NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 243: Wonderland – 46
Nine acrobats, escorted by Oberon and Chen Hawk, left the judicial theatre.
The Midsummer Night Circus was taming a large fantastical beast as a mount, allowing them to fly over the square and pass through the archway.
The demons were too busy fighting to care about what was flying above them.
They landed on a hill on the outskirts of Wonderland, a place similar to where they had first arrived.
Holding the tickets they had been issued, they waited for the barrier to be lifted.
Leaving Wonderland was simple.
They just needed to purchase an exit ticket from the ticket booth, then go to the outskirts and tear it.
This would gradually reveal the place they had left, naturally transitioning them back to their original location.
Lord Fantastic gathered the group and sternly reminded them of their conduct once they returned.
He emphasized this especially to Ella, Maya, and Clara.
Ella and Maya were dissatisfied that they couldn’t even tell Wonderstein about it, but they reluctantly nodded, having already made the promise.
Clara pretended to agree reluctantly but smiled inwardly.
‘Fools. My master is way ahead of you.’
She was the only one among them who knew the true identity of the Scarecrow.
She believed that it was all part of Wonderstein’s plan for them to come here.
That’s why she wasn’t worried at all when he said he was going down to put Kirku to sleep.
The others thought he was lying to reassure them, but she alone believed he would be unaffected by Kirku’s mental attacks.
Of course, if Clara had actually seen Kirku, she wouldn’t have been so confident.
She was the only one in the group who hadn’t seen Kirku directly. When the first opportunity came, she had fainted in the hall.
She volunteered to handle the Sand of Slumber today to seize the opportunity to observe the chaos in the pit.
Otherwise, why would she help Oberon, who treated her like a slave?
She had no recollection of what happened after she lost the duel.
Wonderstein had asked Oberon to erase her memory, fearing she might commit suicide out of shame.
She believed she had just done odd jobs at the inn.
She hummed a tune, thinking she would ask her master about the purpose and plan of coming to Wonderland once they returned.
They sat on the hill, watching the battle unfold below.
The followers of the Great Demon Kirku indeed were strong in their domain.
The once ferocious Zakanubas were slowly being pushed out of the Card Sun by the guards.
Ella, worried about Oz, kept looking towards the judicial theatre, nervously tapping her foot.
“Are you that worried? Seems like you got attached to that guy.”
“We’ve been together for a week.”
Ella made that excuse to Karen, but she knew it wasn’t the real reason in her heart.
At that moment, Chen Hawk saw a blue light flash in the sky surrounding Wonderland and jumped to his feet.
“The barrier is lifted.”
The group stood up.
At Lord Fantastic’s signal, they each tore their exit tickets.
The illusion of the hall where they had prepared for the performance appeared and swallowed their bodies.
Everyone was leaving for the surface, except Ella, who hesitated to tear her ticket, still looking back towards Card Castle.
“Aren’t you going?”
To Oberon’s question, Ella shook her head.
“I’ll go after seeing the old man.”
At her words, he sighed with a dissatisfied look.
“Shall I be honest?”
“……”
“He won’t be able to come.”
Ella glared at him, but Oberon continued unfazed.
“It was a feat only someone like me could manage. An ordinary human soul can’t withstand the curse of the Slumbering Chaos. Honestly, I thought even scattering the sand was beyond him. But it seems he managed somehow.”
Just then, with a loud thud, the archway of Card Sun shook.
The demons were being pushed back more quickly.
“The Saint who had gone dormant must all be coming out!”
Chen Hawk exclaimed in excitement.
But it wasn’t purely a cause for celebration.
This caused demons to approach the hill where they stood. She caught a glimpse of a grim reaper-like figure.
Oberon surrounded them with an illusionary wall, preparing for any eventuality.
The broken bodies of Zakanubas flew and landed nearby.
“At this rate, we might get caught up in this. Are you really staying here?”
“The old man is alive. He promised.”
Oberon put his hand to his forehead and shook his head vigorously.
“Fine. My sister followed him, so there’s a higher chance. But you know he won’t be in any condition to come straight here, right?”
“T-that’s…”
Ella stammered, searching for a retort, but Oberon raised his hand to stop her.
“In about half a year, we’re going to enjoy a forest festival on the surface. You heard, right? Clara and those two agreed to help us for a few days in exchange for her release. Oz and my sister will come up with us and work there. We’ll invite you too. How about that?”
Ella looked up brightly.
“Really?”
“I promise on my name.”
Ella was finally able to relent to his assurance.
She knew there was little chance Oz would show up here.
Yet the anxiety over when she might see him again kept her from taking a step away.
He had confidently claimed he remembered her, but how could she be certain of that when even renowned impresarios like Chen Hawk had forgotten?
However, a few months later, it would be different.
By then, he would be in good health, and they could talk in a more relaxed situation.
“Pl-please! You promised. You must call me, okay?”
Only after obtaining Oberon’s firm assurance several times did she finally take the exit ticket in hand to tear it.
Just before leaving, she turned back to Oberon as if she had remembered something.
“Wait a minute, but how will you know where I am?”
Oberon didn’t dare to say she would surely be beside Wonderstein and instead mumbled an excuse.
“……That Oz guy said he would know.”
“Oh.”
Ella’s brown eyes sparkled with a certain conviction.
“Got it, see you in half a year then…….”
“Take care, young acrobat.”
After waving to the two of them, Ella tore the exit ticket.
The scenery of the place she had come from enveloped her in a translucent black-and-white mist.
The question she wanted to ask Oz wasn’t anything else.
-Are you trying to tour Wonderland, ‘living person’?
Even the guards couldn’t find her until she stood on the stage of the duet contest. Yet how did an unknown clown without Inspira manage to find her?
-Blood relations are connected by their spirits. You can feel each other even after death.
She overheard Reyna and Hawk’s conversation as she passed by.
At that moment, she recalled the conversation between Chen Hawk and Oz when they met.
-By any chance, is this child the family you mentioned?
Hawk said he met Oz wandering around the outskirts looking for a family member’s spirit.
The date coincided with the day he came looking for her, and the place he wandered was near where they had entered.
There were a few more clues as well.
They seemed trivial at first glance, but when pieced together, they were suspiciously conspicuous.
Acting as if he had known her from the beginning.
Hearing her name as ‘Ella’ instead of ‘Elphi’ several times after meeting her friends and not correcting it.
Saying he would accept the acrobatics of a living person as payment but not urging her at all.
And being excessively devoted to her.
-I might forget my own name, but I will never forget Elhpi’s name! Even if 30 or 40 years pass!
When she heard those words, there was a question she wanted to ask.
And perhaps the answer to that question had already been revealed.
She looked back at the fading Wonderland and murmured to herself.
Uncle, are you safe?
I definitely want to ask you next time we meet.
Who you really are.
Her body completely vanished.
Oberon sat down on the ground, exhausted.
As soon as he fulfilled the task Lumie had asked of him, all the tension drained from him. He had been barely holding on with his injured body.
Chen Hawk looked at him and smiled faintly.
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to rest, Director Oberon? I think I can handle it alone here.”
“……Could you do that for me? Then I shall take my leave. Later…….”
Oberon, who was about to promise a reunion, remembered that Hawk was scheduled for reincarnation today and shut his mouth.
He nodded to Hawk, who waved him off, and left.
Shortly thereafter, two guides arrived.
The Scarecrow was lying on the carpet Lumie had summoned. His severed limbs were bandaged. With that, he couldn’t even stand, let alone walk.
“It seems the others have all left.”
“Thankfully.”
Seeing him with a sombre expression, Lumie sighed in sympathy.
Even though he had escaped the state of panic, he was still gripped by anxiety.
It was unlike him to be so unlike the person who could face any danger with a relaxed smile.
It was undoubtedly because he had gotten too close to Kirku and had become mentally vulnerable.
Acting tough like a fool.
She tried her best to lift his spirits.
“Your limbs will be fine! They should heal in a week or two. Those bastards cut them off as cleanly as possible, so they should be right. Of course, with your soul damaged, walking will be tough… For now, you should use a wheelchair, okay?”
The Scarecrow sensed her concern for him in her words.
He gave her a faint smile and nodded.
“Thank you, Lumie.”
Hearing his unusually serious voice, Lumie blushed.
“Hmph! What would you do without me, you idiot?”
The Scarecrow watched her hastily walk ahead and organized the information he had gathered below.
The monster circus is dozens of times more effective than a regular performance.
He now understood why there was such a gruesome building like the ‘Judicial Theatre’ in the heart of Wonderland and why ‘punishments’ were carried out in a manner akin to mental murder.
He didn’t believe that Wonderstein had set up the monster circus for the sake of the world.
If that was the case, attacking the Circus Grand Prix and slaughtering people off-stage wouldn’t make sense.
Wonderstein’s goal was to ensure the success of the Circus Grand Prix and make Tril completely red.
The monster circus was likely a backup plan in case the gem was not completed.
In the original work, the preliminary rounds were not shown.
However, based on the words of the monster crew who appeared as stage bosses, he was sure that the primal monster circus had been conducted.
While organizing his thoughts, they almost reached the hill.
At that moment, Chen Hawk, who had been quietly watching them from above, suddenly ran towards them.
“Hawk?”
He shouted at them.
“Get out of the way!”
A large gust of wind blew.
With a loud bang, dirt and rock fragments soared into the air.
If Lumie had been a little slower in pulling the carpet back, the Scarecrow would have been caught in the blast and shattered.
Still unable to move his limbs, he looked up at the being that had attacked him.
“Where’s Katpia?”
The fat reaper who had blown up the voodoo mages snarled at him, baring its teeth.
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Chapter 242: Wonderland – 45