The restaurant quieted slowly as the afternoon sunlight slid across the wooden floor. Chairs scraped, loud arguments faded, and one by one the Black Bull and Golden Dawn members stepped outside, full and satisfied. Rebecca thanked them shyly at the door, cheeks still pink from the chaos Charmy caused.
Lencar remained behind the counter, wiping plates and stacking bowls. His mind was already drifting toward the underground base—Dominante's rune calculations needed cross-checking, and Mariella was refining the stability layer of his new mana algorithm. He had planned to finish today's data analysis quietly.
But fate did not care for plans.
The last ones remaining were Asta, Noelle, and Yuno.
Yuno was talking softly with Rebecca about the restaurant's layout, Noelle inspected the décor with forced dignity, and Asta… looked unusually serious.
That was how Lencar knew something was coming.
Asta approached the counter, hands clenched, eyes determined—but this time he didn't shout.
"Lencar… can I ask you something?"
Lencar blinked once. "Of course."
Asta glanced at Noelle, then lowered his voice.
"It's about Noelle's magic."
Noelle immediately spun around. "A-Asta! Don't tell him—!"
But Asta continued.
"She can't control it properly. And I remembered you always helped people back in the village. You're calm, smart, and your mana sense is crazy sharp. So… I thought maybe…"
He hesitated.
For Asta, that was rare.
"…maybe you could help her."
Noelle's face turned red with a mix of embarrassment, anger, and fear of being judged.
"I don't need help from some quiet researcher—!"
But she didn't meet Lencar's eyes when she said it.
Asta ignored her. "Please, Lencar. You helped Sister Lily, you helped the kids learn basic mana sensing… I know you can help Noelle get better at controlling hers."
Yuno, who had been listening quietly, added in his soft voice,
"…Lencar's control is exceptional. If he agrees, it won't hurt to try."
Lencar felt a rare flicker of conflict.
He had not planned to involve himself directly with a Magic Knight squad yet. It increased visibility. Attention. Suspicion. Not ideal for someone hiding mana experiments beneath a restaurant.
And yet…
He looked at Noelle. She tried to mask her panic with pride, but the truth was visible—the guilt of not controlling her magic, the fear of hurting others, the frustration of wanting to improve but not knowing how.
Lencar sighed lightly.
"I can help."
Noelle blinked. "You… can?"
"But," Lencar added, "I need a proper training space. Somewhere you won't be disturbed."
Asta grinned. "I knew you'd say yes! I'll ask Finral to take you to the Black Bulls' hideout. He'll definitely open a portal for you."
That caught Lencar off guard.
The Black Bulls' base?
That unpredictable, structurally questionable, mana-chaotic house filled with explosive personalities?
Not ideal.
Not even remotely safe for someone like him.
But Asta looked so hopeful. Noelle looked conflicted, like pride was fighting gratitude inside her chest. And Yuno gave a small, knowing nod—as if to say, you won't refuse this kind of request.
Lencar exhaled quietly.
"…Alright. I'll visit and examine her mana flow."
Asta jumped like someone lit fireworks under him. "YES! I'll talk to Finral right now!"
Noelle looked away sharply, pretending not to be relieved. "W-Well… i-if you insist, I suppose I can allow you to assist me a little. Don't misunderstand!"
Yuno placed a hand on Lencar's shoulder before leaving.
"You're going to get dragged into something troublesome," he said.
Lencar gave a faint smile. "I already knew that."
They left shortly after, Noelle glancing back once—just once—with a quiet, unspoken hope in her eyes.
Rebecca approached Lencar as he cleaned the last dish.
"What was that about?"
"Helping someone with their magic," he replied simply.
Rebecca smiled warmly. "That sounds just like you."
She had no idea how complicated the next few days were about to become.
And deep below the restaurant, in the hidden underground base, two women continued analyzing mana theory—unaware that the next breakthrough might come not from experiments…
…but from teaching a royal girl how to control her unruly power.