One-Eyed Monster

After Igor and the others stepped out of the tent, a wonderful melody began playing inside the tent. Undoubtedly, this was the dwarven band starting their performance.

Actually, Kadi was quite interested in this dwarven band and really wanted to go in and take a look. But due to his clown identity, they had to rotate with the group outside.

He could only hope to have another chance to interact with the dwarven band later. Kadi thought silently to himself, with a sense of slight regret.

”I wonder how we can properly showcase ourselves?” Green Nose was obviously still bothered by what Igor had said earlier.

”Uh...” Igor was stumped by the question, ”I think we should try to attract more audience members while we’re outside?”

”Don’t be ridiculous. This place is so small that anyone who can afford circus tickets is already inside. There’s no one left for us to lure.” Green Nose scoffed at Igor’s suggestion.

”Then let’s perform well and satisfy the boss!”

”Ah, you guys are new here, so you’re not quite aware yet. I arrived a few days before you and know a bit more than you do.” Green Nose shook his head, clearly frustrated with Igor and the other newcomers. In his eyes, these new arrivals hadn’t figured out the circus’s dynamics and were wasting their energy in the wrong places.

”What else do you know?” Igor and Kadi were clearly intrigued by what Green Nose was saying.

”Hehe, you guys still haven’t figured it out. Even though the boss oversees us, the one who can reward us isn’t the boss! So, you see, no matter how well we perform and make the boss happy, what’s the use of that?” Green Nose shrugged, sounding like an old-timer sharing his wisdom.

”Uh...” Igor and Kadi looked at each other, puzzled.

Igor understood what Green Nose meant. This clown named Brava was essentially just a puppet at the circus. The real control of the circus was in the hands of Captain Stanley.

”So we need to get the captain’s attention!” Igor tentatively asked Green Nose.

”That’s right, as long as our performance catches the captain’s eye, we’ll definitely receive his rewards.” Green Nose laughed until his eyes disappeared, clearly overly optimistic about the future.

Actually, Igor didn’t care about rewards, because their purpose for joining the circus was merely to find the elusive enemy. Now that this Star Circus appeared suspicious everywhere, they remained vigilant at all times.

Igor, Green Nose, and Kadi were chatting outside, completely forgetting their assigned tasks.

Outside was much quieter than inside the tent. Just like Green Nose said, anyone who could afford circus tickets was already inside, and those outside weren’t planning to buy tickets... Even if they went all out showcasing their skills, the poorly dressed folks wouldn’t come near them. These people were either homeless wanderers or impoverished kids, and Igor couldn’t help but feel a surge of sympathy watching them.

”Do you think if we get these people into the tent, it might catch the captain’s attention?” Igor asked Green Nose, thinking these people seemed pitiful outside, hoping to help them get into the tent.

”Haha, I think getting them inside might draw attention, but the problem now is how to get them inside?” Green Nose dismissed Igor’s suggestion. He thought these people had no money, so it was impossible for them to enter the tent; no money for tickets meant no entry.

”Just give them tickets!” Kadi said, clearly understanding Igor’s intentions, and directly spoke up.

”Hmm?” Green Nose said in astonishment, struggling to grasp what these newcomers were up to.

”Haha, just buy them tickets!” Igor said, pulling out some gold coins and heading to the ticket booth at the circus.

As long as you had gold coins, you could buy tickets. They cared about money, not the person. Soon, Igor had the tickets in hand.

”This makes things much easier!” Igor said, grinning.

Green Nose watched Igor and the others with tickets as they started performing magic tricks...

”Come on, let’s do a magic trick, a clown’s magic trick—have you ever seen that? Gather around!”

The homeless and pitiful kids were indeed drawn to Igor’s call, timidly lifting their heads to watch the two clowns perform.

”Do you want to go inside and have a look?” Igor asked the people gathered around them.

”Yes!” a little kid cautiously raised their hand.

”Alright, let’s play a game. If you guess correctly, you can go inside!”

”Don’t joke around. You need tickets to go inside, and we don’t have money...” Naturally, there were still some sensible kids who stayed outside just to watch these clowns’ antics and to hear the sounds coming from inside the tent.

”I am not joking. Curiosity for new things is a human trait. I will satisfy your curiosity; if you guess right, I will give you this!” Igor spoke while revealing the tickets in his hand, using sleight of hand.

”Me, me, me...” The children naturally went wild, and even some of the homeless joined in, although they weren’t interested in the performance inside, getting into the tent would be a nice choice, at least the outside night was colder!

”But you have to play a game with me first!” Igor and Kadi cheerfully played with the kids.

Green Nose froze, realizing he hadn’t thought of this ticket idea himself. If things continued like this, these two newcomers would steal the spotlight! No way, I can’t let them get ahead; I need to showcase myself too, so Green Nose bought some tickets, mimicking Igor and started calling out.

Even though it cost some gold coins, gold coins would be just worldly possessions to him later; once he gained power, what was money? It’d be a burden... Green Nose’s heart started to race, believing they were sure to receive the captain’s reward now...

Maybe they’d even get a naming reward. Just the thought thrilled Green Nose. Clearly, he had high hopes for the future, thinking Igor and Kadi’s method was very effective.

They bought quite a few tickets and quickly brought ten people inside. Although ten people weren’t too many, the person checking tickets at the tent entrance was quite surprised.

Because the circus show was already halfway through, why would someone buy full tickets to come inside now? It’s practically madness!