them with ‘Iron Armor’ or the Sound Room to blast their ears with ‘Maximum Volume’ to incapacitate them.

So how should I understand this situation?

[You have completed the ‘Sub-Quest: Substitute Dad Part-Time Job.’]

[As a reward, ‘Reyna Maguire’ will be added to the Members list.]

Reyna didn’t join our circus troupe officially. She was just a temporary guest.

However, the system added her to the member list.

I pondered over this all morning.

In games or comics, there were instances where individuals acted separately but were still considered ‘comrades.’

I wondered if this was such a case.

Regardless of social constraints or administrative procedures, her sincerity had already leaned towards this side.

I planned to go to her immediately in the morning to inform her of this news, so we could converse at any time through my magic.

But after receiving Ella’s contact, I reconsidered.

“Lord Fantastic said so. Reyna is going to expose us on stage first,” Ella said.

Reyna was trying to conspire against us under Simon’s command.

It made sense logically, but I felt bitter inside.

It wasn’t directed towards her but towards Lord Fantastic.

Just when I thought her mind was getting a bit healthier, he was trying to break her like this.

I abandoned my intention to contact Reyna.

As long as she was still under Simon’s influence, talking to her was risky.

However, she showed an unexpected side on stage.

She defied her father’s orders.

You could tell from Simon’s expression, who was making a disgusted face.

She held onto her feelings until the end.

Of course, I was still anxious.

This rebellion was a one-time thing.

She could still submit to her father’s orders again.

But I thought about the courage she showed.

Wouldn’t it be okay to trust her once?

Wouldn’t that help her mental independence?

“You rotten brat, you naughty….”

“Child, shush! You’re too noisy! How long are you going to grumble?”

Ella couldn’t stand the constant swearing from Gascon and shouted.

We returned to the mansion.

When we entered the guest room where I intended to contact Reyna, news came from her side as well.

The system detected her desires.

[Member Quest: Do you want to be secret friends with me?]

I read the contents of the quest and laughed.

What a fantastic timing.

She also wanted to contact me.

I opened a communication channel with her through the sound room function.

“Reyna?”

But I heard no response from the other end.

What’s this? Is there interference or equipment failure here too?

“Reyna Maquire, can you hear me?”

When I called her again, I heard her answer from the other side.

“S-Sir…? Is that you, Sir?”

Even from her voice alone, I could tell what emotions she was feeling.

I joked, injecting a bit of mischief into my tone.

“Hehe, seems like my daughter had a rough time, huh?”

***

Under the moonlight, Reyna’s figure could seem eerie to someone unaware of the situation.

The sweaty and dusty girl shouted into the air, alternating between crying and laughing, sitting down hesitantly and then jumping up as if hearing hallucinations.

Intermittently, the word “Dad” could be heard, causing sighs from the members of the Golden Carnival, who recognized the ailment afflicting her heart.

They quickly informed Greimi, who was Reina’s uncle and had been her mother’s companion, albeit limping due to a leg injury, he was a skilled dagger acrobat who visited Reyna once or twice a year despite roaming different regions.

Reyna, rather than her cold and distant father, followed him diligently.

Their connection was also formed during the formation of the Golden Carnival.

Greimi’s face distorted upon hearing the news.

“Reyna? Damn it, that Simon…!”

Greimi couldn’t understand.

Though he had always been greedy and ostentatious, he never behaved that way towards family.

After his wife’s death, his personality had inexplicably changed.

Despite other issues, he couldn’t fathom why he became harsh towards Reyna.

Greimi and the members went out to the backyard.

They were sure they would find her there, rambling and acting erratic due to hallucinations.

However, what they saw there was a golden-haired angel flying through the air.

She ran across the tightrope, using only the strength of her ankles between the lines and ropes, in a graceful manner, unlike her usual mechanical and linear movements.

Her movements were fluid, drawing curves, and her posture was relaxed.

Above all, the smile on her face was captivating.

She smiled brightly in tune with her beautiful movements.

At the end, when she performed three consecutive aerial somersaults, she even made them laugh out loud.

Greimi felt a thrill.

It was as if his sister had come back to life.

Her body landed on the rope.

The members cheered.

They had changed too.

Two weeks ago, they wouldn’t have reacted like this.

But perhaps due to the time spent with Ella, they had come to enjoy practicing.

Above all, they were glad to see Reyna brightening up.

They wanted her to continue practicing.

Some even threw lines that would befit heckling audience members.

“Well then, let’s continue.”

Originally, they were only supposed to practice one act, but buoyed by their response, Reyna continued with the next movements.

With each laugh and cheer from the audience, her smile grew wider.

Ah, the circus is fun.

She lit up the highest rope and bounced upward.

At that moment, she caught sight of another villa peeking behind the trees.

He wasn’t far away.

He was watching her from there.

He was cheering her on.

A ribbon used in the second act flowed from her wrist.

As the golden silk unraveled, it drew a tail several meters long in the air.

Against the backdrop of the black sky, the golden trail danced.

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Chapter 160: Black and Gold – 31