The Freak Show Foreman

Ella picked up a shiny, sturdy metal piece from the Pandora stand in front of the concession stand.

"If you’ve seen the Escape King’s show, you should buy this."

The metal piece she held had the following inscription:

<Escape King’s 114 Puzzle Series No. Rose />

Escape King Lweeni used to provide a simple metal puzzle made of the local landmarks or specialties as a gift to the audience whenever he finished a performance in an area.

Originally, it was distributed to all the spectators, but this time, with free admission, it was being sold at the concession stand.

Lweeni’s escape puzzles were small geometric metal pieces intertwined in a seemingly simple manner, requiring disassembly to solve.

Although they looked simple on the surface, solving them was not that easy.

People who couldn’t solve them would twist and turn them for a month and still couldn’t solve them.

What Lweeni presented this time was a ’Rose,’ a hexagonal flower formed by three Y-shaped metal pieces combining.

From its name to its form, it was clearly designed for this competition.

The area in front of the concession stand was filled with fans trying to solve the puzzle and discussing it.

Lweeni’s puzzles were so popular that when a new one was released, the solution was guaranteed to be featured in the next circus magazine.

While they didn’t watch Lweeni’s performance, collecting his puzzles was a hobby for many.

"How about each of us buying one and trying to solve it?"

The price of the puzzle was not cheap, but since they received free coins, there was no burden in using them.

They sat around the table in front of the concession stand with the escape puzzles until the next show started in the Silver Veil.

"Why isn’t this working?"

"I wish my bones were connected this tightly…"

Watching Yurakne and Sven struggle with the puzzle, Ella shook her head.

"It’s useless to exert force. If it doesn’t be at the exact angle and position, it’s immovable. Even if you solve it quickly, it will take hours."

"I solved it."

"What?"

Maya was the fastest to solve the puzzle.

As soon as she took the puzzle in her hands, she observed the shape of the pieces, rotated them a few times, and dismantled the combination in one go.

"How did you do that?"

Ella looked at her with wide eyes.

Maya turned to Ella and spoke with an emotionless yet somewhat mocking tone.

"A little intuition and manual skill."

Receiving the same line she threw earlier, Ella made a resentful expression.

Maya ignored the commotion around and observed the disassembled puzzle’s details.

She was interested in the specific junctions of the metal pieces.

Spectacular reactions came from the people around who were solving puzzles.

"Wow! What’s this, miss?"

"She solved the puzzle right away in her seat!"

"What grade is this puzzle?"

"It’s a 4th grade! Third from the top!"

Lweeni’s fans, solving puzzles around, gathered around the table where the group was sitting.

Lweeni had given grades to his puzzles himself, with 6 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Grade 6 appeared only once, and Grade 5 came out once every two or three years. The 4th grade that Maya solved was considered the most challenging by regular standards.

However, she solved it within minutes of buying it, so it was natural for people to be astonished.

"Someone already solved it?"

Hearing the commotion in front of the concession stand, someone rushed out from hole 3.

From afar, the Wonderstein could recognize who he was.

A man with his face and upper body covered in chains.

He was one of the two members Lweeni brought to the lottery ceremony.

Due to his appearance with chains wrapped all over, he got the nickname ’Chain Tail,’ and he was an acrobat.

He sighed as he looked at the three dismantled pieces in Maya’s hands.

"Really! Solving a Grade 4 puzzle so quickly."

"Is there a problem with the pieces, by any chance?"

A fanatical and nervously looking thin man among Lweeni’s enthusiastic fans protested in a rough voice.

As soon as he entered the theater, he rushed to the snack bar, bought a puzzle, and fiddled with the pieces instead of watching the performance.

Lweeni’s puzzles were rewarded to the first solver.

Eager to try it out, he sat stubbornly in front of the snack bar without watching the performance, holding the puzzle.

But when a girl, who had watched the entire show up to part 3, quickly solved it shortly after getting the pieces, irritation surged within him.

He gave him a disdainful look.

His gray eyes flickered through the gaps of the chain.

"A problem? Our trap puzzles have never had issues with the products."

The fan who spoke up against his cold tone shrugged his shoulders and stepped back.

The Chail Tail realized it, he got unnecessarily excited, then added in a softened tone.

"Now that I’ve looked, there seems to be no problem. So please refrain from baseless accusations. Miss, to receive the prize, ’assembly’ is also required. Would you like to give it a try?"

Maya, who had been deeply immersed in the analysis of the structural connections, was not pleased with the interruption.

Normally, she would have snapped, ’I don’t want to.’ and focused only on her work.

But she felt the gaze of Wonderstein watching her.

For the sake of his dignity, she couldn’t afford to act so stubbornly.

She inserted and turned the three pieces in her hand with precise order and angles.

There was no hesitation or forced attempt to push them together.

The geometric patterns of the slots clicked together, returning to the initially connected form.

Around them, cheers erupted.

While disassembly could sometimes be achieved with enough force, reassembly was impossible without a precise understanding of the puzzle.

She had genuinely grasped and solved the structure of the puzzle.

Some fans who claimed to be Luck looked perplexed and withdrew.

The Chain Tail nodded approvingly as he saw the rose she created.

"I admit it. I recognize you as the No.114, solver of the rose. I will now provide the prize."

The Chain tail behind the chain, as the nickname suggested, moved like a tail, swaying.

At the end of the iron tail, a shiny piece of metal hung.

It was an object identical in shape to the puzzles people bought.

He moved the iron tail and placed it in front of Maya.

"This is the original of No.114. I made it following our leader’s design. Other puzzles are made by molding this in bronze. Feel free to keep it, or you can put it up for auction. It sells for a good price. Oh, it’s not gold.

It’s made of brass."

After finishing his words, the chain tail, dragging the iron tail, left.

Once he disappeared, Lweeni’s fans crowded around Maya.

"Do you mind if I touch it? Can I buy it from you?"

Some even grabbed her arms and shook them.

Maya’s expression turned irritated.

Of course, to ordinary people, her face remained expressionless.

Only Wonderstein and Ella could sense her emotions.

"Please step back now."

Wonderstein blocked the crowd rushing towards Maya.

The person who had grabbed her arm was forced to let go.

Strength 4.0.

Thanks to the strength, people easily retreated.

"Wow! What, what is this?"

"Is he a superman?"

"He doesn’t even look that strong…."

People were amazed by Wonderstein’s strength and staggered backward.

"Are you okay?"

Maya looked at Wonderstein, who was smiling at her, with her usual expressionless face.

He, who was confident that he could read her expression, was equally surprised at the lack of any emotions on her face.

She looked down at the prize in her hand and then handed it to Wonderstein unexpectedly.

"Here."

Wonderstein smiled perplexedly as he looked at it.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"I don’t need it."

Maya, who had placed the item on the table, turned her attention back to observing the joints of the sculpture.

Her attitude was so cool and indifferent that it was confusing.

Wonderstein, with a perplexed smile, picked up the gift.

"Thank you, I’ll take it."

As he put it in his arms, Maya’s mouth curled up ever so slightly.

Since she had her head down, only Ella sitting next to her could notice her smile.

Maya chuckled at Ella, who was staring at her intently.

"Want me to teach you how to solve puzzles?"

"I’m fine. I can do it alone."

Ella turned her head away and struggled with the puzzle for several minutes.

She had solved many of Lweeni’s trap puzzle series.

In the corner of the circus school, there were dozens of puzzles covered in children’s fingerprints.

It was one of the favorite pastimes for the circus dreamers.

Sometimes bets were made on who would complete the full conquest first.

The bet ended when Ella, around 13 or 14 years old, winning.

"Done!"

Just before going in to watch the Silver Veil performance, Ella finally solved the puzzle.

Sven, who was next to her, congratulated her with a smirk.

He added a short tease.

"Third place, Deputy Director, hahaha."

He was the second in the group to complete the puzzle.

Thanks to Maya explaining the solution, Sven was able to solve the puzzle a few minutes before.

"Building bones every day makes things like this enjoyable!"

He bought a bunch of puzzle series at the snack bar and brought them in his arms.

He said they were leftovers from the previous region.

Wonderstein nodded at his words about sharing them with members who couldn’t see the performance.

Well, doing this back and forth would make time fly.

"I forgot about the remaining members. I’ll pay for it."

"Ohoho! Director! He is not stingy one! Well then, thank you! Kekke!"

[Sven’s favorability has increased by 1.]

With that, the only member who couldn’t solve the puzzle was Yurakne.

Even after listening to Maya’s explanation, she was still unable to find the solution while struggling with the metal sculpture.

"Yiik."

"Miss Yurakne, that’s not something you solve with strength."

Wonderstein grabbed her shoulders and calmed her down.

Unknowingly, her arms around her back and waist were tense, causing her to struggle even more.

She was twisting the metal sculpture with the force of breaking a puzzle made of bones.

Yurakne, who exerted all her strength, blushed when she met the director’s gaze.

She wanted a hole to hide in.

But there was something else that made her face even redder.

In her frustration with the puzzle, Wonderstein tried to help her solve it by holding her hands and directly solving the puzzle.

"Uh...."

His hand tightly grasped her hand. Yurakne couldn’t even think of resisting and was led by his hand. His face was almost right next to hers.

Maya’s expression froze as she witnessed the scene, and Ella’s eyebrows raised.

Wonderstein, focused on solving the puzzle, didn’t notice the changes around him.

"So, if we twist it at this angle…."

Wonderstein had captured the moment Maya solved the puzzle in his mind. He was always ready to help Yurakne with the puzzle.

However, he postponed confirming whether she would be acknowledged for solving the puzzle until the end.

Unaware that Yurakne’s face had turned as red as a persimmon, he anxiously stared at the notification while solving the puzzle.

Click.

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Three Y-shaped pieces of metal dismantled with a sound on the ground.

Simultaneously, a notification popped up.

[You have achieved the ’Chapter Quest – Time Attack! Puzzle King!’ ]

[As a reward, ’Debulroots x20’ is provided.]

Wonderstein breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it seemed that she would be acknowledged for solving the puzzle even with this approach.

He had recently accumulated Debulroots for experimenting with skill books and the dressing room.

Two weeks were left for the program he and Ella had thought about.

Even small quests like this couldn’t be missed.

"I didn’t realize time was flying while solving the puzzle. Well then, shall we go watch the Silver Veil’s performance?"

Wonderstein led the way with a bright smile.

His steps were light.

He had worried whether the members could solve the puzzle within an hour, but luckily, they had just managed to complete the quest.

Ella and Maya looked at each other, realizing that they both had the same thought.

Anyway, that carefree personality of his.

Is it really okay for them to leave him like that?

The skeleton jester continued to laugh while looking at Yurakne, whose face was still flushed.

"Oh, modest lady. Hold my hand once…."

"Shut up, Sven!"

Thump.

Yurakne’s punch made his head wobble as if it might roll off.