Once Alicia and the knights heard the place would get blown, they were in panic but calmed down themselves. In this time, there was no use to be anxious. Once their minds fell into panic state, they wouldn't think
straight. Alicia kept reminding herself that it wasn't her time to die, but deep inside her heart, the girl feared her life would be short. Meanwhile, her knights couldn't help but wanted to reach their emergency communication on their pockets.
If someday, the knights faced with terrible enemy, they could use this as a means to call the family over here in the fastest time. Still, there was a premise they could do it only if the members of the family were truly in danger. Baston didn't know this and only played along with everyone here.
"Alright, I will start first…" the clown began, looking at Baston, "Who are you?"
"Just an average student at Prius Academy," Baston simply answered, "What people call you?"
The clown smiled, "Pretty good answer… Pretty good question… People call me Joker…"
Alicia wondered why Baston didn't ask for his true name, but considering the man in clown face never took this seriously, he probably would make an excuse of it. Besides, it looked like both of them were just only wasting time here. She hoped he could do it to prolong the time so her rescuer would get here as soon as possible.
"My turn…" the clown called Joker said, "What is your relationship with that girl?"
Baston glanced at Alicia then replied him, "She's just a passerby…"
The answer made Alicia frowned, but she soon controlled herself to not comment on that. Joker also didn't say anything and let Baston asked the next question. The fat boy seemed to ponder what would be the next
one.
"Are you involved in the explosion happened at Prius Academy?"
"I'm just a passerby here, so I don't know about it. I even don't know there was an explosion happening before…"
Their little drama of question and answer made everyone thought bizarrely. Alicia had a hunch the clown in front of him was involved, yet she had no evidence on this. Still, what made her interesting was that the man called Joker seemed to answer just the way Baston answered his earlier question. The clown truly had different thinking of this small game.
"For the third one…" the clown pondered before smirking, "Are you gay?"
Baston frowned, staring at the clown deeply, "No!"
The two knights tried hard not to laugh because of the weird question. Alicia also closed her mouth so she could hide her expression. Baston purposely set such a weird question, so as to make this clown became more lunatic in front of their eyes. His action and his words were unpredictable,
making people to feel that such a crazy person would be hard to deal with it.
"Are you crazy?" Baston said his next question.
"Yes…" the clown stated his truth, standing up from the chair, "I'm indeed a crazy one…"
The man suddenly laughed crazily with his head looked at the sky, even though they were still in underground room. He then stepped up to Baston while the fat man started to back down. Alicia and the knights also didn't dare to confront him directly, so they followed Baston's move. Just a couple of steps from the clown, he then stopped and looked at everyone.
"Look at the time. It has been so long after we met before…" the clown looked at his hand, even though there was no watch on it, "I have another business to do, so you just play with yourself then…"
"Wait!"
Baston wanted to end this drama soon. It was because he couldn't possibly just prolong it until the time limit reached. Besides, he had successfully shaped the character of this clown, so people would focus on this man and not him. He didn't need to explain that he chased the pickpocket only because he didn't want to lose his dinner. The clown suddenly disappeared out of thin air and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, there was a grumbling sound coming nearby.
"Finally, our reinforcement comes…" Alicia looked ahead while smiling.
"What? Reinforcement?" Baston was confused.
Before he could ask further, the place was blasted from above by magnificent power. It was unlike what he had seen before. Baston
thought the whole place would crumble down, yet the rubble was magically floating around. He found a middle-aged man looked from above majestically. Just from the magic fluctuation he emitted, Baston was sure this man was way ahead of him very much.
With the great robe on his body, the man then floated down until he was in front of Alicia. The noble girl who saw the person was beaming with smile. She gave a hug over which the man also hugged her happily.
"Uncle, you finally come!"
"Yes, Alicia. As soon as I sense the distress call, I go here as fast as possible…" the man laughed heartily, "Are you alright? Is there
anybody hurt?"
"I'm alright…"
The two knights bowed down before apologizing, "Our apologies, my lord. We have failed to protect Lady Alicia…"
"Yes, we don't have any good ability so we can only send the signal back to the family…"
Baston heard from the side and he found one of them had a magic instrument to call reinforcement once the family was in danger. Because they couldn't handle it, the distress signal was sent and finally, the middle-aged man came as quick as possible. Even though the enemy got away, but it was already good that the rescuer rushed here.
Everyone was chatting, but Baston had a cold sweat in him. If he just waited for any minute, his puppet would be destroyed again soon. He thought he already played a good drama, yet the fat boy never expected such a
variable happened outside his reach. When he was inside the academy, his scope was limited and all the students also had the same condition as him. They couldn't just go anywhere since the academy disciplined the students to always stay inside. Only in these days that the students could go outside since the cafeteria was closed temporary.
Alicia's uncle noticed Baston who was silent and thought he was one of Alicia's friends. Nevertheless, he was here to ensure his niece's safety at first, so he ignored the fat boy. Looking at the surrounding, he found nothing suspicious anymore. Because he still worried about it, he suggested to accompany her back.
"Baston, do you want to come back with us?" Alicia asked.
"Well…" Baston hesitated, but he finally nodded, "Alright then…"
Alicia's uncle looked at the girl and the fat boy. It made a weird combination in his mind, so he was sure Alicia wouldn't have romantic
relationship with this boy. Even though so, he asked to make sure what kind of
relationship she had. He was curious because the girl seemed respected him much than other boys.
"Alicia, what kind of relationship you have with that boy?" the man pointed to Baston, "Based on your tone before, it seems it's not any common one."
"It's quite complicated…"
"So, you don't want to tell me about it?"
"Well…" Alicia whispered, "It's not I don't want, Uncle Angus. But I don't want anyone hear about it."
"That's easy then…"
The man named Angus then casted a spell of soundproof around him and Alicia. It made they couldn't hear the outside but it also meant their conversation wouldn't be eavesdropped. Alicia looked at Baston before she told some parts about him. Of course, she didn't go into detail one. She explained to her uncle that she just met him accidentally at evening. That time, Baston
practiced his ice magic alone and she just saw it when she took a walk.
At that time, she was confused about what was the reason he hid his strength. He only said that he needed to in order to catch the criminal organization. Even though he didn't give a name, but Alicia believed he had a
reason to do it. Angus who heard it also believed that Baston had his own plan.
The story seemed believable, but Alicia fabricated another story on purpose. She didn't inform anything about what she knew about the cult. The best she could say was the thing came from a certain criminal
organization. After that, she told her uncle about what happened recently. The matter of explosion made Angus shocked because he thought someone targeted Alicia. The girl on other hand assured him that it was just a coincidence that she was in the wrong place and the wrong time.
It didn't stop at there. Alicia then explained because Baston blocked the explosion, she got the merit, making her became a little
famous. As for why she was the one who took it, the fat boy told her that he still had to hide. Her uncle was getting more surprised by the story. He was busy in his job, so he didn't have time to check any news. Looking at Baston behind him, he was also curious about what his true background.
"Uncle Agnus, the thing is this Baston comes from the poor side."
"The poor side?" Agnus then showed an ugly smile, shaking his head, "Are you sure about it? It's very rare that someone could utilize the magic efficiently. From your story before, this boy is likely stronger and I find it's hard to believe it."
Alicia was also still curious, but she didn't have many resources and connections to investigate Baston. If her uncle wanted to help, it would be easier but she was afraid she would offend Baston in the process. The fat boy had mystery on him and there was a chance he knew what she was doing behind him. Since she appointed herself as the informant, she felt she had many
opportunities to get know him more. Still, the opportunity would be fleeting away if she did a wrong thing.
Angus and the others finally came to the front gate of the Prius Academy. It was an average one, unlike her siblings who attended to more prestigious academy. He also felt as the family who had high nobility title, Alicia should choose the best one. The middle-aged man confirmed his identity
to the gatekeeper in order to have permission to enter the academy. Although no one would dare to block his way, he still knew what manner he should keep.
The gatekeeper was yawning, but as soon as he saw the identity of Angus, he didn't dare to be careless. He called the offices to inform who was coming before he welcomed Angus respectfully. Angus himself didn't want to make a commotion, so he made a request not to spread it out. The gatekeeper complied with it and once again, he confirmed it to the offices again.
"I will go first…" Baston told Alicia, "I still have a business to do…"
"Alright… Thank you for your help before…"
Baston only nodded and he also bowed down a little to Angus before he got away. He showed a calm demeanor, but he was anxious almost all the time when he was with Alicia's uncle. Although it looked like a kind man from the outside, he was sure that the man had enormous strength inside him. At
that time, he was afraid of being investigated. Any question thrown to him
would be very hard to explain. Because in front of total power, his little drama was meaningless. Unless he had hidden card, then it would be wise to avoid this man.
Looking at the fat boy, Angus was interested. He felt Baston hid something. Anyone who knew or saw him would be flabbergasted and reverenced him respectfully. But it seemed Baston treated him more like elder and not
because of his status and strength. Because of this, he even wondered if his popularity had been waned down or not. To find out, he planned to take his time to see some students here to see what would be their reactions. He also wanted to check the site of explosion. Before that, Angus wanted to hear more about what happened in more detail before he came to the rescue.