I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

I headed to the rooftop of a building a little away from the arch. Climbing the walls with stick-like arms and legs wasn’t easy, but being high up was necessary for efficient exploration.

During my journey here, I pondered on ways to find my companions.

Most of the status panel functions were non-functional, but some basic ones were working. One of them was the diagnostic function of the Evolution Research Lab.

The diagnostic function only worked on living beings. However, it could be used in reverse to detect lifeforms, just like I had seen through Arno’s illusion.

I looked out at the crowd gathering in the square.

Most of the people here were “entities”. I used the biological detection function to find individuals with physical bodies in the crowd.

I detected more than I had expected. There were beings like fairies or imps, half physical and half ethereal.

I applied a filter to the diagnostic function. Entities judged as “diagnosis impossible” were displayed in white, “new diagnostic subjects” in blue, and “existing diagnostic subjects” in red.

The various personas turned white as if the paint was being drained from the picture.

Until now, I had only used it to mark areas of lesions for treatment. I felt proud as a gamer to discover a hidden use of the system.

I looked around in the swirling white waves to find the red light.

The square in front of the card sequence was as wide as the Tettromino Plaza. Even though I had climbed onto the rooftop, I couldn’t see the end of the Plaza.

I leaned my centre of gravity to look into the distance and almost fell over. There were times when I almost fell from the rooftop. It was because my new body was not yet familiar.

If a leg stick broke here, I would have to crawl until the persona was restored. I continued exploring, paying attention to balancing as much as possible.

However, even after looking around for a long time, I could only see occasional blue lights, and no red light was visible.

Could they have already entered the city?

As time passed, I began to think more and more so.

Originally, this life detection was not omnipotent.

To diagnose, I had to directly see the target with my own eyes. If something was blocking my vision, I couldn’t see through it. That’s why the blue light, which was obscured by other entities, suddenly appeared.

No, even disregarding that, it was unrealistic to search through such a wide space, with so many people, alone. Even now, hundreds of people were bustling through the arch every second.

Wouldn’t it be better to use a different method?

After wasting several hours, I gave up on the search and descended from the rooftop.

However, just as I was about to release the filter, I saw a red light.

I discovered it and let out a sigh and a gasp at the same time.

It was right next to the building where I had been standing. It was inside an alley that I hadn’t been able to see.

Surely, it hadn’t been there all along, had it?

I had glanced at it when climbing the building.

However, I hadn’t paid attention to it because there were no forms that looked like people.

Thin fairies with insect wings, stout gnomes with beards, and golems made of sand and rocks.

There were fairies gathered there.

***

Many people have used metaphors to reveal their insights and perceptions of this world.

Wine, carriages, cats, and so on.

But if there’s one metaphor that stands out as the most well-known, it would surely be “a single flower.”

The world we live in is just a single flower blooming on a large tree, and what we think of as the sea is the water trapped inside the flower bud, and what we think of as continents are the food scraps floating on top of it.

And demons are insects clinging to the tree, and Greater Demons are the queen bees of beehives hanging on the tree, collecting honey from the flower.

It was a beautiful and noble metaphor, but the one that stuck in Arno’s mind was.

The world we live in is nothing but a cat dish left in an alley, and what we think of as the sea is the stagnant water inside the dish, and what we think of as continents are the leftovers floating on top of it.

And demons are insects wandering the alley, and Greater Demon are beggars rummaging through the dish for something to eat.

The space inhabited by beings in the border between the petals or the rim of the dish was there. They freely moved between the inside and outside of the world’s boundaries.

They were the fairies. The land of the border where they lived was called Yormungandr.

Arriving in Wonderland, Arno felt like she had returned home after a long time. Thanks to the bustling fairies around her.

She hadn’t come here often, but she had once been on a math field trip with her kindergarten friends.

“Far, far away… I’ve been gone for a long time.”

She smiled sadly as she watched the young fairies playing and creating illusions.

Decades ago, she had come out to the continent and was captured by slave hunters.

Originally, fairies could freely move between the spirit realm and the material realm through their wings. However, inhaling the hunters’ drug made their wings powerless. They couldn’t even create illusions well.

She was sold as a pet to a noble family and ended up as a gift to the noble’s daughter.

The noble’s daughter used her to show off at social gatherings.

But the gatherings were not sophisticated, they were more like childish and cruel playgrounds where children played with frogs or fought crickets.

They enjoyed watching her eat spicy food and cry, or teasingly break her arms and legs with a stick, or throwing a fork and making her confront a fierce cat.

She was still lucky. Many of her kind served as experimental subjects for magicians, becoming medicinal ingredients or being dissected.

She ended up joining a circus troupe.

It was a time when monster circuses were still popular. The people there, who were ostracized by society due to their appearance, treated her well, perhaps due to a sense of solidarity.

“Sister without wings!”

“Chubby sister!”

“Big sister!”

Young fairies flew around her, playing pranks.

She was less than a meter tall, but she was several times larger than the young fairies. Losing her innocence caused not only her wings to fall off but also her growth to continue.

“Sister! I’m sorry for what the kids said!”

Arno shook her head at the teacher fairy’s apology.

“No, it’s okay.”

She got up and dusted herself off. It was time to head into the city.

She needed to investigate what had happened to the captured group.

“Um, excuse me!”

Just as she was about to take a step, someone called out to her.

A scarecrow walked up to her with a ridiculous walk.

Arno let out a slight sigh.

It was obvious why those masked guys were looking for her, a half-fairy. They probably wanted her to create illusions for their performance. She had received requests like that several times on her way here.

“Sorry, but I’m not interested in creating illusions.”

“Illusions? Uh, then wait a moment… Are you… Arno?”

Her expression stiffened at his words.

“…Who are you?”

In her mind, the faces of her former circus companions, the only ones in the underworld who would recognize her, flashed by. But as she faced him, she could feel his presence distinctly.

She was a being belonging half to the material realm and half to the spiritual realm. She could discern existence not only by the appearance of the other person but also by their spiritual waves.

She looked at him with an expression that could not believe.

“…Wonderstein?”

At her words, the scarecrow reacted strongly and rushed towards her.

“Are you Arno? Nice to meet you! I was feeling so overwhelmed by the crowd that I didn’t know what to do, ah!”

The scarecrow suddenly screamed and rolled on the floor.

Seeing this, nearby young fairies burst into laughter. The illusion rope they created had tied his legs.

“Please untie this!”

Arno looked at him, swinging stick-like arms to untie the rope, with a puzzled look.

It was surprising enough that this scarecrow was Wonderstein, but it was also surprising to see him acting like this.

Wasn’t he the one who remained calm and laughed even when an Avatar descended?

Arno stared blankly at him and hastily waved her hand to erase the illusion rope tied around him when she saw him attempting to break like a shrimp.

“What is this… Why are you all of a sudden?”

The scarecrow grumbled, glaring at the young fairies flying around and giggling.

“They’re just playing around.”

“Tsk, playing? I almost broke my leg. How can I be careful when there are so many people around? Hey…”

“Uh, yeah?”

She caught him off guard, reaching out his hand, and supported him as he got up.

She looked him up and down.

A face made of tattered rags under a worn straw hat.

A body made of woven straw with a ragged vest.

And stick-like arms and legs.

He was an unmistakable scarecrow.

“Why did you show up now? And what’s with that appearance?”

“I arrived a little late. And this is my persona… These darn fairies! Get out of here!”

The scarecrow shouted at the young fairies, trying to tie his arms now, but they ignored him and continued to attack with illusions.

They weren’t evil either.

At first, they found the crying scarecrow amusing, but now they found his frantic behavior entertaining, so they continued to play pranks.

They laughed and cheered as he rolled on the floor.

“Hahaha!”

“So funny! This scarecrow!”

“Whoa!”

Arno couldn’t help but laugh at his appearance.

Was this really Wonderstein?

Not long after, the fairies left in a line with their teacher. Even as they moved away, they continued to stick out their tongues or slap their buttocks at him.

Watching them, the scarecrow chuckled and carefully checked if he had any broken parts.

“Surprising. This appearance.”

Arno’s words made the scarecrow suddenly feel embarrassed.

He had gone wild, jumping around, thinking he might not be able to use his arms and legs. And he had made quite a commotion.

The scarecrow knew very well how he had looked just now.

He had appeared as “Torch Dancer” when he was doing a broadcast.

When he started the broadcast, he intended to quietly play games, unlike when he anonymously submitted videos or actively communicated with viewers. Exaggerating and reacting excessively didn’t suit his personality.

However, he was convinced by the producers.

“After all, it’s a virtual broadcast where you cover your face with an avatar! ?”

“There are fans who admire Torch Dancer! How would they feel if they only saw you looking depressed and downcast? Wouldn’t they be disappointed?”

“Torch Dancer is now an idol who will change the world’s prejudices! Instead of thinking, ‘Oh, disabled people are unhappy and pitiful,’ they’ll think, ‘Even with that body, they live cheerfully!'”

In the end, persuaded by the producer’s words, he received vocal training and acting coaching before officially starting the broadcast.

Before long, he was able to skillfully portray the “Torch Dancer.”

“Hahaha, why are people with ten fingers so unskilled? Some people can do it better with their feet?”

On his debut day, he set a new record on the streaming site.

TL Note: No feet jokes 😀

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Chapter 216: Wonderland – 19