The morning sun climbed over the Black Bulls' castle, painting the crumbling towers in shades of gold and grey. The courtyard was busy. Charmy's cotton sheep were running back and forth with plates of breakfast food. Magna was trying to fix his cracked sunglasses with yet another strip of tape. Luck was hanging upside down from a tree branch, doing crunches. Gordon was in the corner mumbling about how the weather was nice and how happy he was that everyone came back alive.
I stood near the main gate, the weight of ten tons pressing down on my bones. It was getting easier. The Talent was still working, still adjusting, still making me stronger with every breath. In a few more days, this weight would feel normal. Then I could add more.
Asta was nearby, staring at his two swords. "How am I supposed to carry both of these? They're huge! I can't just walk around with two swords on my back all the time! I'll knock over furniture! I'll knock over PEOPLE! I'll knock over MYSELF!"
"Put them in your grimoire," I said.
Asta blinked. "You can do that?!"
"It's a grimoire. It stores spells. It can store swords too."
Asta held up the black blade—the original Demon-Slayer—and concentrated. His face scrunched up like he was trying to lift something really heavy with his brain. For a second, nothing happened. Then the sword dissolved into dark particles and flowed into the pages of his grimoire like smoke being sucked into a chimney. His face split into a massive grin. "IT WORKED! I'm getting better at this magic stuff! Well, not magic magic, but grimoire magic! The magic of storing things!"
"That's not what it's called."
"It's what I'm calling it! Storage magic! Asta-style!"
He did the same with the Demon-Dweller Sword. It vanished into the grimoire with a soft hum. "Two swords! In my book! I'm like a real Magic Knight now! A real Magic Knight with TWO anti-magic swords and ZERO mana! Wait, that sounds bad when I say it like that."
"It sounds accurate," Yuno said from where he was leaning against the wall.
"ACCURATE BUT BAD!"
Mars stood at the edge of the courtyard. Without his mineral armor, he was different. Smaller. The nine-foot giant we had fought in the dungeon was gone. In his place stood a lean young man, six feet tall, with silver-white hair that fell over vacant purple eyes. He looked almost normal. Almost human. Except for the way he stood—completely still, like a statue waiting for orders. His grimoire floated beside him, the diamond on its cover dull and quiet. The flames were gone. The jagged mineral spikes were gone. What remained was just a boy who had been turned into a weapon and was only now learning how to be something else.
Klaus emerged from the castle. He had found a spare pair of glasses—slightly bent, but functional—and a fresh Golden Dawn robe. His bruises had mostly healed thanks to Mimosa's magic, but he still moved stiffly. "The prisoners are secured. Lotus regained consciousness briefly. He tried to activate a hidden spell, but the bronze chains suppressed his mana. He won't be casting anything for a while."
"And the other one?" I asked.
"The smoke mage? Still unconscious. But stable." Klaus adjusted his glasses. "We need to transport them to the capital. The Wizard King will want to interrogate them personally. And Mars..." He glanced at the silver-haired boy. "Mars needs to come too. The Wizard King will want to talk to him. About the Diamond Kingdom's research division. About what they did to him."
Mars didn't react to his name. He just stood there, his empty eyes fixed on the horizon.
"I'll go with you," I said.
Klaus nodded. "I expected you would."
---
Finral's portal deposited us in the main courtyard of the royal palace. The white marble towers gleamed in the morning sun, and Magic Knights from various squads moved through the grounds with the easy confidence of people who belonged there. I stepped through with Mars beside me, Klaus on my other side, and the two prisoners bound and floating behind us on a platform of Klaus's bronze magic.
The moment we appeared, heads turned.
I was used to that. Six foot three, two hundred plus pounds of muscle, a wheel spinning behind my head. I stood out anywhere I went. But today, the stares felt different. People weren't just looking at me with curiosity or wariness. They were looking at me with the same expression I had seen a hundred times since joining the Black Bulls.
Disgust.
"There he is," someone whispered. A noble in Silver Eagles robes, standing near the fountain. "The freak from the Black Bulls. The one with the wheel."
"I heard his squad has negative thirty stars," another voice said. "The worst in the kingdom."
"Negative thirty? I heard it was negative forty."
"Does it matter? They're all criminals and failures. That giant probably bought his way into the exam."
"Look at him walking with a Golden Dawn member. As if he belongs."
My jaw tightened. I had heard these whispers before. In the capital. In the exam hall. Outside mission sites. Everywhere the Black Bulls went, the disgust followed. We were the laughingstock of the Magic Knights. The squad of rejects. The place where failed mages went to disappear.
I had tolerated it before. The emotional nullification had made it easy. Insults were just words. Contempt was just data. But the nullification was off now. The locks were open. And the words landed differently when you could actually feel them.
We passed a group of nobles in Golden Dawn robes. They looked at Klaus with respect, then at me with barely concealed sneers. One of them—a woman with perfectly styled blonde hair—muttered something to her companion. I caught the words "embarrassment" and "shouldn't be allowed."
Klaus noticed. His jaw tightened. "Ignore them," he said quietly. "They don't know what you did in that dungeon."
"They don't need to know. Their opinions don't matter."
"But they bother you."
I didn't answer. Because he was right. They did bother me. The emotional nullification had protected me from caring about what others thought. But now? Now I felt it. The contempt of strangers who judged me based on a squad's reputation. The disgust of nobles who saw commoners as lesser beings. The whispers that followed me everywhere I went.
I was tired of it.
---
The Wizard King's audience chamber was as impressive as always. Marble floors. Tall windows. Julius Novachrono sat behind his desk, surrounded by stacks of paperwork. Marx stood beside him, looking like he hadn't slept in three days.
"Ouga! Klaus! Welcome back." Julius's face lit up when he saw us. Then his eyes fell on Mars, on the bound prisoners, on the bronze chains. His expression shifted from welcome to focused interest. "It seems you have quite a story to tell."
We told him everything.
Klaus started with the dungeon's discovery, the race against the Diamond Kingdom mages, the encounter with Lotus and Mars. I explained the treasure room, the scroll, the Shadow Storage spell, the ten tons of weight I now carried. Klaus described the fight—Mars's mineral armor and flame cloak, Asta's second sword, Yuno's awakening spirit, my Binding Vow to seal my secret ability for a month.
Julius listened without interrupting. When we finished, he leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly. "Two Diamond Kingdom mages captured. A third—Mars—freed from their control. A dungeon cleared of its most dangerous threats. Treasure recovered. And you did all of this with a squad that still has negative stars." He smiled. "The Black Bulls continue to exceed expectations."
"About that," I said. "I have a private request. Something I want to discuss without anyone else present."
Marx looked offended. "Anything you say to the Wizard King can be said in front of me. I'm his most trusted—"
"Marx," Julius said gently. "Give us the room. Please."
Marx sputtered for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. I'll be outside." He shot me a look that said he wasn't happy about it, then walked out, closing the heavy doors behind him.
Klaus looked at me. "Should I leave too?"
"Yes."
He nodded and stepped outside. Now it was just me and Julius. And Mars, who hadn't moved or spoken since we arrived.
Julius folded his hands on his desk. "What's this about, Ouga?"
I raised my hand. My shadow stretched across the marble floor and began releasing its contents. Gold coins spilled out in glittering waves. Jeweled swords clattered against the stone. Ancient artifacts, scrolls with magical seals, gem-encrusted armor, crowns that had sat on the heads of forgotten kings—all of it poured from my shadow in an endless stream. The pile grew higher and higher until it reached the edge of his desk.
Julius's eyes went wide. "This is..."
"Nine tons of treasure," I said. "I'm keeping one ton for myself and my squad. The rest—nine tons—I want to give to the kingdom. In exchange, I want stars. Enough to get the Black Bulls out of negative. Enough to make people stop looking at us like we're garbage."
Julius stood up slowly. He walked around the pile of treasure, picking up a crown, examining a jeweled sword. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. "Nine tons of ancient dungeon treasure. Do you understand how much this is worth? You could live like a king for the rest of your life with this much wealth. And you're giving it away. For stars."
"I don't need wealth. I need respect. Not for myself—for my squad. Asta deserves to be seen as a real Magic Knight, not a joke. Noelle deserves recognition for her growth. Luck deserves to be known as more than a battle maniac. Magna, Vanessa, Gordon, Charmy—all of them. They're good people. They work hard. They save lives. And everyone treats them like failures because of a number." I looked at the treasure, then back at Julius. "Take it. Give us the stars. But I want the deal kept secret."
"Secret? Why?"
"Because if the squad finds out, they'll try to give the treasure back. Asta will say I shouldn't have sacrificed for him. Noelle will say it should have been her burden. Magna will say he should have done more. They'll feel guilty. I don't want that." I paused. "And I don't want pity. I don't want people looking at me and thinking I bought my way to respect. I want the stars to speak for themselves. Let the star increase be recorded as coming from the mission itself—the prisoners, the dungeon clearing. Nothing more."
Julius was quiet for a long moment. Then he smiled—a warm, genuine smile that reached his purple eyes. "You've changed since the last time we spoke. The last time, you were cold. Calculating. You talked about revenge like it was a math problem. Now you're standing here, giving away a fortune, because you want your friends to be respected. And you want it kept quiet so they don't feel bad." He nodded slowly. "That's growth. Real growth. Not the kind your wheel gives you. The kind that comes from the heart."
"The wheel doesn't give heart growth."
"No. I suppose it doesn't." He walked back to his desk. "I'll make the arrangements. Nine tons of treasure, donated anonymously to the kingdom's coffers. In exchange, the Black Bulls will receive a merit increase of sixty-one stars. That will bring you from negative thirty to positive thirty-one. It will be recorded as a reward for the successful completion of an S-rank mission. No mention of the treasure. No mention of your sacrifice."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. You earned this. All of it." He picked up a document and signed it. "The star increase will take effect immediately. But I'll delay the public announcement until tomorrow. That way, no one will connect it to your visit. By the time anyone notices, you'll be back at your base, and the official report will simply say the Black Bulls completed an S-rank mission with exceptional results."
I nodded. "That works."
Julius looked at Mars, who had been standing motionless throughout the entire conversation. "And you. Mars. You're not a prisoner here. You're a guest. We'll talk more later about your experiences in the Diamond Kingdom. But for now, you're safe. You're free."
Mars stared at him. "I... don't know what to do with freedom."
"Most people don't. You learn as you go." Julius smiled. "You'll figure it out. You've got good people to help you."
---
When I walked out of the audience chamber, Klaus was waiting. He looked at me with a curious expression. "What did you talk about?"
"Squad business."
"That's all you're going to say?"
"That's all I can say."
Klaus studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. Keep your secrets. But whatever you did... I have a feeling it was important."
We walked through the palace together. The same nobles who had sneered at me earlier were still gathered near the fountain. Nothing had changed. No messenger had run through the halls. No announcement had been made. The star increase was still a secret, locked in Julius's office until tomorrow.
The blonde noble who had called me an embarrassment was still smirking. Her companion still looked at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
"Look, the freak is leaving," someone muttered. "Maybe he realized he doesn't belong here."
"Negative thirty stars. What a joke."
I walked past them without a word. Klaus's jaw was tight, but he didn't say anything either. We both knew the truth. Tomorrow, those same nobles would check the squad rankings and see a number that didn't match their mockery. Tomorrow, the Black Bulls would be positive thirty-one. Tomorrow, the whispers would change.
But today, we walked in silence.
---
When I stepped through Finral's portal into the Black Bulls' common room, the squad was exactly as I had left them. Asta was doing push-ups. Noelle was reading a book. Magna was still fixing his sunglasses. Nothing had changed. No one knew what I had done.
And that was exactly how I wanted it.
Asta looked up. "Ouga! You're back! How was the Wizard King? Did he give us more stars? Did we get a reward?!"
"He said the mission report would be processed soon. We'll find out tomorrow."
"TOMORROW?! But I want to know NOW!"
"You'll survive."
"Barely!"
Noelle looked at me over her book. Her pink eyes were curious. "You were gone for a while. What did you talk about with the Wizard King?"
"Just the mission details. Mars. The prisoners. Standard debriefing."
"Hmm." She didn't look convinced. But she didn't push. "Well, you missed Charmy's lunch. She made that boar meat you like. There's still some left if you want it."
"I'll get some later."
I walked through the common room, past Magna and Luck arm-wrestling, past Gordon mumbling in the corner, past Gauche polishing his sister's picture frame. Yami was on his couch, a cigarette burning between his fingers. He looked at me with those dark, knowing eyes.
"Wizard King give you what you wanted?"
I paused. "Yes."
"Good." He didn't ask what I had wanted. He didn't ask what I had given up. He just nodded and went back to smoking. That was Yami's way. He trusted his squad to handle their own business.
I went to my room and closed the door. The weight of one ton of treasure still pressed down on my bones. The wheel still turned behind my head. The secret of what I had given away was locked inside me, where it would stay for years to come.
Tomorrow, the star rankings would update. Tomorrow, the Black Bulls would wake up to positive thirty-one stars. Tomorrow, the whispers would start to change.
But tonight, I sat in my room and let the silence wash over me. The squad didn't know. The nobles didn't know. No one knew except Julius, Marx, and me.
And that was enough.
Because I hadn't done it for recognition. I hadn't done it for gratitude. I had done it because the disgusted looks on those nobles' faces had burned something inside me. Because my squad deserved better than whispered insults and barely concealed contempt. Because Asta, Noelle, Luck, Magna, Vanessa, Gordon, Charmy—all of them—were more than a number on a board.
They were family.
And family was worth more than gold.
(Author note: phew almost forgot 😮💨)