Chapter 1633: Chapter 1633

"Is this really a whole world?" Maria asked. "Are we not in another world and this is just part of it?"

"Not at all! This is a world by itself, my lady. Carnivalis is its name! Wonderful, isn't it? An endless carnival where the fun never ends! A land of dreams where you can kick back and relax! Don't worry, there are no monsters here, no threats, just fun! You can come and go. You could even skip this place entirely! It's all up to you!"

"Wow, mister, why do you have paint all over?" Nyx asked.

"Paint? No, this is my skin! I am a Clown! Heheh! Hahahahah!"

"Even when your nose is all weird and swollen?" Nyx climbed the clown and squeezed his nose, which made a funny noise.

"Ohohoooo! To think you brought children here. What a wonderful little thing she is! How about a candy for such a cute girl like you?"

The clown offered Nyx a big, colorful lollipop, which she grabbed happily and started licking.

"Thank you, mister clown, it's tasty!"

"Hey, I want one too!" Arachne demanded.

"Me too! Me too!" Celes said.

"Can I have some?" Melianna asked.

"Ohohoooo! So many adorable children! You are all so wonderful! Please bring as many as you want! I was created to make everyone happy. There's nothing that brings me more joy than fulfilling my one and only purpose in life!"

The clown, with messy rainbow-colored afro-like hair, gave all the kids candy and offered some to the adults.

"I know we all have a child deep in our hearts! Who wants candy? It's free! Go on."

"Well, if you insist, mister clown!" Maria found him suspicious but grabbed the candy to inspect it with her tongue.

"Free sweets? Why would I say no to that? Thank you!" Emeraldine happily took one.

"I don't like sweets," Partner said. "No thanks."

"Me neither," Lucifer said. Dıscover more novels at N0veI.Fiɾe.net

"I prefer savory food, haha," Jonathan said.

"Thank you, but I'll refrain from eating too much sugar. I don't want to get out of shape. It took me a while to regain my athletic body at my age," Nia said.

"No," Arthur said, glaring at the clown with an angry face. "Just who the hell are you anyway? Created to make people happy? Bullshit."

"Aww, don't be mean to me! I'm just doing my job, little one! Anyway, here are some free tickets for the attractions! Have fun! Byeee!"

The clown walked away comically, waving his big hands as he gifted a colorful balloon to another party of new Players.

"So what the hell was that thing? I've never seen something so weird in my life," Lucifer said.

"Yeah, it was really weird," Jonathan nodded.

"It's a clown..." Arthur said. "I've seen them in Azure Star. They're street performers who make people laugh and do tricks for money. They're usually normal people dressed like that, but... that guy was a clown. His skin, his nose, all those things that would be a costume were real."

"Well, that's definitely not creepy at all!" Alma said while licking her candy. "Hmm, it tastes like fruit. Wait, is this poisonous or something?!"

"It's not," Maria said. "I checked every component. It's not a magic item or anything, just candy."

"Oh, thank god..." Alma sighed in relief, licking the candy again. "Hmm, so sweet! Brings back memories of going to a carnival with my dad and grandma..."

"Yeah, this is a place for memories," Maria laughed. "I guess we can spend the day here and then find somewhere to sleep, right? Surely they have a hotel nearby. Let's explore and find out!"

"Last time we visited, we didn't stay long," Melianna said.

"Yeah, we don't know where to stay, sorry," Ferleen said. "This place is usually treated as a floor most people skip."

"That sounds really sad," Maria said. "It looks nice to explore a bit. Hey, wanna go to the rollercoaster?"

"I wanna! I wanna! I wanna!" Nyx said, jumping around cutely and eagerly.

"Alright, let's go!" Maria nodded, carrying her daughter to the nearby rollercoaster as everyone followed.

"I want to go to that huge wheel next, mom!" Celes said.

"Okay, okay, let's take it easy, Celes," Nia giggled.

"Mom! I want popcorn!" Arachne demanded.

"Oooh, they have corndogs... I want some too!" Alma said.

Most of the younger party members were eager to try everything, while some older members, and Partner, weren't as enthusiastic. Arthur was too serious for this place, and Partner didn't like the noise or the creepy clowns. She said they smelled weird, but nobody paid much attention to her ramblings.

Nonetheless, she enjoyed the food, like hot dogs, corndogs, fries, and anything not too sugary. Everyone else did the same, dragged into the attractions one by one by Maria, Alma, and the children.

The rollercoaster was the first attraction they visited. The children raised their arms and screamed in awe.

"This is going so fast!"

"Heheheh! Ugh... I'm going to puke. Uuugh..."

"Wait, Nyx, don't puke here!"

"I looove the candy here!"

Alma, Maria, Nyx, Celes, Arachne, and Melianna enjoyed it the most. The rest were surprised they were having so much fun.

"Why are they pretending this is exciting? We've flown through the skies at faster speeds than this..." Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"Just let them enjoy the moment. They're having fun, haha," Jonathan laughed.

"It's not about being scared. Maybe it's about feeling excitement?" Emeraldine wondered.

Next, they tried the Ferris wheel, which was slow but awe-inspiring. The children looked through the glass windows from above.

"Wow, we are so high!" Nyx said.

"W-What if we fall?!" Celes cried.

"Don't say that!" Arachne screamed.

"That's really scary!" Melianna cried.

"Look, the carnival really goes on forever. Where does it end?" Alma asked.

"Hmm, you're right! Is this really an endless carnival? Such a weird world, hahaha!" Maria looked through the window to the far horizon. "But it's really... huh."

Maria squinted to see farther, realizing there were no mountains, forests, or even an edge that led nowhere.

It was just attractions, stalls, and more...

The most concentrated group of people was around the entrance and exit to the tower. Everywhere farther away was quieter, almost abandoned.

"Huh, there are all kinds of weird worlds out there."

The next attraction was the carousel. Nothing extraordinary, but it was cute and fun to ride the spinning horses. The kids loved it, especially while drinking sugary soda and eating hot dogs.

"Weee! Little horsie!" Nyx giggled. "Heheh!"

"Wow, how does this move on its own without magic? I can't detect any here!" Celes said.

"Hmm, I like cotton candy," Arachne said, eating two huge cotton candies of many colors with two hands. Her other hands carried popcorn, hot dogs, corndogs, soda, and more.

"This brings back lots of memories! I remember my first time on one of these with my dad. I was so scared for no reason," Alma giggled.

"You were just a kid," Maria shrugged.

Next, they watched a clown show where the clowns told funny jokes and played with one another, sometimes hitting each other and making strange, funny noises.

In one scene, a clown threw an ingot at another's head. Their body flattened like a pancake, moving with big shoes, making the audience burst into laughter.

"These clowns are amazing. They're like made of gum or something," Alma said.

"Yeah, they're a bit weird," Maria said. "I think they're some kind of golem or maybe spirits? Whatever the God of this World is, it must love shows."

"I wonder who it is..." Alma said.

As they moved from attraction to attraction, the sky darkened, and night approached.

Most Players had left. Nobody stayed until night. The clowns, when they found no one to entertain with their plays, walked silently into the tents.

"There don't seem to be any hotels on this floor," Ferleen said.

"Yeah, no place to stay," Lucifer nodded. "Maybe we should go to the next floor and see what they have."

"This place is nice and colorful, but it's also kinda weird... I don't want to stay if possible!" Partner said.

"A lot of Players are leaving in droves. I think we should follow them," Emeraldine said. "Wait, where's Maria?!"

"I saw her go that way. She was looking for the children. They walked away while we were having a snack," Jonathan sighed. "They're really strong, so there's little to worry about, but we should find them and leave."