The Power Enthusiast

MINERVO 44: Beleaguered

"WHERE IS THE TOILET! BRO!"

After sliding into Paul's house, Jeddy immediately shouted loudly when he saw Nico was lying relaxed on the sofa while playing his cellphone. Hearing Jeddy's voice, Nico turned his gaze from the phone screen to the figure of a green-haired man standing with a paled face, two hands holding his butt and sweating coldly. Nico raised his eyebrows and said, "Who do you think this is? Don't go in and yell at someone else's house, you idiot."

"COME ON BRO!" Jeddy seemed restless, he could not hold back any longer a rebellious desire wanted to come out, if kept on being held back by him, his butt would explode.

"Are you stupid or stupid? Why even ask the location of the toilet in this house while all this time you've been staying here for days? And of course, you already know where it is without me telling you. So," said Nico with a piercing look. "Find it yourself, you idiot."

"MY MEMORY ALWAYS BREAKS WHEN I'M PANICKING LIKE THIS, BRO! C'MON PLEASE!"

"And you can easily remember Paul's house in the great and vastness of Swart City, isn't that ridiculous?" timpal Nico with a pretty sadistic reply. But, out of pity, Nico finally shows Paul the toilet with his index finger on Jeddy, even though he is forced to do so. Jeddy was very, very, very grateful to Nico, he immediately darted into the toilet shown by his friend. And finally, Jeddy's life is saved.

When the atmosphere calmed down again, Nico began to play his phone back, but his brain instead thought to something strange, such as; if Jeddy could be in this house, that means, Paul and Koko have returned to Swart, then, if the three of them go home together, why is the existence of the remaining two creatures still invisible? Oh, maybe that will come not only Paul and Koko, because they must bring a foreign figure who is a new hero. Nico became a little curious about the figure, about what would the look and appearance of someone who would become the new hero figure of Sablo City? Nico was really curious about it.

In addition, Nico is also curious about some other things, for example; Nico wondered why Paul and his idiot students could go home so soon? Paul used to be home late, right? While it's still three in the afternoon, it's too soon. And also, did Paul remember Nico's request this morning, which was about the typical food from the city of Sablo, because Nico was eager to taste it.

Then lastly, Nico was curious about the whereabouts of his father Paul, because all this time, he had never seen the figure of a grown man in this house, he said, and the delinquent told him nothing about his father. Does Paul's father have a hard job that allows him to go home only once a year? Or maybe Paul was the son of a divided family? The more Nico thought about it, the more he fell into strange predictions about the whereabouts of his father Paul. Quickly Nico removed his thoughts from his head, rather than continue to analyze things that are not his business, he better ask Paul later.

Suddenly, Nico was surprised, because he had just thought about Paul, the person in question suddenly appeared before him with a fiery look. "Suck!" Paul snarls at Nico. "So while I was away, you were lounging in my house, huh!?" Paul immediately grabbed and pulled Nico's collar until the body of the teary-eyed man lifted from the sofa. "If you're that happy, help my mom clean the house! Watering plants! Cook something! Buying vegetables! Or that kind of thing! Than you're lazing around here!" After saying that, Paul immediately released his grip on Nico's collar, making the white-haired man fall back on the surface of the sofa.

"It's ridiculous" Nico said by fixing his glasses that were slightly lowered. "I don't want to hear those words from trash like you. After all, you're not even good at taking care of your own life, so why should I listen to stupid advice from a dirty delinquent like you?" Nico smiled skewedly at Paul, showing his super-spicy words in self-defense. However, Nico's smile disappears as he looks at the figure of the hooded woman who just entered the living room with Koko. "Is the girl his new hero?"

Hearing the question, Paul immediately replied in an oppressive voice, "Death! I'm not answering any questions from a jerk like you!" Then, Paul landed his ass in the guest chair, taking a break after walking away from the stop. Seeing her mentor relax, Koko invites Naomi to sit on an empty chair. Then Paul said again pointing at Nico who was lying on the sofa, "This guy is Nico, he has a shitty character. You can hit him if he's being bad to you, Naomi." said Paul in a calm voice, trying to introduce Nico to Naomi.

Naomi tries to smile even though she does not want to smile at the moment. From behind his glasses, Nico glanced at Naomi, then he quickly got up from the sofa and sat down in a polite position. Nico immediately showed a cold expression to Naomi. "Surely you've been feeling depressed all this time having to meet a guy as reliable as Paul, but you don't have to worry" Nico smiled obliquely. "I've prepared a tutorial on how to kill Paul neatly and safely. We're gonna do it tonight," Nico's point of view is directed at Koko, "You should help me too, Koko." Hearing her name called, Koko looked panicked, confused as to what to respond.

"Me-Kill Paul!?" Naomi was surprised to hear that. "That's not my forte, sorry."

"Of course I'm just kidding, stupid." - timpal Nico with a haughty face. However, a second later, the arrogance of Nico's face suddenly vanished when he saw a large black plastic that Koko placed on the guest table. "What's it!" Nico immediately asked Koko with eyes that shone like children who were excited to get a special gift from his parents.

"The idea is only. typical food from Sablo City. Didn't you ask us, Nico?" koko replied in a soft voice and astonished face. Hearing Koko's reply, Nico snatched the black plastic away to bring it closer to her face. Then, slowly Nico opened the plastic and smelled a delicious aroma coming out, making the man's eye-glazed nose tempted by the aroma. In a hurry Nico took the food stored in the plastic to put on the table. And it turns out that the shape of the food purchased by Koko is round and flat, not only that, it looks like a parcel but comes from wheat dough and cinnamon flavor. Intrigued by the taste, Nico took one, and directly devoured it. Suddenly Nico's face looked shocked, his eyes bulged and his mouth stopped chewing, his expression so like a man drunk with love.

"I hate to say it, but seriously, it's delicious" Nico asked Koko. "Tell me, what's the name of this food?"

"His name is Katayef" Not Koko who answered, but Naomi. Because Naomi knew very well the name of all the food in Sablo. "It was the food we used to eat during the day, it was delicious, but I got tired of it myself."

"So his name is Katayef, huh?" Nico was really happy to hear that. "Thank you, I'll remember that name all my life." Nico returned to eating the food with a radiant face. Realizing that everyone was staring at him, Nico quickly put on a cold face again. "Why are you all looking at me? If you want, just take it. Don't act like an idiot who just looks at people eating, you idiot."

Hearing Nico's words, Naomi just shook her head, refusing because she had eaten katayef too often, Koko just smiled thinly while saying, no thank you. While Paul pretended not to hear, he closed his eyes, wanting to rest his tired body, and his stomach was not hungry. Then, Nico's attention began to focus on the bandage wrapped in Naomi's forehead.

"Is your forehead hurt? Why did it get bandaged like that?"

"Explain the real events, Naomi!" Paul suddenly cuts Naomi's words out loud, leaving the hooded girl in shock. "You don't have to cover it up, because Nico's position is the same as yours, he's not someone else."

At first Naomi hesitated, because she felt that explaining the actual incident would sound very absurd and like a mere delusion. But because Paul says so, Naomi begins to reveal the true events to Nico, explaining from the beginning of the encounter with Paul, all the way to the part attacked by a horde of white robes. Nico was stunned after hearing everything Naomi explained, so he did not realize that the katayef that was going to be put in his mouth, fell down.

"White Cloak? Whatisit? Are they from a banned organization? And they could take out large stones from his palm? Are you kidding me? That's so weird" Nico looked Paul in the face. "Explain, why have I never met such people while traveling with you, whereas Naomi, Jeddy, and Koko have already come face to face with such dangerous people? Isn't that unfair? And actually, what's the point of them going after Naomi?"

"They are the Killer Spirits" Paul casually replied, his eyes still tightly shut. "This is also the first time I've come face to face with the Spirit Assassins, and it looks like they're also the mastermind behind the 'rock rain' that happened in Colin's workplace tavern. And what's the point of them going after Naomi? Of course because they wanted to eliminate the firefly spirit that was inside his body! And kill Naomi's life! Then, listen to this! They're not just after Naomi, they're after you! Even Jeddy was targeted by them! So from now on, you guys need to be careful."

Naomi, Koko, and Nico ponder over it, each of them looking worried about different things; Naomi is agitated because she fears that her condition could make her family or the residents of Sablo City the target of the white robes. Koko blames herself for being too weak, because if she is targeted first by the white robes, maybe it will make Paul and the others hassles. While Nico is worried about Colin's condition at work in the tavern, he is worried that the white robes will surround Colin when he comes home from the tavern.

Because of these things, Koko, Naomi, and Nico paled simultaneously, then in unison, they called out to Paul.

"I cannot keep you in trouble to protect a weak person like me, therefore! Please.guide me to be a strong man, Paul!" koko said by standing up from her chair, making her long purple hair sway on her back.

"Paul, what should I do if the White Robes are after my family in Sablo!?" Naomi seemed to be fretting as she said it.

"Wait a minute, then what if Colin is attacked again by those people? Moreover, he is not with us! He was alone and he could be killed by them! The only efficient way for him to survive is, we have to get Colin here!" nico said in a hurry.

Hearing the calls from the three of them, Paul's eyelids opened, and he immediately stared one by one the restless faces of Naomi, Koko, and Nico. Then Paul whispered to them, "I don't understand why you're so excited, but, if you need an answer," Paul immediately pointed at Jeddy who had just appeared before them. "Ask this guy. I'm sleepy."

"Eh? Just ask me? What's wrong, Bro!?" Jeddy seems clueless at Paul's point, causing Naomi, Koko, and Nico's attention to him. Because Jeddy does not like to worry about complicated things, he finally draws his own conclusions. "Hmmm. Don't you want to ask how handsome I am, huh? Huhahah! All right, I'll explain it in detail from the tip of my hair to the tip of my foot! And I will also give you the secret to being a handsome man like me! So hear the story of good looks from a man named Jeddy! Ahhaha!"

When Jeddy was blown away, Paul immediately got up from his chair and walked away leaving them all to enter his room. In his bed, Paul immediately slept soundly, even though it was still five in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, at Olivia's house, Cherry seemed to be lying weakly on a bed covered in thick sheets, her face pale and her skin hot, she was feverish. Olivia was sitting next to Cherry, she squeezed a compress cloth to put on the little girl's forehead.

"May you heal quickly, yes, Cherry, I miss your noise. Paul and the others will miss you, because of you, you spend a lot of time with them. Therefore," Olivia placed the compressive cloth on Cherry's forehead carefully. "You need to heal."

"T-Quiet it. C-Cherry is not a weak girl. D-Demam won't make Cherry so weak. C-Cherry will try to recover quickly so that Cherry can meet again with Paul, Nico, Colin, Jeddy, and Koko," Cherry smiled her thin smile. "So well, Cherry misses them too."

Olivia rubbed Cherry's hair and said, "If you want to get well soon and meet them again, then you have to eat a lot, Cherry."

"No mauuuu. The food feels pahitttt! Cherry doesn't like aaaaa!"

Cherry shook her head with bulging lips, a sign when she was rejecting something with a spoiled attitude.

"You should eat anyway."

Then, the next day, Paul suddenly woke up with a shocking condition, his mouth was gagged by a cloth, his body was tied with nylon rope and there were several human figures standing upright, surrounding his bed.