The Power Enthusiast

MINERVO 27: The Hoop

Nico looked up at the blue sky, the vast meadows, the tall buildings, and the noisy streets, from the bus window. Nico realized that at this moment, he was no longer in the Vineas City region, because in this place, there was not the slightest snow falling. Here it is very bright and warm, unlike in Vineas, which is dark and cold. The air here is really warm, the sounds of birds whistling in the trees also make the atmosphere of Swart City more calming. But, unfortunately, the city is too much of a population, because when Nico got off the bus, his eyes could see a lot of people jostling on the sidewalk, even though it was already afternoon.

"Welcome to Swart, Bro!" Jeddy embraced Nico's neck intimately, the man's breath roaring in his ears. "You don't know my name yet, do you? I'm Jeddy! And you're Nico! Hehe! Don't be so stiff, I'm not as creepy as Paul! So you don't have to worry, Bro!"

"Let go" said Nico with a very cold intonation, and he looked Jeddy in the face with a piercing look. "I told you to get your filthy hands off my neck, you son of a bitch."

Jeddy was surprised, and he hurriedly released the embrace of his right arm on Nico's neck. "It turns out you still don't think of me as a friend, do you, Bro!?" Jeddy was disappointed. "When I thought we were going to be an interesting duo! Ahaha!"

"Whisper! You idiot!" Paul makes a sound while glaring at Jeddy, with a creepy tone. "Rather than standing here! Better get your fucking legs up for a walk! Bastard!"

They finally obeyed Paul's orders, set foot to leave their landing stop in Swart City, heading to Paul's residence. Halfway through the journey, the five of them had a warm conversation, discussing all trivial matters, until finally, while they were laughing, Nico suddenly asked in a somewhat quiet voice, which was a bit too quiet,

"I'm still curious. Who is this guy named Roswel? Where does he live? And why would he be able to do something that goes against the laws of nature? Have you never thought about it? Or do you know the answer?"

As a result, the question made Paul, Jeddy, Colin, and Cherry speechless, they began to reflect on it. Because all this time, Paul and his friends never recognized the figure of Roswel completely, they only knew that the pale man was a magician who happened to always help them when the situation was precarious. Until Nico asks so, they finally are both curious about who the real figure of Roswel.

"You're right" Colin said calmly. "But, rather than being curious about who he is and where he lives, I'm more curious about the power of his magic. Just now, he could bring up black smoke that made his entire body disappear, wasn't it very strange?"

"Cherry was also curious, anyway!" Cherry is joining us. "But Cherry doesn't care much about it! Because Cherry admires Roswel's doll-like appearance more than she's curious about who he is! You remember too, right!? Roswel's face is like a doll! And Cherry would love to have a face like a doll! Hihihi!"

"Doll, huh?" Nico speechless. "But, I don't think he's like a doll, he's more like an undead figure, because his pale skin makes his body look like a corpse, am I right?"

Hearing Nico's words, Jeddy laughed at her. "Haha! You are just there! If Roswel is a corpse, that means he's dead, right!? Ahaha! And the truth is he's alive, bro!"

"I said, right?" Nico hissed at Jeddy in annoyance. "He resembles a corpse. There, you heard the word 'live', didn't you? Are your ears not working? Totally rubbish."

Jeddy was stunned to hear that. "Oh! Also true! You said it! Ahaha! Sorry-sorry Bro! I didn't realize it!"

Exasperated to hear the heroes of his guidance noisy beside him, as a result, Paul also voiced with an extraordinary clash. "You people! The bastards! Listen to this!" They looked at Paul with enthusiasm. "When you're noisily discussing who Roswel is! I'm so sure! That person must be watching you from his place laughing, seeing himself being debated by you! And it disgusts me to imagine it! So, stop discussing things about that person! He can see, feel, smell, and hear anything you say!"

"Even he peeked at me taking a shower! Ahaha! What Paul said is true, Bro!" said Jeddy by elbowing Nico's arm. "Be careful when discussing that person, he can tell our movements! Ahaha!"

"Alright," replied Nico by fixing his glasses that began to fall. "If so, let's talk about something else. For example, how about we discuss why Jeddy, who we know likes to laugh, was often crying in the bathroom and in his sleep. I'm curious about that."

Suddenly, Jeddy's crisp laughter came to a halt, replaced by the restless expression of the green-haired man, making pairs of eyes look at him. Paul was also curious about it, because he himself had seen Jeddy shed tears when the man slept. Paul wanted to know what caused Jeddy to be like that, even though the person was most fond of laughing when compared to others.

"ah! Also true! Cherry was more curious about it!" Cherry jumped up and down with sparkling eyes looking at Jeddy. "Jeddy, let's answer Nico's question! I wonder why someone like you who likes to laugh so much can cry!? Hihihi!"

Jeddy bowed his head, making his green strands hang on his head. "That's not something you should know, hehe!" said Jeddy in a very low tone. "So please, don't make me look pathetic, because I hate when-HAHAHA! What the fuck!? Why do you look so serious when you see me bow my head!? Bro!?" Suddenly, Jeddy raises his head and exclaims, leaving Paul, Colin, Cherry, and Nico shocked to see him, but they are still quiet, to hear what the green hair is saying, unfortunately, the man was not serious.

"Suck!" Paul clings to Jeddy's head. "You made my precious time wasted by hearing your sad support talk! I thought you were serious! Bastard!"

"Huhahah!" Jeddy. "Already! Don't think too much! Anyway, I'm not as worried about that, Bro! Y'all see!? I can still laugh cheerfully like always, right?! So don't worry, okay! Bro!"

Colin clenched his hands and shouted at Jeddy, "We will always be worried! You idiot!" colin said with a breath. "When you hear your friend crying silently somewhere, anyone will be worried! What's more, crying is a figure who always laughs cheerfully like you! It definitely made our worries grow!"

Jeddy heard it. "Oi-Oi-Oi, Bro! Don't yell that way, people are looking at us." Some of the people walking near them were shocked when Colin shouted at Jeddy.

"Foolish with people!" reply Colin with very strong intonation emphasis. Then, Colin's two eyes squinted towards Jeddy sharply. "Anyways, you should tell us!"

"Colin," said Paul with a cold look at Colin. "Don't force Jeddy to tell her the problem, it will only make her more depressed. Rather than you do that, you better comfort her so she doesn't feel sad anymore."

Colin nodded obediently hearing that, while Jeddy sumringah. "Woahaha! Thank you, Bro!" Jeddy patted Paul on the back so happy. "Thank you for understanding! Bro!" Jeddy's views turned to Colin, Cherry, and Nico. "Thank you to you too! Because I was worried about me! That means you really care about me! Hehe!"

Cherry pouted, Nico snorted, and Colin exhaled. The three of them seemed disappointed that they could not hear Jeddy's cursing, making the green man laugh at their expressions instead.

"In addition, I was also curious," Nico continued with a faint smile at Paul. "Why do you want to be a mentor? Doesn't that sound too much trouble? Moreover, people like you usually hate troublesome things, right? So tell me, why are you interested in becoming a mentor?"

"Of course, thanks for the answer!" nico replied with a grievous grudge, because his question was instead answered with a very short and unpleasant answer. Then, Nico's eyeball shifted towards Cherry. "What about you?" nico said with a faint smile at Cherry. "I think you suddenly cried when I explained my family's condition, what's wrong with you? Do you have the same past as me? I mean, are you an outcast too? If so, can you tell me more clearly? Maybe I can help, 'cause we got the same problem."

"Damahihi!" Cherry giggled at it, then she looked Nico in the face with widened eyes. "Rather than telling the bad past, we better discuss the beautiful future as a hero alongside Jeddy and Colin, with the guidance of our mentor too, Paul! Hihihi!"

Again Nico grieves, he gets an unsatisfactory answer from Cherry, but he wants to look deeper into the girl's past. But what can be done, it looks like Cherry is not a stupid girl. As a result, Nico fell silent, not asking anything more, making Colin feel unappreciated.

"Hey! Niko!" colin said with annoyance. "Why am I the only one you don't ask!? And Roswel, Jeddy, Paul, and Cherry you asked! Then why am I the only one who doesn't!?"

Nico turned to Colin, then he replied with a friendly smile. "That's impossible" Nico replied in a soft voice. "Because I ask the people I consider trash, while you are the ones I consider human, so I can't possibly question you. If you want to know, the reason I asked them, is because I want to know the life of disgusting garbage like them. Hehe!" Even Nico shows his laughter to Colin, making Paul, Jeddy, and Cherry feel unfairly treated.

"Be-so, huh?" Colin nodded his head. "But! Even so! At least you'll give me one question! So that I don't feel neglected! Comeon! Please!?"

Nico started thinking about what he should ask Colin, and he finally got it. "How about this" said Nico, preparing to ask Colin a question. "Why are you so cool compared to your trashy friends? Your name is, Colin, right? So answer me, Hehe! But take it easy, you don't have to rush when you answer it, because for someone as great as you, I'm willing to wait for hours! Hehe!"

Hearing the words of Nico who seemed to flatter Colin, made Paul feel annoyed. "Don't be too gentle on Colin! Goddamn bum! Treat him the same way you treat us!"

Nico's eyeballs shifted coldly on Paul's face. "What did you say?" ask Nico with a slanted smile. "I can't be gentle with Colin? I should treat him the same way I treat you? Low-level, "Nico puts a disgusted face on Paul. "Who do you think you are here? Huh huh? After all, Colin is indeed different from you, he looks more radiant when compared to you."

As Paul was about to reply to Nico's scathing words, Jeddy immediately smothered his mouth and said, "It's Bro! Don't reply! Didn't you make up with her!? Comeon! Don't take heart! Bro! His nature is like that! Bro!" When Paul's emotions had improved, Jeddy released the defender.

"Whatever." said Paul, throwing his face at them all. "I don't care, I, as your mentor, have a responsibility to educate and guide you into true heroes! That's all!"

Cherry giggled at him, "Hihihi! Our mentors are great! Cherry likesaaaaa! Hihihi!"

"Emmm... May I answer Nico's question?" Colin voiced awkwardly, as the atmosphere was still hot. Hearing Colin's voice, Nico immediately replied in a friendly manner.

"Please, I'll gladly hear it."

"Thank you" Colin said nervously. "So you asked me why I look so cool compared to my friends, huh? Hmm. I'm sorry, but I feel even more, I suck when compared to them. Maybe, if you knew how bad I was, you'd be disgusted by me, too."

"Daddy?" repeat Nico by furrowing his brows. "I don't see the slightest bit of fatigue in you. In fact, even when you're scared, you look really cool. And I honestly say it, Colin."

Colin was moved to hear it, he was like he was in a beautiful dream, because only this time there were people who thought of him as a cool figure, even when he was scared. It really makes Colin happy. "Thank you very much! Niko!"

Nico nodded his head with a warm smile. "Either. I will always respect you, because you are the one who has defeated me in words. I admire you. Hehe!"

Watching that, Paul gave a creep of disgust, Jeddy laughed while holding his stomach, and Cherry smiled sweetly.

And subconsciously, as they were about to reach the front gate of Paul's house. They were surprised, because in front of Paul's house there were a lot of journalists who crowded around. It made Colin shudder and immediately said, "Run! Run on! Those are the people who asked for an explanation from the viral video the other day when I was with Paul in a hail of rocks!"

"Hm? Rainy rocks? What does that mean?" Nico shrugged his shoulders, not understanding.

"Where are you going to run!? You idiot! If it's like this! There was no other way but to face it!" paul's snapping at Colin made the blue-haired man speechless. "We must drive them out of my house!"

"But! Paul's! They're gonna broadcast it to television! We can-" Colin's hand was instantly dragged by Paul, towards the crowd of reporters gathered in front of the gate. Cherry, Nico, and Jeddy follow them from behind.

When Paul and Colin showed up, all the reporters were excited.

"They're coming!"

"Finally!"

"Light the camera! Hurry along!"