[Hint Six: The performers work very hard on stage. Dear visitors, please make sure to support them—watch at least three Shows. Don’t let your ticket go to waste.]
[Hint Seven: Under no circumstances may any visitor enter the Backstage without an Invitation! Do not enter the Backstage! Absolutely forbidden unless you have an Invitation.]
[Hint Eight: In the Amusement Area, we have Arrow Game, Whack-a-Mole, and Goldfish Scooping. You can also interact with the Clown and receive Free Candy.]
[Hint Nine: All activities in the Amusement Area are completely free—there are no additional charges. If you encounter any paid program, immediately notify the Clown on duty. He will take care of it.]
[Hint Ten: Occasionally, members of the Misshapen Show may dine in the Animal Area. Please do not laugh at them or whisper about them. Their tempers are not good.]
“Hmm…” Looking at the next few hints, Ileya slowly pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time.
The time now was… eight o’clock sharp.
There were still twenty-five minutes until the performance began. According to [Hint Six]… everyone must watch at least three Shows.
But how long does one Show last…?
Thinking of this, the Lady slowly shook her head.
This wasn’t what she needed to worry about right now…
The purpose of these Circus people guiding them in here… she’d already guessed it was likely because of herself and Arthur.
Or rather… herself, Reliel, and Arthur.
Though her “cheap” little sister didn’t know it herself, she truly was of the Seredon Family bloodline.
And as for why they didn’t make their move outside… the reason was already obvious.
They didn’t have the ability.
To put it bluntly, they simply lacked the Power~
After all… to a normal way of thinking, if you’re strong enough, wouldn’t you just snatch what you want?
Even if you couldn’t take it by force, you could always use tricks, right?
Why go through all this trouble?
This could be seen in many ways.
For example, manipulating a Ceramic Puppet to spy on Holly, sneaking into Arthur’s carriage at night, taking away her raven from the watchtower, restricting Amisa’s entry…
It all looked mysterious and impressive, but thinking about it—
All these actions were just meant to lure everyone into Mist Town, into this so-called Golden Sun Circus’s strange story.
All those “hints” were just restrictions and Rules.
So in summary, there’s only one conclusion.
These guys weren’t that strong, and something was restricting them!
They couldn’t do much harm to outsiders; all they could do was startle and confuse, forcing people to seek the truth bit by bit, until they finally walked right into the Trap covered by their Rules.
That’s right…
The corner of Ileya’s mouth lifted in a slight smirk as she looked toward the Main Tent, a bit disdainful.
The fact that these strange people hadn’t rushed out to subdue them directly… explained another thing.
Even within the Golden Sun Circus—
These guys were still a bunch of useless fools. As long as they didn’t provoke or break certain things… these pretentious weirdos still couldn’t do anything to them.
Realizing all this, this eerie place and those strange people… didn’t seem so scary anymore.
In fact… they were even a bit pitiful~
Thinking of this, Ileya turned to glance at the others.
“Still haven’t found Veil?”
The Holy Sword Bearer and Xiao Yaba both shook their heads.
There were just too many people earlier; everyone got separated in an instant… Little Veil seemed to have been swept away by the crowd to another place.
“Ugh… I still haven’t seen her…”
Holly scratched her head in confusion.
Normally, even if she didn’t notice, Reliel-senpai with her keen perception should have spotted her. But why…
Could it be… Little Veil was swept to the innermost part by the crowd earlier?
“Hmm…”
Ileya thought for a moment, then turned around, looking a bit helpless.
“We’ll split up to search.”
“Eh? Split up… how?”
“The Main Tent hasn’t opened yet~”
She pointed ahead at the still-closed Main Tent.
“You two go to the Animal Area, I’ll go to the Amusement Area… Once we find her, meet up in front of the Main Tent…”
“Ugh! Still… let’s not do that…”
Holly quickly shook her head and spoke solemnly…
“In horror movies, the protagonist group always dooms themselves by splitting up… We should stick together! If we split up…”
Reliel, standing to the side, also nodded slightly.
It might be more efficient to explore separately in this situation, but the danger of splitting up… was obvious.
“Horror movies… what are those?” Ileya raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
But before Holly could explain to this “local” Lady, Ileya stepped forward, extended a finger, and lightly poked the Holy Sword Bearer in the chest.
“Also… are you looking down on me? Or do you think… you two can really protect me?”
The Lady’s brows arched; her tone dripped with contempt that could be heard even with your ears covered.
“I… I didn’t mean… that…”
“Heh… Such arrogance…”
Whoosh! In the next second, the finger poking her chest shoved forward with force!
Holly was pushed back several steps!
If Reliel hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen to the ground…
“When I speak, you just need to listen… and do as I say~”
When Holly looked up again, she saw nothing but those crimson eyes—devoid of any emotion, full of absolute authority.
Huff…
“Ugh…”
The next moment, Ileya’s short staff pressed directly to Holly’s chest… The hard tip made her wince in pain.
“Remember your place.”
Holly instantly felt a surge of anger, then… a helpless sense of grievance.
She was just reminding her out of kindness, and not only did Ileya not appreciate it… she acted like this…
“But…”
“Enough.”
Before Holly could say more, Reliel behind her spoke up first.
“Eh? Reliel-senpai…”
Holly truly… couldn’t understand these people from another world!
Splitting up was really dangerous!
Huff huff… smack!
Hearing Reliel’s response, Ileya nodded in satisfaction and tapped her staff on the ground.
“Alright then… once we find Veil, meet up in front of the Main Tent. If the Program begins and the others haven’t returned, don’t wait or look for them. Just go in and watch.”
Speaking, Ileya turned and headed toward the [Amusement Area].
Ugh.
Watching the Lady’s figure slowly fade into the mist, Holly really, really wanted to drag her back and show her the horror movies from her previous life.
Splitting up… is the beginning of disaster!
“Keep an eye on him.”
While Holly was agonizing, Reliel pointed at Arthur, who was standing there looking dull.
“Huh? Oh… then we…
Maybe we should follow the Lady…
“Let’s go.” The girl’s face was expressionless as she turned and walked in the opposite direction of Ileya.
Ugh… aaahhh!!
Miss Holy Sword Bearer felt like she was going to explode!
Previously… she hadn’t noticed.
What kind of bizarre teammates did she have!?
They wouldn’t listen, couldn’t communicate, and then… she looked at Arthur’s blank face.
Suddenly, she felt she was suffering a pain and pressure no one her age should have to bear.