I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Wonderstein and Maya had been gone for over 5 hours, but there was still no news about the two.

Ella couldn’t hide her anxiety.

Dinner time had long passed.

It was clear that something was wrong with the two.

Her anxiety reached its peak when the reconnaissance they attempted an hour ago failed.

Dub and Chick vehemently refused to go to the village.

They were trembling with fear.

Being able to communicate with animals and having basic telepathy, she asked them why.

They couldn’t find the words to express it and simply said, “Scary. It eats.”

It was an ominous sign.

If it was a large predator like a big eagle, there would be corresponding vocabulary.

Ella asked if it could be something like that, but they shook their heads.

Different. Never seen before.

They both didn’t know what it was.

However, their animal instincts were telling them that there was a dangerous presence there.

Are Wonderstein and Maya okay?

Surely, there couldn’t be anything threatening in such a rural area.

Above all, if there was a dangerous presence, Wonderstein’s abilities should have detected it.

Ella remembered the face of the person who ran away from them two hours ago.

Back then, the anxiety she felt was not unfounded.

Something was happening in the village.

She wanted to go and see for herself.

But she wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do.

Her decision was expedited by a sudden loud noise.

A sound like a giant slingshot hitting the walls shook the ground.

Ella couldn’t take it anymore and stood up.

“I think I should go check.”

Initially, she intended to go alone, but in the courtyard where everyone had heard the noise together, they couldn’t leave her alone.

In the end, the entire circus decided to move to the village together.

Ella rode in a carriage with Yurakne.

“Both of them will be fine.”

In Yurakne’s unexpected comfort, Ella realized that she was looking at her hands.

Her two hands were tightly held together, trembling.

“This is… because I’m worried about Maya.”

Ella quickly hid her hands between her sleeves and added a vague explanation.

“I don’t know about that human.”

“…Ella, is this the third time you’ve said that since earlier?”

Yurakne smiled with a hint of mischief, and Ella quickly avoided her gaze.

“Honestly, tell me. Are you also worried about the Director?”

“Me worried? No way… Besides, that man is not someone who deserves to be worried about from the beginning.”

Ella’s words were not entirely untrue.

Yurakne also couldn’t imagine him in a dangerous situation.

“What happened between you and the Director? Can you tell me now?”

With her words, Ella bit her lips tightly.

Yurakne carefully brought up the next words so as not to disturb her feelings.

“Even you know, right? The director’s attitude has changed a lot.”

“Changed? What are you talking about?”

“Isn’t it true? He became a bit more plump. It seems like he’s more sincere to us… in the circus.”

Ella couldn’t manage the village as well as she used to, especially when it came to Wonderstein.

And above all, he seemed to have changed his attitude toward the circus.

“Kindness was always his specialty. What sincerity… Fine, I admit. He has sincerity when it comes to the circus. After all, everything that man does for us is for that.”

Ella found it difficult to control regarding Wonderstein.

Especially after the dream she had earlier…

Taking a breath, she said, “How can you explain killing people like that?”

Yurakne’s expression also stiffened at her words.

She still couldn’t forget the memories of that day.

At a gesture from him, fully armed soldiers burst out like fireworks, and the innocent villagers gathered together like clay.

Why did he do such a thing? How could he do such a thing?

Instead, she remembered the warm hand he had extended to her, living alone in the forest.

She recalled his back, which had protected her.

She remembered his smile, which had confided secrets only to her.

And she remembered her deceased husband.

With a sad smile, Yurakne said, “Maybe the director had some circumstances too?”

Circumstances? What kind of circumstances?

Ella wanted to question how there could be any circumstances behind the massacre of dozens of innocent children.

But she barely suppressed her emotions and turned her head away.

As they approached the village, they could feel that something was not right.

Growling sounds and people’s screams alternated.

The Ratmen, with their keen sense of smell, sniffed the air.

“Blood!”

“It smells like blood!”

The members, without anyone commanding, found things that could be used as weapons and grasped them.

Ella, reaching into her pocket to draw her dagger, touched something else.

It was what Wonderstein had given her.

She muttered a few curses in her mind and then pulled out the dagger, holding it in her hand.

As they approached the entrance of the village, the gate of the stockade opened.

A few people who looked like villagers rushed out.

They approached with welcoming faces upon seeing the torches on the carriage.

The closest one, Jobel, checked their faces and shouted in surprise.

“They’re monsters!”

The villagers noticed the peculiar creatures among them, particularly the Womon in the carriage, and screamed.

“They’re monsters!”

They extended farming tools they held toward them.

The members inside the carriage were taken aback by this sight.

On the tips of the pitchforks and sickles they held were bits of flesh, blood, and even parts of human bodies.

“They’re murderers!”

“They’re dangerous guys!”

The members opened the carriage door and stepped out.

The villagers, upon seeing them emerging all of a sudden, screamed and scattered.

“What’s wrong with these people?”

They killed the fellow villagers.

There was a reason Jobel had called them monsters upon seeing them.

Some of the villagers had strange things protruding from their faces.

“What kind of epidemic is going on?”

“Look at their skin. They’re more horrifying than the bandits.”

“Enough said.”

The members discussed, looking at the villagers.

Ella barely swallowed her scream.

It wasn’t because of the gruesomeness of their appearance.

She had seen this before.

But before she could say anything, Sven spoke.

“It’s the Curse Plague.”

Sven’s voice mentioning that name was solemn.

It was the first time she had seen him earnestly seeking help instead of forcing a lively voice as a jester.

Womon asked with a curious expression, “What is that?”

Jobel scratched his head and mumbled uncertainly, “Isn’t that a very famous epidemic?”

“A lot of people might not know. Hehe, the Curse Plague, also known as Debulroots. It’s a curse deeply related to all of us.”

Sven briefly explained about Debulroots.

Everyone who heard his words nodded.

Some of the members had heard similar stories from their parents.

“It’s true that the leader and Maya are in trouble in the village. It won’t be easy for us to hear good news if we come with people like us when the Curse Plague is spreading.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Look at the blood and flesh on the weapons. Did a fight break out among the people? Or did the lord of this place send soldiers to eliminate those affected by the curse…”

“Are you saying they killed them?”

“Before the mechanism of Debulroots was revealed, such things happened often.”

“Hehe, we should hurry. We’ve got a rough idea of the situation now.”

“But, are we okay?”

“Hehe, well, I’m not sure. According to what I know, if exposed to Debulroots, one might start sprouting extra flesh, maybe?”

“Really?”

Bendict asked in a fluster, holding up a bandage.

Sven returned to his usual jester-like attitude and chuckled.

“Of course, it’s a joke.”

“This damn idiot…”

Even though their doubts were somewhat relieved, Ella still stood with a stiff expression.

The villagers’ transformed appearances.

This was similar to what Wonderstein had done when he attacked her hometown.

“Kill me! Just kill me now!”

“That devil did it! When he waved his hand in the air, people collapsed, and they all ended up like this!”

People transformed into various horrifying forms, crawling on the ground and entangled.

Sven was telling the story that the Curse Plague originated from an evil being called the Plague Lord.

Ella thought,

If such a devil truly exists, she would probably know who he is.

***

The inside of the church was filled with music.

The suppressed sorrow and fear burst out all at once as the situation calmed down.

Valentina wanted to console the souls of the dead and comfort them.

But the disaster was not over yet.

She shouted to the residents, “The frenzy earlier clearly happened targeting the curse plague patients! Let’s set aside our grief for a moment and come to get treatment!”

Valentina and Wonderstein returned to their previous seats, guiding the patients to come in one by one.

However, no one stood in front of Wonderstein.

The hostile glares from the people towards him were gone.

After all, it was a fact that he saved their lives.

But the unsettling fact remained that he was an enigmatic figure leading the Monster Circus.

Now, there were less than 50 patients left in the church.

Everyone thought it would be better to receive treatment from the nun at the church rather than resorting to unverified and dubious methods.

Wonderstein smiled bitterly as he saw all the patients lining up in front of Valentina.

“My job is done.”

“Are you leaving?”

Valentina looked at him with wide eyes.

He smiled wryly and nodded, “No. I’m going to sleep now. Valentina, take care and endure a bit more.”

“Wh-Why! You’ve done so much… Uh, no. Thank you!”

Wonderstein walked out with his makeshift priest robe.

In the hillside path leading to the village, Maya came running up.contemporary romance

“Director!”

She hadn’t had time to check the situation between the residents and the infected while helping in the fight.

Upon hearing the noise of the feast from the church, she rushed over.

“Maya is safe. Thank goodness.”

“…Director too.”

She sighed with relief as she looked at him, who was walking without major injuries.

She glanced briefly behind him.

The gazes of the people looking at him were strange.

“What happened?”

“There was something, but it’s all over now. Hehe, let’s go down. We need to check on our members.”

“…Okay.”

The two of them descended the hillside together.

The bell ringer at the church watched them disappear into the darkness.

Most of the villagers were dead, but the old bell ringer, who hadn’t missed a day of ringing the bell for over 30 years, came up here to do his job.

He pulled the rope to ring the bell.

However, the sound wasn’t as clear as before.

Due to the aftermath of the fight, part of the bell tower had been damaged, causing the iron part to twist.

Creak. Creak.

The sound of metal scraping echoed through the village.

Now it was midnight.

The time when the creatures lurking in the darkness gained the most power.

Creak. Creak.

Over a thousand people had died.

The negative spiritual waves emitted by those dying were powerful.

It greatly weakened the spiritual protection of this area.

Creak. Creak.

Someone born with spiritual eyes might see it.

Gold spreading through the air.

Creak. Creak.

Someone born with spiritual ears might hear it.

The sound of gold spreading through the air.

Creak. Creak.

The streets piled with corpses.

Alleys stained with thick blood.

In the darkest darkness.

Creak. Creak.

The barrier between the Abyss and this world was torn apart.

Through the rift, gigantic shadows rose.

Red eyes seeking slaughter gleamed in the darkness.

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