I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

The day after the excursion, classes with Lekachep began in earnest on Tuesday.

The freshman students moved in groups as organized on the first day.

The teenage stars following Reyna were not interested in the drama or stage directing classes.

They were professional acrobats, each responsible for their own performances.

They were curious to see how their skills would measure up against professionally trained elites, so they mainly participated in practical classes.

On the other hand, the Draft alumni gathered around Ella were more interested in theory than practical skills. They had initially struggled between admission to school and joining the circus.

They had some regrets about abandoning their studies, so they mainly focused on theory and group activities.

Ella, having already scored the highest on the entrance exam, wasn’t particularly ambitious about practical skills. She focused on exploring the curriculum of prestigious schools with her group.

Comparing it to Director’s teaching style.

The third group was diverse from the start, so there was no common ground.

They attended classes according to their preferred schedules.

Karen adjusted her schedule to Maya’s and followed her around.

However, unlike Maya who diligently attended classes, Karen either distracted herself or dozed off during lectures.

The only time her lethargic face brightened up was when Maya talked to her.

Maya, unlike the others, had no background in circus.

Even though Lekachep’s classes were basic lectures, they were designed for elite acrobats who had passed difficult acrobatic exams, so they assumed a certain level of basic knowledge.

As a result, Maya often faced difficulties during class.

She mainly asked Karen for help, who was sitting next to her.

“Do you know what TS, NTR, BL mean that the professor wrote on the board?”

Karen glanced at the desk and replied with a yawn.

“Hmm? Those… TS stands for Tilt Slightly, meaning tilting the subject slightly with lighting. It’s mainly used in directing on stage. NTR is Narration Talk Range, indicating the distance when narrating to the audience in first person. Level 5 is basically a monologue, and Level 1 is like directly talking to the audience in a talk show. Stand-up comedy is usually at Level 3. And BL stands for Bilingual Language. It refers to the use of two languages in a play. For example, if they want to show that the characters are foreigners…”

Karen rattled off the explanation like a spring flowing effortlessly.

She had absorbed the circus textbook her brother left behind when he left home at a young age.

Despite the harsh times, the knowledge she absorbed to escape reality was deeply rooted in her mind, even as she grew older.

Maya was quite impressed by her knowledge.

“…Surprising.”

Nodding at her words, Karen realized the implication and exclaimed.

“What, Maya? Did I seem ignorant all this time?”

“Quiet over there, freshmen!”

At the teacher’s shout, Karen quickly covered her mouth, shooting Maya an indignant look.

But annoyingly, she also gestured for quiet with her finger over her mouth.

This!

Karen was about to retort angrily.

Then she heard whispers from behind.

“Isn’t she so loud?”

“She’s been like that since break. Loud voice and rough talk.”

“But she was dozing off during class?”

“Why did she even come to the lecture? Pathetic.”

If they were boys, Karen would have lashed out at them.

But they were girls.

Blushing, Karen bowed her head deeply, unable to respond, feeling unjustly treated.

She regretted coming to school all of a sudden.

She should’ve just practiced at the dorm.

She felt a sudden wave of depression and buried her head on the desk, closing her eyes.

That’s how she fell asleep.

Until Maya shook her awake.

“Uh? Maya?”

“Class is over.”

Even though Maya said it curtly, Karen’s face lit up with a smile.

She felt overwhelmed that Maya had looked out for her.

“Next is standard barehand gymnastics.”

“Oh, that’s easy! It’s used for warming up…”

Karen shouted excitedly as if she’d never been downcast before.

Although she noticed the seniors glancing at her again, this time she could brush it off with ease.

Maya didn’t even consider other majors.

For her, learning acrobatics, tightrope walking, or strength feats without training her body was impractical.

As for taming, she didn’t have any animals to begin with, so it was out of the question.

She poured all her time into just one thing: the ‘Shooting’.

Perfecting her ‘spatial perception’ and ‘proper distribution of strength’ required for the shooting, she had trained to the limit when mastering illusion magic and telekinesis.

Calculating in three-dimensional space was her specialty from the start, and precise control of strength reached an unmatched level when she sprayed paint particles to create portraits.

“Excellent. May I ask who taught you?”

The professor was impressed by how adept she was at the throwing practice, despite being a complete novice.

In response to his question, Maya smiled faintly.

“My Director.”

Something that had been blocking her chest finally broke through.

In that moment, she could finally break free from Papiflux.

She regained perfect control over her magical powers.

Wonderstein refused to be called her mentor as a magician.

Being labeled as just a disciple of an ordinary mage with an ambiguous status and inadequate education could hinder her future in academia.

She couldn’t bring herself to refuse his kindness.

Instead, she found another way to address him as a mentor.

That was becoming an acrobat herself.

Although she couldn’t call him her mentor as a magician, she attempted to consider him her mentor as an acrobat, thinking he wouldn’t mind.

The professor nodded with an expression that said ‘I see.’

“Wonderstein Circus, right? The one who raised Ella? It seems your director teaches well. I can see it in his student, Maya.”

Student.

At that word, Maya smiled a little more deeply.

Though to others, she still seemed expressionless.

As Maya was about to return to her seat, she met Reyna’s gaze.

Reyna offered a gentle smile towards Maya.

Feeling like they were comrades who had eaten together for days.

But due to her stiff expression, it looked mocking.

The difference in their heights also contributed to making her gaze seem condescending.

Maya choked up.

She could guess what was going on in Reyna’s mind.

Was she satisfied with being called just a ‘student’?

Reyna was already intimate with the director.

Maya glared at her with hostility.

Reyna, who had greeted her somewhat amiably, was startled by her cold reaction and averted her gaze.

‘Why is she like that? Did I do something wrong?’

She was inwardly baffled.

But due to her characteristic cold expression, it seemed to others as if she was ignoring the other person.

Maya’s small fist trembled.

Such a vulgar woman who seduced the director with her body.

Both of them had something they wanted to say.

But neither of them was the type to express their feelings well.

As they silently stared at each other, they looked away and went their separate ways.

“You seem to particularly dislike her. It’s not just you, though.”

Karen whispered as she looked around.

The children of Lekachep didn’t particularly like Reyna.

Although Reyna and Lord Fantastic had impressive acts, there was something detestable about the teenage acrobat group she led.

While it was understandable that they couldn’t compete with Reyna due to the significant difference in skill, it was unacceptable for other children’s elite pride.

Even though they were losing out in popularity in the field, it wasn’t pleasant to be purely defeated by skill.

“Darn it, if only Clara was here, she would’ve wiped the floor with those kids.”

“Unfortunately, she’s not feeling well…”

The students looked towards the corner of the gymnasium.

There was a female student with blue hair and an easy-going appearance sitting on the bench.

Usually, she would calmly smile with a relaxed expression, but now she was watching their practice with eyes full of curiosity, giggling uncontrollably.

She had been acting a bit off for the past few days.

Clearly, she was in a lot of pain.

“Clara, it’s time to go to the next class.”

“Oh? Really? Then let’s go!”

Clara jumped up excitedly.

Her friends looked a little perplexed at her cheerful attitude.

Her kind and gentle tone of voice, which made people feel good, certainly suited her.

But usually, she had an attitude of slight distance and evaluating people with her eyes, even when speaking softly, making it hard for her to interact warmly with others.

So while her friends felt fond of her, they also felt somewhat uncomfortable around her.

However, for the past few days, they couldn’t find any trace of that behavior in her.

Her words and actions were in perfect harmony.

“Kind Clara” had become “Clara immersed in kindness.”

But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

She had become much more honest in expressing her emotions.

She would be moved by just eating a piece of food, get excited after smelling an expensive perfume, or giggle while stroking a passing dog’s fur and calling it soft.

She also did things that weren’t typical of her usual self.

Still, people didn’t suspect that her mind had been swapped.

In this era, it was common for people who had taken painkillers to behave like they were drunk. The medicines prescribed here often contained psychoactive substances, classified as narcotics in the advanced world of science. Sometimes, stories about someone taking cold medicine and becoming foolish would come from here.

Her friends, who had always been close to her, found her changes strange yet welcoming.

Because they could see a side of her that had been hidden beneath her obsession with being a model student.

“Hehe, so this is what she’s really like inside. Why was she like that before?”

“It’s just her personality. What can you do?”

“Will she be embarrassed later when she comes to her senses from the medicine?”

Her friends smiled as they watched her grab her bag from the bench.

Her usually perfectly controlled steps were now scrambling, which was endlessly amusing.

“Hurry up.”

“We have to go to the sponsorship class. It’s taming, right?”

Clara’s complexion turned pale at her friends’ words.

That was the time she feared the most.

“Why? Ah, right. You said your fairy isn’t feeling well? It is oddly aggressive towards you.”

“The professor said he’d take a look at him. It’s not a serious illness, right?”

“Uh, yeah… It just suddenly started acting weird…”

Clara hesitated like that.

She couldn’t bring herself to admit that it had noticed that the owner has changed.

The taming class proceeded in a much more relaxed atmosphere at Lekachep.

Today’s class was a practical exercise on ‘socializing with different species,’ aimed at familiarizing animals with different appearances and reducing hostility.

Pyrene spoke to the female student standing alone without an animal, leaving her bag on the bench.

“Clara, would you mind coming with me for a moment?”

It was a kind and considerate voice, but it sounded like the whisper of a devil to Clara.

She tried to hide her nervousness, but ‘facial management’ was as difficult a task for her as ‘inhibiting responses to sensations.’

She put on a frightened expression as she followed the professor into the office.

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Chapter 180: Demon in the Bottle – 19