Queemil – Temporary Circus Venue
A month had passed since Rulud’s True World Declaration, and life had become surprisingly peaceful, almost like a dream. Since we couldn’t enter the Royal Capital, I had no idea what was happening there, but the Queemil Adventurer’s Guild and Pablo’s shop were nearly empty. The number of people seeking requests had dwindled, and soon there would be no adventurers left looking for work.
In Queemil, food regularly fell from the sky, so no one bothered to visit Pablo’s shop anymore. A few loyal customers remained, but I could see Pablo was worried that his business might collapse. It was unfortunate, especially since the food falling from the sky was incredibly delicious, making it hard to justify dining out.
It wasn’t just Pablo’s Zenbei; other shops and craftsmen had also stopped working, and the entire town felt stagnant. People weren’t moving, goods weren’t flowing, and most importantly, no one seemed motivated to try. There were those who drank from morning until they passed out on the streets, and it felt like I had wandered into a town from another country.
We had desperately tried to earn some money, but in this situation, we were at a loss. There was so little I could do. I didn’t have any skills like the craftsmen, nor did I possess any knowledge. While Kurinka was different, I found myself reflecting on my existence as an adventurer in this stagnant environment. Last night, I had been deep in thought, and Kurinka, worried about me, had brought me to this circus.
“I hear it’s a world-famous circus troupe. Apparently, it’s been forty years since they last visited this continent,” she said.
“Forty years? Then everyone must be old enough to be an uncle or aunt…”
“It seems the children or apprentices have taken over the journey. Now, let’s take a break today. Besides, it’s a date for just the two of us.”
“A date…”
Now that I thought about it, even though we were married, we hadn’t done much like this. At home, Elmera and Platiu often interrupted us, making it hard to relax. So today, I had left Platiu behind, just the two of us. Of course, Shin was with us too. I had whined about it, but thankfully, my mother had promised him a feast, which kept him occupied. I figured I could lure those two with food for now, but I might need to think of another way since Kurinka seemed reluctant to leave them behind.
“Alright, everyone! Thank you for gathering here today! Please enjoy the marvelous skills and extraordinary feats of the Parallel Circus Troupe!”
“Oh, it looks like it’s starting!”
In the center of the venue, a small man was receiving applause. Was he the ringmaster? He didn’t seem all that impressive. Could he really perform any extraordinary feats?
“First up, we have the kids with their ball rolling act!”
A group of children came out, rolling a large ball. They jumped on top and began to run with it. I wondered what would happen next.
“Whoa!”
“Impressive for such small kids!”
“Okay! Jump!”
They jumped while still on the ball, landing back on it. I was curious about what would come next.
“Thank you very much!”
“Wait, that’s it…?”
Everyone, including Kurinka, was applauding. Was that what they called extraordinary? The atmosphere was starting to feel a bit off.
“That was amazing for such little ones, right, Lua-chan?”
“Y-Yeah… but I could do something like that too.”
“Really? I think you’d need a lot of practice to pull that off…”
“I can do it.”
“Next up, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Icicle World!”
The ringmaster placed one hand on the floor and began to chant. The floor cracked and froze around his hand, forming a bowl-shaped ice surface. The ice was transparent, allowing us to see the ringmaster clearly from the audience.
“Start!”
Two more performers glided onto the bowl-shaped ice, jumping, spinning, and weaving through each other, and then another joined in.
“How can they not bump into each other with so many of them? That’s incredible!”
“There wasn’t such beautiful ice in the Abyss Cave; it was much tougher…”
“That’s different from a battle.”
“Battles are tougher, for sure.”
Kurinka was nearby, yet I couldn’t understand why she was so amazed and praising them. Sure, it was impressive for an ordinary person, but adventurers faced far more dangerous challenges. While it must have been tough to practice, I was certain I was more impressive.
“Whoa! An icicle just shot out from the ice! Avoid it while spinning…!”
“But those Ice Needles are kind of slow, aren’t they?”
“Well, they’re not specialized in magic like us… Oh, it looks like it’s over. Next up… a monster?!”
“Fire Dodge by Soldier Leo!”
Two lion-like creatures clad in armor appeared. I remembered that Soldier Leo was among the monsters that had attacked from the Garden of Beasts. What would happen if they went wild after being brought here? I wondered if they were as docile as Nemea.
“Let the fire begin!”
“Whoa, the flames are dancing like whips! Soldier Leo is weak to fire, right…?”
“Don’t tell me they’re going to dodge it…”
“They dodged!”
See? They’re just flying around in that fire. Kurinka was overreacting. The audience was getting hyped up too.
“It’s amazing how they listen to commands even though they’re monsters!”
“Nemea listens to us too, right?”
“Nemea needs training too.”
“I can do it.”
“Geez! Why are you nitpicking everything?”
“If I can do it, then I can!”
As the show progressed, I felt an indescribable anxiety creeping in. I had always thought that as long as I had Kurinka, I was fine. I could do that show too, but conversely, it meant that if even more impressive people came along, she might leave me behind.
“…And now, for the grand finale, I, the ringmaster, will showcase a special act. It may resemble the ice running I showed earlier, but please watch closely!”
He created a path of ice with magic while running, jumping, and pretending to fall, only to generate an ice platform to land on. He skillfully moved across the slippery ice, and everyone was in awe. I could do that much too.
“If he can control his magic like that, he could probably handle battles too.”
“That guy can fight too, so does that mean I’m not that impressive?”
“I-I didn’t say that!”
“We are the troupe that has returned to this continent after forty years, and we are deeply grateful for your continued support. Back then, I was just twelve years old and inexperienced, but I have honed my skills since then…”
As the ringmaster began to reminisce, I quickly left. I felt a surge of frustration that almost brought me to tears, and I couldn’t even bear to look at Kurinka. What had I been doing all this time?
Queemil – Zenbei
Do adults drink a lot in times like this? Pablo would never serve alcohol, and I didn’t even want to drink. Coming here alone without Kurinka wouldn’t lead to anything. I never thought I’d feel annoyed by how much Kurinka praised others. I might not have felt this way before, but that was probably because I had been able to shine until now.
In a situation where I hardly saw any monsters, I couldn’t figure out what I could do.
“Hmm… this bread is exquisite no matter how many times I bite into it… hmm…”
“…There are hardly any customers. Do you think Pablo is finding it hard to keep the shop open?”
“It’s tough. I feel like crying, but I love it, you know? I love cooking, so it can’t be helped.”
As he chewed on the bread, he took notes. He was determined to create something that surpassed this bread, and honestly, he seemed much stronger than I was. Regardless, he was far more impressive than me, who could do nothing but fight.
“I hear that’s something made by a god named Madias.”
“A god? Then I might not be able to compete with that…”
“Right? And it’s so delicious that it draws in customers…”
I had been too harsh on Kurinka, and even on Pablo, who had nothing to do with this. My mind was starting to clear, and I began to regret not apologizing to Kurinka.
But Pablo, while looking up at the ceiling, continued to munch on the bread. He kept glancing at it, tearing off pieces, and taking another bite. His determination was impressive; that was what “love” looked like.
“But, even just a few customers… I’m happy to have them. If no one came, I’d really be down in the dumps…”
“A few…?”
“I told you when I faced Storulf. Even if not many recognize you, it’s a blessing to have even a few who need you. Oh, wait, that was something Kurinka said…”
He scratched his head, embarrassed for mistakenly thinking it was his own line. Now that I thought about it, Kurinka had indeed said something like that. She often thought of things I couldn’t, and I was surprised each time.
“I was the one who woke up to that. Hahaha!”
“…I need to apologize to Kurinka.”
“Oh… there you are…”
Just as I stood up from my seat, Kurinka burst into the shop, breathless and clearly having searched for me. I had indeed gone outside the town, so it was no surprise that she didn’t expect to find me here. She hurried over, bowing her head before I could even respond.
“I’m sorry. I got carried away without considering Lua-chan’s feelings…”
“Kurinka… I’m so glad you didn’t disappear… I’m sorry…”
She was still panting, and I could tell she had been running around quite a bit. She had managed to hold off transforming into a Dragon until this late evening. What had I been doing? Kurinka could never hate me. It was silly to be angry over something so trivial, to the point of making her tear up.
“It’s all my fault… I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…”
Just like when we were younger, when she used to cry easily. Kurinka sobbed, her voice barely above a whisper as she continued to apologize. I couldn’t help but wrap her gently in my arms. I brushed aside her silky golden hair and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her until she stopped crying.
“I thought I could handle it on my own… but I really don’t know what to do…”
“If Lua-chan can’t do anything, then I can’t either… But there must be something we can do together. Let’s think of something…”
Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted us.
“Excuse me! Come on in, everyone!”
Startled by the unexpected arrival, we quickly pulled away from each other. It was the Circus Troupe that had entered. Led by their captain, the members shuffled in and took their seats. I had thought there were only a few of them during the show, but it seemed there were so many more.
Feeling embarrassed for having criticized their performance, I couldn’t bring myself to meet their eyes. I couldn’t believe they had heard my complaints, but the awkwardness lingered.
“Welcome, everyone!”
“Ah, you all came to see the show, didn’t you? I’m sorry we couldn’t satisfy you.”
They had definitely heard me. I stood there in silence, unsure of how to respond, when the captain generously offered us two glasses of juice.
“I’m really sorry. I was a bit irritated back then…”
“No, no, we should be the ones apologizing. We’ve been honing our skills for years, but we still have a long way to go.”
“Thanks to that, we’ve identified our next challenge. It can be disheartening to receive boos, but we had a lot of applause from the audience as well. Our efforts were definitely not in vain.”
Pablo and the others were the same. They had dedicated years to perfecting their craft. The captain had been honing his skills since he was twelve. I had only recently become an Adventurer. Had I truly been putting my all into my work as an Adventurer? Could I proudly say it was because I loved it?
Despite hearing my criticisms, the captain was encouraging his team with kind words. The children who had been juggling were much younger than Platiu. Would those kids also continue to refine their skills until they reached the captain’s age?
“What if… what if no one came to see our show anymore? Or if fewer people enjoyed it?”
“I don’t want that!”
“Right? Even kids would think that’s awful… It’s scary to think that one day, we might not be needed by anyone…”
“But you know, even if… technology advances and our skills become less impressive, if we can make just one person smile, that’s enough for me. I think about that sometimes.”
Pablo nodded quietly, having stopped nibbling on his bread. He was currently preparing dishes for the Circus Troupe.
“Even when doing what you love, there can be hardships. You need to have at least one emotional support ready for those times. This Circus Troupe has been around since my grandfather’s time, but they initially faced continuous deficits.”
“There are monsters on the road, and hiring guards would leave us broke. Learning and practicing how to escape from monsters and thieves is part of our job. The hardships aren’t just in training. We can only fight at a basic level, right? Isn’t that right, captain?”
“Indeed… But this continent is a strange place. We hardly encounter monsters anymore. I remember being chased by a giant monkey monster in Kizel Valley forty years ago…”
“Well, no matter what, the reason we can’t quit is that we love it. Though that can also be a burden. Hahaha…”
People with less fighting power than me have been traveling the world for decades, pursuing what they want to do. It’s incredible to see how strong those who have found their passion can be. I felt even more insignificant in comparison. There was no way I could easily accomplish what they did. Upon reflection, I often envied others’ skills and practiced, but none of my attempts had ever gone well.
The variety of skills I had was overwhelmingly fewer than others. It seemed like I had many options, but in reality, I had very few. That was the assessment of that insufferable Elmera. What can I do now? No, more importantly, what do I want to do? This was what I lacked. If I had something I wanted to pursue, I could endure the hardships. This was proven by these people and Pablo.
“To lose the ability to do what you want… that would be truly painful.”
“While ‘chasing dreams’ may sound like a lighthearted phrase, it’s precisely because of that that we can say it. But the food here is delicious! I’ve traveled to many places, but this place ranks among the top five!”
Gantetsu had completely changed since losing his job. I wondered if others were the same; losing the ability to do what they wanted left them with nothing to do but wander aimlessly. If customers stopped coming, the shop couldn’t continue. When I thought about it, it was incredibly cruel.
Rulud was currently doing something outrageous. There were enemies to defeat, and I couldn’t afford to be discouraged. It wasn’t about what I could do, but rather what I wanted to do that mattered. But if I defeated Rulud, I might return to my old life, and everyone might complain again. That was my only fear.
“However, having a restaurant that can produce such flavors is, in a way, a sin! After all, it makes it impossible for other businesses to thrive!”
“Well, that’s just how it is… I don’t want to lose either…”
“Of course, of course! Whether in business or anything else… you can’t succeed without a firm belief. Good things don’t come without competition.”
I would probably hear complaints. But could I push through, believing it was the right thing to do? I might not only be unappreciated but could even end up with enemies everywhere. Could I muster the resolve to continue despite that?
“Hey, is Lua-chan around?”
“Elmera…?”
Ikana Village and Queemil weren’t that far apart. When I was young, I had walked from Ikana Village to the Abyss Cave, and it was here that I first arrived after emerging from that cave. So, it wasn’t surprising that someone from Ikana Village would come here.
“Well, you see, this guy named Eeks came to the village all battered. And then, this ridiculous group called the Avangarde Special Operations Unit is planning to attack Noibranz.”
“Huh? What? The Special Operations Unit is getting orders from the Naked King?”
She had come in suddenly with a report that made no sense. I couldn’t understand why Eeks would bring such information, and the fact that he was in such bad shape was even more puzzling.
“It seems the Naked King and Rulud are close… He was talking about the ‘True World,’ so why would that naked guy give such orders?”
“Who knows? Anyway, let’s hurry back.”
“Wait! Hold on!”
In a bizarre display of Imagination Magic, our bodies were lifted, and we were forcibly pulled out of the shop. Ignoring the astonished looks from Pablo and the circus members, Elmera flew us through the air. As we tumbled in midair, we were whisked away toward Ikana Village.
◆ Shin Report ◆
Candy, rain down! Candy! Candy!
Bread is good too! Candy!
Rulud!