What tragedy befell Alhambra in his past…
Alhambra, adopted by Victor Garcia Parra, diligently learned magic from his adoptive father. Ten years passed, and the petty thief had grown to become the circus’s star magician, earning fame. Having become a true magician, Alhambra was finally granted permission to date Alicia, Victor’s daughter, whom he had long loved. Victor, with a smile, sarcastically remarked when approving their relationship, “Alhambra, if you want to marry Alicia, you’ll have to make me disappear with your magic. I’m a stubborn old man, and I won’t let you marry her so easily, will I?” Alhambra replied with a laugh, “I’ll make you disappear splendidly at the wedding venue. How about a magic trick where the ringmaster vanishes from the church and reappears in place of the priest urging the vows?” Victor Garcia Parra nodded in satisfaction at his words and decided to wait for the day his magician, whom he had painstakingly raised, would complete that grand magic trick.
Misfortune befalls the good, as the old adage goes. That saying unfortunately applied to the Garcia Parra family. Captain Moran, a soldier from the Alliance Army who came to watch the circus, fell head over heels for Alicia, the circus’s beautiful star. Unfortunately for him, Captain Moran was a soldier blessed with noble lineage but not with good sense. True to his desires, Captain Moran, despite already being married, proposed to Victor that he take Alicia as his second wife. No, he threatened him. Having multiple wives was not illegal. In most city-states, it was legally permissible to have multiple wives or husbands if one paid a luxury tax. This, of course, was contingent on meeting the prerequisite of being of the privileged class. Victor refused this proposal immediately. It was an absurd idea that didn’t even warrant consideration. His daughter’s long-held affection for Alhambra, the foreseeable unhappiness of his daughter if this continued, and Victor’s intense dislike for those who flaunted their power formed a solid, robust triangle of reasons. Victor, knowing that incurring the wrath of the privileged class was a more dangerous gamble than trading grain futures, immediately led his troupe out of the city. Victor’s miscalculation was not that Moran lacked good sense, but that it went far beyond that. He fabricated charges of espionage against the Garcia Parra Circus and, at the head of his troops, attacked the troupe as they traveled through the wilderness.
As soldiers smashed through windows and tried to invade the bridge, Alhambra fought back by throwing darts. The darts accurately struck their targets’ eyeballs, and the blinded soldiers fell, screaming. “It seems not hiring escorts from the Traders Guild due to our sudden departure has backfired,” Alhambra said, cautiously scanning their surroundings while shielding Alicia. Victor shook his head. “It wouldn’t have made a difference. The Traders Guild wouldn’t pick a fight with the army either.” “We have to escape to the Mechanist Army’s territory at all costs! Can’t we go any faster?” Alhambra’s voice grew rough with anger towards Moran and the desperation of their predicament. “We’re already at our limit! Don’t expect too much from a used light cruiser!” The crew member at the helm was also struggling. The used light cruiser was being pursued, sandwiched between two new cruisers. It was an unfavorable match from the start. “…Alhambra, a magician must never panic, no matter the desperate situation. In moments of absolute despair, one must laugh defiantly. Didn’t I teach you that?” “Even if I’m bound by chains and thrown into a tank, I’ll escape! But…” “…I’m thinking of a miraculous escape magic now. Calm yourself.” “Director! The elemental engine’s output is dropping! It seems the engine room has been hit!!” The crew member’s report made Victor realize he had to make a decision. “…Alright. Victor Garcia Parra will unveil a once-in-a-lifetime magic trick for these foolish Alliance members. Alhambra, take everyone and escape first. I’ll hold off the cruisers.” “Director! That’s reckless!” “Father!” “I have a special trick. Leave it to me.” “No! I’ll stay too…” “Alhambra! If you stay, who will protect Alicia! Alicia, don’t leave Alhambra!” “Yes! Alhambra is my husband! I won’t leave him!” “…Director, please succeed in your escape magic! I believe in you!” Victor watched the young couple and the crew retreat from the bridge before beginning his magic preparations. A final magic trick to end his life… with no trick at all. For the future of his beloved family, the great magician would attempt his first and last trick without a trick.
Alhambra and the others, having escaped the pursuing light cruisers spewing black smoke on their motorcycles designed for stunts, fled towards the canyon at full speed. Against the two pursuing light cruisers, the Garcia Parra Circus’s flagship “Pierretta” showed motherly love. It repeatedly rammed the enemy ships with its aged body, continuing to aid Alhambra and the others in their escape. Alicia, tearing her skirt and clinging to the back seat of the motorcycle, screamed, “Alhambra, how is Father going to escape?!” “I don’t know! But the Director is a great magician, he must have some outlandish trick!” Alhambra’s desperate cry was cut short by the sound of gunfire. He looked back and revved the motorcycle’s accelerator to its maximum. “Damn it! The pursuers seem to have brought out motorcycles too! Alicia, hold on tight!” “I’ll never let go. We’re together, no matter what!” Alhambra tightly bound himself and the woman he loved, as if performing a rope trick. Dodging the bullets fired from behind, the motorcycle sped through the giant rock archway at the canyon’s entrance. The rock arch was Victor’s magic trick. Operating the screen panel, Victor called out to the engine room. “It’s almost time. Old man, sorry to involve you.” “Director, we’ve known each other a long time. Don’t be so formal now. It’s an honor to be part of Victor Garcia Parra’s final performance.” The old clown on the screen, adorned in his best stage costume, rubbed his red, bulbous nose and puffed out his chest. “…Thank you. This is my final magic show. Here we go!” “Aye aye, sir!” The female clown, Pierretta, drawing on her last reserves of strength, surged past the new cruisers and fired her main cannon, a substitute for fireworks announcing the show’s commencement, creating a crack in the rock arch. The old clown, who had long served as the great magician’s opening act, synchronized perfectly and detonated the elemental engines. The Mad Clown, who had charged into the base of the arch, caused a massive explosion, sealing the canyon entrance with a rock avalanche burying his old body. Thus, the great magician’s final performance came to a close.
The remnants of the circus, having shaken off their pursuers with the great magician’s self-sacrificing trick, gathered deep within the canyon. Alhambra, the last to arrive, counted the survivors with a sigh. Out of over a hundred troupe members, fewer than thirty had survived. Whether it was the light rain that began to fall or tears, the magician, his cheeks wet, asked no one in particular, “Is… that all? Is no one else… coming?” “…Probably not. What do we do now, Alhambra?” The troupe members’ voices, responding to Alhambra’s weak words, were barely audible. “First, we need to get Alicia to a safe place… Alicia!!” Alhambra realized it. Alicia, his beloved, was not breathing… “N-no! This can’t be!” Frantically untying the rope, the magician embraced Alicia’s body. A spreading red stain on the circus star’s back… “…It’s a lie… Please, someone tell me this is a lie…” Looking around at the bewildered troupe members for help, the magician met no one’s gaze. Everyone hung their heads in sorrow, speechless. “I-it’s a lie!! This is a lie!!… Alicia… Alicia～～～!!!” The magician, having wept all his tears, and the troupe members, who had lost everything, vowed revenge. They decided to stop living for the audience’s smiles and to put on a terrifying show that would send the hateful Alliance Army and this unjust world to their deaths. With the lives of Victor, Alicia, and many troupe members sacrificed, the “Terror Circus” was born. …The good die young, and beauties fade early; this too is an old saying.
