"Huaaaahhhh!!! Incredible!!!" Felgard opened his eyes and mouth wide seeing everything. The town was filled with colorful balloons, confetti, and bandanas all over. Children would run from here and there carrying various toys. Some people had fake swords or other weaponry. It was very festive and lively. "Friesha!! Look!!! Friesha!! Look!! Frieshaaa!! Looook!!"

"YES!! I KNOW!!" I couldn't hold myself in and bursted in anger. Ever since we arrived, he's been pulling me towards random stalls and shops. "Why did I even come here... And with this weird thing on my head?"

"You have no choice," the childish airhead smirked proudly. "It was the only thing I could find to cover your ears."

"But of all things to find, should it really be a gigantic mushroom cap?! It's twice bigger than my head!! And it stinks!!"

"Ahahaha! You look cute though!"

"Say another word, and you won't be saying anything ever again..."

He just ran back to the crowd with a smile on his face.

"Friesha!! Looook!!!"

"What..."

Felgard was pointing at a humongous colorful tent further into the crowd. It seemed to be a circus show. Suddenly, I remembered the man with a whip. Could the wolf boy be related to this carnival?

"Friesha!! Look!!"

"What Now?!?!"

"Masks!!"

"I DON'T CARE!!!"

* * * * *

I let out a huge sigh as I sat down a bench far from the crowd. Seriously, it's suffocating to be in a huge crowd like this. Plus this mushroom cap is heavy and stinky, both affecting my breath. Will the airhead find me here though? Ah, who cares for now. I have a feeling he won't be lost that easily. At least this bit of solitude is fine. Although there are still people around, it wasn't that discomforting.

"Frieshaaa...? Oh! There you are!!" all of a sudden, Felgard came running towards me with something on both his hands. "Here, take it."

"What's that?" I haven't seen such things before.

"Sweet pops is what they're called," he said. "it's my first time seeing these too."

"Oh, so they're food," before I was about to take one, I wondered and asked. "Hey, I believe things like these are being sold. Where'd you get the money?!"

"The fat lady said it's free for children, so I got one," he explained with a smile. "I also said I have a friend, so she gave me another."

"...Friend huh..." I looked annoyed but just sighed. "Well, whatever."

"Here, take it," he extended one to me and smiled.

I accepted it and asked, "So, finally had enough?.." before biting down. "Kugh, this is hard!"

Felgard's eyes looked like a child anticipating a rabbit to come out of a magician's hat. He didn't say anything, just his face looking straight at me, and that smile which could reach his ears. I feel like I know what he wants... I let out a huge sigh.

"Fine, we'll watch the circus..." I had to agree, thinking perhaps I could use all of this against him someday. "After that, we'll immediately leave."

"YES!!!" the airhead jumped in delight while I just kept in biting my sweet pop. " I LIKE YOU FRIESHA!!"

"HUHUAWAWAWAAAHHHHHHH?!?!?! Y-YOU STUPID FOOLISH!.." out of shocked, I gulped down the entire thing. I looked away after knowing what he meant (of course I knew what he meant by that...) "J-just get me another sweet pop..."

"Okay!!!" and he dashed happily back towards the crowd. Doesn't he look weird with his wooden sword though? Maybe people will just think of it as a toy.

I looked up at the sky again. I felt so peaceful just doing so, when out of nowhere, a mysterious man came walking towards my direction, more specifically, towards the crowd.. He was wearing a smiley mask where the other side was red and the other side was black in color. He had this cylinder hat with a red lip at the center on top his long curly gray hair which reached down his back. His clothing was a clean white tuxedo with a smiley at the center of us neck ribbon. There were also something like clouds wearing smiles tokens on his arms. His white cloak was huge, probably bigger than himself as it dragged on the ground. Some people around him would silently whisper to each other as he passed by them.

I basically ignored him. However, as he was in front of me, he muttered in a whispering voice.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Do watch the show... I'll be anticipating you..."

He's just a random passerby talking to himself, is what I would prefer to believe. However, the fact that it felt like an invitation meant this person knows my identity. As much as I want to just throw this matter away, this encounter felt very intriguing.

"Who're you looking at?.." Felgard surprisingly appeared behind me.

"Huwahhh!! You moron! Don't sneak up on me like that!!" I was of course shocked a little bit...

* * * * *

That afternoon, as the sun came down, the town remained as lively as ever. In fact, it got livelier as people gathered more and more. The stalls began shining their lights as it got darker. Amongst them all, the gigantic colorful tent at the center outshone the others. It got the most attention out of all the entire carnival. People began flooding in with pure interest and excitement of whatever it might be that could happen. As Felgard and I walked through the crowd desperate to find a seat, we forced our way and finally was able to take a seat above. Although the airhead wanted a closer one, the look of annoyed audiences seemed to have silenced him.

"Hooo!! I'm excited to see!!" Felgard looked more enthusiastic than ever, as if nothing happened.

"So you like circuses huh?.." I asked as I boringly placed my chin on my hand.

"Yes! Yes! My mother would take me to these events at least once a year!" Felgard couldn't even control his excitement as his feet won't stop moving up and down while gripping the edges of his seat.

"Mother, huh..." I murmured to myself.

Finally, the event started with a bang as people cheered for the performers. Clowns would juggle a few colorful balls, while some would command animals to go along their performances. Some would make people laugh by joking around, yet amazes people at the end of the performance.It was basically what I had expected from a circus after reading about it from books.

Then, the next performer came on stage. It was the mysterious man who passed by me this morning, in all the clothing he wore. Alone, he prepared nothing but a table in front of him. He then clapped his hand three consecutive times. On the first clap, two clowns came with a huge empty cage. On the second clap, another clown came and covered the cage with a huge white cloth. After the third clap, a clown removed the huge cloth, yet there was nothing there. The people looked puzzled, until he covered the cage again and swiped it off. This time, there was a gigantic tiger inside. People then clapped their hands in amazement.

Then, he unlocked the cage and let the mad tiger on the loose. It angrily snarled at him as it drooled while circling around the performer. All of a sudden, the tiger jumped at him. What the performer did was then mysterious. He used the white cloth to catch the tiger, which eventually vanished the massive beast into nothingness the moment it clashed with the cloth. The performer then scratched the back of his head, wondering where the tiger went. He then placed the cloth above the cage and swiped it off. And there, the tiger was back inside the cage. Everyone clapped their hands, well, I too gave a slow clap three times.

The mysterious performer then had the two clowns carry the cage with the tiger away from the stage. He then placed the cloth on top of the table and let it be. He went near to the crowd, in front of the table, when something grew under the cloth on the table. It would have been impossible since there was nothing but a visible empty space underneath the table. The people then began clapping while some were pointing at the table, yet every time the performer would get puzzled and look, the thing under the cloth would vanish like it wasn't there. People began laughing as the act repeated for several times.

The mysterious performer then went to the table and scratched the back of his head as if wondering what it might be that the people were pointing at. He turned around and something like a hand formed from underneath the huge cloth and poked him. The people began laughing hard while clapping their hands in amazement. The moment the mysterious performer would turn to look, the hand would vanish, until he finally caught a glimpse of it and grabbed the hand before it would vanish again. People began bursting in laughter as the mysterious performer would struggle to maintain his grip. He then let go after being tired and the hand looked like it laughed at him. The mysterious performer then got a rapier from his hat and pointed it to the hand, which in turn, the cloth took the form of a rapier too. The two began fencing as the crowd went wild in laughter and applause. He then successfully pierced the cloth and it died out. He gave the audience a bow.

Afterwards, he raised his rapier with the cloth still pierced. Suddenly, the cloth moved again and went towards the performer's face. The crowd laughed as the performer struggled against the cloth again. Eventually, the cloth covered his entire face, until it covered the mysterious performer whole. Then, like the tiger, the mysterious performer vanished from sight as the cloth fell on the ground on its own. The crowd went silent, anticipating what could happen next. Then, about a minute after the silence, a huge clapping sound was heard amongst the crowd. Everybody looked and to our surprise, it was the mystery performer just sitting in the middle of the audience. The tent then filled with applause, laughter, and talk as he went back to the stage and took a huge bow. People began throwing flowers and confetti at him as he exited from the crowd.

"Well, is that all the performa-?" before I could finish what I was saying, more performers appeared in front. They also did acts, but we're pretty common so I didn't bother. "Felgard, I think we should leave now."

"...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." yes, I could even see them z's out of his mouth.

And here he was so excited to see the show. Perhaps all those running around made him tired. Maybe I'll just continue watching until he wakes up... Well, they were good too, these extra performers. I think that mysterious performer was the main event or something. I'll have to admit, the show was great.

Now that it's over, I should wake Felgard up so we could leave when I suddenly felt someone's strong gaze. I looked around to see but nobody was looking at me, at least that's what I thought.

"Hey, wake up... How could you sleep this long?" I shook him on his shoulder.

"HAH?! WHAT?!?!" and the fool shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Oh, Friesha... Is the show over?.."

Oh, how I really wanna punch him right now, "Yes, it's over for quite a few minutes ago. See? People are starting to leave."

"Aah... I missed the performance. All I could remember was when all those clowns came out."

"That's from the beginning!! Anyway, we're leaving..." I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the exit.

As we were about to leave, someone surprisingly grabbed my shoulder. I looked at who it could be.

"Ah, you..." I said with a suspicious face. It was the mystery performer. With that mask of his, I'm interested to know what facial expression could be hidden inside. What could he want from me?

"Oi! What're you doing?!" Felgard then held the handle of his wooden sword ready to fight. "Let go of Friesha!"

"It's okay Felgard," I then faced the mystery performer. "For some reason... I too want to have a conversation with him."