Two weeks ago.
The mbers who noticed an issue with Ella's mory waited until she fell asleep again before gathering for a eting.
Maya explained the state Ella was in.
"The mysteries of the human mind are divided into five stages."
Surface Appearance, Active Thinking, Reflective Emotions, Structured Thoughts, Essence of the Spirit.
The first stage, 'Surface Appearance,' was a mystery used by illusionists. It was primarily used to manifest images in the mind as visual information.
"The part affected by the Reaper's Scythe is stage 3, 'Reflective Emotions.'"
Having lived in the circus, Maya was accustod to speaking plainly.
But mbers who hadn't received proper education still found it difficult to understand her words.
While everyone sat in confusion, curious Womon, perhaps thanks to his own thinking, asked a question.
"Wait a minute! Maya, earlier didn't you say mory is stage 4?"
"Right. Actually, what the Reaper's Scythe affects isn't mory. It's emotion. Do you rember how you felt when indirectly affected by the Reaper's Scythe?"
As if reluctant to recall, the mbers shivered at her question.
"It was depressingly unusual."
"Old unpleasant mories kept coming up…"
"Haha, even trying to think of a funny joke ended in frustration."
Maya nodded.
"In fact, the Reaper's Scythe doesn't directly extract your mories. It stimulates emotions, inducing you to recall such mories."
Wonderstein nodded as he ntally organized the mysteries of the mind she explained.
Stage 1, 'Surface,' is imagination.
Stage 2, 'Thinking,' is thought.
Stage 3, 'Emotion,' is emotion.
Stage 4, 'Thoughts,' is mory.
Stage 5, 'Spirit,' is the soul.
The mysteries of the mind operate in sequence by stages.
That is, imagination stems from thinking, thinking from emotion, emotion from mory, and mory from the soul.
While unsure about other things, they were certain that stage 4 was based on stage 5.
Because it was what he was experiencing firsthand.
"The workings of the mind usually proceed forward. But sotis they work backward. When soone is directly hit by the Reaper's Scythe, a filter forms in stage 3, 'Emotion.' A barrier of emotion prevents happy mories from affecting the lower stages. Although mories themselves are preserved in the brain."
"Ah."
A few quick-witted mbers nodded.
"It ans mories can be distorted by emotion. Even if mories are accurately recorded in stage 4, if distortion occurs in stage 3, we cannot think correctly in stage 2. Currently, the Assistant Director seems to have the added ability of the Reaper's Scythe to stimulate 'unhappy emotions,' filtering mories. It seems to have… changed her thinking."
Everyone had seen what that change in thinking led to.
Maya sighed as she recalled that scene.
The Assistant Director rushing into the commander's embrace.
And the Director accepting it with a smile.
Sohow… sohow… it felt odd.
"If mories are deleted, they're difficult to recover. They need to be drawn from stage 5, the soul. But if mories don't co to mind due to emotion in stage 3, the problem becos simpler."
"What should we do?"
"The most basic thod is to give strong emotional stimulation. If emotions fluctuate, the filter shakes as well. Psychologists use this thod to draw out dormant mories. However, in her s case, this thod is risky to use. Because she was hit by the Reaper's Scythe. There were various thods, but the most reliable treatnt thod is magic.
As I ntioned to the director earlier."
Wonderstein nodded.
Of course, he didn't understand the theory she spoke of at all.
However, he could grasp the essential content.
A magician proficient in ntal magic was needed.
He looked around at the mbers and concluded.
"When we get to the next city, I'll ask Vergsong Family to issue a request for a ntal magician. Let's not ntion anything about the past that Ella doesn't rember until she revives her mories. As Maya ntioned, it could be dangerous to provoke emotions."
All mbers agreed with the director's opinion.
Wonderstein sighed inwardly.
What he just said to them was a lie.
He hadn't made up his mind yet.
There was a very fatal problem with the treatnt thod Maya ntioned.
It was that Ella's suppressed mories would be revealed to the treating mage.
That ant Wonderstein's misdeeds would also be exposed.
Until he found a way to deal with that problem, he couldn't attempt the treatnt.
After concluding the first agenda, the eting moved on to the second agenda.
"Can you heal us?"
Everyone hesitated to speak, but Womon ca straight to the point.
All eyes were on him.
Wonderstein had been constantly pondering this issue since earlier.
What would be the right answer to give them?
To be honest, he couldn't heal them.
Their innate characteristics were 'unique traits' that couldn't be manipulated even by the power of the system.
But it was difficult for him to readily admit the truth to them.
Their hopeful expressions were overwhelming.
He understood their hearts better than anyone else.
In reality, if he told the truth, they would be disappointed.
No, they might not even easily believe his words in the first place.
They didn't know whether to plead or try to negotiate.
Disappointnt would co next.
Even the children from the orphanage were like that.
They were filled with more distrust and cynicism towards the world, cursing the orphanage, the director, the foundation, but there was one thing they found hard to accept.
The fact that the pastor who promised to heal their bodies was a fraud.
When the pastor was dragged away by the police, the dia explained it as 'brainwashed by a cult religion', but the truth was a little different.
The pastor's laying on of hands, raising the paralyzed, and curing the disfigured patients.
It was the most popular performance among the orphanage friends.
It was a kind of hope pornography.
They might have vaguely thought it was fake.
But still, they enjoyed indulging in the fantasy.
Isn't that the sa with YouTube?
So-called 'patriotic YouTubers' who inflate patriotism with unreasonable statistics and exaggeration.
People enjoyed it even though they knew it was fake news.
They wanted to get drunk on it.
Forget their miserable reality.
They were the sa.
They wanted to get high on hope, even if it was just for a mont.
As evidence piled up that the pastor was indeed a fraud, many inmates committed suicide.
The tens of millions of money donated to the church?
That wasn't important.
What mattered was that the hope they had clung to for years was trampled.
Wonderstein looked at the mbers.
He could see that the hope they held was not just for a day or two.
His guess was correct.
The mbers had been harboring suspicions for a while now.
Ever since witnessing Wonderstein's abilities.
Of course, once they knew, they couldn't approach him for a while out of fear.
Even after the fear subsided, they couldn't bring themselves to speak, fearing negative responses.
They just did their best not to disturb his mood.
While waiting for that day to co.
And now, that day had arrived.
Wonderstein cautiously parted his lips as he looked at them.
"…Yes. It's possible."
He surprised himself with such an answer.
And quickly added reasons.
Because it would make it easier to win their favor.
Because it would make it easier to ignite their enthusiasm.
Because it would make them easier to control.
He tried to convince himself, but the biggest motivation ca not from his mind but from his heart.
He didn't want to crush their hope.
He stopped the mbers who were about to shout.
"But it can't happen right away. It's still difficult to find a treatnt without side effects. So… it'll be in the next two years. Please help make it to the main stage of the Circus Grand Prix. I'll continue researching ways to restore your bodies during that ti."
At his words, the mbers looked at each other and smiled.
"Of course!"
"I had a feeling it would be like this! I've been suspicious since before! Why did he gather us anyway?"
"You said last ti that the director was going to use us as sacrifices for black magic!"
"Ugh, when did I say that?"
"Haha, the director is having a hard ti! Can't we just do what we've been doing?"
"Don't worry about it even if two years might not be enough!"
"That's right! We'll serve the director for about 10 years!"
"That's too long!"
The eting ended in a lively atmosphere.
In the end, Wonderstein didn't reveal anything about the 'The Smiling Man.'
He didn't even think about it or prepare to bring it up.
When he had considered it, it was because he didn't want to build more walls between himself and the mbers.
But he had already deceived them twice.
He deceived them about Ella's recovery.
And he deceived them about the treatnt for the mbers.
He couldn't bring himself to say sothing like, "To be honest, I have sothing to say."
Two weeks passed like this.
During that ti, there was never a shortage of laughter in the Monster Circus.
Ella laughed, and the mbers laughed.
And even Wonderstein, looking at them, laughed.
"Director…?"
"Oh, Yurakne."
A woman with purple hair tied up with a comb approached.
Yurakne had beco the most comfortable person to face recently.
Talking with her was comfortable, and the tea she brewed was comforting.
Being with her made him feel at ease.
There were various reasons, but the biggest reason was her gaze.
Unlike the other mbers who looked at him as if worshipping him when he passed by, she looked at him with the sa eyes as before.
She was the only one who remained calm when the others were excited about the promise he made.
Was it because her appearance and functions were the least obstructive?
She was the only one who wasn't excited about the promise he made.
"Why are you like this?"
"That… the alchemist has sothing to say about Ella's condition…"
Alchemist.
He was another concern for Wonderstein, who was rapidly rising lately.
When he arrived at Yeterinpuurk, he inquired about mory treatnt to Anais.
Other than recruiting a ntal mage, there was another way.
Anais suggested the thod of the alchemist guild.
The alchemist guild has visions that work on the ntal mysteries by burning herbs and inhaling their scents.
Since he couldn't find a ntal mage for Ella, he invited an alchemist guild mber.
Although he thought it would take so ti since it was one of the few master ranks of the alchemist guild, he arrived in Yeterinpuurk in a few days.
As if soone beside Anais was urging him to et him.
"Master."
Wonderstein entered a room in the annex of the villa.
There was Gascon Halidon, the master of herbalism in the alchemist guild and the forr manager of the tomato greenhouse.
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