I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

In Wonderland, death was not a heavy subject.

The day of death was treated as a concept similar to a birthday, and discussing death was a common topic that arose when conversations dwindled.

Solana’s attitude, smiling as she talked about her child’s death, was enough to make the living feel uncomfortable.

But Reyna had already been to Wonderland and even watched “The Moment of Death Impersonation Contest.”

It wasn’t something else that shook her. It was what she said.

She couldn’t understand her mother’s words.

I died?

She shook her head.

That’s ridiculous.

Just take off the mask.

But she couldn’t.

She was afraid her mom wouldn’t recognize her.

No, she was afraid her mom might say something more than that.

As she hesitated, little Reyna, who had been silently watching, chimed in.

“Are you talking about back then? Mom, that was so bad!”

“Sorry. Mom will apologize again, okay?”

Young Reyna pouted and turned her head.

Sensing the gaze of the older Reyna looking at her, she approached her.

She covered her mouth with her palm and whispered loud enough for her mom to hear.

“Yeah, sis. When I was stuck to Mom, I saw something scary.”

I’ve never seen anything scarier than you.

Reyna said, suppressing the urge to push away her younger self.

“What?”

“A fake Reyna.”

Reyna felt a heavy weight drop in her chest at her words.

She clenched her fists with trembling hands.

Then, barely calming her breath, she spoke.

“A fake… what?”

“Yeah! I was stuck to Mom, and Mom called that fake Reyna her daughter, so I was sad.”

“I don’t remember it well, maybe it was because of the shock of losing a child, but I think I thought of the wrong child as my daughter for a few years.”

Reyna wanted to deny her mom’s words.

Wrong child? No, no.

I’m your daughter. What are you talking about?

Then how do you explain it? The pictures of me and Mom.

What’s in those pictures is clearly… clearly…

“Mom being deceived is not strange either! She looked exactly like me.”

Reyna anticipated the answer and felt like she might vomit.

Her mouth moved now without her will.

“… What happened to that child?”

Even resentment or hatred would have been okay.

She wanted to hear her mom’s thoughts about herself.

She wanted answers about the four years of memories she built with her mom.

But even that hope was ruthlessly crushed.

“I don’t know. Honestly, it’s correct to say I’m not interested. I intentionally didn’t pay attention because I felt sorry for my daughter, so I completely forgot about the fake child in few months after coming here.”

“Hehe, I told you to be like that. I won’t forgive you if you’re not!”

The two laughed as they looked at each other.

It was a mother-daughter relationship that seemed so happy.

There was no place for her next to it. It was never hers from the beginning.

“Oh dear. We talked too much about ourselves. By the way, what’s the guest’s name?”

“What’s your name, sis?”

The two looked at her.

Although their faces were genuinely asking, they looked as if they would devour her.

“I am…”

Her breath quickened.

Reyna, who had lived as herself for 14 years, was denied.

The fake who looked like her.

Ten years of enduring agony, remembering the four years of happiness…

‘Don’t ever bring up old stories again!’

‘Honestly, I’m not interested. I completely forgot about the fake after coming here and a few months later.’

She was denied by her father and her mother. Everything about herself.

The sound of something she had relied on crumbling echoed now.

“I am… so, I, I am…”

She tried to push her mom’s hand away. But she couldn’t muster the strength.

Then, amidst the bustling noise, the children crowded into the garden.

“Teacher, break time’s over!”

“Let’s go back to class!”

Amidst the noise, Reyna suddenly regained her senses.

Ignoring her mom calling her, she fled from there as if escaping.

And she ran.

Without any particular destination.

***

Lumie and Oberon weren’t siblings.

Such a concept didn’t exist in the fairy society to begin with.

Oberon was once in danger wandering in the human world, and Lumie saved him, thus forming a bond.

It had been over 10 years since the two last met.

Though a short time for fairies, Lumie was accustomed to human sense of time.

She felt it had been a long time.

Indeed, Oberon looked quite different from when she last saw him.

He had grown taller, broader, and his beard had grown longer.

Lumie frowned at him lighting up a cigarette.

“That’ll kill you someday.”

“It’s worth it.”

He took a drag and blew out smoke.

“Trying to impress someone… Thinking of becoming a dandy now?”

“What else is there for me to do?. How about you? What brings you here?”

Lumie briefly explained what had happened to them.

“Hmm, would such a large-scale transfer really take place? Feels like there’s more to it…”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was just the right time.”

Oberon flicked ashes from his cigarette.

“So, is that scarecrow part of your entourage too? Alright, I’ll keep the secret. But what about that white girl among the five acrobats? Maya, was it? Your friends’ daughter?”

Oberon remembered the two humans he briefly interacted with under a glamour.

One was a handsome painter, and the other emitted a cold, aloof aura as a magician.

“Yes.”

“Ha, got the looks from dad and the vibe from mom, huh? What’s her personality like?”

“More like her mom’s side.”

As they sat and talked, Lumie suddenly realized she was getting older. Being called ‘elder sister’ these few days had made her forget her actual age.

Of course, by fairy standards, she was still considered young, but in human society, ‘Arno of the Silver Veil’ was definitely seen as elderly.

Their masquerade would end tomorrow. She needed to focus now to avoid any mistakes upon returning.

“But who’s that scarecrow? Lover?”

“Lov- Lover? No, no!”

She jumped up, startled.

“You seem pretty defensive. Why?”

“Just stop poking at it without any basis!”

“Your eyes lit up when you looked at him. How many times did you hold his hand in just an hour or so?”

“You little…!”

A phantom of a white dragon appeared above Lumie’s head and pounced toward Oberon. He conjured a black dragon phantom to counter, and the two dragons clashed, tearing and clawing at each other.

They continued their conversation amidst the phantoms.

“Damn, you’ve grown a bit too big for teasing, haven’t you?”

“Teasing, huh? I’m just worried about you. There aren’t many who can banter with you under glamour.”

He chuckled, tapping his cigarette and Lumie shook with laughter at the sight.

“Why does the kid look so disgustingly old?”

“Time, my dear.”

Then, a tearing scream echoed.

It was the sound of a dragon phantom.

The white dragon mounted on the black dragon, clawing wildly, while the black dragon whimpered in defeat.

“I lost.”

“Hmph. Your phantoms aren’t as sharp as your tongue.”

“Heh, not many can banter with a fairy and her phantoms.”

Oberon waved his hand, dispelling the black dragon. Lumie lifted the white dragon phantom onto her knee, scratching its neck in victory.

They then shifted their conversation to the issue of Tril and the Kirku’s problem.

“What if you make plenty of tril? The apostles said so, that it’s like a magnifying glass to the world. Make plenty to match the number of eyes. Easy.”

Oberon shook his head.

“Morally and physically impossible.”

“Morally?”

“Why do you think Tril earned the nickname ‘Eyes of Kirku’?”

Lumie paused, thinking, then her expression changed.

“Eyes… Wait… Seriously?”

Oberon nodded, confirming her suspicion.

“Yeah. The core ingredient of Tril is human eyeballs. It requires the eyes of someone born under the actual Eye of Kirku.”

Lumie displayed a complex expression, then sighed deeply.

“So what about Tril, which was made just recently…?”

“I guess that’s possible.”

Lumie, who had a momentarily complex expression, let out a long breath.

“No matter how much we try to pretend it’s all fun, doesnt it all come down to the same thing in the end? Cruel? There is a physical limit to amount of Tril that can be made without reducing the Eyes of Kirku too much.”

“That’s right.”

Lumie remembered what Saint had said.

He had mentioned that the number of people born with Eye of Kirku had been rapidly decreasing for the past ten years.

Suddenly, a dreadful thought crossed her mind.

“What if someone made a bunch of Trils?”

“Then the Saints would have known.”

“What if a bunch of people with Eyes of Kirku went on a group trip and had an accident?”

Oberon chuckled at Lumie’s joke and shook his head.

“Even if something like that happened, it wouldn’t make sense. When someone with Eye of Kirku dies, the authority automatically passes on to the next person to be born. Breaking that cycle would undoubtedly be evidence of powerful magic intervention.”

“Well, there can’t be more than one or two bad guys in this world, right?”

“That’s true. So even if we try to watch over from this side… there’s no way. Since Eye of Kirku cannot be distinguished outwardly.”

“Then how are they being found?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that people born with Eye of Kirku have one characteristic in common.”

“What’s that?”

Oberon tossed the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray and asked.

“What do you think is the most important characteristic of Tril?”

“Well, that they turn red when they watch an interesting performance, right? That’s why they are used to compete to see who could make the gem turn red most”

“That’s right. You could put it like that. It’s a measure of the ‘relative score’ of the performance.”

“Hmm?”

The word ‘score’ momentarily brought a voice into Lumie’s mind. It belonged to a lively teenage girl.

As she recalled that person’s name, Oberon added to his explanation.

“People born with Eye of Kirku literally replace the relic. They can feel it when they watch a performance. Like, how many points it’s worth.”

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Chapter 235: Wonderland – 38