I was watching the boy’s performance with a deep frown out of anxiety and displeasure when, at that moment, the boy really did lose his footing.
“Ohhh!”
“Oh my!”
Fortunately, his reflexes weren’t bad, and the boy immediately clung to the rope.
I let out a sigh of relief and focused on the boy again.
However, perhaps because the near-fall had brought on terror, the boy’s entire body was visibly trembling.
“What? That’s boring.”
“Get up quickly!”
“Doesn’t this circus troupe train them properly?”
“Ugh! This is quite poor.”
At first, the people also thought the slip-up was part of a staged performance to make it more exciting.
But as the boy failed to regain his position for several minutes, the reaction soured, and the crowd began to stir.
“You little brat! Won’t you get up?!”
And then, a man who seemed to be part of the circus troupe near my side shouted at the boy along with a curse.
Despite the man’s intimidation, the boy simply clung to the rope with all his might to keep from falling, as if his body refused to move as he wished.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. This child just joined us recently, so his tightrope walking is still lackluster.”
“Then why put such an unprepared fellow up there…!”
“My apologies. There are many more interesting things left, so please calm your anger.”
However, while apologizing to the people pouring out their complaints, not a single member of the circus troupe showed any intention of bringing the boy down from the rope.
As time passed and people’s interest shifted from the boy to elsewhere, I continued to watch him.
The boy was hanging on while gripping the rope tightly, but it seemed he had reached his limit.
I could see the strength gradually fading from his hands as he no longer had the energy to hang on.
I quickly shouted to a member of the circus troupe.
“The child is about to fall!”
“Leave him be. He needs to suffer a harsh lesson so he won’t do such a stupid thing later.”
“What did you say?”
I stared at the person who said that with a bewildered and dumbfounded expression.
However, he simply continued with his work, paying no mind to the child.
‘This is bad.’
In just a little longer, the boy will fall into the fire pit.
It wasn’t a height that would kill him if he fell, but he could suffer severe burns because of the fire.
I hurriedly hid my hands behind my dress and focused my mind while moving them.
‘Please, I mustn’t be late.’
Above all, because I had to extinguish the fire without people noticing, I needed stronger
concentration than usual.
I carefully exerted my power.
“Uh oh, he’s falling!”
Simultaneously with someone’s shout, the boy fell into the pit where the fire should have been blazing.
However, fortunately, I had timed it perfectly, and the boy fell into the extinguished pit with a thud.
As the boy fell, a circus member approached the area.
“What? Why did the fire go out? Hey! The fire is out over here!”
“What? The fire went out?”
It was truly strange.
Without caring at all whether the child was alright, they were entirely focused on the fact that the fire had gone out.
I was about to say something about their irrational behavior when the boy began to crawl slowly out of the pit.
I hurriedly tried to ask the boy if he was okay.
However, a massive man who hadn’t been visible until just now suddenly appeared and took the boy away somewhere with his brutal hands.
I did not want to stay here any longer; shaking my head, I hurriedly pushed my way out from among the spectators.
It was just as I had managed to escape the crowd and catch my breath.
My path was blocked by something as I collided into it, and I realized it was a person by the touch of the hand that caught me just as I was about to fall backward.
“I am sorry. Are you alright?”
Regaining my composure and looking up, I saw a man with a tall, well-proportioned build, and the voice apologizing to me was a charming, low-pitched resonance.
“Yes, I am fine.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I am okay.”
As the man looked at me with quite worried eyes, I felt a bit burdened and repeated that I was fine.
The man then seemed relieved, and the hand that had been holding me let go.
“Well then. Porta Devia.”
It was the phrase I had heard from the owner who was giving out skewers earlier.
This man appeared to be a resident of this village.
“Porta Devia…”
When I returned the same words I now knew, the man gave a slight smile and gradually moved away from me.
I stared at his back for a very brief moment before beginning to go my own way again.
The festival was reaching its peak.
However, it was now about time to head back.
Thinking that Mary and William might be looking for me, I quickened my pace, leaving the street where the festival was in full swing and entering an alleyway.
As I left the noisy area, the surroundings became quiet.
I liked the cool night air and the quiet street for some reason, so I slowed my pace slightly as I walked.
It was then.
I was walking through the dark alley, humming to myself and enjoying the upbeat mood, when I faintly heard a dull thud and the sound of someone letting out a groan soaked in pain from somewhere.
‘What is that?’
As I cautiously approached the direction of the sound, it wasn’t long before I saw two men huddled together in a secluded corner of the alley.
Looking more closely, I saw a child curled up on the ground between the men, enduring brutal kicks.
‘That child is…!’
I recognized the child’s face.
It was the child who had been tightrope walking in the circus earlier.
And the men were also familiar.
One was the massive man who had taken the child away earlier, and the other was the short man I had briefly exchanged words with.
I am not exactly a person with a piercing sense of justice, but the exception was when it came to children.
Regardless of the reason, I could not just pass by after seeing several adults assaulting a child who wasn’t even an adult.
I immediately strode toward them.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?”
At the sudden voice, the men’s attention focused on me.
“What?”
The massive man who had dragged the child away earlier scanned me quickly and then spoke with a sinister gaze.
“You look like a noble lady, so mind your own business and go on your way.”
The man laughed unpleasantly in a thuggish tone.
It was as if he were asking what I could possibly do.
“Child, are you alright?”
“Uh-huh, I told you to go on your way. Who are you to interfere in someone else’s household business?”
“You people are the circus troupe that was performing over there earlier, aren’t you?”
“So you were a guest who watched our circus. That’s right. That’s right. Then you should know from seeing it earlier that this fellow’s tightrope walking is quite pathetic, so we were giving him some separate discipline.”
“Isn’t it assault under the guise of discipline?”
“Assault?! Your words are far too much!”
The short man jumped up with an offended expression at my words.
However, what I noticed first was the child huddled on the ground, moaning in pain.
At that moment, I locked eyes with the child, who had managed to slightly lift his head.
‘Ah…’
For a moment, I felt as if my breath were caught, and I was overcome with emotion.
That gaze was one I knew.
A look that only someone left alone in the world could know; the image I had seen every time I looked in the mirror overlapped with this child.
Perhaps that was why.
Without realizing it, the words I had only been thinking jumped out of my mouth impulsively.
“I will take that child.”
“Pardon?”
“This child is the precious property of our circus. We absolutely cannot hand him over.”
“Property?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The man who referred to a person as property maintained a bold attitude as he replied to me.
“Who would just give away their own property for nothing?”
“Exactly. Unless you were to give us some money. Hehe.”
The two men chimed in with each other, speaking in a way that suggested they wanted money.
