After the incident where Noelle's mana spiraled out of control, the Black Bulls returned to their normal routine.
In the dining hall, all the members of the Black Bulls gathered to have breakfast. All kinds of delicious dishes were spread out on the table, and everyone was eating comfortably.
The main character of yesterday's event, Noelle, had been allowed to rest for a day. She was exhausted, the mana in her body was almost completely depleted, but luckily there were no further problems, so she could now sit and eat with the others.
"Are you feeling better?"
Sitting opposite Noelle, Vanessa asked the silver-haired girl. This woman was still dressed as provocatively as any other day, making Noelle feel a bit awkward when looking at her.
"Ah, yes. I'm better now."
Noelle replied while trying to avoid looking directly at Vanessa—not because she didn't want to look at the woman opposite her, but because the two fruits being pressed tightly on the table were too eye-catching, making her feel a bit uneasy about herself.
Vanessa's dressing style had become a normal thing for the members of the Black Bulls, but for newcomers like Noelle or Brian, they couldn't get used to it right away. Especially since Vanessa was an incredibly seductive woman.
A little jealous…
Noelle couldn't help but think so when looking at Vanessa's perfect figure. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she felt that she was far from matching up to this woman.
To banish the thoughts from her head, Noelle shook her head and lowered her face to continue eating her breakfast. In front of her was a portion of Beefsteak prepared by Charmy, and this dish was better than she had imagined.
While eating, Noelle briefly glanced at Brian, who was sitting next to her at the dining table.
Brian was also having breakfast just like her, but his portion was three times larger than hers. He also looked very happy while eating; his satisfied expression when putting a piece of beef into his mouth somehow made her feel quite interested and wanting to look more.
Wait a minute… what's wrong with me?
Realizing she had been looking at Brian for a bit too long, Noelle looked away shyly, continuing to eat breakfast while trying not to think about Brian's face. She hoped she didn't act too obviously to be discovered by the others.
Unfortunately, this small action of Noelle was discovered by not just one, but two people: Vanessa and Brian.
Vanessa looked at the shy expression on Noelle's face, then looked at Brian's face, which was pretending not to know anything as he ate breakfast.
A spark flashed in Vanessa's mind; she realized something and began to break into an amused smile as her eyes darted continuously between Noelle and Brian.
Thinking back, wasn't Brian the one who saved Noelle yesterday? She was even carried down by him in a princess carry position, so it wasn't impossible that she had fallen for him.
Vanessa suddenly felt that these two were strangely a good match; the idea of pairing up the two new members of the Black Bulls also popped into her head.
Brian was a teenager from a commoner background but chosen by a four-leaf clover Grimoire; his appearance was outstanding, and his personality was good too. Noelle was a clumsy, cute, and shy young noblewoman, with potential but not yet developed properly.
Vanessa's heart beat unusually fast; she began to think of a scenario where these two started dating. It would certainly be a sweet love story; the two of them would go through hardships, but then both would be happy together.
"Ah~~"
Vanessa wanted to open her mouth to say something, but before she could, she slumped her face onto the dining table and passed out to sleep right there.
"What's going on?"
Noelle looked at Vanessa in confusion. When Vanessa intended to open her mouth, an intuition told Noelle that this woman would say something that would make her blush, but nothing happened.
"Just leave her alone."
Magna, sitting next to Brian, said while glancing at Vanessa's head slumped on the table, then turned his eyes back to his breakfast. "It's a common occurrence. She gets drunk and then passes out on the spot. Try to get used to it, rookie."
"Ah…"
Noelle nodded slightly to Magna. Before coming here, she had heard that the Black Bulls was a pretty bad Magic Knight Squad, but she felt that these people were not as bad as the rumors said.
"Must be because everyone is just too weird."
Muttering to herself, Noelle looked at the remaining members of the Black Bulls eating at the table. To be honest, here she only saw Brian, and perhaps partly Charmy, as normal people.
The rumors about public property destruction and the poor work attitude must have stemmed from the personalities of the members in the Squad.
Brian continued eating without saying anything; he had finished his meal by then. Honestly, the food cooked by Charmy was much better compared to the food at the church in Hage village; it wasn't like he had never eaten something this delicious before, but to eat like this every day was truly happiness.
"But hey, how does everyone receive missions?"
Since he had finished eating, Brian also asked the others about how the Black Bulls Squad received missions and completed them.
"Missions, you say?"
Magna replied to Brian while chewing food in his mouth. "Usually, Captain Yami will personally assign missions to the members of the Squad, but members can still choose missions posted on the mission board right in the main hall."
After saying this, Magna continued to eat, then added, "Usually, the missions in the hall are quite boring, but in return, they are very easy to complete. If there is nothing else to do, we usually choose other more interesting missions."
"I see."
Brian nodded, considering he understood what Magna said. He turned to Noelle, who had also just finished her meal.
"W-What's the matter…?"
Noelle was slightly shy when looked at by Brian; she had been secretly watching him eat earlier, so she was still embarrassed.
"No, it's nothing."
Brian shook his head, not saying anything about the fact that he knew Noelle was watching him or having any intention to tease her right then.
Yesterday, Brian had helped Noelle gain sympathy from the other members in the Squad, but she still hadn't properly gotten to know everyone since she was exhausted after her mana spiraled out of control.
Perhaps it would take some more time for Noelle to be able to integrate with everyone in the Black Bulls. Brian did not want to interfere too much in this process for Noelle like the way he helped her yesterday.
At least in terms of teammates and friends, he wanted to let her be free to develop her relationships in the most natural way possible.
"Hey, Brian, Noelle, once you're done eating, come with me."
Magna wiped his mouth after finishing his breakfast, stood up, and left the dining table. "Captain Yami has a mission for you two."
"Sure, wait for us a second."
Brian replied to Magna, then he and Noelle followed Magna. The three of them then went to the main hall, where Captain Yami had been standing there waiting for them beforehand.
Or maybe he had just returned from doing some personal work, so he didn't eat breakfast with everyone.
"Alright, I have a mission to assign to the three of you."
Yami held a cigarette in one hand, his face wearing a casual smile. "I just lost a bet to a guy in Sosshi village, and because I lost, I have to fulfill a request of that old man."
Ignoring the 'are you kidding me?' expression on Brian and Noelle's faces, Yami continued, "He wants to earn some extra money for his village, so he asked me to let someone from our Squad go hunt boars to help him. That's the story. So now your mission is to go hunt boars at his village; any objections?"
Yami's face looked extremely scary at this moment, and it seemed that if the three just said 'no', he would take his sword and slash them all.
"Ah, yes. We have no objections."
"Hunting boars sounds pretty interesting."
Brian and Magna quickly showed an enthusiastic attitude; it looked a bit fake, but they really had no objections.
Noelle grimaced slightly, but she did not oppose the mission that had just been assigned to her.
And so, to Yami's utmost satisfaction, the first mission as Magic Knights for Brian and Noelle would be… hunting wild boars.