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This chapter isn’t a two-parter, the author simply messed up numbering them again.

“I… I am planning to continue living in this world as the leader of the circus troupe. Please rest assured that I won’t engage in any criminal acts.”

Usually, I’d expect Kanata to say something like “Talk is cheap” and further argue him down, but it looked like he deliberately didn’t do that. He merely kept silently looking at the clown.

“Well, I wasn’t involved in these matters, so it isn’t my place to judge… What about you, Bro?”
“M-Me?”
“I mean, you have to closest connection to this man, don’t you?”

He did have a point. I looked into Mr. Mitsuo’s eyes… To no surprise, the look he gave us was completely different from when he’d been Mephistophales.
I guess I should tell him my thoughts.

“Well, since I was the one who sent you back, it’s not my place to judge either. I had fun at the circus, and you did apologize to me.”

I took out the VIP card and moved my gaze to it. Lifetime VIP treatment… not that this made up for killing Mika and trying to do the same to me. Well, I couldn’t come up with any better apology he might’ve offered in his position, either.

“You did accept the death penalty in Anazumu, but I have no idea how many people you killed before that¹. What you did to us and the people living in the Mephilad Kingdom was unforgivable, so I don’t plan to do so.”

The clown’s eyes darkened.

I wasn’t a saint who’d forgive that kind of thing. In the first place, doing that would mean I didn’t care about Mika dying. So, I would never forgive him. I wouldn’t, but-

“Make up for it by bringing smiles to many people on this side. And obviously don’t start committing crimes, otherwise…”

I shot Shuu a glance. He nodded.

“You should expect a visit from the police, soon. Furthermore, we’ll warn them to keep an eye of you while you’re in the area.”
“Do you… have connections to the police or something²?”
“…More or less.”

When he heard that, Mr. Mitsuo looked relieved for some reason. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but maybe he was glad that someone would hold him back after he had caused so much trouble. I wasn’t as smart as my brother, so I couldn’t analyze his reactions.

“Erm, you’re Miss Mika, right?”
“Y-Yes, that’s me.”
“I am so sorry… for what happened in Anazumu…”
“…I see.”

The clown addressed Mika after glancing at the clock, likely since he had to prepare for the next performance. She, who’d suffered the most among us because of him, seemed surprised by suddenly being spoken to, but managed to reply in a calm fashion.

“As Mr. Ayumu said, I will devote myself to making people smile in my circus.”

He was still in his clown make-up, so it was hard to see his expression as serious, but there was conviction in his voice.

I stood up. Kanata, reading the mood, also got up. The other four in our group followed our example.

“Understood. Do that, no matter what happens… We’ll come visit the circus again using these cards.”
“…Of course, you’re always welcome.”
“We’ll see ourselves out, then.”

We left the troupe leader’s office. Then, we vacated the premises the circus had rented and made our way to the park where we were planning to eat lunch.

“Bro, you told him to ‘bring smiles to people’…” Kanata commented with a grin after we sat down in a place with several sets of chairs and benches.
“Wh-What about it? Isn’t it alright to say stuff like that once in a while?”
“I mean… I just thought it sounded like something a light novel protagonist would say…”
“Grr! Hmph!”

I impulsively puffed out my cheeks. Mika immediately pushed them together, causing them to deflate.

“Let’s eat already. That’s what we made the lunch boxes for!”
“The three of you brought individual lunches, right? Should we spread them out on the table?”

The girls nodded at Kanata’s suggestion.

“Woof, that’s right! I made it for Shuu…”
“I made mine for Ayumu…”
“A-And I… for… uhm… Kanata.”

From the reaction, it looked like Mika had gotten Sakura to make it. Kanata was scratching his cheek with a happy expression.

The table was wide and there were ample chairs, so three people could sit on each side with room to spare, with us boys on one side and our respective partners opposite us.

“Look at that, isn’t that guy crazy?”
“Right, he’s got a huge harem with him! Are they shooting a movie or something?”
“Who knows… but it sure is insane to see a guy with that many cute girls.”

Those were the voices of young women passing by. The one who reacted most strongly to that wasn’t Shuu but Kanata.

“What, are they actually thinking I’m a girl…?”
“Just give up. We’re siblings.”
“Hmph!”

In an imitation to me, Kanata now puffed out his cheeks, and it was Sakura who caused them to deflate.

…Huh, you’re asking what happened afterwards? We obviously started feeding each other. The whole group. I mean, that’s a forgone conclusion with this group. Also, the Karaage was super tasty.

TL notes:
And that does it for the circus-arc, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. It remains to be seen what Jizou did to Mephistophales and if he’ll show again. The words back then certainly made it sound as if he’d fulfill the role of the guide.

1. It would be interesting to find out if/how many other people Mephistophales actually killed. The only ones we know for sure are Faust and Uruto (the latter unintentional). I’m not counting everyone Samaeyl killed since I’m not convinced she wouldn’t have done that without him “manipulating” her.
2. The original is 警戒の関係者 (“related person of vigilance”). Not sure if that’s supposed to be a vigilante or some expression you don’t find outside of Japan. I assume it’s meant more like “have contacts in the police”.

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