Chapter 3: Life Is a Circus

A beautiful melody echoed through the room. The fingers responsible for it traced along the piano keys, tapping them with a gentle rhythm.

Grande valse brillante in E-flat major. It was one of the many waltzes composed by Chopin, as well as one of his most famous alongside the Minute Waltz. Though it was composed when Chopin was quite young, it was a very charming piece with all the hallmarks of his later works.

The one sitting at the piano, playing it with such ease, was none other than Yoshino, my daughter with Sakura. Yoshino wasn’t just a talented singer, but apparently, she had a penchant for instruments too. She was far more talented than me, that was for sure. This particular composition was especially hard for someone as young as her to play, since her hands were pretty small. And yet, Yoshino continued completely undeterred, playing the whole thing through to the end. She then stood up and took a little bow.

Everyone in the room burst into a round of applause, so I made sure to be extra enthusiastic in my clapping.

That’s my girl!

“That was lovely… You’re amazing, Yoshino.”

“Hee hee hee… Thank you, mommy…” Yoshino said as she gave Sakura a big hug.

Hey, I’m right here… Where’s my hug?

“Yoshino’s performance magic is pretty great.”

“Performance magic?” I asked. I didn’t quite understand what Frei meant.

Yoshino saw my confusion, prompting her to open up some kind of app on her smartphone. Her phone lit up and projected an object outward. It was like a holographic keyboard just floating in the air in front of me.

“The keys activate different spells. It’s similar to how mommy’s singing magic works. Different songs create different effects.”

“Amazing… Where’d you get this keyboard?”

“Uncle Sousuke gave it to me.”

At that very moment, Sousuke appeared out of thin air, strumming a lute as if to announce his arrival.

Man…did he hear his name or something? So wait, this thing was made by the god of music? Doesn’t that make it a divine vessel? Huh? Wait, no there’s no divinity in it…? Guess not, then. He probably gave it to her in the future…but that makes me wonder… Do gods age the same as mortals? Do they exist in different times and timelines at the same time? Have they transcended time itself? Or are they experiencing it in the same way I am…? I should ask about it, maybe.

As I pondered that rather serious matter, Yoshino fiddled with her app again and this time a holographic flute popped out of her phone.

“There are lots of different instruments, see?”

“Oh… So you can adapt to the situation, kinda like how Frei has different weapons, huh?”

Does that mean she has the god of music’s blessing, though? He’s not exactly a fighter, but he’s not normal…so maybe he’s enhancing her power somehow?

“I prefer playing for recreation rather than combat. When I play my songs, mommy sings along and everyone smiles. That’s the best.”

Yeah, I guess that’s your main strength. I bet if we recorded your stuff and sold the CDs, they’d fly right off the shelves.

“Daddy! Play music with me!”

“Uh, sure… But could we do a simple song?”

…I can’t exactly keep up with you on something crazy.

We held a mini-concert shortly after that, with me and Yoshino playing instruments and Sakura singing a ton of songs. It was loads of fun, but I got so caught up trying not to make any mistakes that I was mentally exhausted by the end of it.

◇　◇　◇

Having six kids around made for a lively time. They were ostensibly children related to me and my family, so they were allowed to stay in the castle without arousing too much suspicion. And they were pretty accustomed to living here already, given that they’d grown up here in the future. It was their home, after all. They weren’t just staying at a stranger’s place. And as such, they basically came and went as they pleased. Quun was usually up in Babylon, while Frei could be found in the training field with the soldiers every morning. Their presence had quickly become a part of daily castle life.

“…Like this?”

“Mhm, like that. Then move on to the next part…”

Linze and Elna were knitting together in the reception room.

Elze and Linne were both sparring with each other on the training grounds. It was a little funny seeing the girls hang out with each other’s daughter, since they almost looked like they were the actual mothers themselves…but it felt natural, so nobody seemed to mind. They just happened to have similar personalities.

Arcia was hard at work in the kitchen, trying out all kinds of new recipes. Occasionally, she went out to hunt with Karina, saying something about wanting to get a more natural feel for the ingredients by gathering them directly.

Yoshino often headed out to various places via [Teleport], which was a bit concerning. To stem any anxiety I had relating to that, I told Luli to go with her as a chaperone and stipulated that she had to ask permission before going to any specific foreign nations. Also, she had to come home before nightfall. If she caused an international incident, it’d be a real pain in the ass. I once complained to Kousaka about her wanton use of transportation magic, but he simply laughed at me and said something about finally knowing how it felt… I felt a little bad after that, honestly.

I headed up to Babylon’s research laboratory, since I’d been called up. The Fishman corpse had finally been analyzed, so they wanted to tell me what was going on with it.

I entered the lab and found Tica standing alongside Flora. They were both looking over a capsule pod where the dead Fishman was floating in suspended animation.

“I’ll be blunt. This is a human.”

“What?”

I couldn’t understand what Tica meant… How could this thing be a human? He was obviously some kind of a fish monster.

“He was originally a human… The base body, at least. Then something must have happened that changed him from the inside, creating a Chimera of sorts.”

“A Chimera?”

Flora’s words confused me… I understood what she was saying, but it made little sense.

“I’ve heard of Chimeras before, but…”

“If you’re thinking of the Chimera that’s part lion, part goat, and part snake, then put that out of your mind. This is another matter entirely.”

“What’s important here is that this creature is a half-fish, half-human creature created by merging physiological elements together.”

…So it’s a whole new lifeform, basically? Who the hell made it?

The source of the transformation could’ve been the blue crystal I found embedded in the Fishman.

The power of the wicked god was clearly at play either way, which meant they were related to the wicked devout.

“So, why did the people who got bit turn into Fishmen?”

“It was a curse, though the only ones capable of transmitting it are those with the crystals embedded in their bodies.”

Hm… So it can’t spread exponentially, basically. But if there’s more out there, I doubt Elna and I alone are gonna be enough to help. I should probably prepare some kind of item enchanted with [Recovery] in case of an outbreak.

“But why would they even attack?”

“If I had to guess, the purpose is probably to cause fear, anxiety, and panic through the transmission of the curse.”

…Yeah, that sounds sensible. The wicked god used negative emotions to empower itself, but not everyone overtly shows them all the time. As far as methods to bring them out are concerned, the looming threat of a curse is pretty genius. The fear of the unknown, the anxiety of being bitten, the panic setting in once you know your fate is sealed. It’s like a chain reaction of bad vibes that can even spread to those who aren’t directly affected by the curse. Like if someone close to you gets infected, you could get scared for them or fearful that you might be next. Maybe these guys are trying to bring back the wicked god by using mass negative thoughts and emotions or something? “By the way, ahhh…Master… I… I did good, didn’t I? Mhhh…”

“Uh…yeah? Why…?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at Tica, who was suddenly fishing for some kind of praise.

“Mmmh… Then you should reward me, Master! Ahhh! You should let me strip down naked with your daughters and cuddle with them all night under the covers! Please! Ahhh! Please!”

“Absolutely not! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

How the hell can you say that with a straight face?! You good-for-nothing, child-loving freak!

“Whyyy? I’m the only one who doesn’t get to see your kidsss! It’s… Nh! Nooo faiiir!”

“Obviously you’re not allowed! I don’t want any of them developing early life trauma from meeting you!”

“I’ll treat them gently!”

“You’re not allowed to leave the research laboratory. Ever.”

“Mean!”

There’s nothing mean about this. You’re way worse than mean. It’s my job as a parent to keep my kids safe, so I definitely can’t let a freak like you near them.

I left Tica, who was now whining and screaming at me, behind and headed to Babylon’s workshop.

Hopefully Quun’s there, and ideally not making anything too weird.

I entered the workshop and saw Quun riding something strange. It wasn’t exactly foreign to me, since I recognized it as the Dvergr excavation machine developed by the dwarves…but this one was far smaller in size. It was more compact. The head and chest were gone, replaced by an open seat, and the magic motor was on the back. It also had two short, stubby arms on either side of it. Honestly, it kind of resembled a power suit, but since Quun wasn’t technically wearing it, it was more of a vehicle. She was using it to stack a bunch of blocks that were nearby.

“What’s this?”

“Oh, this is a prototype construction vehicle. I was thinking I could combine Frame Gear technology with Gollem technology to create a smaller tool,” Doc Babylon came over grinning as she explained what I was looking at.

…So you’re making my daughter your guinea pig?

“I call it the Arm Gear. It was originally just meant to be something for Quun to play with, but it has some good applications. Why, we could weaponize them to form an entire mechanized division.”

“…Could you not give playthings like this to my kid without asking first?”

…This isn’t a toy, not by a long shot. Jeez… I need to keep a closer eye on things up here, clearly.

“F-Father! Look at this! Isn’t it amazing?!”

“Uhhh, it’s amazing all right. Did you tinker with it?”

“Sure did! Hee hee!”

Dammit… She’s smiling so wide! There’s no way I could take this from her now!

I turned back to Doc Babylon, who was grinning right at me.

“Typical daddy. Can’t help but dote on your little girl, can you? Ah, how fatherhood changes a man…”

“Shut up…” I grumbled. I couldn’t exactly say anything else, since she was right… I did feel like I was spoiling Quun a bit, but she seemed to have things under control.

She’s cute! It’s not my fault! How could any dad resist?!

Just as I was fretting about my own weakness, Luli and Yoshino appeared in front of me.

“Oh, Yoshino…you scared me! Don’t just pop in with [Teleport] like that!”

“Daddy, look! I found something amazing! It’s a syrcus! A syrcus!” Yoshino exclaimed. She didn’t seem interested in listening to my lecture. She was far more interested in getting hyped over whatever it was she’d come to tell me about.

…What’s a syrcus, though?

“Luli?”

“She means a circus, my lord.”

I was glad to have the Dragon there or else I might’ve been confused a while longer.

A circus? So what, there’s a traveling circus in town? Like a traveling troupe or something?

I’d seen a circus in Belfast’s castle town once before, though I’d never actually attended the show or anything. From what I heard, they were a little different from the circuses in my own world. They had different acts like theatrics, singing, and dancing. They didn’t have stuff like magicians, probably because of how common magic was in this world.

“So, uh, what’s this about a circus?”

“It looks awesome! Here, let’s go see it! I got a flyer!” Yoshino excitedly said as she held a flyer out to me.

Let’s see…

The flyer read ‘Cheering World Circus! A traveling troupe shrouded in illusion, mystery, and excitation! We’re finally coming to Brunhild!’

…Cheering World Circus? Like they’re so good the whole world cheers for them or something? I’ve never heard of them.

“Oh? A circus is coming? That sounds interesting,” Quun said, seeming fascinated enough to lean over us in the Arm Gear.

“Right, Quun? Let’s go!”

A circus, huh? I’ve never been to one, so I’m kinda curious. I could invite them to the castle, but I bet it’d be better to go out and watch with the rest of the public. Hey, maybe it could be a nice day out for me, my wives, and the kids.

◇　◇　◇

“The circus? That’s interesting…” Yumina muttered as she looked over the

flyer that Yoshino had picked up. Apparently, all my wives were interested.

“Have you ever been to the circus, Yumina?”

“Only once. There was a performance at the castle back in Belfast. I enjoyed the variety, I must say!”

Wow! Invited to perform at the castle? That’s definitely something you’d expect of royals, I guess.

The king of Belfast was pretty fond of stuff like that, so it made sense. He was a huge theater fanatic.

Leen, who’d simply been listening thus far, spoke up and said, “I saw something similar once in Mismede when I accompanied the beastking. It was an interesting act. The fellow threw various knives and axes into the air and twirled them around.”

Ahhh, juggling. Knives are one thing, but axes? Sounds hardcore.

“It seems there’s a play at this circus too. I hope it’s a romantic one. I love those.”

“I’m interested in this act here called Superhuman Strongman Weightlifting.

Think they’d let me join in on the fun?”

Linze and Elze excitedly chattered as they looked over the flyer.

…Please don’t jump in from the audience and join the show. I’d feel bad for the poor weightlifters.

If Elze used [Boost], she’d definitely be able to put any lifter to shame. Hell, I had a feeling she’d be able to lift a ton at this point even without it.

…Isn’t it kinda funny seeing them marvel all over these acts when we can do all this stuff? Like, they’re getting excited over tightrope and ball-balancing, but I’m pretty sure that’s mundane to us… Hopefully the kids don’t find it boring, given what they’re capable of.

As Linze mentioned, there’d also be a play. Plus, there was to be dancing, singing, and some other dramatic stuff.

Wonder if they’ll do a musical. I love those. Oh…they have a contortionist. I don’t think any of us can do THAT.

“Perhaps we could invite them to the castle?”

“No, I don’t think we should keep them for the full day. The whole town should get to enjoy the show,” Lu replied. She was right. It’d be easier for everyone if we went out to see them. I could just use [Mirage] to keep us incognito.

Kousaka told me that the circus was setting up its tent in an open area south of the town’s central square. I had to approve it, so I knew exactly where it was.

“Have you kids been to the circus before?”

“We have not, no. We haven’t even been to the theater. Though you’ve shown us plenty of movies and anime, father,” Frei answered.

Hm? Not even the theater? Why?

“Ha ha… Most of the popular plays in the future are about you, father. You get embarrassed, so you refuse to take us.” Oh, that makes sense— Wait, what?!

Quun laughed as I froze up.

They’re about me?! Is this gonna be like that one play I saw in Refreese that was about me as well? Please no!

“Oh, I actually saw one of those plays in secret… It’s the story of how father and mother came to meet each other… I believe it was called Chronicles of the Hero Tooya Episode IV: A New Rebellion.”

Both Lu and I gasped in confusion as we processed Arcia’s words.

…A new rebellion? Is that about the coup in the Regulus Empire when I met Lu for the first time?!

“I really liked the scene where you challenged the enemy leader to a duel and defeated him with your Ultra Tooya Slasher Attack. It was rather inspired, father!”

…That’s not how I remember it going down, but I guess adapting the whole stinky Slime torture sequence probably isn’t as marketable. But still, gimme a break! Changing stuff like that goes beyond the realm of dramatization, doesn’t it? What are you future people writing about my life?! Well, I definitely understand why my future self doesn’t take my kids out to see shows if they’re all like that…

“I want to see that show…”

“No, Lu! No! It’s made up! It’s not our actual story! Remember the real version!” I roared in an attempt to convince Lu not to take an interest. However, I could tell it hadn’t worked.

Ugh… Just because they put a legal disclaimer up before the start of the story, they think they can get away with writing anything?! What’s wrong with these maniacs?! Maybe I really should change the future… Dammit!

I soon found out that The Chronicles of the Hero Tooya had nine episodes in total, which made me scream.

◇　◇　◇

News of the incoming circus spread through Brunhild fairly quickly. According to Kougyoku, all the children of the town were unbelievably excited by the sight of the tent being set up.

Those who didn’t live in Brunhild found everything here fascinating, but the people who did probably considered it a part of daily life. Therefore, the sight of Frame Gears training in one of our fields was probably far less interesting than a circus rolling into town.

“Hey, hey! Dad! When are we going to the circus? It starts tomorrow, doesn’t it?!”

“Calm down, I bought tickets already. They were sold out for the first showing, but I got us tickets for the second day.”

“Whaaat?! Not tomorrow?!” Linne booed and frowned, but it wasn’t like her complaining would change anything.

You could reserve seats at the circus, or you could go there on the night and get tickets then. The reserved tickets had more legroom and got you access to a better area of the tent, so I wanted those. Reserved tickets were sold out for the first day, and I didn’t want to abuse my power to kick some excited townsfolk out of their spot. I wanted this to be an experience for all of Brunhild to enjoy, so I gave up and simply booked spots for the second day instead.

I bought a total of ten tickets for me and my wives, then six tickets for our kids. We also got some tickets for Ende’s family, bringing the grand total to twenty-one tickets.

There were only sixty reserved spots to begin with, so we ended up buying a third of the seating area… Plus, it was expensive.

“I can’t wait, mom!”

“Mhm, I can’t wait either…but don’t forget you need to study today, dear.”

“Aww…” Linne grumbled a little as she went back to the textbook at her desk, but she was still smiling.

Educating our kids was important, even if they were stuck in the past. I didn’t want to send them back to the future only to find their academic abilities weren’t up to par. Yoshino and Linne found it the hardest to concentrate. Quun was a natural genius, while Arcia and Elna both tried really hard so their grades were great. What surprised me the most, however, was that Frei was remarkably gifted as an academic. I figured she wouldn’t be as scholarlyminded, since she was a weapon nut like King Felsen, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Frei, who was in the middle of cleaning one of her weapons, suddenly looked up and asked, “…Was someone thinking something rude about me?”

“It’s just your imagination.”

…Damn, she’s sharp. Guess that’s my daughter for you. Or wait, maybe she gets that from her mother?

“When watching a show, it’s best to eat something you can hold in one hand, like a sandwich or a rice ball.”

“I see… You can handle that, mother. I’ll work on smaller bite-sized things that we can have as snacks.”

Arcia and Lu were busy prepping lunch boxes. They were planning to make

stuff for everyone, including Ende’s family…which made me wonder how many boxes it’d take.

“Touya, you’re getting distracted,” Yumina said as she gestured to the documents on my desk.

“Ack, my bad.”

If I wanted to go to the circus with my family the day after tomorrow, I needed to handle all of my royal duties beforehand. Otherwise, Kousaka would get mad at me. One drawback to being the ruler of a country was that you couldn’t delegate every part of managing it. Thankfully, I did have Yumina and Kousaka on hand to help me with a lot of things. Their assistance was hugely appreciated. Yumina was something of a secretary to me at this point, even.

In all honesty, Yumina and Kousaka were the ones truly running Brunhild…but I decided not to think about that.

As I was finishing up some of my paperwork and watching over my kids as they studied, Karen and Moroha came into the room and headed toward me.

“Got a minute, Touya?”

“What’s up?”

Karen gestured to follow her, so I got up and went with them.

Huh? What’s going on?

Moroha leaned in and began speaking in a quiet voice, whispering, “It’s about the circus. I figured I’d better warn you in advance. There’ll be gods in it.” “Huh?”

Gods in the circus? What’s that supposed to mean?

Karen sighed, probably due to my visible confusion.

“You’re so slow in the head, you know? We’re saying that some of the gods who came down to this world are performers in that circus, you know?” “What?!” I exclaimed, completely dumbfounded by Karen’s words.

You mean the gods who came down for my wedding?! They’re in the circus?! I know we’ve accounted for Granny Tokie, but the others went around the world to do their own thing, right?

If I remembered right, the gods who’d come down for my wedding were the god of strength, the god of crafting, the god of puppetry, the god of theater, the god of industry, the god of wandering, the god of glasses, the goddess of gemstones, the goddess of flowers, and the goddess of dance.

“There’s three of them. The god of strength, the goddess of dance, and the god of theater.”

“Three?!”

Three of them?! Just how blessed is this circus?! No wonder the world supposedly cheers for them!

“Luckily, they’re not using any of their powers. They’re acting in the capacity of their human alter egos. That’s why it took us so long to notice.”

Though they were in human form, my sisters and the other gods could use their divinity. If they used it, then any other divine lifeforms would be able to pinpoint their location. But if they didn’t use it, they couldn’t be tracked.

“This is gonna be a crazy circus, then.”

“I don’t think they’ll take it beyond human limits, you know? But they are extremely capable…”

…I don’t believe you. You guys see human limits way more flexibly than anyone else! You act like humans with thousands of years of training and expertise! That’s still inhuman!

“But why Brunhild?”

“I don’t think it has much meaning, you know? Circuses travel all over, so they’re probably just stopping here randomly.”

Hm… Guess if they were going from Belfast to Regulus, it’d be a logical pit stop. So wait, it’s just a coincidence? I guess if the kids weren’t here, I probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to it… But the goddess of dance, the god of theater, and the god of strength are all gonna be here…

I’d met the god of strength before when I visited the Pantheon Temple. He was insanely powerful…and most likely their strongman, which meant there was no way Elze could beat him.

The god of theater was, uh…feminine? He was male, or at least I figured he was. Gods probably didn’t have a concept of binary gender, but it was just easier for me to impose my standards on them.

As for the goddess of dance, well…she wasn’t very memorable.

“We’re gonna go see them tonight. Want to come, Touya?”

“…Do I have to?”

“No, you don’t. But this world’s under your custody, and they are technically visitors. It might be good to check in on them and see that all’s well, right? Could prevent any issues.”

“Ugh…”

As annoying as it was, Moroha had a point. I wanted to just believe they were behaving, but I had to make sure. Even if God Almighty had told them not to cause any trouble, their concept of trouble was on a different level than regular people. Checking on them before the first show was the right thing to do. Besides, Karen and Moroha had come down to the mortal realm to support me, so this fell under that category too.

“All right. I’ll come with you after I’m done with work, so wait for me.” “Got it.”

I finished talking with my sisters and returned to my desk.

Well, can’t exactly tell the kids I’m going to the circus without them, so I’ll have to keep them in the dark about this.

I quietly resolved to sneak out of the castle later.

Gods performing in a circus, though? That sounds insane!

◇　◇　◇

When the kids were safely tucked into bed, my sisters and I headed to the big circus tent in the southern square. It’d already been put up in its entirety, so the massive construct loomed in the darkness and gently fluttered in the breeze.

I made myself known to the guards, who let me in without an issue. The tent was more spacious on the inside than I’d expected. The stage was set, the audience seating was all arranged, and a few performers seemed to be practicing various acrobatics tricks. I watched them for a few moments and was amazed to see one of them do a full spin in midair on a bicycle. I’d never seen anyone do that before.

“Let’s see… Oh, there he is,” Karen said as she pointed over at a part of the stage. There was a muscular-looking man there doing a set of push-ups…with a massive boulder on his back.

H-He’s doing push-ups with just his thumbs?! What the hell?!

There was no doubt about it. He had to be the god of strength. He was wearing the same toga I’d seen him in the first time we’d met.

“Good evening, Strength God.”

“Ah, the Love Goddess.”

The hulking brute of a man spoke without stopping his exercise. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. Slowly, he raised himself upward, shifting the rock off his back and rising to his full height. He was as big as ever, standing over a whopping two meters tall. Even though he was just standing, his muscles were rippling and twitching as if to establish dominance. I personally found it a bit creepy.

“You’re here too, Sword Goddess? Oh, and the newbie.”

“Hey there. Been a while since the wedding,” I said as I subconsciously reached my hand out to shake with him. Though, I quickly reconsidered. Something told me that if he’d grabbed my hand, I’d probably never be able to use it again.

“My, there are some familiar faces here.”

“Ah, the god of theater and goddess of dance. Sorry for butting in like this.”

I turned at the sound of a shrill voice to see a dark-skinned woman and a thinlooking man behind us. The man was pretty tall, though not quite as tall as the god of strength. His hair was blond and sticking up, giving him a kind of punk rock vibe. But he also had a kind of feminine air to him, and compared to the bastion of masculinity right next to us, he came up lacking. He was the god of theater, and didn’t look much different from how he did at the wedding.

The woman had darker skin, shortish black hair, and green eyes that glimmered like jewels. She was the goddess of dance. She wore a piece of cloth like a tube top, as well as puffy white pants that reminded me of clothing from the Middle East. She also had gold and silver bangles around her wrists and ankles.

“Well heeey, Touya darling. How are you?”

“Oh, uh, fine. Hope you guys are well!”

Hm… The god of theater’s definitely similar to Kokuyou. Not that I have a problem with that or anything… Though having him call me darling and stuff is a little funny… He’s supposed to be my higher-up in the god hierarchy, so it’s a little inappropriate, maybe? Well, whatever.

“You seem well, Dance Goddess.”

“…Mmm.”

I couldn’t read her expression at all. It was always so neutral. Still, she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

“Touya, darling. ‘Dance Goddess’ won’t do when we’re down here! She’s

Prima, dear. And I’m Theatro! And the god of strength over there is Power.”

Prima? Like from Prima Ballerina? I think Prima means best, or something. And Theatro as in theater, I guess… Power’s pretty self-explanatory.

“Don’t just introduce me like that, Theatro. My name isn’t just Power. It’s Full

Power.”

“Oh, right…”

I didn’t bother thinking too hard about the god of strength’s naming sense. I imagined giving themselves mortal identities had about as much thought put into it as naming a game character. Part of me was thankful none of them had just keymashed and called themselves fhafshfsafjh or something of the sort.

“So, why’re you guys in the circus?”

“Mmm… Y’can’t eat down here if you don’t got money. We don’t have to eat to live or anything, but we do wanna enjoy our lives. One day, the leader of the troupe showed up and we saw a chance. Now I can flex my muscles, travel the world, and earn a little pocket change along the way! Sweet gig if you ask me.”

But couldn’t a guy as strong as this make it as an adventurer? Or is there a difference between being strong and being able to fight? Or…maybe he just wants an excuse to flex and show off? Yeah, that’s probably it.

“I definitely want to show off, darling. It’s nice to spread our performances around the world and see the smiles on everyone’s faces! Not to mention seeing all kinds of wonderful sights and eating all manner of fascinating meals.” Prima nodded along with Theatro’s words.

It was true that the nomadic nature of the circus had plenty of perks… But they were gods, so I was sure they could just warp around if they needed it. That’d probably take some of the fun out of traveling, though, and the whole point of them being down here was to have an authentic human experience.

“So what, are you here to meet the troupe leader?”

“Oh, no. No need to do that today. I’m coming to see the performance with my family later, so I figured I’d say hi to you guys beforehand… Felt right to give you some warning, you guys being more experienced than me and all.”

“More experienced? Darling, I daresay you’re more experienced than any of us when it comes to being mortal,” Theatro said as he laughed softly.

Yeah, but I’m still basically a baby god… It’s better to pay respects than not.

“Don’t worry. We’re not gonna cause any trouble. God Almighty gave us pretty strict orders to behave, and we don’t wanna make the other gods lose their chance to come down because of our screwups.”

“Yeah, everyone in the divine realm would be real mad at us if that happened. Gosh, how scary!”

This world was meant to be a vacation spot for the gods, but it hadn’t formally opened yet. The gods down here were basically testing out the idea, and thankfully, they’d been well-behaved so far. They weren’t rushing down too quickly either, which was nice…though that did surprise me. In a lot of Earth mythology, the gods just kind of came down and did whatever they felt like.

“Will the other gods be coming to watch the show?”

“I think they can, you know? But Granny Tokie, the goddess of Space-time, can’t make it. The god of agriculture and the others are coming, you know? Oh, and you should have my ticket!”

“I certainly have, dear. We’ll be sure to put on a good show!” Theatro smiled as he said that and handed a ticket over to Karen.

Damn, I should’ve asked for free tickets too. Would’ve been good to know about this in advance.

“I’d love to call in the god of music, actually. Don’t you think he’d work great with Prima?”

“…Mmm. Could work…”

A collaboration between two gods? I bet it’d come out crazy… Guess I can have Karen ask Sousuke about it later.

“I’d love to have him do the music for my play as well. How fun!”

“…What play, by the way? It’s not gonna be about me, is it? I’ve had my fill of that…” I raised a concern of mine with Theatro. It’d been worrying me for a bit.

“No, darling! Not at all! It’s a story called Royal Court Ruckus. It’ll have laughter, tears, and drama in equal measure! It’s one designed to appeal primarily to younger audiences.”

I’d never heard of that story, but I was just glad to hear it wasn’t related to my adventures at all.

“I hope you and your family enjoy the show when you come to watch! I’ll be sure to put my heart and soul into it!”

“Best of luck…”

Maybe don’t go too hard with it? You’re still a god, so I don’t really want you to go all-out in my country.

I left the tent with a small feeling of relief in my heart, though I still felt rather anxious. I just had to hope the performance would be okay.

◇　◇　◇

It was the day of the show. Even though it was early, the kids wanted to hurry to the venue.

I’d never seen so many of Brunhild’s citizens in the same place before… I didn’t even know Brunhild HAD this many people. Upon seeing all of them, I was gladder than ever that we had our [Mirage] badges. We would’ve totally stood out.

We followed the rules and lined up, handing in our tickets and entering when our turn came up.

“Oh yeah, kids. Make sure to turn your phones off. It’d be bad if they rang during the show.”

“Okaaay!” Elna, Linne, and Allis all cheerily answered.

Everyone turned off their phones. I briefly considered just setting mine to vibrate, but the buzzing would probably be annoying if it was a quiet moment of the show. Plus, the screen would definitely glow in the dark.

Everyone was utterly amazed at how big the tent was on the inside. I wasn’t so surprised, since I’d come here beforehand to check the place out with my sisters.

All the Brunhild gods were here to watch the show as well, with the exception of Sousuke. He was going to be part of the performance itself, after all.

“Our seats are over there.” Linze checked our tickets, then gestured to an empty area in the stalls. The reserved seats were in a special raised seating area directly in front of the stage.

It was a comfy-looking area with several large seats. There was even a handrail surrounding the raised section and a countertop in front of the chairs. The flooring in that section looked to be lined with a carpet soft enough that you could probably walk on it barefoot.

Wow, this seems pretty fancy… I think this spot might actually be the best in the place, even.

“Father! Father! Sit here!” Arcia yelled over to me, grinning wide and patting the seat next to her.

Before I could even move, however, Lu sat her butt right down on it.

“Wh—? Mother?! No fair!”

“You can sit next to me, Touya. I don’t mind being a partition.”

“Whaaat?! A partition?!” the girl yelled as she started to fuss with her mother. Though to any bystanders, it probably looked more like two sisters bickering.

I glanced over and saw Ende and his wives playing rock, paper, scissors…presumably for the right to sit next to Allis. Clearly, nobody had it easy this evening.

In the end, I decided to sit between Lu and Arcia, since I didn’t want them snapping at each other all night. We all sat down and watched as the other seats filled up, crowding the venue.

Holy cow… I really didn’t think it’d be so busy.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of Brunhild! It is my profound pleasure to welcome you all to the Completto Troupe’s performance in Brunhild!” a fancy-looking, bearded man in a top hat said, using some kind of voice amplification magic to announce the beginning of the show.

The crowd erupted into applause.

Is he their leader or something? Hm…

The show was about to begin… I wondered what they had in store for us.

◇　◇　◇

The sound of drumbeats and trumpets blared through the tent as various circus performers appeared from each side of the stage. Some of them were even doing backflips… I was amazed they could do that without crashing into each other.

They soared through the air as if they were bounding on a trampoline. Each member of the troupe wore beautiful, billowing clothing. The stage erupted into color, making it look like an enormous flower in bloom.

“It’s amazing that they can pull all that off without any mistakes.”

“I bet they practiced a ton.”

As I was chatting with Lu about the amazing motions on display in front of us, two men appeared. One threw apples into the air and began juggling, while the other stood off to the side. He seemed to be an assistant of some sort. The man to the side passed more apples to the juggler until eventually, he was tossing a full ten of them into the air.

The audience let out loud applause, but the juggler wasn’t done. His assistant threw a knife over to him, which he added to the juggling mix. He slowly swapped the apples out for knives until he was juggling ten of those too. I couldn’t help but be amazed as the guy effortlessly juggled the knives. It was a real sight to behold.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, the juggler’s assistant reached into a wooden box and produced a set of hatchets. He grinned wide as he waved them toward the audience.

He’s gonna juggle those next?!

The audience began to murmur as the juggler started throwing the knives even higher into the air. He glanced over at his assistant as if to seek the perfect timing.

Everyone went silent. We were all on the edges of our seats. And then…the assistant passed the first hatchet. Then the next. And just as the apples were replaced by knives, the knives were replaced by hatchets. There weren’t as many hatchets as knives, likely due to the weight, but it was incredible nonetheless.

The audience clapped even harder. How could we do anything else?

“W-Wait, is that…?”

“No way…”

The assistant began to set out several small logs that were about thirty centimeters long each. He lined them up in a row in front of the juggler. The juggler walked closer to the leftmost of the logs as a drumroll began to play in the background, indicating some kind of imminent action…

Cymbals crashed as the man threw an axe into the air. It came crashing back down, landing perfectly into one of the logs’ centers. Then, he began to slowly walk sideways, tossing axe after axe into each successive log. When he finally reached the last log, he gave a bow and thrust his empty arms outward. The crowd erupted into jubilant applause once more.

“Wow, talk about intense…”

“Yeah, I thought he’d mess up for sure…”

As Lu and I exchanged a few words amid our applause, the juggler left the stage and was replaced by a jolly-looking fellow on a bicycle.

The cycling man circled the stage, waving to the crowd. First he waved with one hand, and then he waved with both. He rode the bike without any hands on the bars at all.

I was just about to mention that I could do that when the man proceeded to stand up on the seat of his bike, steering the handlebars with one of his feet…which was something I definitely couldn’t do.

Three more cyclists appeared from the side of the stage, all of them crisscrossing as they circled the area. I was amazed none of them crashed. Then, a stagehand appeared with some kind of sloped platform.

Are they gonna jump?

One of the bikes raced full-speed toward the platform. It leaped into the air, did a full rotation, and then landed on the other side of the stage. The other three bikes followed suit, eliciting applause from the audience.

I was the one who’d introduced bicycles to this world, but these performers were using them as if they’d been riding them their whole lives. And they didn’t look like ordinary bikes either. I could see some clear modifications for shock absorption, which seemed pretty clever to me.

The four cyclists began circling the stage again, as more helpers came out with a length of rope. One man grabbed one end of the rope, while the other man grabbed the other end.

Oh, I see. They’re gonna do some bike jump rope, huh? Neat.

“What are they doing now?”

“Hush and you’ll see.”

Arcia couldn’t help but wonder what was about to happen as the men began to spin the rope around.

One of the men holding the rope muttered something under his breath, making the spinning jump rope suddenly ignite.

…Whoa, that’s a step above what I was expecting.

One of the bicyclists rode into the middle and began to jump his bike over the rope as it swung under him.

…Yep, this is what I thought was gonna happen, just with less open flames. Wait, how are they even holding the rope if it’s on fire?

I squinted and noticed the men were wearing some kind of thick gloves. They were probably flame retardant. The rope was probably made of special material as well.

All four of the cyclists were now jumping the rope and crisscrossing past each other at the same time. After a few dozen flaming jumps, they fanned out and ended that segment of their act.

After that, the cyclists did a few more acrobatic tricks before exiting the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for our resident strongman, Full Power, to show off his might?! Bear witness to the limits of the human body being utterly stretched beyond all reasonable measure!”

The top-hatted ringmaster cheered through his loudspeaker as the curtains in the middle of the stage opened up to reveal a massive muscular man. He stood flexing in various poses that emphasized his muscles.

…Yep, that’s the god of strength.

At both of his sides stood beautiful women wearing bunny ears.

Wait, no…they’re actually bunny beastmen, aren’t they?

Their outfits reminded me of the traditional bunny girl attire, though. The only difference was they were wearing skirts rather than fully visible tights. I’d remembered showing an image of the bunny girl costume to Zanac when he wanted some new costume ideas… Presumably, he’d gone ahead and made it.

“Hmph!” Power grunted as he squatted down before taking the women into his arms and lifting them with relative ease.

The audience gasped in shock. He hadn’t just lifted them with his arms, they were standing square in the palms of his hands. It was surely an incredible feat of strength to lift them like that, but it was an equally impressive feat of balance for the rabbit girls to stay standing and smiling without falling off.

“Hmph!”

Not content with simply lifting the girls, he then brought his arms even higher and held them over his head. The two bunny girls smiled and waved as they balanced atop his hands.

“Amazing!”

“Wow, he’s so strong!”

Linne and Frei watched the act with amazed expressions.

You two could probably do that too… Though I guess your hands are kinda small. If I use [Boost] or [Power Rise], I bet I could do that, psh… Wait, why am I getting competitive about this?

The two bunny girls were returned to the stage. They quickly scampered off to the side and lugged a huge kite shield onto the stage. It was enormous and sturdy, probably made out of some kind of dense metal.

Power gleefully took the kite shield from his beautiful assistants. “Nhhh!”

My eyes went wide in shock as Power bent the kite shield with little effort.

“Hngh!”

Power then took the bent kite shield and bent it again! He’d folded the thing over twice. His strength really riled the crowd up, and he responded to their cheers by hefting the shield into the air and showing it off.

As he posed and flexed his muscles, a large cart was pulled onto the stage by dozens of staff members. It was a flat loading bed, the kind you’d attach to a cargo carriage. There weren’t any animals pulling it, however. It was just the cart. It was about the size of a truck bed and had enough space on it to carry a lot. It could probably have carried dozens of people at once, even.

The staffers who’d dragged it onto the stage all started filing toward it and standing on top of it. They bunched up until they were all on it, bringing the total count of occupants to at least twenty-four.

“No way…” I could hear some murmurs of disbelief from the audience. I too briefly had my doubts, but I came to the realization that if anyone could do this, it’d be him.

Just as we were expecting, Power placed his hands on the bottom of the fully loaded cart.

“Hnnngh!”

I stared in awe as he began lifting it off the stage and placed his arms flatter against the bottom of the surface. The full brunt of it now rested on Power’s shoulders, neck, and arms as he slowly brought himself fully under it.

A moment of silence hung over the room, and then there was a drumroll… With a sudden whoosh, Power stood up tall and lifted the stacked cart completely above his head as if he were lifting a weighted barbell.

“Amazing!”

“Impossible!”

“Such power!”

The audience erupted into jubilant applause. Even my children were completely enthralled by the performance.

If each of those people weighs an average of fifty kilos, then he’s lifting over a ton there… I’ve never seen anyone lift that much before… Pretty sure that’s nowhere near the limit of his power either… He might be able to get even stronger. Or maybe he’s actually going all-out for the performance… It’s hard to tell.

“Dad, he’s amazing!”

“I don’t think I could pull that off…even with [Power Rise] on.”

Linne, who was seated in front of me, seemed completely amazed. Even Frei, who was sitting next to her, was thoroughly impressed.

[Power Rise] and [Boost] were spells that bolstered the power of your muscles. A child using those spells wouldn’t be able to do as much as a powerful older man. Linne’s [Gravity] could definitely let you cheat, though… She could easily reduce the weight of what she was lifting.

“Hngh!”

Power set down the cart and began to go through his series of flexes and poses once more.

…We’ve already seen that, man.

“Hngh!”

“Hah!”

“Hooah!”

Frei, Yoshino, and Linne all started making macho flexing poses like Power. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, since they weren’t exactly brawny enough to pull it off.

“Hm?”

The sound of drums suddenly filled the stage as Power walked off with the cart in tow. Band members filed to fill the spot he’d left behind. The rhythm of the drumbeat was slowly joined by trombones and trumpets until it all came together in a cohesive melody.

Oh, I know this one!

The curtain came up on the stage, revealing a full orchestra. I immediately recognized the principal drummer. It was Sousuke, the god of music.

After the intro died down, the saxophone began to play the main melody. It was a tune you could really dance to. The composition was a swing jazz song, and it happened to be one of my grandpa’s favorite melodies. The song had been featured in a Japanese movie about a group of teen girls who formed a jazz band together. The song was one of the most famous ever performed by the jazz musician everyone knew as the King of Swing.

As the band continued to play, circus performers came in from either side of the stage and began doing backflips and gymnastic acts to the beat.

It’s an all-women act, and their clothes look culturally Arabic… They’re all kinda dressed like they’re from Mismede, come to think of it.

As far as their torsos went, they were only wearing fabric to cover their chests. Their lower bodies were adorned with baggy harem pants, but the material was partially see-through, allowing the audience to catch glimpses of their legs.

The dancing troupe lined up on the stage. The goddess of dance, Prima, stood in the middle of their row. The dancers began to move hypnotically to the beat of the music, eliciting cheers and whoops from the audience. I, of course, remained silent. I was surrounded by my wives, so there was no way I’d risk making a wrong turn here.

Their moves alternated between hard and soft, fast and slow, switching between flashy and subdued in seconds flat. It was the kind of dancing you couldn’t take your eyes away from.

So this is the power of the goddess of dance… She didn’t look all that expressive yesterday, but she’s sure showing it now.

Her dancing troupe must’ve been made up of very talented women. Some danced in a way that matched Prima’s motions, while others varied their dancing to complement her, creating a whirlpool of color on the stage. It was like witnessing a shifting metamorphosis of artistic expression.

Before long, the dance reached a feverish pitch and everyone in the tent was on their feet clapping to the rhythm. This performance was a collaboration between two gods, so it was no wonder that everyone had been completely enthralled.

We weren’t an exception either. All my kids were clapping their hearts out. So were Ende and Ney. In that moment, I was reminded of just how scary the gods could be.

When the act finally came to an end, the audience gave a resounding standing ovation. Not a single person could remain silent after witnessing such a display. Some audience members were even weeping tears of joy. I couldn’t blame them, since it wasn’t every day you got the chance to see something like this.

“That was amazing, truly… I wish to sing on stage like that…”

“I want to sing there too!”

Sakura and Yoshino seemed the most excited about the performance out of anyone in my group. It was hard to get them to calm down.

The stagehands began moving things around again to prepare for the next act. Sousuke sat up on stage as they did their work, gracefully playing the piano as if to calm everyone in the tent.

…Wait, isn’t that one of the castle’s pianos?

The song being played by Sousuke and the backing band was the theme to a popular anime from Earth. It was a series about a master thief. The third one of his line, as I recalled. Sure, it was jazzed up a little, but I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d chosen this song of all things. As the song rang out, I saw barrels and circular targets being set up along the edge of the stage.

What now? Knife throwing?

I was wrong. It was axe throwing. This circus sure seemed to have a thing for axes.

◇　◇　◇

“We hope you enjoyed the first half of the show! We’ll take a brief intermission and prepare for the second half shortly. Please take the time you need.”

Various people left the tent after the ringleader’s announcement. I heard that some people had bought cheap tickets that only accounted for half of the show, so some of them moved to leave while others came in to take their place.

Others left to use the restrooms or eat.

We decided now was as good a time as any to eat our food. Lu pulled out stacks of boxes and placed them on a nearby table. There was a lot more food than I was expecting!

“Feel free to grab whatever you like! We’ve got drinks too!”

“I’ve got plates for all of you as well!”

Lu and Arcia pulled the lids off the boxes, prompting our group to stare at the array with hungry eyes. There were all kinds of meals from all kinds of countries, so we certainly weren’t hurting for variety.

“It looks great! I’m gonna get one of these—”

Before Linne could grab a rice ball, her mother grabbed her by the wrist.

“Hold on there, Linne. You have to wash your hands first, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right…”

Linze conjured up a water orb in the air, which the kids all used to rinse their hands. I took out a few warm hand towels from [Storage], letting everyone dry off.

“Let’s eat!”

“Let’s!”

With that, we all descended upon the selection of foods, taking whatever we wanted. Several of the boxes were completely emptied in the blink of an eye. But that was to be expected. It was my family, Ende’s family, and a few gods for good measure.

After clearing away the empty boxes, Lu tapped into her ring’s [Storage] and pulled out a few more to replace them.

…How much did she make?

“Mmm, this stuff tastes wonderful, you know?”

“Nya ha ha ha! It’sch, hic, good to snack with a li’l drinky!”

Karen and the other gods seemed to be in high spirits as they grabbed all sorts of food.

…Wait, are you even allowed to drink alcohol here? I thought as I glanced at Suika’s bottle of Eashenese booze, then nervously glanced around the area. I spotted a couple in the reserved section with some wine, so thankfully, it was probably okay.

“I must say, this show is incredible. Far beyond the performance I saw at Belfast Castle when I was younger,” Yumina said. She was clearly taken in by the performance. The one she’d seen sounded fairly mundane in comparison.

“I really liked that strongman!”

“I was quite fond of the illusion magic they used in some of the acts.”

“Oh, yeah, I really liked those illusions too.”

Linne, Elna, and Allis were all discussing their favorite acts as they chowed down on some wrapped tofu.

…I can do illusion spells too, guys… It’s not THAT awesome.

It was true that the specific illusions used in the show had been impressive, though. One part of the show made the entire tent feel like it had transformed into some kind of deep sea aquarium.

I wondered if that was some kind of Null spell…or maybe a magical artifact. Doc Babylon could probably make something like it.

“What happens in the next part of the show?”

“It’ll be a play, I believe. Something or other about a ruckus in a royal court, I think?” Leen answered Sue’s question as she skimmed over the programme.

Oh yeah, the play… The god of theater, Theatro, might be in that one, right? Or wait, is he just directing it? Don’t tell me he’s gonna play a princess or something… Well, I guess it’d work if the show’s a comedy?

I briefly tried to imagine Theatro all dolled up in a dress. I immediately stopped, however, as I didn’t want my kids to see something that scary.

“I’ll be looking forward to the play.”

“Same here. It’s been a while since I last saw one.”

Elna and Arcia smiled as they chatted. I felt a little bad for my kids, since my future self didn’t let them see plays often… Hopefully they enjoyed this one.

It’d be a play created by a literal god, so it had to be interesting at the very least… Hopefully… Of course, that depended on what the play was, as well as who was watching. If it were too adult-oriented or too political in nature, then it’d fly right over the heads of the kids. But Theatro had told me it’d be something kids would enjoy, so I just had to place my faith in him.

“Linze, do you know anything about this story?” I quietly whispered my question to Linze. Apparently, the play was fairly popular in this world, so I figured if anyone would know, it’d be her.

“From what I recall, it’s the tale of a village girl who works as a maid in the royal court. She goes through a lot of trouble there, but eventually, everything works out for her. It’s not a book, so I don’t know the full story or anything.”

Oh, I see… Maybe it’ll be like Cinderella, then? A poor girl finding her prince? That’d be fun.

“I am looking forward to the show, I am!”

“I’m looking forward to it too!”

Yae and Frei cheered as they stuffed their cheeks full of rice balls. They were gluttonous as ever. Hilde could only watch the duo, her complexion pale.

Nearby, Ende had much the same expression as he watched Melle, Lycee, and Ney devour their own meals. Lu didn’t seem to mind at all, however. In fact, she was already there in a flash, plopping down another set of food boxes for our hungriest companions. It was as if she’d predicted this from the very beginning.

Oh well… If they wanna eat, let ’em. I should enjoy some too.

I took a piece of fried chicken from my plate and chowed down.

◇　◇　◇

“What?! The letter’s missing, you say?!”

“Forgive me, sir! Someone in the castle must have taken it…”

The king approached the prime minister, his expression grave. The letter the prime minister had lost was a love letter written from the king to the most beloved songstress in all the land. He’d planned to secretly deliver it, but had accidentally left it in the castle’s reception room, where it had presumably been swept away by someone in the castle.

“If the queen finds it, we’ll be done for! Done for, I say!”

“Oh no! Oh no indeed! My wife cannot find that letter! I’m much too young to die!”

The king stormed out of the room with the prime minister in tow, but in his haste, he accidentally bashed his knee against a nearby table and stubbed his toe on a chair. The audience howled with laughter as the actor playing the king hopped around on one foot and screamed.

“If he’s so scared, why did he cheat on his wife to begin with?”

“That’s a good question…”

I could hear Quun and Frei muttering. I didn’t know why this scene had me feeling so nervous. I mean, it wasn’t like I had anything to hide… Maybe I just felt a kinship with the character, since we were both royals and all.

Hmm… Maybe my kids shouldn’t be watching this.

The play was indeed the story of a common girl who worked as a maid in the royal court. It was a slapstick comedy about the events that happened after she accidentally picked up a love letter that wasn’t meant to be seen. It had a wide cast of characters with wacky personalities. There was the lusty king who had a crush on the songstress, the snooty queen who butted into everyone’s business, the money-grubbing prime minister, the foolish knights, a clumsy head chef, and the vain chief maid. Each of the characters played off one another quite well.

All I could think about was how screwed this nation would be if it was real. There were a bunch of clowns in charge. And as I thought about the show, I turned my attention back to the stage. The king was laughing like a madman after reclaiming what he thought was his letter from the protagonist.

“Hurray! I’ve got it at last! Now let me just… Wait, what is this? This isn’t my letter at all! It’s someone’s tavern bill!”

“It must’ve been swapped with the letter, sir!”

“Auugh!” the king cried out in disbelief. The chef, who bumped into the protagonist by mistake, accidentally took the letter in place of their bar tab.

The people of the palace kept on wandering all over the place, resulting in the letter changing hands multiple times. The desperate situation only intensified, which meant bigger laughs from the audience.

“This sure is chaotic.”

“Yeah… It’s amazing how the characters are all dead serious, but the events make it work as a great comedy,” Lu murmured by my side as she watched the frenetic cast run around the stage.

Charlie Chaplin, regarded by many as the king of comedy, once said, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long shot.” I couldn’t help but agree.

“Oh, the prince!”

Yoshino’s comment brought my attention back to the stage, where I saw a golden-haired young man offer his hand to the pauper protagonist, who had apparently fallen over. He definitely looked very prince-like to me.

“Are you okay, my dear? Can you stand?”

“Y-Yes, I can!”

The charming prince took the girl by the hand and helped her up.

Wow, I’ve seen a lot of princes, but whoever’s playing this guy is selling it super well right now.

Most of the women in the audience, as well as a couple of the men, were practically swooning at his charismatic performance. Thankfully, my wives weren’t so easily drawn in. They were used to being around royals.

But who’s playing this guy? Wait…

I narrowed my eyes.

“What?!”

“Wh-What is it, father?”

“N-No, nothing… Forget it… Sorry…”

My exclamation shocked Arcia, so I promptly apologized. I had suddenly realized who I was looking at.

It’s Theatro! He’s playing the prince! Incredible! This guy really is the god of theater… He’s encapsulating the role perfectly… He looks nothing like the gangly punk rocker he resembled last night… I know it’s a play, but he really is coming off as a different person entirely. He’s not just a character actor, he’s a full-on chameleon!

The Theatro on stage was the very image of a fairytale prince. He exuded kindness, reliability, bravery, and virtue. I couldn’t see him as anything other than the epitome of princeliness.

“He’s pretty different from our prince…”

Yoshino’s comment tore me out of my stupefied admiration.

…Our prince?

“Well yeah, our brother isn’t that kind of person.”

“He doesn’t train much either… He’s a little too casual if you ask me.” I couldn’t help but lean in to hear what Quun and Frei were saying.

…Are they talking about my son?!

“He’s a true prince to Allis, though.”

“H-Huh?! I-I mean, he’s cool, isn’t he?! He’s a really cool prince!”

Elna teased Allis a little bit. Her cheeks had gone red. It was pretty obvious she had a thing for my son.

I could feel Ende’s glare boring into the back of my head.

…It’s not my fault. I didn’t do this!

“Hopefully Kuon shows up soon.”

“Please, I bet he’ll come as soon as he can. He loves being spoiled and doted on in the castle more than anything else.”

“Kuon?!” I couldn’t help but yell out in response to Linne and Arcia’s exchange.

Linne looked back at me and put her hand over her mouth. She realized she’d messed up. Still, the name she’d accidentally revealed had shocked the hell out of me. After all, it was a name I was intimately familiar with.

Linze, who was seated next to Linne, leaned over and whispered, “Is something wrong, Touya?”

“N-No, it’s just… Kuon… Kuon was my grandfather’s name.”

“Huh?!”

She seemed almost as startled by my confession as I was.

…So that’s it, huh? I named my boy after my grandpa… Mochizuki Kuon… It’s a good name. Yeah, of course it is. It’s already a tried and tested name, after all. It was good enough for my grandpa.

The only thing I was worried about now was if my son would end up as insane as my grandpa. Names and natures often aligned, after all. He’d probably call himself Kuon Brunhild on paper for diplomatic reasons, though.

“If you don’t follow the play, you’ll miss the story, you know? Pay attention.” “Fine…”

I was about to ask more about my son, but Karen stopped me. She must’ve known my intentions…

I knew he was younger than Linne, my seventh kid…so that meant he was the eighth or ninth, which put him around five or six.

He’s only a little boy, but he’s out there all alone… I hope he’s okay. I know the girls say he’s a silver or gold adventurer already, but I can’t help but worry.

I started thinking about my son so much that I found it hard to concentrate on the rest of the play.

◇　◇　◇

The royal capital of the Kingdom of Elfrau, Slanien, was in the eastern portion of the country. The small town of Zelezny, unfortunately, was quite a distance away from it. The town wasn’t all that big, but it wasn’t a tiny village either. It was something of a layover town, one that wasn’t quite a city, but was still reasonably large. The land outside the town’s walls was covered in falling snow, but the streets themselves were fairly clear of it. That was because the entire place was enchanted with wards that warmed the air.

Most towns in Elfrau were enchanted with such wards, allowing the citizens to brave the bitter cold. They still needed coats, however. Everyone who lived here was dressed for wintry weather. The only person who stood out was the young boy, who was maybe five or six years old, who dressed as if he was going out for a spring picnic.

His clothes looked particularly well tailored, making it plain that he was from a well-to-do family, but his clothing wasn’t really suitable for the hostile, snowy environment. The people around him didn’t say much, but they couldn’t help but glance at him in confusion.

“Hey, young man. Aren’t you cold?”

“Mhm. I’m cold,” the boy replied. A curious store owner, who couldn’t help but reach out, had called out to him.

“Why are you dressed like that, then?”

“Can’t help it. Anywhere here that sells clothes?”

“Huh? Just down the street over there.”

“I see. Thank you kindly, sir,” the boy said and bowed before toddling away. He spoke in such a refined and courteous manner that the store owner could only assume he was of some noble origin.

The boy walked down the street until he saw a signpost for an armor store. Perhaps that was the one the man had mentioned before? It seemed to be more of a store for battle garments rather than regular clothing, however.

The boy rang the doorbell and walked inside. He saw armor aplenty, with various helmets and greaves and chest plates. There was no shortage of thick coats, heavy cloaks, and cozy-looking snow boots too.

There were a few customers, but nobody was manning the counter. And so, the boy called out to who he assumed must be the owner.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Oh, hey there. Nice outfit you got there, sonny.”

His clothing once again drew attention, reminding the boy that he was very out of place.

“I’d actually like some warmer clothing, but I’m out of money right now.”

“We can’t just give stuff out for free, kid. We’re a business, not a charity.”

“I’m well aware of that. Would this do in lieu of currency?” the boy asked as he took off his cufflinks and set them down on the countertop. The man at the counter looked over the cufflinks before his eyes went wide in shock.

“Holy crap, kid. Is this orichalcum?!”

“That it is. Even orichalcum in this small amount should fetch me thirty gold coins per cufflink, yes?”

The shopkeep immediately recognized the value of the metal that had been brought to him. Orichalcum was a mythical metal. It was rarely found on the market, and even buyers who worked directly for the state had a hard time finding it. The shopkeeper recognized this orichalcum as the very same kind of metal he’d had the good fortune of handling once when he was a young man. It was the real deal.

The boy had valued each cufflink at thirty gold coins, but the shopkeeper’s awe made it seem far more valuable than that. That was probably because melting down the cufflinks and applying even a thin layer of coating to a piece of armor would create a very profitable item he could sell.

“Yeah… You win, kid. None of our winter clothes are worth this much, but I really want these cuffs. Mind if I go get you some money from the store safe?”

“Sure. I’d like to purchase a few other items as well, please.”

“Gotcha. Take a look around until I get back, then. The stuff in the back row has magic enchantments,” the shopkeeper said as he headed over to sort out his finances.

The boy turned to look at the warm clothing corner. Most of the items for sale were for adults, but there were a few things in his size. Some adventurers took their kids out with them, so presumably, the selection here was for them. However, the main issue the boy had was that none of the clothes really suited his tastes.

“Hmm… I guess this coat works best… It can withstand extreme temperatures on both ends, making it perfectly climate-controlled. Though it resembles father’s coat perhaps a tad too much…”

The boy didn’t want to dress up like his dad, so he ended up opting for a similar coat that came in black instead.

“I bet Allis’ll like this. My sisters will just tell me my fashion sense is bad as ever, though…” the boy sighed as he remembered how often his siblings would tease him. He wondered if they’d arrived in this era yet. So long as they hadn’t lost their phones like he had, they’d be able to easily reach their parents.

“Now, how am I to get to Brunhild from here, I wonder…?”

He knew there was no magic train between Elfrau and Brunhild, not yet at least, so his only options were likely to go on foot or via carriage. The Snow Wolf he’d ridden to this town would’ve drawn too much attention, so he’d released it. At the very least, Regulus wasn’t too far from Elfrau. If he kept moving, he could maybe make it there in a month.

“…Well, no rush,” the boy mumbled as he decided to make it home eventually. He saw no need to panic. He didn’t have the luxury of teleportation magic like some of his siblings, so he was content to just go at his own pace.

“That’s the coat sorted out, but I’ll need gloves and boots for Elfrau’s harsher areas,” he said to himself as he picked up some relatively cheap-looking clothing to finish off his ensemble. They weren’t the best, but they’d do. If he could use the spell [Warming], it’d have been less of a pressing issue, but the boy had no aptitude for Fire magic.

He and all his siblings had Null spells, but only four of them could use elemental spells alongside them. He didn’t have his phone, so he couldn’t trigger its [Storage] either. That meant he couldn’t access his backpack filled with all his stuff. And, unfortunately, this era was still prerevolution, which meant there weren’t storage cards being sold in every store.

His phone was locked and inaccessible to anyone other than him, so at least his things were safe…but that didn’t change the fact that there were important things in there. Hopefully his father would be able to sort it out once he returned to Brunhild.

Once he’d chosen what he wanted, he waited for the shopkeeper to return.

“Picked out everything you want?”

“I have.”

After deducting the cost of the clothing against the value of the cufflinks, the boy had a handful of silver remaining. He put them in a purse he’d just purchased. It was a simple horse skin bag, one that could be bound with a string. He tied it to his waist, put on the warmer clothing, and headed outside.

“That’s better. The trip should be a lot easier now. Let’s see, next I should…” before he finished speaking, the boy’s stomach started to rumble as if to remind him of something important.

“Oh yeah, I’m hungry.”

He hadn’t eaten anything since he’d landed in this time period. His smartphone [Storage] had a few snacks in it, but he couldn’t access that.

Fortunately, he had money now, so he began making his way to the town square to look for a bite to eat. But before he could do that, three men appeared from nowhere.

“Hey, kid. We saw you coming outta that shop with a pretty penny. Mind sharing?” the leader of the men, a young smirking man, said.

The boy looked a bit closer and recognized one of his aggressors as a customer from the store earlier. He must’ve been eavesdropping on the orichalcum transaction and set up this attack. The boy didn’t think that was especially nice of him.

“Give us the purse, now. No need to get yourself hurt.”

“No, I don’t think I will. I’ve no need to listen to common thieves,” the boy replied, seeming completely unintimidated. His indifference only served to enrage the men.

“Who’s a thief, huh?! You little brat!”

“What else would I call you? You’re the one demanding my money, are you not? Shall I call you a thug instead? Even a brat like myself can recognize you for what you are.”

“You little shit!” one of the men roared as he ran over and attempted to kick the boy.

“[Slip].”

“Whagh!”

The man slipped over and bashed his head into the stone pavement. He clutched at himself in agony as he rolled around on the floor, but the boy didn’t even so much as look his way.

“Tch! Don’t mess with us, kid!” another of the attackers exclaimed as he charged in, this time grabbing at the boy’s neck.

The boy simply placed his hand on the attacker’s arm and said, “[Paralyze].”

“Gwugh?!”

The man’s arm seized up, and then his entire body fell forward. It then began to lightly twitch and spasm. Anyone could tell his muscles weren’t working properly. Neither of the men knew what had hit them.

“I’m not exactly the most proficient at combat, since my sisters see more of it than I do. Still, I can’t exactly let you do as you please with me, now can I?”

“Wh-What are you, brat?! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Hm? What am I doing? Taking care of criminals, I’d say.”

The man who’d bashed his head earlier screamed at the boy, but he simply responded by crouching down and paralyzing him as well. Just like his friend, his body began to spasm before falling still.

The last of the men standing couldn’t believe his eyes. This was meant to be a simple job, some easy money. They just had to scare a kid into handing his cash over, so why were his friends down for the count? Why was this kid so insanely strong?

“Hey, mister. Do you know if I’ll get a cash reward for handing you in?”

“Ugh!”

“Ah…”

The young man turned tail and fled. He had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. This brat wasn’t just any brat. He was something more. He was something…wrong.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“What?!”

The boy’s right eye changed into a slightly murky, yellow-gold color. The moment that shining gaze cast itself upon the man…he froze in place.

He could breathe. He could move his eyes, just barely, but his body wouldn’t move. His body wasn’t paralyzed, though. He was still suspended in place, still frozen halfway through his running. Time had stopped for the man. It was as if he was trapped in suspended animation.

“…If I blink, you’ll unfreeze, so let me [Paralyze] you.”

“Ngh!” the man groaned as he fell to the ground. It had only taken a moment for three adults to be completely incapacitated by a boy who only seemed to be five or six.

“Now then…how shall I deal with these thieves?”

Typically, when dealing with criminals, it was a simple matter of hauling them to the local authorities. However, if he took these people to the local knights, he’d probably have to answer a bunch of questions. And if he told them his true identity, they wouldn’t believe him at all. He was hungry too, so he had no time to waste on simple matters of criminal justice, which was why he settled on a compromise. The men hadn’t been too violent, so he decided they could go free.

“But…” he mumbled as he dragged the three men over to the shade of a nearby tree and snatched up their purses. He didn’t want to take their money for himself, but he did want to teach them a lesson.

“My, you have a nice bit of money here… Why would you try to take from me when you could’ve fed yourselves just fine?” the boy asked as he dumped out their purses into the street. Most of the coins were copper, but there were a few silvers as well.

The three men could only watch, screaming in silence, as their precious money was tossed off.

“Let’s hope some good people find this money, eh? Perhaps they’ll bring it to the knights and you can recover it later. Or maybe there won’t be any left at all by the time your paralysis wears off, hm?” the little boy with the angelic face and the devilish eyes, Mochizuki Kuon, smiled wide.

It didn’t matter what their motivations were. Thieves didn’t deserve human rights or civil liberties. That was what his father and mothers had taught him. If his sisters were here, they’d have chastised him for going too easy on these men, even.

He took their armor and weapons for good measure, tossing them into the street as well.

Kuon’s stomach rumbled. He was really, really hungry.

“Ah… It’ll no doubt pale in comparison to what Mother Lu can conjure up, but I hope I find something nice,” the boy said as he began to walk through the snowy town.

The three men were later rescued, mere moments before the cold claimed their lives. They shivered, shook, and cried about seeing a demon. But once the knights investigated them, their testimonies were deemed unreasonable and they were imprisoned on charges they’d been avoiding. And, of course, they never reclaimed a single coin they lost that day.