The Circus

When the sun was high in the sky, after Jilan and Aoi Hana finished cleaning the park, the park director finally strolled out of his hut. By then, the animals had already reverted to their original forms and returned to their cages, waiting for the visitors who might arrive at any time.

"Director, would you be interested in opening a circus?" Jilan asked directly. "Director, don't you usually like to direct the animals to perform all sorts of difficult stunts? How about performing in front of an audience?"

"A circus?" The director's eyes lit up. "You mean one of those acrobatic shows where lions jump through hoops of fire and gorillas walk on tightropes? Interesting!"

As Jilan expected, the principal readily agreed, listening attentively to Jilan's introduction like a primary school student.

"A typical circus has several animal trainers, each responsible for a specific act, because they need to cultivate a rapport with the animals... But our zoo is different. Even in animal form, each of them can understand what we say and perform difficult stunts independently. Therefore, we can have you, the zoo director, act as the trainer for all the performances."

"You mean you want me to be the animal trainer?" The rabbit blinked.

Jilan nodded emphatically. "No one else is suitable besides the headmistress, not even Miss Aoi."

Even though the zoo director is audacious and acts on his own whims, he is still the person the animals trust the most. This was the conclusion Jilan reached yesterday. Whether it was the Werewolf, the gorilla, or the cheetah, although they complained, their bodies had already accepted the director's orders.

As long as the principal announces this news, no one will object.

Evening, the Oumagadoki.

"Nobody's here again today." After a puff of smoke, the animals transformed into humanoid forms. The Werewolf stretched Ogami, arms clasped together, and said helplessly, "Sure enough, relying solely on a zoo won't increase our fame..."

Ogami at Jilan: "Jilan, have you made up your mind? There are only five days left."

Ogami's meaning is quite clear: if Jilan continues to delay, her opportunities for training will become increasingly fewer.

"I've already given my suggestion to the principal," Jilan said meaningfully.

"You mean you agree!?" Ogami's face lit up with surprise, and he was about to ask further when he was interrupted by a shrill voice.

"Everyone, let's open a circus together!" The park director sat on the statue, using a radish as a microphone, and shouted this sentence.

"A circus, is that your suggestion...? That's certainly a good idea." Ogami quickly agreed. "If it's a performance, we animals are absolutely no less talented than professional performers."

Seal Igarashi, with Aoi Hana sandwiched between him, said slowly, "It's fine if it's in a pool, but if it's a circus performance, it doesn't really concern me."

The gorilla paused for a moment, holding a banana, but quickly resumed eating. A circus? What's that? Can you eat it?

The animals discussed the feasibility of the zookeeper's plan with great enthusiasm, and most of them concluded that it was "workable." After all, they were capable of complex thinking, which was vastly different from those animals that had undergone long-term training.

"However, Director, aren't we not allowed to appear in public with this appearance?" the birdman asked hesitantly as he flew down from the sky.

The reason these animals only appear in human form after the park closes is not complicated. They don't want others to discover their abnormality. It's not that they're afraid of appearing in front of humans in this form, but rather that they're worried about implicating the park director.

It is extremely rare, or rather, unprecedented, for a zoo director to be able to transform animals into Quirk capable of speaking and independent thought.

Even if these animals can explain their transformations as their own "Beast" Quirk when they go out, their transformations depend on the zookeeper's Quirk. If they don't inhale the smoke provided by the zookeeper for a long time, they will revert to their original form, which may arouse suspicion from others. They might then follow the clues to find the zookeeper and have him dissected.

But this was just the animals' worry; the zoo director didn't take it to heart at all and often led the animal army out in large groups.

Ogami shared their concerns with Jilan, concluding, "Using our original forms would be fine, but using this talking form would put the headmaster in danger."

Jilan didn't seem to care, and she and the headmaster, who was being questioned by the birdman, chuckled at the same time, "Well, as long as we don't get caught, isn't that fine?"

Like the berserker's creed, a perfect assassination is one where everyone is killed.

Suddenly, a dissenting voice arose from the crowd. "I object!"

All eyes were drawn to the speaker, Shishido, the Lion.

Shishido stepped out of the crowd, ignoring the surprised looks around him, walked to the statue, and stared at the park director with a look of disgust. "Rabbit, you really like doing weird things, huh? A circus? You must have a lion jumping through a ring of fire in your plans, right? Do you think I would do something so shameful? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Oh?" The zoo director jumped down from the statue, squinting his eyes. "Every day, whoever eats the most and does absolutely nothing, really thinks they can do whatever they want just because they're a rare animal? Do they think they're a panda?"

While the animals were out carrying food in the morning, apart from the Igarashi who couldn't help, only Shishido was fast asleep in his cage.

In fact, the zoo director had long had an idea: to get a panda as the Oumagadoki Zoo. At that time, there would be no need for much publicity; just by displaying the panda's name, countless people would flock to the zoo, and becoming the number one zoo in the country would only be a matter of time.

The zoo director had secretly sneaked into that kingdom several times, and even persuaded a panda to come with him, but unfortunately, he was discovered at the last minute each time. Although he escaped, he did not take the panda with him.

"So what if you eat a lot?" Shishido scoffed. "From now on, I'll eat the same amount of food as that idiot Shishido at every Ogami. Even if I starve to death, die outside, or jump off this cliff, I won't eat a single extra bite of your food!"

Shishido wanted to say he wouldn't eat a single bite, but his rumbling stomach stopped him.

"You said it yourself," the rabbit said, turning around. "You don't have to go to the circus, but in return, your food intake will be reduced by half... Zookeeper, did you hear that!"

He said the last sentence to Aoi Hana.

Aoi Hana sat on the stone bench, rubbing her face and sighing dejectedly, "I know, Beast Tamer!"

There is a rule in circuses that animals that do not obey commands are starved for a few days until they are willing to obey commands again, at which point they are allowed to eat normally. Many animals are forced to cooperate with the trainers because they succumb to hunger.

The director seems to have quickly settled into the role. However, it appears that the director doesn't intend for Shishido to participate, which is different from typical circuses.

Because, Shishido is not necessary.