Rebecca recalled how, earlier that morning, when she had passed by Yuuki, she had caught a faint trace of blood in the air.
The scent was extremely light—but Rebecca was absolutely certain.
It was the smell of blood.
Yuuki was injured?
That was the very first thought that surfaced in her mind.
"What's wrong?"
Walking ahead, Yuuki noticed that Rebecca hadn't followed immediately. He turned around and looked back at her, seeing that she seemed a little distracted.
"Huh? Oh— I was just thinking about the ingredients," Rebecca said after a brief pause. She quickly put on her usual gentle smile and hurried to catch up.
Elsewhere.
After leaving the plaza, the captains of the Magic Knight Squads followed Wizard King Julius Novachrono into another meeting. Only after that did they finally determine the next course of action for each squad.
Yami Sukehiro exited the conference room with Finral, his expression flat. His eyelids drooped slightly, but a contemplative glint flickered in his eyes.
Before all this, Yami hadn't believed the mysterious individual who had contacted him through communication magic—nor had he believed in any so-called "prophecy."
Still, just in case, he had issued a warning.
And yet Fuegoleon Vermillion had still been attacked.
To Yami, that only confirmed one thing: it wasn't a prophecy at all. The mysterious person had simply known in advance that someone was going to make a move against Fuegoleon.
Yami had deliberately brought this up during the meeting earlier, but it hadn't led to any concrete conclusions.
One thing, however, was certain.
The mysterious informant was very likely connected to the faction that attacked the Royal Capital. As a result, Yami's task was to reestablish contact with that person—something he had already intended to do anyway.
"What a pain," Yami muttered, cigarette clenched between his teeth as he exhaled a ring of smoke.
"Captain… where are we heading next?" Finral asked quietly, noticing that his captain's mood was far from great.
"Back to the base first," Yami said, waving his hand dismissively.
Finral immediately raised his hand and swept it through the air, opening a spatial portal.
Thump.
"Too slow," Yami said, punching Finral on the head with clear dissatisfaction. "No wonder you got beaten half to death. You've got to push past your limits."
"Yes, Captain…" Finral replied, clutching his head with a pitiful expression.
It would've been better if that hadn't been mentioned—now that it was, Finral felt a dull ache tightening in his chest.
Yami stepped into the spatial portal. Just before disappearing completely, he suddenly turned his head and glanced in the direction William Vangeance had left.
"…William seemed a bit off today."
The thought flashed through his mind, only to be cast aside immediately. There were more important matters to deal with right now.
In the next instant, the two of them returned to the Black Bulls' base. The moment they entered the hall, the noisy voices of the squad greeted them.
"I'm a Third-Class Junior Magic Knight now!" Asta's excited voice rang out.
"Huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Two voices—one surprised, one confused—rose at the same time.
Hearing the commotion, the helpless look on Yami's face deepened even further.
"You don't even know this, and you call yourselves Magic Knights?" Yami said flatly. "Those are the Magic Knight ranks."
"And just so you know, from the moment you joined, you were all Fifth-Class Junior Magic Knights."
He paused, then glanced toward Charmy, who was off to the side happily enjoying her food on her own.
"Charmy defeated an invading enemy by herself, so she's been promoted to Second-Class Intermediate Magic Knight. Of course, if she hadn't been thrown dozens of kilometers away by another enemy using spatial magic, her evaluation might've been even higher."
The moment Finral heard that, he clutched his chest and protested indignantly, "The one who attacked me had to be that guy!"
"Hah," Charmy said, waving her short arm. "That enemy was really strong. Oh, right—he was using a sword kind of like Asta's."
As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone turned in unison to look at Asta.
At the same time, an Anti-Magic Bird perched on a shelf—previously pecking at its own feathers—suddenly raised its head. A glimmer of humanlike realization flashed through its dark eyes.
"Huh?" Asta stared at Charmy, dumbfounded.
Charmy nodded vigorously, lifting her stubby arms to gesture. "It was smaller than Asta's sword—and shorter too."
Asta scratched his head, looking utterly lost.
"We'll talk about that later," Yami said after taking a drag from his cigarette. "Asta, touch Noelle with your sword."
He had been thinking about how to contact the mysterious person again. After mulling it over, he realized there was only one option—wait for the other party to make the first move.
That kind of passivity didn't sit well with Yami. So he decided to take the initiative.
"…What is this supposed to do?" Noelle asked, stepping back with a puzzled look.
Asta didn't understand either, but he didn't hesitate. He pulled out the Demon-Destroyer Sword and tapped Noelle on the back with the flat of the blade.
Under everyone's gaze, nothing seemed to happen. The only result was that Noelle, caught off guard, nearly stumbled forward.
"Idiot, Asta! Why did you hit me so hard?!" Noelle shouted, her silver ponytail whipping through the air as she punched him twice.
Asta's screams echoed through the hall, accompanied by everyone else's laughter.
The others didn't see the change that occurred the instant the Demon-Destroyer Sword touched Noelle—but as captain, Yami saw it clearly.
A faint fluctuation of magic vanished from Noelle's body.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot something!" Asta shouted, struggling free from Noelle's fists and lifting his head. "Yuuki's tavern is opening! He wants to invite everyone—unlimited drinks, twenty percent off!"
Vanessa and Charmy's eyes lit up immediately.
"Yuuki? The friend from Asta's village he mentioned before?" The Black Bulls quickly remembered who Yuuki was.
"His tavern is already opening?" Noelle stopped punching Asta, delight spreading across her face.
Hearing that name, Yami couldn't help recalling the figure he'd seen during the Magic Knight entrance ceremony.
A pretty interesting kid.
He hadn't joined the Magic Knights, yet he'd stayed in the Royal Capital—and even opened a tavern?
Soon after, Yami felt the gazes of his squad members on him. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and waved his hand lazily.
"You've all worked hard lately. Consider this a break."
The next moment, cheers erupted—Finral's voice loudest of all.
Meanwhile, inside the tavern.
The instant the magic mark placed on Noelle was erased, Yuuki sensed it.
"So they noticed after all."
"Removing the mark at a time like this… are they trying to get in touch with me?" Yuuki murmured. "That's Yami for you—sharp as ever."
He paused in the middle of wiping down a table, then calmly resumed.
"There's no rush to make contact. Right now, I'm not the one who should be anxious."
Without Noelle as a point of reference, it barely affected Yuuki anymore. He no longer needed to tread as carefully as he had in the beginning.
Buzz—
Suddenly, Yuuki felt his grimoire tremble. He focused for a moment.
"Oh? Mariella… looks like things on her end are finished too."
A faint smile appeared on Yuuki's composed face.
(End of Chapter)
T/N: Sorry it seems this chapter was missing, I've fixed it though.
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