Once Kirios cheered up, it was hard to tell what his actual intentions were for gathering those vegetables. His smile radiated as brightly as his good looks.
Behind him, the Trio watched Kirios, their minds filled with curiosity and suspicion.
Alif turned slowly toward Icam, "Wow, Master Kirios seems to be in an exceptionally good mood," Alif said casually.
"Why exactly is he so happy?" Iyas asked innocently.
Icam stepped closer to Iyas, standing right in front of him.
"Ahem," Icam cleared his throat dramatically.
"I'm curious too. Come on, let's go confront him!" Icam blurted out, his face practically burning with determination.
Kirios's cheerful humming could be heard, but it began to fade.
Because he could hear a barrage of footsteps approaching, a sound that instantly crushed his cheerful mood.
Without even turning around, "What is it?" Kirios asked. His tone was sharp, his gaze turning serious as he continued sorting through the vegetables.
The Trio stood frozen in silence, offering no answer, just staring at Kirios.
Kirios began to feel annoyed. Losing all his previous warmth, he didn't even bother to look back at them.
"Hey! How dare you ignore my question!"
Alif then grabbed his head with both hands, bracing himself to shout.
"WHAT!? That was a question!?" Alif made such a loud scene that a startled Kirios snapped and finally whipped around to look back.
"I'm sorry, Master Kirios, I haven't studied yet."
The startled look on Kirios's face quickly faded, replaced by an expression of profound, pathetic sorrow.
"Worse, I haven't even paid my tuition fees."
Icam looked at Alif, then spontaneously darted his eyes toward Kirios. "Master Kirios hasn't paid his school tuition?" Icam blurted out instinctively.
"Huh?" Kirios confused, what the hell is these guys yelling about.
Kirios only narrowed his eyes further, unsure whether to be angry again or completely baffled.
Kirios stood up straight, fully facing his subordinates, whom he deemed utterly pathetic.
"Hey... Don't talk nonsense. Making me look foolish is an insult to the dignity of a hero's descendant, you know!" Kirios snapped back quickly.
Iyas looked at Alif in sheer bewilderment, while Alif stared back at Kirios with a completely bored expression.
Icam fell into deep thought, tapping his chin with his index finger. "Wait, Master Kirios, did you even go to school?"
Kirios suddenly crossed his arms and tilted his head up, letting his arrogance show.
"Heh, don't be ridiculous! Unlike you street urchins, I actually went to school, you know!"
"And not just any school, my alma mater was the Grandar Academy. I even graduated early, for your information!" he added.
Icam suddenly took a step back, stumbling slightly, seemingly shattered by Kirios's grand revelation.
Kirios closed his eyes and smirked with immense pride, pushing his arrogance to the limit.
"Shocked, aren't you? Impressive, right? Genius, isn't it?"
"Yes! I am the greatest success story of this kingdom!" Kirios exclaimed, his voice dripping with pride.
He even spread his arms wide, casting his gaze toward the heavens.
Following his gaze, Iyas stared up at the ceiling too, muttering, "Oh, wow. The ceiling is pretty high."
Kirios immediately shot a glaring look at Iyas, "Huh?! Not that!"
"Then what is it that's high?" Iyas asked casually.
Kirios raised his chin, closed his eyes, and said,
"The school, obviously! Isn't its prestige high?" he continued.
Iyas and Alif looked at each other, thoroughly confused.
Meanwhile, Icam took another step back. His face was a picture of disappointment, heavy-hearted, and breaking into a cold sweat.
His gaze dropped to the floor, hands clutching his head as he hunched over.
Kirios opened his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the dramatic reaction of his subordinate, Icam.
"Heh! Terrified now, are you?"
Iyas shifted his gaze to Icam, watching him continuously pace backward for no apparent reason.
"Hey, what on earth are you doing?" Iyas asked.
"There's no way!" Icam cried out.
He covered his face with one hand.
Kirios burst into a proud, triumphant laugh.
"An elite school that i don't know about? Impossible," Icam added.
Kirios instantly cut his laughter short, completely puzzled. "Wha-?"
"Oh right, it's probably that thing... Anyway, let's just leave it at that," Icam said with an understanding, pitying smile.
Kirios goggled, jaw-dropped at Icam's sudden shift in expression.
Suddenly, Iyas cut in, walking past Kirios with a smirk.
Kirios grew even more bewildered.
"Oh, by the way, Master Kirios, give us some food," Iyas demanded, trying to act cool with his back turned to Kirios.
Kirios straightened up, rejecting him flatly. "Demanding food, huh?"
"Here, eat the leftover vegetables I've been sorting out!" Kirios barked back.
"But Master Kirios, you shouldn't be picky with food," Alif said, his eyes filled with pity.
"Huh? what?" Kirios bewildered.
"Yeah, and you especially shouldn't be picky with political ranks either," Icam chimed in carelessly.
"What!? Are you mocking my choices!?" Kirios roared, his voice booming through the room.
"But if it's about choosing between what's good and what's bad, that shouldn't be a problem, right?" Icam asked.
Instead of hurling insults back, Kirios swelled with pride again.
"Heh! That is exactly what I've always said. You should be grateful because I am handpicking them for you!"
Icam went silent, furrowing his brows.
"Uh, I wasn't talking about the kind of choosing you mean. What I actually meant was..."
Icam forced a smile, "Eh, never mind."
Kirios's face twisted into an irritated, furious scowl. He felt completely weirded out by how Icam suddenly backpedaled after disagreeing.
Kirios took a deep breath and stood tall once more.
"Bottom line is, if you want to eat, eat these vegetables!" Kirios stood his ground firmly.
Iyas lifted his hand, asking for permission to speak.
Kirios allowed it, though he still found it strange that a question was suddenly being raised.
Iyas's face suddenly wrinkled, looking dead serious.
"Who exactly do you mean by 'you guys'?" Iyas asked, his tone overflowing with confidence.
"You obviously don't mean me, right?" Iyas added.
Kirios choked on his words, looking down. Strangely, Iyas immediately followed his gaze and looked down at the floor too.
Annoyed, Kirios stared dead at Iyas.
"Yes! You get no food. The others can eat the vegetables," he scolded, still giving him a half-hearted glare.
"Ugh, no way I'm eating veggies. What do you think I am, a tardigrade?" Icam snapped back quickly.
"Yeah, Icam wants meat," Alif added, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, specifically Wagyu beef," Iyas added.
"You should be the one eating the vegetables," Iyas said, pointing his index finger repeatedly at Kirios.
The sharp stomp of a boot echoed. Kirios was seething, his face flushed with rage.
Alif reacted to the outburst completely casually, "What does that stomp even mean?"
"Does it mean no Wagyu?" Iyas asked.
Then.
Later that evening, as dusk fell and the sun began to sink below the horizon, the air grew chilly, ready to pierce through layers of skin.
Three figures sat on the bare ground outside the door of Kirios's villa. They had sat out here with the sole intention of begging for Wagyu, but the result was an absolute disaster.
Alif looked over at Icam, "I still don't get the point of Kirios stomping his foot earlier."
Icam sat with his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. "Who knows. He was probably just looking for attention."
Iyas looked up at the sky, suddenly gasping in shock.
"Hey, look! The sun is sinking!"
"Someone save the sun, please!" Iyas panicked, pointing frantically at the setting sun.
"Well, from our perspective, every sun sinks when night comes," Icam replied with flat logic.
"And here I thought the only thing capable of making the sun sink was the Earth itself," Iyas muttered back.
"Haven't we been staying here for days now? You didn't pay attention?" Icam pointed out bluntly.
"Just because I don't count the days doesn't mean I don't notice the changes in the solar analemma, hmph!" Iyas whined.
Alif smiled, looking at his ridiculous friends.
"Come on, let's head back inside."
"Huh?" Icam and Iyas gasped in unison.
END