The girl accepted the rose in delighted surprise, her heart brimming with joy. Although the boy before her looked not quite twenty, he was tall, well-built, and rather good-looking. If she could date him...
Wait, what are you thinking?!
"Ah, well... you'd have to ask the ringmaster!" She hesitated, then added, "But I don't think we're looking for anyone right now. A wandering magician joined us a few days ago, and she's very good too..."
"I see. How much is a ticket, then? I'd like to take a look inside."
The girl glanced around and bit her lip. "The show's been going for a while anyway. Just go in, no charge."
"Uh, all right. Thank you."
The moment he entered the circus's enormous tent, a wave of cheers washed over him. Two person-sized boxes stood on the stage, surrounded by rows of spectators. A woman in a brightly colored robe and pointed hat stepped into the box on the left, and an assistant closed it from outside.
As the lights dimmed, the spotlight abruptly swung from the box the woman had entered to the other one. Its door flew open, but there was no one inside.
The audience erupted in an uproar. A flamboyantly dressed man immediately spoke up. "Hmm? Has our Miss Christine's performance failed? Could she still be in the original box?"
Bang!
Just then, the loud slam of an opening door came from behind the audience. The spotlight swung toward it, drawing everyone's eyes. An identical box had somehow appeared at the previously empty circus entrance, and the woman from before was the one pushing its door open.
The audience burst into thunderous applause and cheers.
The woman smiled and bowed to them.
Edward looked astonished. This lady magician seems to be a Beyonder. That instant transportation wasn't done with props, but with some sort of Beyonder ability-the Traveler's Door?
Her smiling gaze swept across the crowd, but the moment her eyes met Edward's, she instinctively looked away.
Hmm? Did she realize I'm a Beyonder too?
That shouldn't be possible.
When Klein had posed as a wealthy man in the original novel, he had frequently met Beyonders of various middle and high sequences, and none of them could tell at a glance that he was a Beyonder-though perhaps that was thanks to his being a Faceless.
The lady magician quickly retreated into the box and shut the door. Amid the audience's calls, the flamboyantly dressed man repeatedly called her name. "Christine, Christine, Christine..."
Five minutes later.
She still hadn't reappeared.
"Did she... run away?"
She ran without hesitation just because she saw a Beyonder? Even the most unaffiliated Beyonder shouldn't need to be this wary, should they?
The audience knew none of this, of course. As the situation gradually spiraled out of control, the flamboyantly dressed man broke into a sweat. At a loss, he could only keep trying to placate them.
Just then, a silk top hat suddenly appeared onstage, and playing cards began spilling out of it. A sudden gust swept the scattered cards toward the audience. Edward appeared out of thin air, wearing a black formal suit and top hat, a black cat perched on his shoulder and a cane in his hand.
"Wow!!!!"
Everyone applauded excitedly.
"My apologies, friends. That was just a little joke. Miss Christine was setting the stage for my entrance. I hope you aren't upset."
The flamboyant man looked bewildered at first, then burst into laughter. "So, everyone, did you enjoy our new friend's entrance?"
"Yes!"
"Then he'll be continuing the show for you." He wiped the sweat from his forehead and hurried offstage.
Edward began with some traditional tricks, such as Three Immortals Return to the Cave and Immortal Plucks the Bean. Although they were entertaining, the audience's lukewarm reaction made their dissatisfaction clear. Compared with his entrance, these tricks were rather small-scale.
"It seems you weren't too impressed with my performance just now. Well, make sure you watch this next one closely."
Edward made a blowing gesture, and a cloud of mist rose to hover above the stage. He pulled a coil of rope from his hat and tossed it into the mist. The rope shot straight up into the cloud, as though fastened to it.
The audience immediately murmured in wonder.
"Lilith, up!"
Chapter 44: New Neighbors and a New Life
"Meow! ~へ~"
Looking thoroughly reluctant, Lilith leaped up and caught the rope, then quickly climbed to the top and disappeared into the mist.
The crowd grew even more curious.
Suddenly, handful after handful of gold coins spilled from the cloud, clattering onto the stage and glittering with dazzling golden light.
Everyone's eyes widened.
Before long, a layer of gold coins covered the stage. The nearest spectators stared fixedly at them, their faces flushed, itching to rush up and grab them. Edward hadn't performed the Immortal Rope in the traditional manner, because the sight of a child climbing into the sky and turning into dismembered remains scattered across the ground was simply too gruesome.
Yet this version seemed to excite the audience even more.
Tsk. Greedy humans.
He hurried forward, seized the rope, and yanked it down. As it fell, the rope transformed into a red cloth. He caught the cloth and snapped it toward the audience. With a gust of wind, the gold coins covering the stage turned into a storm of playing cards that showered over the seats.
Lilith, who had vanished into the mist, reappeared on Edward's shoulder.
Clap, clap, clap!
After a brief silence, everyone offered enthusiastic, unrestrained applause.
"All right, that concludes today's performance. Until next time."
He gently patted Lilith's head, and she gave a disgruntled "meow": (*~︿~)
Edward removed his hat, bowed, and backed offstage, leaving the audience cheering, still enthralled by the magic.
Feeling the tiny amount of potion he had digested, he frowned in thought:
"The digestion is much slower than I expected. Is it because I've confused Trickmaster with Magician?"
"That's right. Trickmaster and Magician are two different professions, after all. Their acting methods can't possibly be the same. The most basic and important aspects of a Trickmaster are 'performance' and 'fooling.' They overlap only slightly with the Magician Acting Rules Klein summarized."
"Judging by Fors's experience, acting as a Trickmaster is much simpler than acting as a Magician. It's probably... performing tricks, fooling the audience, and earning their applause. But that's exactly what I just did."
"Fooling the audience and getting applause shouldn't be the problem. So the issue must lie in the performance?"
Edward's fingers stroked the soft fur on Lilith's back.
"If I compare tricks and magic alone, tricks tend to focus more on sleight of hand, while magic performances cover a broader range. Three Immortals Return to the Cave and Immortal Plucks the Bean were unquestionably tricks, but they didn't earn much praise or applause. Is that why the potion digestion was unsatisfactory?"
"If so, the audience's reaction has a major influence. Then... could audiences of different qualities produce different effects?"
Edward rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
In fact, during his dozen or so days in the Harry Potter World, he had tried acting as a Trickmaster. But at Hogwarts, which was full of warlocks of all ages, that clearly hadn't been a good idea.
As for the Muggle world, he had performed at an amusement park for barely ten minutes before attracting a small squad of Aurors. Admittedly, even without using magic, he still had his Trickmaster Beyonder abilities, but he first needed to familiarize himself with them and develop suitable "acts."
By the time he had done that, it had been time to travel between worlds again.
"Thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!"
The flamboyant man approached enthusiastically, clasping Edward's right hand in both of his and thanking him over and over. "I'm Evans, the ringmaster of the Blair Circus. If you hadn't been here today, I'm afraid the angry audience would have smashed the place up."
"It's fine. I was worried things would get out of hand too, so I took the liberty of going onstage." Edward smiled and asked casually, "What happened to that... Miss Christine? Why did she suddenly disappear?"
Ringmaster Evans looked troubled. "I don't know either. She only joined us recently. Our circus rarely puts on large stage shows like this. Usually, everyone gets a small area of their own and attracts spectators through their skills. If she hadn't insisted, I wouldn't have... Ah, there's no point talking about that now."
Edward asked curiously, "Why did she insist on putting on this stage show?"
"Because it would make a lot of money in a short time."
"Uh."
That wasn't the answer he had expected.
"Well..." Ringmaster Evans hesitated for a moment before asking, "Hello, Mr. Magician..."
"My name's Edward. I'm a conjurer."
Evans hurriedly said, "Mr. Edward, could I invite you to perform with our circus? We're only a traveling circus, but our monthly earnings are quite good."
Edward shrugged. "But I don't plan to leave Tingen. Besides, Miss Christine might return soon."
"Then just for the half month we'll be performing in Tingen," Ringmaster Evans said immediately. He wiped away his sweat, looking helpless. "Even if Christine comes back, I wouldn't dare hire her again."
"All right. I'll give it a try."
Evans extended his hand. "Welcome aboard."
"It's an honor for me too."
Although the process had been rather dramatic, Edward had at least achieved his goal of joining the circus. For the next half month, he would come here every day to perform for two to three hours.
As soon as he got home, Edward took out the piece of firewood he had selected yesterday and placed it in the woodpile beside the fireplace. Then he waved his wand:
"Portus."
A blue light flashed and faded. The unremarkable piece of firewood had become a Portkey connecting Backlund and Tingen.
He poked it, and instantly felt a hook behind his navel jerk him forward with irresistible force. Fierce wind roared in his ears, and he could see nothing.
Thud!
Edward landed facedown on the floor, his limbs splayed. Grimacing, he stood up and discovered that he was already inside the one-bedroom apartment he had rented in Backlund.
"Phew... Using a Portkey feels much worse than Apparition."
He drew a deep breath and reached out to touch the firewood again. After another bout of violent churning, he lay flat on his back on the floor in Tingen. "I hate Portkeys!"
"Meow? ≡ω≡"
Lilith trotted over and launched a surprise attack. Edward rolled over and pinned her to the floor, tickling her belly with both hands. "That's what you get for ambushing me! That's what you get!"
She struggled, claws flailing. "Mrrrow! (╯‵□′)╯"
Suddenly, Edward felt a tickling sensation at his waist. Looking down, he saw five fair, slender fingers reaching out of the Leather Pouch and tickling him.
"Holy shit!"
The sight was utterly absurd. He hastily threw the Leather Pouch away, while Lilith sprang up and darted under the sofa.
Audrey's voice came from inside the Leather Pouch. "Edward, give me a hand."
"Audrey?"
A moment later, Audrey stepped out of the Leather Pouch. She glanced around. "So this is where you're living in Tingen? It's quite nice."
Before you continue