Chapter 409 - Finale of the Circus (8)

"It's ok, I'll save you. Even if I have to kill you, you'll be free," the juggler continued to stare at the puddles of black goo and charcoal ashes on the ground.

"Our circus may have come to an end, but I'll always remember the days we performed together," he sadly smiled.

His former circus members slowly formed back into their physical shapes, no longer possessing any traces of their original personalities. Ghastly energy wandering around mindlessly and staggering with every step. While the s-class monsters rushed to attack him once the ashes compiled together, not knowing who the enemy was anymore. This was the tragic fate of monsters who lost the ability to control their minds and bodies.

"As long as I live, the circus of dreams will live within me," he placed them under his control, taming them to obey him.

"This is why I don't regret joining," he walked out of the school grounds, leading his precious friends to a place he could save them.

I knew this was during the time where I was already inside the Pelargonium mansion grounds, celebrating with Luke's family. I didn't think recent memories would come pouring into me as well. It just made me feel more guilty that everything had to turn out this way. I tried to comfort myself that they were resting in peace before I found myself in the infirmary again. Next time I met the juggler again, I would treat him better.

Finding myself attached to all the machines again, the first thing that came to my mind was how I might lose all my weekends. When I turned my head, I noticed Luke at his usual seat, reading a book beside my bed. This was the best chance to ask about my fate, "are we spending our weekends at your parent's house?"

"Mother decided it was best to let you recover your health," Luke appeared equally relieved.

Luke would have to suffer with me from the intense schedules his parents would give me. This was why both of us didn't like visiting his parents. Most times, he tried to take care of things himself or ask for help from his cousins or older siblings. While watching over me, he would have the freedom to do whatever he wanted. And I wouldn't be able to complain since he was doing this for us to gather more points.

"What happened to the school?" I wondered since the graduation was ruined.

"We have an additional week of summer vacation," he gave some good news.

"We're still going back there?" I couldn't understand.

"Our family is busy with replacing all the staff again," he explained what they were doing to make the school safer for us.

"How many days of summer vacation do we have left?" I didn't know how many days had passed.

"Around three more days," he revealed.

"Really?" I started to plan how I would spend my days until then.

"We're leaving to head to our mansion now that you're awake," he started to turn off all the medical equipment.

"Wait. I'm using this time to go on a proper vacation," I recalled how everyone else travelled together during the time I visited my parents.

"Do you think you can go anywhere in that state?" Luke shattered my dreams.

"It's like this every single time whether I'm injured or not!" I felt it was unfair.

"There's no monster attacks anymore too," I pointed out.

"Monsters aren't the only dangerous things in this world. Let's go Rika," Luke started to drag me into the hover car once we were outside the Pelargonium family mansion.

This was how I entered my fourth year in middle school. Still a long way to go until I turned sixteen or from graduating high school. Reading a news article inside the café, I discovered a new organization was founded in the first district, sponsoring struggling artists. It was called, "The Circus of Dreams." It gave the artists a stage to perform on while helping them develop and refine their skills.

"It's a foreign idea. Nobody has ever invested in people with lesser talent before," Delia commented.

"But it's good that anybody can fulfill their dreams in that field once their application gets accepted!" Sienna complimented the organization.

"Yea it is," I smiled while closing my screen.

"And the school has changed a lot too!" Ellen noticed.

The new staff hired were people with more mana and experience in protecting others by going on extensive missions. The barrier was fortified every single day while instead of security guards, the teachers themselves went to patrol the school grounds every night. Both the school deans in the middle and high school sections were replaced as well. The school was almost the safest place in the first district again.

"But are you really fine?" Shelly tried to comfort Ellen.

"We weren't too involved in fraction meetings anyways," Ellen seemed a little depressed.

It was surprising to know that both Ellen and Allan were kicked out of Luke's main fraction. I wondered what had happened, only figuring out the news from Shelly a few days ago. Luke didn't tell me about these things unless he had to. It explained how everyone started to chatter and sneak a few glances at her whenever we were together. Getting the hint from Shelly we should treat her as normal as we usually do, I didn't try to dig into what she was going through.

"At least the circus has come to an end," she tried to enjoy the peaceful school.