Chapter 402 - Finale of the Circus (1)

"All you people from the Roselia family are the same! I regret sparing your children!" The magician pulled out his map again.

"I should have killed them when I had the chance!" He found some of Alison's features in William.

"You shouldn't, they were only defending themselves," the dancer interfered.

"You were too harsh on them last time. Leaving nothing for them to defend themselves from using the disintegration spell while attacking their barriers," she tried to convince him to leave.

"Is this true?" William spun to Lucius, who was the oldest in this group.

"Did grandfather not tell you yet?" Lucius appeared equally confused.

"If Rika and Luke didn't sacrifice themselves for our safety, we could have all died!" Alex added to his uncle.

All of their parents looked at the magician in a new light. With no mercy present from trying to kill their children, the magician instantly turned into a puddle of black goo. Only three members of the circus remained, the innocent and nicest members who tried to help us out. However, Alex wasn't done with his complaints towards them.

"The two of them. They made our ears bleed and held us captive in the same seats to watch them. My partner could have never woken up while we could have all lost our hearing," he recalled those nights before we took a leave.

With another nod from William, both the dancer and musician met the same fate as the magician. Although I did hold some grudges against them, I couldn't entirely blame them for their actions. I looked away from the puddle of their remains, hoping they would move onto a better life. I could feel this was different from my spell where their deaths were only temporary, there were remnants to keep them from reliving. Only the juggler remained, the last member of the circus. He stood still, mourning for them. He didn't do anything but walk away from us, back bent, feeling guilty he was the only one who had survived.

The juggler was the only one who didn't do anything to us. In the face of the ruined school, I stepped into another hover car coming down from the sky. I stayed silent inside the car, feeling sorry for the juggler who was left all alone. Maybe he wanted to join them, already been together with the circus for around hundred years. Ignoring the rest of the monsters trying to attack anyone who possessed mana, he picked some flowers.

Holding some flowers from the courtyard, he walked to where their remains were splattered, stepped by other monsters. He placed the flowers in each of the puddles, clasping his hands together, hoping they would be happy in the future. I met his eyes while looking out the window, finding this ending was too sad. He never deserved any of this. Losing all his friends in one day, he continued to stare at the puddle.

"You shouldn't pity them Rika, it was their choice in the end," Luke turned to me.

"If they never tried to kill us, they would still be alive," Alex added when I continued to stare outside the window.

Tears streamed down my face, finding myself thankful that their parents weren't here to see this. They were inside the other hover car, focusing on maintaining the barriers surrounding both the cars. Alex didn't know about what the circus had been through like I did. He didn't know their backstories and how they had all died when they were just starting to become successful. They were only following Ailes' orders.

The ending to their story was awful, turning into monsters. I couldn't entirely blame Ailes and the other s-class monsters coming from the orphanage as well. I knew how miserable the facility was when I had visited the place for the charity ball. Why didn't anyone that I encountered ever get the happy ending they desired?

Wiping the tears off my face, I stepped onto the Pentagonium family mansion grounds. I couldn't let anyone else see me like this or I may get sent into another intense schedule with the tutors again. Walking into the main dining room, the interior was more stunning than what the school had set up for them. I was glad that the special day of both Lucius and Belle wasn't completely ruined. A graduation ceremony was something special in my former life as well.

With Lucius and Belle seating in the special chairs almost resembling thrones, everyone sat around them. The table was abundantly filled, not leaving any empty space. There was even something I preferred to eat in some of the plates. His uncle did prepare many things for them. I wondered if Joanna had a close relationship with him from displaying how much he cared about her son and his fiancée.

"Thank you, uncle," Lucius turned to him.

"I thought since our graduation ceremony wasn't able to be carried out as planned, it wouldn't be a special day anymore. But you've prepared so many things for us," Belle seemed touched.

"It's nothing if it's for my nephew and niece," he warmly smiled.

"Where are you planning to visit before you enter university?" Belle's father asked them.

"Maybe the cave or the tower. I heard there's many things to explore there," Lucius had an adventurous spirit.

"I heard the tower is around thousands of years old!" Belle seemed a bit excited.

Both the tower and cave were obtained by Luke and me. I never knew the news would travel so fast. I wondered why they wanted to go there compared to the more luxurious facilities their families owned. Was it that different from the last time I was at those places? It was like they were turning into a tourist place instead.