Upon their return from parts unknown, the captains were in utter shock at the state of things in the castle city. What was most concerning were the states of the three individuals that held the frontlines here. Fuegoleon and Asta were both unconscious, while Twilight was on the verge of collapsing.

Twilight was the only one who was able to give a brief summary of what happened. Fuegoleon was a bit worse for wear, but for the most part, he was just unconscious with a minor concussion.

Noelle was by Asta’s side, where’d she’d been since he’d collapsed after using his last spell and had no plans of leaving. While this was happening, Mimosa did her best to treat his wounds, though only was able to keep Asta stable.

It has been a day since the assault by Fragment and his forces of undead led by Rades Spiritos and his fellow mages.

Bad Guys’ Unknown Hideout…

“Damn it!” Rades punched a wall, “How is that damn capital still standing?! There were enough bodies in that place that it should’ve been nothing but a crater!” He rubbed the scar on his face from where Asta managed to cut him. “It's that kid’s doing, I just know it! This scar he gave me hurts!”

“Yeah, no, it doesn’t,” Sally pointed. “I made sure to heal it up all nice and clean! There’s no way it hurts anymore. Whatever you’re feeling is just in your head,” she bluntly said.

“No!” Rades clenched his fist, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! That boy, he pitied me! I’m going to get him and make him one of my toys!”

“Don’t even think about it, boyo!” Sally countered, “He’s mine! I NEED HIM FOR MY RESEARCH!”

“Will you two ever be quiet?” Valtos quietly chided, ”You’re going to upset the masters.”

“I find their banter quite refreshing, actually,” came a calm and gentle male voice from the shadows, “I must thank you again for your involvement and apologize for getting you involved with this Fragment.” He bowed off to the side.

“I’m not even from this place, so I care nothing for this land or its people,” Fragment chuckled as he sat, looking out over a moonlit valley. “The things I do care about just so happen to be aiding those who oppose you, so the way I see it, we both benefit, Licht. I get to keep track of them, while also helping you.” He tossed the magic stone he pulled from around Fuegoleon’s neck.

The stone landed in Licht’s palm. “And if both of our objectives are met in the process, then so be it,” Fragment let out a light chuckle, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have my own affairs to get into order elsewhere.” He gave them all a fanged smile before departing through an abyss gate.

“Are you sure he can be trusted?” came a rough voice from the shadows behind Licht, “He seems awfully sketchy to just be offering us a hand so freely, without asking for anything.”

“You are right to be wary of Fragment, Vetto,” Licht smiled at the man, “We will continue to keep him in the dark of our important plans but allow him to keep helping as well. His strength is on par with my own, making him a great asset with his dual magic power. He has also proven to be trustworthy up to this point, especially with the addition of Fana he provided for us,” he looked over to a girl with burning red hair with golden amber streaks in it, wearing a robe similar to the one Valtos wore.

“I’m grateful to him for that, but I still think he’s sleazy,” came the voice of a black-haired man lounging on a table nearby.

“And if he does try and betray us, I know all of us together will be more than enough to destroy him,” Licht smiled, “Don’t you think so, Fana?”

“If Licht commands it, I shall burn him to a crisp with the aid of salamander,” Fana said, revealing her solemn green eyes and a small fire dragon on her shoulder.

“Now, now, just calm down,” Licht lightly chuckled, “There’s no need for violence on him yet. The Eye of the Midnight Sun still has its uses for him..”

“Very well,” Fana said, leaning against the wall again.

Meanwhile, in a lightless void, Fragment floated in a sphere of opaque red mist that was drawing in other shadowy and crimson mists into itself.

“Pathetic,” Fragment chuckled as he listened in on the conversation via the unknown link he placed in Fana. “You’re all lucky you’re essential to the coming plans I have laid out,” he said before getting serious, “Asta… he was stronger than I expected, and the fact the Element of Magic is here was an unforeseen but uplifting surprise,” he chuckled, “I’m guessing it’s thanks to you, Sunset… Or should I say… Fana,”

An image of Sunset/Fana appeared in front of him, “It was a good thing I found you first, hehe…ahaha…AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!”

The Clover Kingdom Knights’ Medical Wing

Asta was lying in a bed, under heavy magical treatment. Noelle had barely left his side at all since arriving with him. The same went for Mimosa as well. Twilight soon joined them after she was cleared to move around by one of the doctors.

“Why…?” Noelle finally spoke.

“Noelle?” Mimosa looked at her cousin.

“Why’d this idiot have to jump in and take that sword for me?!” Noelle yelled, causing the other girls to look at her, “I’m sorry…”

“No, you’re right,” Twilight spoke up. The others looked at her, and she had dark marks under her eyes, “He is an idiot, and he’s always been the idiot to jump in and protect what’s precious to him…”

“What’s precious-” Noelle said.

“To him…” Mimosa continued, “You mean, like in the dungeon?”

“Something like that, yea,” Twilight sighed, “You two mean so much more to him than I think even he realizes just yet. The same goes for the both of you.”

“W-w-what are you implying?!” Noelle blushed, while Mimosa did, too, but looked down.

“Asta threw himself in harm's way just to stop a sword from reaching you, Noelle!” Twilight raised her voice, “The man I love may be an idiot, but he’s an idiot that follows what’s in his heart! He goes to great lengths in his everyday life, just for you!” she scolded, “He stood up for you to your fucked up family to the point he was willing to fight every single top-tier magic knight along with the captains in that room just yesterday!”

“We were both there, Noelle, and after that, I have to agree with Twilight,” Mimosa added, “I’m not afraid to admit it. I fell in love with Asta not long after I met him. The way he talked to me and treated me like a person and not a noble… It was something I had never experienced before, and the way he talked and acted with me around his family… it was no different than when he was being gentle and kind to his family. How strong he is to the point he went out of his way to help Me, Yuno, and Klaus. I couldn’t help but fall for him. He makes me want to try harder and get strong so I can be a better person all around!”

“That’s Asta. He’s always been like that. He has that effect on people, to treat them no different from any other and get them to do the same to others, getting them to grow stronger for it,” Twilight giggled.

“What about you, Noelle?” Mimosa looked at her cousin.

“What?” Noelle said, a bit flustered.

“What are your feelings regarding Asta?” Twilight gave a sly smirk.

Noelle’s face turned bright pink as she hid her eyes behind her bangs as she fidgeted in her seat, causing the others to giggle at her.

“I… ah… I don’t really… I mean, I can’t…” Noelle nervously tried to speak, “I can’t say for sure how I feel about him, okay?! I just know that I do care about him!” she yelled, then covered her mouth and hid her eyes, “I do care about him, and it really hurts to see him in a condition like this, while it also fills me with a little bit of happiness that he'd go that far for me, okay…?”

“Sounds fine to me,” Twilight giggled again.

“How are you okay with us admitting we love him so easily, Twilight?” Mimosa cut in both curious and a bit put off by Twilight’s quick easy-going attitude about hearing how two girls love her fiance, “I mean, you two are supposed to be engaged, and here you are acknowledging possible lovers that may cause him to stray away from you?”

“I don’t see the issue with it,” Twilight simply smiled, causing Mimosa to become even more confused.

“I think I understand what you’re doing,” Noelle eyed Twilight, “You're not sizing us up or putting us off, but encouraging us to go after him.”

“What? But why?” Mimosa jumped out of her seat and stared with worry at Twilight, who kept smiling.

“Because you both care about him, and I want Asta to be happy,” Twilight softly said as she looked lovingly at her ‘fiance’, “If being with you two will make him happy, then I want you to be with him.”

“It's not… um… common for nobles to have mistresses or consorts, but they’re not considered part of the actual family. Even if they have children, they’re only considered part of the family if they’re from other noble bloodlines,” Mimosa thought, “I don’t care if I’m with sta but I still don’t get why you’re so calm and collected about this?”

“Asta told me about it yesterday when we were heading to the knight’s headquarters,” Noelle cut in as she started to fidget again, her face even redder than before.

“Really?” Mimosa turned to face her cousin.

“Yea,” Noelle hid her eyes, “It’s because, from where they’re from, it's actually a common practice for men to have more than one wife…”

Mimosa blinked a couple of times, “Oh, I see… WAIT, WHAT?!” She turned to Twilight, looking in disbelief, only to have the purple-haired girl smiling confidently while nodding.

“It’s true,” Twilight said, “Though the lower castes generally only have three to four in an adult household, there is actually no limit to the number of wives a man can have.”

Suddenly, the clapping of a single person was heard throughout the room. Noelle looked around, and her eyes came to rest on a chair across the room. She got up and started to walk. As she passed behind Twilight, she saw nothing at first, but as she passed further, she saw a man in a red hooded coat and black pants, and a shirt with white gloves had appeared on a chair. His golden hair and golden amber eyes shined in the light.

“Well said, Twilight. Well said indeed,” he said with a smirk.

“Who are you, and how did you get in here?” Noelle said without hesitation.

“Relax, little girl,” the man said as he stood up and stood a good head taller than all of the girls. “If I wanted to harm anyone, I wouldn’t need to make myself known to do so. As for who I am… just ask Twilight. She can fully vouch for me,” he said as he started walking over to Asta, only for Noelle and Mimosa to quickly get in front of him. Without them even realizing it, he was already behind them, “I’ll admit, you’ve got guts,” he said, causing them to whirl around.

“How…did he get back there?” Noelle said in shock.

“We were standing right here this whole time,” Mimosa added.

“Stop it, you two!” Twilight said. “There’s nothing you can do about him. Even if we were all in top form, we’d still be no match for him…” she said as she glared at the man.

“Who is he, Twilight?” Mimosa said in shock.

“He’s known as the Crimson Sage,”

“But you can only be a sage if…”

“You’ve completely mastered every form of magic related to your grimoire…” Noelle added.

“We don’t have grimoires where we’re from, remember?” Twilight said, “He’s mastered many, many more things than just magic, and believe me that even on his best day, Asta would still be no match for him. Isn't that right, Edward?”

“Bingo, little lady,” Edward winked, causing the girls to shutter slightly.

“Ah… Twilight… Just who is this guy exactly, and what’s his relationship with you and Asta?” Noelle nervously asked.

“He’s Asta’s older brother,” Twilight said, causing the girls to freeze.

“How is he Asta’s older brother?!” Noelle said, “He’s, like, nearly twice our age?!”

“Kehehe,” Edward chuckled, “You have no idea… And technically, we’re only half brothers,” he tacked on to go along with Asta's made-up story about his past. “Same father, different mothers. He was born when I was practically grown and out on my own.”

“So, you didn’t come till now because…?” Twilight narrowed her gaze.

“It's not my place to raise him, Twilight,” Edward's tone grew stern, “You know how things work in the world we come from. That means he walks his path, and I let him. I’m here now to give him a bit of a helping hand.”

“But, why now?” she asked.

“He pushed his body well beyond the limits, over what even he should’ve been able to handle,” Edward placed a hand over Asta. It glowed in white light, and soon, so did Asta. “If left to normal devices, even with the best healing magic this kingdom has to offer, it would still take him months to even be able to walk with a cane normally. I’m just going to give him a little bit of help to get up on his feet and move around. He’ll still have to do a lot on his own, and I want you three to help him out if you can. Nothing more than this though,” he said, retracting his hand, and the glow subsided. “Take care of my little brother for me,” he smiled warmly at them, “The idiot is lucky to have you by his side.”

“Thanks, Edward,” Twilight smiled, “That means a lot.”

“I don’t do much. Just heal him, but thank you,” Mimosa said with a blush.

“Mmm…” Noelle just looked down in shame. “You really shouldn’t be saying that to me. It’s all because of me that he’s in this state,” she clenched her eyes shut as tears started to form as Edward started to make his way to them.

Ed walked over and placed a hand on her head and slightly rubbed it, “Asta is in this state because he put others first. He put the people of this kingdom’s safety, and yours, before his own,” he said, retracting his hand and allowing her to look up at his smile, “Especially yours. Like I said, take care of my idiot little brother.”

Noelle just blinked a few times as he pulled his hand back, “Asta is right, ya know?” he says, “You’re a lot stronger than you realize, and that goes for you too, Mimosa,” he looks at the others, “You’ve grown quite a bit stronger yourself, Twilight. I hope you and your other half continue to grow closer, so you achieve even more.”

“Now,” he said, with his voice growing stern. “Don’t tell anyone I was here, outside Asta, or there will be less than desirable consequences for it,” he warned, and all of them gulped the lump in their throats and vigorously nodded. “Good. Now, I shall see you around,” he snapped and disappeared.

“Twilight…” Mimosa said as she looked at the purple-haired girl, “Um… how powerful is Asta’s older brother?”

“Let’s just say he could take on the entire magic knight corps and have the wizard king still backing them, and it still wouldn’t be enough…” Twilight said dismally off to the side, “Even I know not to cross our brother-in-law. That would be utter suicide!”’ Midnight tacted on in their mind.

Suddenly, a large growl was heard throughout the entire room. The girls’ attention was immediately drawn to the source that was in the middle of all of them. They got in close and again heard the growling noise emanating from Asta’s gut.

The magic knight shot up, “HUNGRY!!!!!!” he looked around and was met with Twilight and Mimosa’sfaces in their hands while they shook their heads. “OH! Hey, girls. What are you all doing here?”

Noelle, in the meantime, was trembling with anger as she raised her fist and clocked him over the back of his head, “STUPID ASTA! I CAN’T BELIEVE I WAS EVER WORRIED ABOUT YOU!” she shouted before storming off, cursing about wasting her time being by his side.

“Noelle, he’s still recovering!”Twilight said as she chased after the silver-haired girl.

Mimosa could only giggle.

“It’s good to see she’s okay,” Asta chuckled lightly as he rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. “She wasn’t hurt, was she?” he asked Mimosa.

Mimosa shook her head, “No more than any one of us.”

“That’s good,” he placed a hand on his chest. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you guys would’ve been hurt. You all mean a lot to me,” he smiled at her, causing Mimosa to blush heavily.

“You’re very kind, Asta, and Noelle was here before anyone, of outside of Twilight, who was here because of her severe exhaustion,” Mimosa walked over and healed the lump on his head, “She may not be able to admit it right now, but I’m sure she cares about us just as much as you care about us.”

“Thanks,” Asta smiled and noticed a knot on his bedside stand. He picked it up and read it,
“What's that?”

“A note from my older brother, literally saying, ‘Do your best and take care of those around me, YOU IDIOT!’” he lightly laughed and handed her the note, and it said exactly that. “LET’S GET FOOD!” he remarked as he jumped out of bed and revealed everything on his backside.

Mimosa just stared for a minute as she threw her hands over her mouth and her face lit up bright red as steam wafted off the top of her head,

The Black Bulls Hideout…

Asta had returned a couple of days ago. He had somehow completely recovered overnight, but the medical staff wanted to keep him for a few days to observe him. He stayed for two of the total seven. When the staff tried to force him, that’s when the wizard king himself decided it would be better for the staff and castle to not have any more explosions or giant holes in the walls, so he was cleared to go.

Luck and Asta were currently sparring outside under the afternoon sun, working up a good sweat as they faced off with each. Asta had come up with the idea for Luck to up his overall physical strength without relying too much on his magic. He was a close-range fighter and made use of his speed to overwhelm his opponents, while still prolonging his fights to dodge their attacks. It was safe to say that Luck quickly found himself outmatched. He couldn’t outpace the anti-mage, no matter how much magic he poured into his armament, and thus figured Asta had a point, as every time the younger knight dished out an attack, it left a small crater in the ground, while he solely relied on his pure physical power alone.

Raava had taken to spending a lot of time outside of Asta’s body after the invasion. She wanted to watch him but also wanted to enjoy the world on her own merits. It was safe to say she was thoroughly pleased with being able to interact with the world outside Asta’s inner world or mindscape. Her separation didn’t have an effect on his bending abilities either, outside the fact he couldn’t access the avatar state. She was currently sitting on a rock under the shade of the trees while sipping tea as she watched the two boys spar.

Noelle had taken the opportunity to further her own growth with some inspirational words from Raava. The light spirit had explained how she didn't need to actually use spells to the girl andow when she would just blast water balls at people that she was subconsciously diverting her attacks away, not wanting to hurt anyone.

With Raava’s help, Noelle was able to overcome this notion. She was able to help the girl push past the block and put in its place the concept of doing what needed to be done in order to move forward. Noelle also learned how to become more creative with her magic, as she was now able to create weapons and even change their state of matter, going from vapor to even solid ice. Her occasional attack still went straight for Asta from time to time though.

Asta himself was still not one hundred present either. His older brother had fixed him up just enough to where he could fight, but his strength was still subpar. Thanks to his training with Luck during the day and healing sessions with Raava in a hidden spring that Asta had found in the forest with high concentrations of mana in it, he was able to recover a good deal faster than he’d thought possible. He was nearly at fifty percent peak physical condition once more.

It was getting toward the end of the day, and the boys had finished up their training session and were just walking into the hideout. They both loved the sparring, but they really liked washing away the sweat of a good workout with a nice long soak in a steaming hot bath, which is where they were headed. After about thirty minutes, the two of them came out refreshed and saw Finral making a commotion about something.

“What do ya think has him so wound up?” Asta asked Luck.

“No idea. Maybe he wants to fight?” Luck happily laughed.

“Nah,” Asta held his chin, “It must be something to do with a girl knowing Finral. I wonder how bad he was rejected this time?”

Suddenly, Finral saw the two of them and wasted no time in rushing over, “Asta. Luck. Just who I needed,” he smiled, “I have some open positions in a coming mission, and you two fit the bill.”

“Oh, a mission,” Luck awed, “Do we get to fight?”

“Ah, not exactly,” Finral nervously chuckled.

‘Wait a sec, isn’t this the-’ Asta started to think.

“We’re going to a mixer!” Finral said excitedly.

‘Yep. At least I get to see Rebecca…’

“What’s that?” Luck asked, “Is it something you can fight people at?”

“No, Luck,” Asta placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “It’s a group date. It’s where the same number of guys and girls go to a club or restaurant and pair off and share dinner with each other,” he looked at Finral, who was taken back by Asta’s knowledge, “So, why us?”

“Oh… ah….” Finral thought as he was put on the spot, ‘I can’t just tell them that my two usual wingmen bailed on me at the last minute, cause they started dating girls they’ve had their eyes on for a while now…’ “Um…”

“Your usuals bailed on you, and we’re the next best choice,” Asta flatly looked at the spatial mage, who was just depressed with defeat.

“As long as you’re the one paying for it, I’ll go,” Asta sighed.

“Yeah, me too! You can’t beat free food!” Luck laughed.

Finral just hung his head in defeat, “Fine. Let’s just go, so we can make the reservation…”

“Where are those three stooges going?” Noelle asked.

“Finral said something about a group date,” Vanessa hiccuped, as she was plopped out on her couch already drunk.

Noelle looked over at the portal, a bit concerned.

“If you’re gonna tail him, you better hurry up and go through it before it closes, while they’re none the wiser, hon,” Vanessa said before passing out.

Noelle was a bit hesitant but swiftly jumped through the portal and ducked into a nearby alley, out of sight. She peered around the corner and watched the boys enter a small tavern.

“I know I shouldn’t be worried, but still,” Noelle said to herself as she headed to the staff entrance. “If I picked one thing up from Raava, it’s to get creative,” she said as she saw a bin of waitress uniforms. “Better make this quick,” she said, looking around before grabbing a uniform and swiftly changing.

In the main lobby of the restaurant, Asta, Luck, and Finral all gathered, waiting on their respective ‘dates’ to arrive.

“There they are,” Finral said covertly to Asta and Luck as three women in fashionable dresses walked in through the front door. “Why don’t we start by introducing ourselves?” Finral happily chided.

The black-haired girl spoke, “Hi. My name’s Erika Sitate. It's nice to meet you.”

“My name’s Helene Barbary,” the blonde placed a hand on her chest.

‘Why’d I let these two drag me into this…? Oh, I’m next,’ she cleared her throat, “Hello there, I’m-”

“Hey, Rebecca!” Asta called out, shocking three of the four others in the group.

“Asta,” Finral pulled him off to the side quickly, “You mean to tell me you already know one of these beautiful ladies?!” he whisper-shouted.

“Yeah. I’ve known her since before the entrance exams,” Asta shrugged, “I met her while I was working part-time as a blacksmith to get by. No big deal.”

“No big deal?!” Finral dragged his hand down his face, then got an idea as he quickly wrapped an arm around Asta’s back, “Asta, ole buddy, ole pal, I’m going to need you to cooperate with me-”

“Nope,” Asta sharply cut him off, using two fingers to swiftly and sharply remove Finral’s hand from his back. “If you want to pick up chicks, then do it yourself, Senpai. I’m not a wingman to help you get girls. Now, as I know one specific girl, I think I’ll be her date. You two are on your own,” he swiftly walked away, leaving Finral in tears.

“Man, not only do girls reject you, but guys do, too! Ahahahaha!” Luck laughed at Finral’s plight, as the spatial mage held his hand with his fingers pulsing while tears streamed down his face.

Meanwhile with the girls…

“Spill it, Rebecca,” Erika ordered, “What’s your connection with green eyes over there?”

“I must say I’m curious myself,” Helene said as she briefly looked to the boys as the oldest looking one was currently trying to find out the younger’s connection with Rebecca, much like they were.

“I thought I told you two about Asta,” Rebecca tried to recall. “He’s the one who made me the really great cooking knife!” she smiled.

“You mean the blacksmith that made your favorite knife, the one that easily cut through several cutting boards, is the same shrimp over there?” Erika stealthily pointed out.

“Even if he is a bit on the shorter side, he’s not that bad looking. Even for a black bull, it’s pretty obvious he’s quite a catch,” Helene swiftly glances back to Rebecca. “Wait a minute… Asta… Asta… Asta…” she thought.

“Asta…” Erika joined in the recollection, “Oh, I remember now! Asta is the name of the knight who saved your little brother!” She slyly looked at Rebecca, “So, the smith and the knight are one and the same, is he?”

Rebecca just looked down.

“I think I might try and take him home tonight,” Erika slightly chuckled.

“NO, YOU CAN’T!” Rebecca blurted out, causing Erika and Helene to slyly look right at her, but then covered her mouth with both hands, “Mmmmmm….” she quickly hid her face in embarrassment, as her face was so red it nearly matched her hair color.

“Don’t tease her too much, Erika,” Helene quickly stepped in, “Oh, here he comes…”

“Hey, ladies,” Asta waved, “It's nice to meet all of you. My name’s Asta Ferris and to my left-”

“Hi. My name is Luck Voltia, and I really like fighting strong people,” Luck nonchalantly said to Helene, “But, recently, I’ve been taking a break from the fighting world to see what else I can do. My specialty is lightning magic and magic sense.”

“Oh… well, that was a bit unexpected,” Helene said, “Sorry, but I don't think this is going to work out. I don’t really… see the point in being violent…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Luck reassured her, “When I mean fighting, it's just like a martial arts match and stuff like that. It's not fun if you kill your opponent, cause then they can’t come back and fight you again, when they get better and even stronger. We don’t try and kill each other, just try and see who's stronger or see how strong we’ve gotten. Sorry if I came off that way,” he sighed and looked down, “Though, you do have a point. All I ever used to do is think about my next fight. This is the first time I’ve ever really been out on any kind of date before. I know you ladies are really here just to see if you can find a guy with a bit of prestige who can support you financially.”

‘Even if he is a bit on the blood-thirsty side, he’s still a pretty decent guy. I feel really bad now…’ Helene mentally scolded herself. “I’m sorry,” Helene bowed her head, surprising Luck with her sudden gesture. “You weren’t wrong with what you just said, but after hearing you be so honest, I want to start over and be honest, too, “ she took a deep breath and then smiled, “Hi, my name’s Helene, and I work at a barbershop. As for my magic,” she said, as a pair of green scissors materialized next to her head.

“Oh, wow!” Luck says with whimsy, “So, that’s the magic you use to cut hair! It's awesome!”

“Oh, it's nothing much,” Helene blushed. “It's quite easy, see?” she said, as the scissors cut a lock of her hair.

“Well, the magic power may not be much, but your technique and control have to be very precise in order to use it,” Luck smiled.

‘He’s so cute! How can someone be so bloodthirsty and yet so cute at the same time?’ Helene giggleD, ‘Oh, my tummy feels all tingly. Oh no…. Don’t tell me I have a thing for a dangerous guy… Oh, screw it all to hell!’ She then just came right out with it, “Hey, Luck, do you think you could show me bit of your magic?”

“Yeah, sure,” Luck smiled, “But we’ll have to go outside. It's cramped in here, and I don’t want to cause anyone unnecessary trouble.”

“Okay. Let's go, then!” Helene smiled, and they both stood up and walked out.

‘Well... that was very unexpected…’ Erika mentally said out of sheer shock. ‘How’s Rebecca doing? She can’t be getting along that well…” she looked down, out of the corner of her eye, and saw she was dead wrong.

“So, how’s Marco’s arm?” Asta asked.

“He’ll have a scar, but he’s doing just fine,” Rebecca smiled. “He actually goes around showing it off, like it’s some sort of medal,” she laughed.

“Or definitely not…” Erika sighed to herself.

“So… Ya wanna hit the veranda?” Finral said at his best attempt to be smooth.

‘Screw it… Let Rebecca have her man to herself. Maybe she’ll get lucky tonight,’ Erika mentally sighed “Sure. Why not…?”

“Then, let us be off,” Finral winked as the two left.

Asta rolled his eyes at his senior while taking a sip of his drink then turned his attention back to Rebecca.

“Well, he is a guy, after all,” Asta laughed. “We often take pride in our scars if we get them for a good enough reason, like protecting our older sister,” he smiled, “I’m glad he’s safe and proud of him for protecting you, but at the same time, I’m a bit worried about him jumping into things without thinking.”

“Yea,” Rebecca looked down, “I wish I could be at home more often, but I have to work in order for us to have a roof over our heads and food on the table.”

“If you need some money, I make more than enough. I can give you some,” Asta offered.

“I can’t let you do that!” Rebecca recoiled, “What about the orphanage?”

“Trust me,” Asta chuckled, “Between me, Twilight, and Yuno, they have more than enough wages. Besides,” he looked at her, “You need it way more than I do. About a third of what I make goes back home while the other is just sitting there. Occasionally, I’ll buy something like materials for forging, but outside that, I don’t usually go out to eat, as I hunt my own food in the forests.”

“Well… if you insist, then I won’t turn you down,” Rebecca smiled. “It would be great if you could come around to see everyone again, too. They really miss you, ya know? Somehow, they thought we’d get married, and you’d be their older brother!” she laughed, then looked down, “But I know that won’t happen… You have Twilight, after all…”

“I’m not against that idea,” Asat said without hesitation, causing someone in the background to snap a plate clean in half, followed by the manager complaining.

There was also a commotion from a table not that far away.

“W-W-WHAT are you saying Asta?!” Rebecca stuttered, “W-w-w-we can’t just get married! Aren’t you and Twilight engaged?!”

“Not this reaction again,” Asta sighed, grabbing the bridge of his nose, “I keep forgetting this is foreign territory for you Clover Kingdom people. In mine and Twilight’s country, a man can have more than one wife, so like I said, I’m not against getting married to you.”

“But why me?” Rebecca said, “I’m not that pretty, and even now, I'm just dressed up for this bull. You’ve seen where I live, how I live!”

“Yeah, and because of that, I can honestly say this,” Asta gave her a stern look as he unloaded the truths he’d seen, “One, you work your hardest for your siblings and try to do what's best for them. Two, you’re much prettier than you give yourself credit for, and three you’re just plain awesome, and I have a thing for redheads,” he snickered.

Rebecca just sat there quietly as her face turned bright red and steam wafted from the top of her head. Just as she was about to say something, another drunken patron came over.

“Hey, what do we have here?” he belched. “A magic knight… but you’re a scrawny thing, aren’t ya…? *hic* Hey, if they let you in, maybe I should try out…” he looked over at Rebecca, “Oh, you’re pretty. What you up to, tryin’ to score a magic knight… Hey, ya look familiar.. Oh, yeah! You’re the one from that restaurant that runs around with a kid strapped to your back and …. and a whole herd of them underfoot… hahaha!” he wiped his nose, “What? Ya tryin to score a magic knight cause your man left ya high and dry?!”

“I am not their mother. I am their older sister!” Rebecca shouted back.

“No wonder you’re tryin’ to land a magic knight,” he licked his lips, “Well, you’re pretty enough, and if ya want a man that bad, then I can help out!”

He reached for Rebecca, but Asta’s hand immediately shot out and grabbed onto the older man.

“If you even try and touch her, you’ll regret it for the rest of your drunk days, you old bastard,” Asta glared.

“Oh, and what kind of spell are ya gonna throw at me, Mr. Magic Knight?” the old man laughed.

“Why would I waste magic on a bastard like you?” Asta growled as he tightened his grip.

“OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!” the old man howled in pain as he was forced back. “How the hell are you so strong?!?” the old man cried out in pain, “I‘ll teach you-”

Asta let go, letting the old man stagger backward while he quickly got behind the drunk. He grabbed ahold of the old man's collar, then Asta threw him across the room into the ceiling, before he crashed into a table and on top of three other guys, whose date then got up unscathed and left, thoroughly dissatisfied. The drink on the table went flying through the air and completely drenched Asta in booze turning his clothes somewhat see through.

“Damn it,” Asta scoffed as he rang out his clothes.

Rebecca just stared at him.

All the other women in the room stared, too, but more at the muscles than his face.

“Hey, what did you do to my table?” the owner said in shock.

“Sorry about that,” Asta pulled out a bag of coins and tossed it to him, “That should more than cover the damages for tonight. Sorry about the ruckus,” he turned to Rebecca, “How about We get out of here? I can take ya home.”

“Yeah… sure,” Rebecca nodded.

“Later, Noelle,” Asta waved as he and Rebecca passed the water mage left. “Ya mind if I take a bath at your place?” he asked.

“Sure,” Rebecca smiled. “The others will be happy to see ya again.”

They ran into Luck and Helene on the way out.

“You two seem to have hit it off,” Asta raised an eyebrow as Helene lovingly held onto Luck's arm, who was just laughing.

“Yeah. I just talked a little and did some spells,” Luck laughed. “And then, this happened…” He chuckled, “I kind of like it!”

“Hey, where’s Finral?” Luck asked.

Off to the side was the aforementioned mage. His head was hagging low, as tears streamed down his face, “Mmmmm…. How is it that these two got girls, and I get dumped…?”

“Is he…ah… going to be okay?” Helene asked.

“He’ll be fine,” Asta waved it off. “He gets dumped all the time like that,” he shrugged and turned back to Rebecca, “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Rebecca smiled, and they walked on.

“Come on, Luck. I want to show you my favorite spot to watch the moon,” Helene pulled the lightning user along.

“How about you tell me where, and I carry you? That way, we can get there faster,” Luck said as he carried her princess style and then jumped off with a bolt of lightning.

Finral, in the meantime, sulked in an alley, “Mmmmm…. I was dumped…”

From the shadows, a tall figure in a hood watched this all play out before her eyes and was taking images with a magic capture tool. Once she was done, she smirked under her hood and then ran off into the darkness.

PART ONE IS HERE AND OUTLINE MOSTLY THE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED IN THE EPISODE AND MANGA. But not to a ‘T’ as I thought that a couple of things should’ve worked out for our boys in the Black Bulls that didn’t so I made it.