The first impression I had of Ella was that she was a "kind girl."
It wasn't a statement filled with 100% goodwill.
It had a hint of sarcasm in it.
In a society where outcasts gathered, Ella was the only ordinary human there.
But despite that, she treated the other outcasts without prejudice.
The members were grateful to her.
In my mind, I secretly mocked them.
Those poor and ugly creatures would do anything if you were just a little kind to them.
Because they were starving for kindness.
Kindness and smiles were just means to gain their favor.
I knew I had a twisted way of thinking.
But I couldn't help it.
It was because of the things I had experienced.
I had mixed feelings about her ability to lead the members.
Her support from the members was only possible because there was someone like me.
Because there was an absolute evil like Wonderstein, her role as vice-ringmaster could shine as a shield.
So she could act kind whenever she wanted to.
Like the opposition's survival strategy.
I chuckled once again.
But after hearing the promise of two and a half years, her attitude changed.
She became stricter in leading the members and didn't bother to justify her actions behind the scenes.
Even if she received insults and became the target of resentment, she knew it was for the greater good and accepted it.
Unlike me, who obsessed over the system's favorability rating and couldn't grasp the bigger picture without a quest.
I was no different from when I sat in front of the monitor in the room.
On the other hand, she made her own judgments, took action on her own, and willingly accepted the responsibility.
That's when my hesitation began.
And it became clear when she confidently stepped forward and sang for the struggling actor in front of the audience.
She was more than ten years younger than Wonderstein,
More than ten years younger than my original self,
But in that moment, I thought, "She's amazing."
That's when it started.
When she started to matter to me.
Squeak, squeak.
The boat moved forward with the sound of creaking wood.
Thanks to my muscle strength of 3.0, it didn't take much effort to row the boat.
But I paddled as slowly as possible.
Coo, coo.
Ella was leaning against one side of the boat, asleep.
Afternoon performances, evening rehearsals, and even a commotion in the early morning.
She must have been exhausted.
A white rat also sat on its owner's shoulder, its head buried, eyes closed.
As I rowed the boat, I quietly gazed at her sleeping face.
Is this just liking?
Or is it something more than that?
It could be either, or maybe something else.
But for the sake of clearing the game, for my own future, I denied all those feelings.
The guilt I had kept inside for so long about her.
The gratitude for taking care of everything in the circus.
The debt that had formed from the mix of both.
I mistook it all for liking.
Just like how Anais felt about me.
Just like how I used to tell my assistant back in the old days.
Just as the ghost had intended to plant in his little birds.
Yes. I was mistaken again.I need to stay locked in!
I decided to think that way.
Once again, I returned as a player in the game and thought about the strategy.
After clearing the Ghost of Cabaret, two additional sub-quests were activated.
I read the content, and it was related to the Ghost quest.
The so-called final quest.
Both could be completed before sunrise this morning.
***
The special room at Luz General Hospital was not open to just anyone.
Only nobility, those who donated a large sum to the hospital, or those with special fame could be admitted.
In that sense, it was a great honor for a mere theatre actor to lie here.
If it was Ivonne, known as the "Flower of Luz", whom people acknowledged.
But she herself was not at all happy about this fact.
This special treatment would soon disappear.
From her forehead to the half of her face, a long red scar extended to her neck.
No one in the theatre company had ever stored such chemicals in the cupboard.
It must have been the work of the ghost.
The person who wrote the threatening letter...
"Sob, sob..."
She buried her face in the pillow and burst into tears.
Tears soaked the pillow.
But still, the tears did not stop.
Why.
Why did she have to end up like this?
She had tried so hard not to hold grudges or create conflicts with anyone during her tumultuous theatre life.
Now that she had become an adult and could spread her wings and become the star of Luz.
The ghost.
Who could that person be?
Who could have turned her into this fugly state?
The person who benefits the most is the culprit.
A thought flashed through her mind.
She clenched the blanket tightly.
The person who benefits the most?
Naturally, the face of the manager, Bouvalle, came to mind.
He wasn't a suspect just because of that.
He was the one who came to mind reflexively when she thought the word "benefit."
She wiped away her tears, calmed her excitement, and thought carefully, one by one.
The person who benefits when she steps down from the stage.
The person with enough resentment to kill her.
The person who fits the description...
"Hello."
Cold sweat broke out on Ivonne's back.
This was the special room at Luz General Hospital, the deepest part of it.
It was surrounded by security guards at her request.
But a human voice was heard.
From right above her head!
"Uh...?"
She slowly raised her head.
A dark ceiling.
In the pitch-black room, there was nothing.
Could she have misheard something?
Was it an auditory hallucination caused by fear of the ghost?
Then, a white hand covered her mouth.
"Huh?"
Ivonne turned her head.
A white mask!
She had seen it from the figure that had covered her.
"Y-Yuree...?"
"Shh, please be quiet. It would be troublesome if someone else comes."
Ivonne's eyes widened in shock at the affectionate voice that tickled her ears.
It was not the harsh and malicious voice she had vaguely imagined.
"Will you be quiet?"
"...Yes."
Half fear, half curiosity.
Ivonne held her trembling chest and looked at the figure that appeared before her.
A translucent colour with moonlight shining through.
The mysterious white mask and dazzling dark hair matched perfectly with the black suit he wore.
This person was the Ghost of Cabaret!
Ivonne's eyes filled with resentment.
"Are you here to kill me?" she asked.
"No," he replied.
"Or are you not satisfied with the level of harm so far? Do you want to ruin me even more?"
"No, I..."
"Why! What grudge brought you here? You..."
The Ghost's hand touched Ivonne's lips, silencing her words with its gentle touch.
The man in the mask leaned closer to her face and whispered, "Shh. I have no other purpose. I've come to heal Ivonne's skin."
Her body stiffened at his words.
What did he say?
Heal?
"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Even the best potions here couldn't..."
"Let me show you."
The Ghost's hand touched her cheek.
Her skin, which had been deemed beyond repair, suddenly began to tingle from her forehead to her neck.
"What? What's happening?"
Looking into the mirror, Ivonne witnessed the unbelievable. The red and jagged scars on her skin were disappearing, and a new, even more beautiful and flawless complexion was magically emerging.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
She cried for a long time.
In her eyes as she looked up at the Ghost, there was no longer fear or resentment. Only gratitude and admiration remained.
"Thank you. Thank you. This can't be a dream, can it?"
"Of course not."
The Ghost smiled brightly. Just seeing his jawline and smile revealed beneath the mask made Ivonne's heart race.
"What on earth has happened? I can't believe everything that has happened today."
"I came to tell you that."
The Ghost explained about the malevolent spirit that had long resided beneath the Cabaret, kidnapping talented and beautiful women to sing for him in a cage.
And today, he finally defeated him.
"Have there been disappearances from time to time?"
"Yes. Every year or two, someone would... Mr. Bouvalle said the girls probably ran off with a man, but I never imagined..."
"Please find their remains and bury them properly."
"I will! We must."
"Well then, I must be going now."
The Ghost's body floated into the air.
Ivonne reached out to grab him, but his body passed through her.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm disappearing. I appeared to capture the malevolent spirit. Now that the task is complete, I must vanish."
"Oh..."
Watching his body gradually fade in the moonlight, Ivonne couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
The warmth that had touched her lips and cheeks still lingered.
And so, the Ghost disappeared before her eyes.
An hour later, in a room at the Rose Windmill Cabaret's lodging, a similar event occurred.
"Angel! Don't go!" Shaila cried out as she got up and embraced the Ghost.
However, her body merely passed through.
"Be a great actor," the ghost left these words and disappeared without a trace.
["Subquest - The Legend of the Ghost in the Cabaret" completed.]
["Subquest - The Legend of the Angel in the Cabaret" completed.]
Seeing the messages appear, the ghost removed its mask.
Name: Ghost's Mask
Applicable Area: Full body, clothing, and items weighing less than 5kg.
Effect: While wearing it, you become semi-transparent and can pass through solid objects. The colour changes according to the environment.
Resource Requirement: Stamina
"It's over with this."
Wonderstein smiled with relief.
The next day, in the morning.
Rosewind Cabaret's practice room.
I sat in a corner chair, watching the actors rehearse.
Shaila was incredibly focused on her acting, to the point of being terrifying.
There was no trace of the crying and clinging from last night.
Could it be that my final words, "Become a great actor," had something to do with it?
She seemed more determined than yesterday, showing a newfound strength.
The actor who was supposed to play the role of the Count had fallen due to last night's escapade, and Paris had taken on the role.
Yug Maroine looked satisfied as he watched him.
Even that elderly man, who had gone all-in on the game, was now fully immersed in preparing for the performance, despite his actor being dead and the murderer still at large.
The scene finally moved forward after being interrupted three times.
Paris approached Ella, saying, "Can you prove it? Can you prove your love?"
He forcefully grabbed Ella's arm, slowly moving his face closer to hers.
The choreographer, Mare, glanced at me, trying to sneak a look, but I watched calmly with a peaceful smile, unlike yesterday.
As their lips were about to touch...
Bang.
The door to the rehearsal room swung open.
Everyone's attention shifted to the entrance.
A graceful redhead lady stood there confidently, hands on her hips.
"I'm back! Let's start practicing right away!"
Bouvalle next to her suggested taking a break for a while, given it was just a morning stage, but she seemed completely oblivious.
"We have to! I caused a scene yesterday, so I have to work even harder! Right?"
The show had to go on...
I lowered my hat, hiding my dark hair and smiled to myself.
My appearance and smile were quite distinctive.
I couldn't afford for her to recognize me.
Before she could ask who I was, I quietly exited through the back door.
A few minutes later, Ella walked out of the theatre with a gloomy expression.
With the return of the original princess actress, Shaila returned to her role as a maid, and there was no reason for Ella to play an understudy.
["Subquest - Stand-In Quest" failed.]
[As a penalty, one random attribute is destroyed.]
["Derick's Vocal Cords" have been destroyed.]
The first quest had failed.
I certainly didn't anticipate this turn of events.
Could it be that Ivonne left the hospital as soon as morning came?
The penalty for this quest failure was the destruction of a random attribute.
It was disappointing, but at least Manthula's blade was spared, which was a relief.
As for Derrick's vocal cords, they had no use beyond deceiving Shaila yesterday.
"In the end, I never finished any of them."
"Let's go back and train our members."
I suggested, and Ella let out a frustrated sigh.
"You don't have much to do, do you?"
I smiled charmingly, and Ella shook her head.
She muttered casually, "Well, that's a relief."
"What do you mean?"
I asked, but she didn't respond, just gazing silently out the window.