[TO CATCH a big fish, one must prepare some irresistible bait.]
“Ah,” Zirkus said, lifting the box that he found buried under Zirkus Huxford’s pile of new clothes that he hadn’t opened yet. “`Found you.”
He put the box on the table, then opened the lid.
There, inside the box, were at least thirty wooden cubes in different sizes. The biggest one was for an A4 picture, while the smallest one was for a wallet-size picture.
“I can’t believe these wooden cubes have the same function as a camera,” he muttered in amazement. “Magic is really amazing.”
Hence, he couldn’t stay in a kingdom that valued Aura over Mana.
[Aura can only be wielded by Swordmasters anyway.]
“I need to leave the academy soon,” he whispered to himself. “But I need to take the talented students with me.”
And to do that, he must catch Enzo Fenton first.
<“Hey, Shittyhead. Your food is getting burned already.”>
“Nah, it’s fine. I haven’t even put the instant ramen noodles yet,” Zirkus said, then he picked up the medium-sized wooden cube. “My budae jjigae is fine.”
His dinner for today was budae jjigae aka army stew.
It was an easy meal to prepare since he just had to put the ingredients together. To be precise, it was a hotpot dish loaded with kimchi, SP*M, sausages, mushrooms, instant ramen noodles, and cheese.
After getting the wooden cube that he needed, he went back to the living room where his dinner was waiting for him.
He put a small table in the living room, and placed the butane stove there.
The shallow pot was already loaded with the other ingredients.
Zirkus put the instant ramen noodles, rice cakes, green onions, and cheese on the top. Then he reduced the heat to low. “And now we wait until the noodles get cooked.”
He sat in on the floor and picked up the wooden cub again.
Thanks to the memories of the original Zirkus Huxford, he knew how to use the item.
He pressed the small blue gem in the middle of one of the cube’s sides.
Even though he already knew what was going to happen, he was still a bit surprised when the wooden cube suddenly turned into a wooden frame the size of a standard postcard. The wood was also very thin. It was just as thick as a cardboard.
Moreover, there was also a glass inside that served as the frame of the “camera.”
[This is really cool.]
He put the wooden frame above the shallow pot, the loaded army stew captured inside the glass. When he was contented with the shot, he pressed the small red gem at the corner of the wooden frame.
WOW.
Just like that, the image of the delicious and loaded army stew was captured inside the casing. Now it became a picture frame!
<“Why did you take a picture of your food? You’re so weird, Shittyhead.”>
“Just wait and watch, Blob,” Zirkus said, smirking. “I’m sure Enzo will take my bait.”
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***
[SHE’S NOT here?]
Zirkus looked for Yelena Dover in the Elective Class that they took together, but he didn’t find the Mermaid Princess.
[Did she already drop out?]
It was a shame that Yelena Dover wasn’t there, but at least, Enzo was there.
As usual, the future Disaster was sitting alone– far from their other classmates.
[Thank goodness Rivo Creswell and Nixie Winslet aren’t taking this class.]
“Where’s the manuscript?”
Aigoo.
That was what Enzo said as soon as Zirkus sat next to him.
[He didn’t even look at me.]
“I told you I’ll give you the next five chapters if you bring me to Klaus Irvin’s Treasure Hunting Game.”
“And I believe I already said I already have a schedule on that day.”
“You should be flexible, Enzo,” he complained lightly. “If your appointment with Rivo and Nixie isn’t that important, then why don’t you just cancel it?”
“I have never canceled an appointment with them yet– and it’s rude.”
“I know it’s rude to cancel a plan, but it’s okay if you have a valid reason,” he said encouragingly. “And it’s not like you’re bailing out at the last minute.”
Enzo turned to him with a bored look on his face. “Why do you want to go there? As far as I know, you’re rich as hell. So, I’m sure it’s not because of the free Holy Artifacts or Mana Gems that you might get during the hunt.”
[It’s not the main reason, but what’s wrong with getting free stuff?]
“I want to be friends with Klaus Irvin.”
[More like save him, but in order to do that, I need to be close to the dragon first.]
“Why do you want to be friends with Klaus Irvin?” Enzo asked curiously. “How would that benefit you and House Huxford?”
“I just want to be friends with him because he looks like an interesting person.”
“Don’t you have pride?”
“What?”
“Klaus insults you every chance he gets,” Enzo reminded him coldly. “Why would you want to be friends with a person who doesn’t respect you?”
‘Pride,’ huh?
As Park Suho, he used to be so prideful when he was young.
He was an orphan, so aside from his name, he thought the only thing he had was his pride. Hence, he did his best to protect it.
But later, he realized that his pride couldn’t feed him.
[Plus, who says I don’t have any plan to get back at Klaus Irvin later?]
“Enzo.”
“What?”
Zirkus pulled out the wooden picture frame from his bag and handed it to Enzo. “If you bring me to Klaus Irvin’s Treasure Hunting Game, I’ll cook you the upgraded version of your favorite instant ramen.”
Yep, that was his only reason for taking a picture of his army stew last night.
Enzo only stare at the picture before he responded. “Meet me at the Penthouse’s entrance later.”
Zirkus smiled triumphantly. “Okay.”
***
[I TOTALLY forgot that Enzo also lives in the Penthouse since he’s in the Top Ten.]
Zirkus originally met Enzo at the entrance.
Much to his surprise, he was allowed in the lobby as Enzo’s guest.
[It’s like the lobby of a five-star hotel.]
“Enzo, hurry up and tell me why you asked to meet here,” Klaus Irvin said impatiently while covering his eyes with his hands. “You know that I can’t stand unsightly things, right?”
Zirkus just maintained his business smile.
[I’ll save your life, Klaus Irvin. But I’ll definitely get back at you later. I promise that~]
“I already canceled my appointment with Rivo and Nixie,” Enzo announced indifferently. “I have time to join your Treasure Hunting Game, Klaus.”
Klaus Irvin gasped, then he removed his hands from his eyes. Of course, the dragon only looked at Enzo. “Really? You’ll join the game this time?”
“On one condition, though.”
“What is it?”
Enzo pointed a finger at Zirkus. “I’ll only join if Zirkus Huxford will attend, too.”
“Huh?” Klaus Irvin asked, shocked. Then he turned to Zirkus with a look of disbelief on his handsome face. “You?”
“Yes,” Zirkus said, smiling brightly at the shocked dragon. “Me, Zirkus Huxford.”
***
[OUCH.]
Zirkus knew that Rivo Creswell and Nixie Winslet were scary, but the two looked scarier now after they literally cornered him.
[These kids are angry.]
The hero and the heroine grabbed him when he was about to return to his room, and then they dragged him to the fire exit. And the next thing he knew, his back already touched the cold wall while Rivo Creswell and Nixie Winslet stood in front of him intimidatingly.
“Enzo bailed out of our scheduled trip,” Nixie Winslet said. “This is the first time that he did something like that.”
“What did you do to Enzo?” Rivo Creswell confronted Zirkus. “He said he’s going to join Klaus’ Treasure Hunting Game. But he’s not interested in that thing. So, how did you force Enzo to come and join you?”
Hmm.
Zirkus could see why Rivo Creswell and Nixie Winslet would be upset.
[I feel bad that I ruined their group trip, but I need to know what might have pushed Enzo to kill Klaus Irvin in the original novel to prevent that from happening this time. Hence, I have to be at the treasure hunt with Enzo and Klaus Irvin.]
“What made you think that I FORCED Enzo to come with me?”
Well, he did bait the villain.
But he didn’t force Enzo. Moreover…
“Enzo isn’t the type of person that you can boss around,” Zirkus said in a serious tone that made him sound like the adult that he was. “Moreover, Enzo is already an adult who’s capable of making his own decisions– so why are you acting this way?”
It was time to put the hero and the heroine in their place.