Chương 102: Portent of a Month

When he arrived at the circus, it was already bustling with activity. His shoulders relaxed. That's a good sign… Taking a deep breath, Evel walked into the inn through the circus curtains. Fresh faces mingled with old, practicing their new and old routines together. He was used to the schedule by now; Tuesdays were days when they reflected on what worked and what failed in their previous performances.

It was the day for looking back and planning the future on how to improve on the specific tricks and routines they'd already done. Only from Wednesday onward would they really start exploring new routines and creating other items to incorporate within the show. Evel's eyes scanned across the myriad faces until he found the brown-haired woman with a pointed chin, Yuna. She was in mid-conversation with the other elder members of the circus, probably discussing how to organize moving forward.

Below her eyes were deep eye bags, and each of her movements carried a certain lethargy he'd never seen in her. Although she wasn't one of the energetic ones, she had never shown any signs of the opposite. The Mayor was so powerful and could make them reveal the truth as he wanted, so what was the point of taking their petty lives? At least, that's what he'd been telling himself. Thankfully, he'd been right. The Mayor cared enough about his image, or was good enough of a person, to not harm any of the innocents.

Evel let out a quiet breath. His worst fears hadn't come to pass. Mid-sentence, Yuna stopped. Her lips began quivering as her eyes reached Evel's. The three elder members beside her, Mateo, Clara, and Toan, all followed her gaze to where their mysterious boss stood. Immediately, the four bolted towards him, each with a shaky run.

"You're okay!" Mateo cheered.

"I knew you'd be back." Clara nodded, matching his energy, "I almost thought you got brutally mulled down by the Mayor or something." Toan gave her a strange look.

"Well, he didn't get mulled in the end, did he?" She shrugged.

"I guess not…" His gaze drifted back to Evel. Only Yuna remained silent.

"You told them everything?" Evel looked at Yuna.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Everything I knew, which wasn't much." He looked the four of them over as he carefully chose his next words. Other members had made themselves scarce, leaving just the five of them alone near the entrance.

"I got into some business trouble with the Mayor, but we've come to an agreement since then." The four of them didn't budge. It seemed that wasn't a satisfactory answer.

"As punishment for something I did, he sent some soldiers to attack me as a… test. I won, so now I'm allowed to continue running my business." Their eyes went wide.

"W-we're enemies with the Mayor?" Toan's face paled.

"I-I'm sure it was just a one-time thing," Mateo said, comforting Toan. He didn't look too sure, though. Evel shook his head.

"No. His business was strictly with me. The circus remains and will remain untouched." The four of them simultaneously let go of their breaths.

"Will he keep sending soldiers?" Toan asked.

"Did you do something that bad?" Mateo grimaced. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Will soldiers stop coming to watch us perform?" Clara tilted her head.

"Y-yeah, what if they all keep acting against us?" Toan paled again. It was a valid concern. If the Mayor wanted, he could destroy the circus without lifting a finger by just declaring that none of the Banners were to go. With his word, the trust of the citizens would vanish, and the circus would slowly fall by the wayside. There were a hundred other ways, quicker ways, he could achieve the same result as well. Evel shook his head.

"The circus will continue as normal; that's all you need to know. Let's put this behind us and continue as if nothing had ever happened. Clara, Mateo, and Toan shared a few looks before quietly nodding and walking back to continue what they were working on. Only Yuna stayed.

"You promised you'd explain everything afterwards."

"I just did." Her jaw tensed.

"If you don't want to tell the others, fine. But I'm the one managing everything," she protested.

"I work closer to the circus than you; don't you think it would be beneficial for me to know?" Her tone got quiet.

"I know you have a lot of secrets, but I'm asking you to trust me. I could help you." Not a single feature on Evel's face moved. Help him? Yuna? She'd been the most responsible and trustworthy so far, but what happened when Prachar or Redigo went behind his back and sought information from her? What would happen if she disagreed with one of his choices in the future? No, Yuna wouldn't be able to help him. She was helping all she could by just keeping the circus running.

Even giving her responsibility for the financials was a big risk he was barely willing to take. How was he supposed to trust her when she could completely ruin him?

"I've told you everything you need to know."

"B–""Is there anything else?" She paused, then slowly nodded.

"There is, actually." She rummaged through her pocket before taking out an envelope.

"Someone left you this yesterday." Evel raised his brow.

"Who?"

"They never said their name… he had brown hair and was a little short. He said you'd know who it was." His eyes slowly fell on the envelope. Brown hair and a little short… Graham? After their battle, he figured the man would want to avoid him for the rest of his life and certainly wasn't expecting a message. He ripped open the envelope and began reading through the page. I never thought I'd be sending you this message, but here we are. First of all, I just want to say fuck you.

I don't care if you didn't want to be in that fight either, but I just don't like you. However, far beyond my hatred for you is my recent hatred for the mayor who forced us to fight in the first place. You're probably celebrating and parading that you managed to win against two people despite the Mayor's expectation, but don't ever think for a second that the scheming bastard was planning on letting you go so easily. Evel swallowed quietly as his dull headache persisted.

He'd never considered that the Mayor was still after him. If he was truly a target, then he was in a far worse situation than he ever imagined. Do I really have no choice but to leave the city and start from scratch? His grip on the paper tightened as he continued reading. Blake and I were never fighters, so don't get in over your head just because you'd beat us. Ever wonder why the Mayor chose us, weaklings, specifically?

Here's a fun fact that might help you: Blake's from the Zircon family, and he's got an older brother who managed to steal away all the talent. He even has quite the destructive ability to boot. Unrelated, but if that brother, Colton, were to return to Ichoris City, he'd probably come to kill you directly. He cares deeply about family values and about his little brother. Shame I won't be there to watch the powerhouse kill you. Evel clenched his jaw. Powerhouse?

He'd just gotten out of an intense fight that almost cost him his life, and how was he expected to fight an even more difficult one? But he still might not know who I am… I have some time. Before you think of planning any sort of ambush on him, I've already given him a note as well, fully describing the events of the battle as well as your ability. He's a Core soldier, so it's not inherently lost. But with how much you struggled with us, you have no chance of winning.

He's not someone you can judge by regular standards. You won't win, but I don't want the mayor to get what he wants either, so I'm giving you this one chance to run away. Now, you don't owe me anything. But if you feel like you do, please take a chance to really fuck over Redego or the Mayor in some way in the future. I don't know what you did to make him mad the first time, but maybe do that a few more times. You have at most a month to run. Also, Eth is a horrible name.

You should curse your parents till the day you die. Yours truly, Graham.

"Is it that bad?" Yuna looked at him with concern. Evel looked at her, then back at the paper. He stashed it away in his pocket and shook his head.

"No, we'll continue as normal. Send me the people I need to train; I'll have to leave early today." Run away? Maybe if a Weaver or another insurmountable force were after him, then would he consider running away? But run into another Core soldier? Was Colton on the level of Bremin? Diana? He doubted it. Even if he was, did it matter? If he planned on keeping up with those monsters, then he couldn't run away from everyone remotely on their level.

This battle would only serve to make him stronger and propel him further forward.

"Your hands are shaking." Evel blinked, "What?"

"Your hands." He looked down, then back at Yuna. The Sunken Vial… He rubbed his temples.

"Go fetch me the people I need to train."

"O-okay." One month. A lot could get done in one month. Not to mention, he had brand-new weapons he could finally test out after he was done with his circus responsibilities. In one month, he'd become someone who could match Diana in spars. If he worked hard enough, maybe even beat her.