Chapter 56: Opening Ceremony of the Reversal (11)
[The circuss reputation has dropped by 1.]
Shortly after opening the curtains in the audience seats, a message appeared. Anais quickly closed the curtains, fearing that her crying would be seen, but it seemed that people had been gossiping about us again.
At this rate, it felt like the circus would hit rock bottom.
The current reputation of the circus is 21. Thanks to a performance in Aksville and Ella briefly appearing on the stage of the Rose Windmill, their reputation had once reached 40, but now it was almost halved.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com
They had dropped by 20 points in just two weeks.
The days of waiting for the Reputation 50 reward felt like a distant memory.
Thank you, Ringmaster, Anais said, looking at me with a smile.
She still looked pained and troubled, but she seemed much more relieved than she did earlier.
Its embarrassing to hear such words for something like this, I replied.
No, not for this. Im thankful that you comforted me, she clarified.
I stared at her blankly in response.
I hadnt said a word while she was crying.
No matter what I said, it would have sounded like an excuse.
A coward hiding behind a wall due to his hurtful actions.
I didnt know how to sincerely apologize to someone who had been calling out my name earnestly from below the wall, worn out from doing so.
Even when she confessed her love while crying.
Even when she forced a smile and expressed her disappointment.
I just remained silent and smiled.
Placing my hand on top of hers and lightly patting it was my greatest act of courage, as was wiping the water droplets from her hair in the bathroom with a handkerchief.
Thats all I could do.
And thats something to be thankful for?
For not saying words of comfort?
Was I receiving sympathy from her again?
But her expression showed sincerity.
I imagined a scene where my opponent, who had scolded me, was now patting me with sympathetic eyes.
Oh.
A feeling of disgust welled up in my chest.
Her feelings must have been truly miserable.
Thats why she was thankful.
Im sorry.
Even to me, it sounded like an apology without context or sincerity.
And I even smiled.
What would she think?
Would she hate me?
Contrary to my fears, she smiled and shook her head.
Its okay. I feel relieved now that Ive let it all out.
Really?
She smiled even wider and nodded.
Its okay. It feels good to get it all out.
She is not angry at all.
Contrary to my concerns, she seemed to be genuinely relieved.
It was a relief that my actions didnt cause more pain.
When he gave the signal, a vivid illusion created by a magician appeared behind him.
A wide semi-circular island flew across the sea of clouds.
On top of it, there were ivory-colored buildings densely packed together.
I let out a slight sigh when I saw that sight.
It was such a familiar and welcoming place.
The Sky City Hippodrome.
It was the stage for TT1.
As Bouvalle gave the next signal, the illusion expanded gradually, heading towards a certain point in the city.
I could tell where it was going just by looking at the focal point of the expansion.
Thanks to my perfect knowledge of the Hippodromes layout and the context of the competition introduction, I could only focus that place.
A smooth circular ring with a diameter of 1.5 km was connected to the north end of the city by a bridge.
The Hippodrome consisted of several subsidiary islands in addition to the main island, and that was one of them.
I had a pleasant smile on my face.
Seeing it in this way made me happy.
That place was the main stage of the Circus Grand Prix.
It was also where the final boss battle of TT1 took place.
The Aerial Theater Wonder Stage.
This part was already known to me.
Ella had explained it to me.
Participate in the preliminary rounds held at the six theaters in six countries, and if you pass the test set by the theater, you can receive a star from that theater.
Traveling to six theaters and taking the tests while touring the eastern continent for two years.
That was the preliminary round of the Circus Grand Prix.
Similar events were happening in the other five regions apart from here.
Although there might be a slight time difference.
In this way, during the preliminary round, critics from an authoritative magazine would assign grades to circus troupes.
Stars ranged from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 3.
In other words, theoretically, even if you passed all the tests at the six theaters, if you didnt receive stars from any of them, you couldnt advance to the finals.
On the other hand, if you received 3 stars from one theater, you only needed to receive stars from four out of the six theaters.
Of course, both scenarios were not easy to achieve.
That concluded the explanation about the competition.
Bouvalle, who had been excitedly talking, suddenly had a solemn expression.
Before we begin our specialty, we will take a moment of mourning.
Why a mourning ceremony at the start of the festival?
But it seemed that no one else had any questions, excluding me.
Everyone fell into a solemn silence.
2nd Circus Grand Prix. We have not been able to hold this festival for a long time since that day. Many fellow acrobats, singers, actors, magicians, and audience members were injured and killed in a terrible accident.
Was there a setting I didnt know about?
I pretended to pray, covering my mouth with my hand and closing my eyes.
17 years ago, a terrorist incident occurred on the Wonder Stage of the Sky City Hippodrome. We do not know where the culprit came from. We do not know his purpose or identity. But we know how evil he was. That cursed name.
The word that came out of Bouvalles mouth was very familiar.
The Black Magician.
One of Wondersteins /CircusTL