After reading a couple of chapters, Ensen found himself actually loving the novel. It was weird for sure, but it was weird enough that it made it different from anything else he had read before.
Looking over at Alina, he knew that he needed to introduce himself soon. She seemed to be leaving soon, so Ensen got up from his chair with the book in hand armed with the knowledge of the first few chapters.
Slowly walking towards Alina, she soon noticed him and blushed slightly from her previous actions.
Arriving near her table, Ensen soon thought of something.
'Wait I didn't think this through, what should I even talk about with the book?' Ensen thought to himself with an awkward expression.
With Alina staring intently at him in confusion, Ensen knew he had to say something.
"So… this book is really good. I've only read the first few chapters, but they've been amazing so far." Ensen said, simply stating what he really thought about the book.
Upon hearing Ensen speak Alina's body posture changed significantly, from her previous reserved stance to one full of excitement over what Ensen had said.
"I know right! A lot of people think it's too weird, so they don't give it a try, but the book is the best." Alina said confidently.
"I admit I was slightly put off by the premise, but it also intrigued me," Ensen responded.
Knowing that his plan would work, Ensen began to talk about the first few chapters of the novel and give his thoughts about it while trying to find a good moment to pitch his private academy.
"I was shocked in the third chapter when the demon hound Jessie came to the village for their monthly tribute. Luckily nothing went wrong, though."
Ignoring the little snicker Alina gave off that must've hinted to something later on in the story, Ensen continued.
"I really didn't think the good pupper G.o.d would bless him though, what a surprise."
After discussing the novel for around 10 minutes, Ensen finally found the opportunity to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Where do you go to school Alina?" Ensen asked, feigning curiosity since he already found out the answer from the stats about her.
With her eyes slightly widening in shock, the enthusiastic, extroverted Alina had disappeared and been replaced with her real personality.
"Oh, I'm homeschooled," Alina said in a noticeably more reserved and hesitant voice. She even held both of her hands together to try to hide her nervousness.
'Well, she didn't run away at least. I'll take this as a win.' Ensen thought to himself as he continued.
"Do you think you'd like to go to school?" Ensen asked, leading up to another question.
"Umm… depends if people are nice I guess. Oh, and a library with lots of books is needed." Alina said after pausing for a moment to think about it.
'Well… I can set up an online book reading service for now until I get enough points to expand.' Ensen thought for a moment before considering his following actions.
Slowly grabbing one of his business cards, Ensen placed it on the table near Alina so he wouldn't get in her personal s.p.a.ce and began to speak.
"You see, I'm actually the princ.i.p.al and founder of a nearby private academy that was just established quite recently. It's pretty close to here too so it would be convenient for you. We don't have a library at the moment, but I'm sure I can find something similar that you would like." Ensen said, trying to fully explain his academy while not boring her.
Pausing for a few moments, Alina hesitantly raised her voice "That sounds okay, but my family doesn't have any money, we're just farmers. Plus I'm sure I don't deserve such a good education, I'm not that smart."
"Nonsense, you seem like a very smart girl, and you don't need to worry about the tuition. We can work on a price that both of us are okay with, I'm doing this to help the youth not to get rich." Ensen stated, dying to have an A grade talent as one of his first students.
Looking down towards her feet, Alina said with a sad voice "We really don't have any money, the farm has not been doing well recently."
'Why does it sound like I'm extorting this girl? Is it just me?' Ensen thought to himself as he had begun to feel embarra.s.sed about his persistence.
"The payment is not a big deal. I could reduce it to a low price and you can pay it whenever with no interest," Ensen said.
'd.a.m.n, I would ask if she would work at the school as a teacher after she graduated but the specialty I picked doesn't allow me to.' Ensen pondered, although it was disappointing he did not regret his choices.
With a look of uncertainty, Alina said "Okay, I'll talk to my parents about it tonight."
Nodding in satisfaction, Ensen talked about the novel for a few more minutes before Alina had to leave.
'That took way more effort than I thought. Luckily I found that book though, I wouldn't be surprised if she bolted out of the building if I talked to her without it.' Ensen thought as he waited a few minutes before returning to his car.
Feeling slightly tired from the recruiting, he took a brief pit stop at a local restaurant and ordered some food to eat.
Thinking about where to go next, Ensen was not really certain. It wasn't that he lacked locations to go, it was just that he had to consider his reputation. After all, reputation was an inst.i.tute's lifeline.
'Well I already found three potential students so far, so it doesn't seem that hard.' Ensen thought as his mouth watered looking at the food laid out on his table.
Ensen spent the rest of the day driving around to various locations, but he didn't manage to find any talents that met his standards. He did use the talent scanner once on a rather young man who was practicing a poem at a nearby lake, but it turned out he was already affiliated with an academy.
Ensen knew his limits. He couldn't casually poach talents from other academies in the area. Even if he could, it would draw the ire from the academic circle in the area which would severely harm both his reputation and the growth of the academy for the future.
As such, Ensen retired to his apartment after searching for several hours, intent on searching more tomorrow. At this point, he was exhausted but also excited for the future.
Arriving at the door to his apartment, he noticed a small note with a five-dollar bill attached was taped to the front of the door.
The note had four simple words written on it. 'More cookies, please. - Kaitlin.'
Looking at the note taped on the door taken aback by the request, Ensen smiled happily as he gently pulled it from the door and entered into his apartment.
Energized by the fact that he had received his first-ever compliment for his baking abilities, Ensen decided to make the cookies for her now.
After going back into his search history on his phone, he found the recipe and began to make it once again, making sure to follow all of the steps. After a while, a batch of fresh cookies laid on a cookie sheet.
Letting them cool off slightly, Ensen then put them in another container and grabbed the five-dollar note before heading out to the hallway. Walking over to Kaitlin's door, Ensen sat the container full of cookies down and placed the five-dollar note on top.
It didn't cost too much to make the cookies and it was a nice way to get closer to Kaitlin.
'Wait, am I her cookie dealer from now on?' Ensen thought to himself as he went back inside his apartment.
Moments later, Kaitlin's door opened quickly and within moments the container had been dragged inside and the door closed once again.
Deciding to have a shower, Ensen quickly undressed and threw his clothes in the hamper before putting his phone on shuffle and having a nice steamy shower.
'I really did make a lot of progress today, let's hope I can find the last two students tomorrow. Well, I say that, but I really don't know if the three I spoke to today will want to join my academy. I think the siblings will, but Alina I'm really not sure about.' Ensen considered as he was relaxing in the shower.
After briefly taking the time to search online for a digital copy of The all-slaying dog, Ensen quickly bought it in excitement and went to his bedroom for the night, reading a few chapters before falling asleep.
