"What is he doing?"
Noelle said with confusion, her voice also revealing bewilderment. She kept thinking Magna would charge at her and make things difficult for her when she accidentally let out harsh words to him, but it seemed that was not the case.
"Who knows. It's lucky for us that he agreed to go take a bath; if he had charged at us to fight, at the very least, both of us would have ended up with some of that suspicious liquid on us."
Hearing Brian say that, Noelle couldn't help but imagine the scene, and immediately she got goosebumps all over.
"How disgusting…."
Noelle had to exclaim because she couldn't suppress the feeling of discomfort within her. If she had really gotten that disgusting liquid on her body, she would rather bash her head against a wall and die.
"Anyway, forget about Magna. You surely heard it before, but I think I should introduce myself properly to you."
Brian turned to Noelle, reaching out a hand to wait for her handshake, "My name is Brian, from Hage Village. Pleased to meet you."
"Ah, yes."
Noelle hesitated slightly, but then reached out to take Brian's hand, "Noelle Silva, pleased to meet you."
After all, Brian was the one who helped Noelle by chasing Magna away, so she had to at least politely reciprocate his friendly attitude.
Unlike Asta in the original story, who gained Noelle's favor and recognition after joining the Black Bulls for a while (not right from the beginning as many mistakenly believe), Brian had left a very strong impression on Noelle when she secretly watched the battle between him and Magna from afar.
Not only did he possess a colossal amount of mana, far exceeding Noelle herself, but Brian was also chosen by a four-leaf clover Grimoire. In the Clover Kingdom, it was impossible for anyone not to know the significance of that Grimoire, which showed how great his talent and qualities were.
Also because of those things, Noelle now had a quite good view of Brian, especially when she felt his friendly attitude toward her was not bad at all. Unlike that smelly, slimy peasant.
"Hmm, let's help each other out."
Brian uttered, pulling his hand back to avoid touching Noelle too long and causing her to feel repulsed. Currently, only he and she were standing in the hallway, no one else; this was the opportunity for him to understand Noelle more.
"It's still early, do you want to take a walk around the base?"
Brian offered the invitation to Noelle. Even though he already knew what kind of person Noelle was, speaking directly to her was still the best way to know what kind of person she was, more accurately.
"Well, that's fine."
Noelle hesitated for a moment upon hearing the invitation to walk around the base from Brian, but then agreed with him. She had nothing to do now, and didn't know what to do, so following him for a bit wasn't bad.
"That's good. Let's go, I know all the paths and rooms already."
Brian led Noelle around the Black Bulls base, taking her through every corridor and looking briefly at the rooms here. In any case, Noelle had only arrived today, and she didn't have special sensing abilities like Brian, so she was quite grateful to him for helping her like this.
"By the way, have you gotten to know the other members?"
Brian asked while taking Noelle to visit the Black Bulls' dining hall. At this moment, there was only one person in the dining hall, Charmy. She sat in the middle of the dining hall, devouring all kinds of sweets spread out on the table.
"Not yet… I haven't met the others."
Noelle replied to Brian in a slightly trembling voice; clearly, she was not confident when mentioning this. Her gaze shifted to Charmy, unsure whether she should go up and start a conversation with the other person.
"Is there any reason for that?"
Brian asked while walking, keeping a certain distance between himself and Noelle, not too close nor too far.
"I thought you wouldn't be the type of person who would have trouble with this. Looks like I was wrong?"
"Not exactly like that…"
Noelle answered in a very small voice, not understanding why she jolted slightly when hearing the words "Looks like I was wrong?" from Brian.
"Then what is it for?"
Brian stopped, turned back to look at Noelle. He wasn't trying to pressure her, but his golden eyes looked straight into her purple eyes.
Although he could let things happen naturally, Brian had rethought how he would solve Noelle's problem in this initial phase.
Among the methods he thought of, perhaps the one in the original story was still the fastest and most effective. It was beneficial for Noelle, and beneficial for him as well.
And under Brian's gaze, Noelle fell into a state of intense internal struggle. On one hand, she wanted to tell him the reason why she didn't meet the other members in the Black Bulls, but on the other hand, she was afraid that he would mock her when he knew the reason.
But before Noelle had time to think thoroughly and make her choice, Brian spoke before her.
"If you don't want to say it, that's fine. I won't force you."
Brian's voice at this moment was strangely gentle, causing Noelle's unease to suddenly subside somewhat. "Everyone has their own hardships. It's understandable that you're not ready to talk about it yet."
"R-Really…?"
Noelle looked at Brian with surprise and gratitude, then she shyly replied to Brian.
"T-Thank you…"
"It's nothing."
Brian smiled slightly when hearing Noelle's thanks. He had planned for her, and it had succeeded in the first step.
"The others in the Black Bulls aren't bad people. They might look like that, but they are all good people. If you're not confident about meeting them alone, I can help you, starting with her, okay?"
Noelle looked in the direction Brian was pointing; she saw Charmy sitting and eating the pile of sweets on the table. From her appearance, Charmy looked harmless and not a bad person, so Noelle also felt she could ask Brian for help in getting to know Charmy; it surely wouldn't be too difficult.
"I'll count on you…"
Noelle blushed, shyly looking at Brian, waiting for him to lead her to Charmy.
"Leave it to me."
Replying to Noelle, Brian didn't let her be shy any longer; he leisurely led her to the dining table where Charmy was sitting.
If one had to answer the question of who was the cutest and most approachable in the Black Bulls, everyone would surely choose Charmy as the answer.
"Ah, you two are back. Want to eat something? There are lots of sweets here. La~"
Charmy, seeing Brian and Noelle heading towards her, immediately spoke up to greet them, conveniently offering the two of them some of the sweets she was displaying on the table.
"Thank you, Charmy."
Brian sat down opposite Charmy, Noelle sat down next to him, "Then we won't stand on ceremony."
Brian took a pastry and put it on his plate, conveniently doing the same for Noelle's plate. He also took this opportunity to immediately start helping Noelle get to know Charmy.
"Charmy, do you use magic to cook?"
Under Brian's guidance, Charmy immediately and comfortably answered him, then the conversation gradually shifted to other daily miscellaneous things. Initially, Noelle was a bit hesitant when answering Charmy, but when feeling Charmy's closeness, Noelle gradually became more comfortable.
Brian glanced briefly at Noelle's face when she talked to Charmy; he could see very clearly that she was extremely comfortable, and to some extent, relieved and happy as well.
Seeing her like this, Brian became even more determined to carry out his plan.