Chapter 7: Daily Life of the Magic Knights
Magna smirked, puffing out his chest. "From today, you're officially members of the Magic Knights — the Black Bulls! Don't disappoint us, and make sure to show what you've got!"
Leo and Asta shouted in unison, "Yes, sir!"
"Good!" Magna grinned. "As a special privilege, I'll give you a grand tour of our super fortress base! Follow me, rookies!"
He led them through the dining hall, the bathhouse, and even a room full of chained magical beasts that roared from behind reinforced bars.
Eventually, they ran into a silver-haired girl.
"Oh, there you are," Magna said. "Oi, Asta, Leo — this here is your fellow recruit, another new member this year."
Asta stepped forward with his usual enthusiasm, extending a hand. "Let's do our best together!"
Leo simply stood silently to the side, observing.
The girl slapped Asta's hand away, her eyes cold. "Don't talk to me so casually, lowborn. I am Noelle Silva — of the royal Silva family."
Asta froze, momentarily shocked, then quickly stood tall again. "Who are you calling lowborn? I'm your fellow Magic Knight — what's royalty got to do with that?"
Leo sighed internally. Trouble. Better stay out of this one. He quietly stepped a few paces back.
Noelle's gaze sharpened. "You ignorant commoners never learn. Perhaps a demonstration of power will make you understand."
She raised her hand, conjuring a sphere of water. But when she cast it, her control slipped — the water bullet slammed into Magna instead.
"Oi—!" Magna's face twitched. "You damn girl, you've got guts!"
"It's your fault for standing there," Noelle said coldly.
"I'm your senior!" Magna shouted back.
"I'm royalty," she replied simply.
Their argument escalated quickly until Noelle, flushed with anger, ripped off her cloak. "What a pathetic squad. I'll withdraw my membership immediately!"
Magna growled but didn't chase after her. After a long exhale, he turned back to the others. "Forget her for now. Let's continue the tour."
By evening, everyone had their own rooms assigned.
The next morning, Leo awoke to a loud boom.
"Was that Asta again?" he muttered, climbing out of bed. When he stepped outside, he found that his room had somehow moved — again.
"This castle rearranges itself," he sighed. Whoever designed this place needs to stop. I'll have to map my room every morning at this rate.
By the time he found the exit, Asta was outside staring at Noelle.
"Such amazing mana," Asta said admiringly. "You're incredible! With some training, you'll be unbeatable. I'll have to work even harder so I don't lose to you!"
Magna appeared, stretching. "What's all this racket? You're just bad at controlling mana, huh? So what! Our Black Bulls are a team of failures anyway — your flaws fit right in!"
Hearing that, Noelle blushed, eyes glistening. She looked away quickly.
Asta extended his hand again with a grin. "Let's get along from now on."
Noelle hesitated, but this time didn't slap it away.
During breakfast, Asta leaned forward. "Hey, Magna-senpai, what exactly does the Magic Knights squad do?"
Magna nearly dropped his fork. "What?! You joined without even knowing?!" He slammed the table and launched into an over-the-top, fiery speech about justice, honor, and protecting the Clover Kingdom.
Leo listened silently and summarized it mentally: Protect the kingdom. Got it.
The other squad members chimed in with their own… unique interpretations of "duty," most of which sounded suspiciously like excuses to slack off or drink.
Not a single normal person here, Leo thought helplessly.
After breakfast, a mission notice arrived — "Boar Hunt in Sosshi Village."
Asta, Noelle, and Magna began bickering immediately when they learned the reason.
Apparently, Yami and Magna had lost a gambling match… and the penalty was a mission assignment. Worse, the losers pushed the work onto the rookies.
Leo groaned inwardly. The captain gambles? How irresponsible.
When Asta and Noelle started complaining, Yami darkened the room with his glare. "Go — or die. Pick one."
"Go!" they both shouted in unison.
Since Finral, their spatial mage, wasn't in the base, they couldn't teleport directly.
Magna huffed, scratching his head. "Tch. Guess I'll have to take you myself. But neither of you can fly — Asta's got no mana, and Noelle can't control hers."
Leo raised an eyebrow. And I can fly, but not carry anyone… this'll be a mess.
Magna grinned suddenly. "Heh. No problem! You'll ride my beloved broom! The Crimson Beast Disaster!"
Asta's eyes sparkled. "So cool!"
Noelle wrinkled her nose. "It's hideous."
Magna's vein pulsed. "What was that?!"
"I said it's hideous," Noelle repeated flatly.
He turned toward Leo. "What about you, Leo? You think it's cool, right?"
Leo smiled politely and shrugged. "It's… definitely unforgettable."
Magna burst out laughing. "Hah! Good enough! Let's go, rookies — time to show the world what the Black Bulls are made of!"
And with that, the broom roared to life, sparks flaring as it shot into the sky — carrying with it the loudest, strangest, and most unpredictable team in the entire Clover Kingdom.
"I think it looks cool," Leo said casually, glancing at Magna's broom. "She's royalty—of course she'd look down on your stuff. Makes perfect sense."
Magna's face darkened instantly, veins bulging at his temples. "You little brat…"
Grumbling under his breath, he kicked off the ground, the broom jerking forward with a rough start. Because he was carrying passengers, the flight was shaky and slow, weaving unsteadily through the air.
Leo steadied himself and sighed. At least we're moving… sort of.
As they flew, Leo took a moment to review his own abilities in case of combat.
First was Yin Seal, which allowed him to store up to ten times his normal mana. But it required an entire day of focused concentration to fill completely — otherwise, it was useless. Thankfully, the seal was now fully charged.
Second was Sealing Magic: Grimoire Seal, which allowed him to trap a mage's soul inside their grimoire, preventing it from vanishing upon death. This worked in conjunction with his third spell.
That third spell, Sealing Magic: Book of Seals, let him absorb another's grimoire into his own, granting access to the sealed spells. But the process was unstable — last time, he had only managed to absorb three pages using all of his stored mana.
His fourth ability was Barrier Magic, a spell that came to him through prolonged meditation on his grimoire. It created walls of condensed sealing mana to protect an area. However, maintaining the barrier required massive amounts of energy.
Then there was his fifth spell, Storage Seal, a fusion of barrier and sealing principles. By trapping an object within a bounded field and then sealing it inside his grimoire, he could store physical items within mana space — though it drained him considerably.
The sixth was Spell Seal, which let him temporarily store up to three spells willingly granted by others, using them later at will.
And finally, his only direct combat technique — the chain magic he'd acquired from the stolen grimoire. Chain Control, Chain Trap, and Mana-Sealing Chains. Among them, only the first was suited for active battle; the others were situational, requiring either setup or full restraints to work properly.
Leo frowned slightly. If we run into trouble, this won't be easy. I'll need to conserve my mana carefully.
His thoughts drifted to their potential enemies. Reports mentioned magic types like space, ice, fog, and water — and perhaps a fifth, unknown user.
Space magic was the one he wanted most. With it, I could travel anywhere instantly. If I can capture that spell, everything changes.
But sealing a space mage's grimoire would depend entirely on timing — and luck.
By the time he finished planning, they had reached the outskirts of Sosshi Village.
"Alright, we hunt the wild boars!" Magna shouted.
Leo stared ahead blankly. The "boars" were massive beasts wreathed in fire. "Boars? Seriously? Those look like fire demons. Who named them that?"
Asta raised his sword eagerly. "Let's go!"
Leo looped his chains around one of the beasts' legs, pulling it to the ground while Asta slammed his blade into it. Noelle stood aside, watching nervously — her unstable control made her more of a liability than help.
After felling two of the flaming creatures, Leo exhaled. "That should be enough."
He mounted his broom and rose into the air for a better view. From above, he noticed something strange — thick black smoke rising over the village.
He immediately descended. "Magna-senpai, the village — something's happening!"
"What?!" Magna looked up sharply, eyes widening.
Without hesitation, he launched himself into the sky, the others following close behind. When they arrived, a thick white fog blanketed the village, swallowing houses and streets alike.
"The whole place is covered!" Asta said. "What awful weather!"
Magna smacked him on the head. "Idiot — that's magic!"
Noelle frowned. "The mana density is incredible. If we rush in blindly, we'll get lost."
"Doesn't matter," Magna said grimly. "Something's wrong in there. Asta, use your sword to cut us a path!"
Asta blinked. "Huh? How can a sword cut through fog?"
"Because it's magic fog, moron! Your sword cancels spells!"
Asta nodded vigorously. "Got it!"
Under Magna's direction, Asta swung his sword wide. The black fog split open, revealing a narrow trail ahead.
They pushed through until they reached the village square.
All the villagers were huddled together, trembling beneath a sky filled with deadly ice spears suspended above them. A pale man stood before them, his breath cold as frost, a silver pocket watch in his hand. Four cloaked figures surrounded him like silent shadows.
When he saw the intruders, the man's emotionless voice rang out. "Execution."
The word chilled the air.
Magna reacted instantly, shouting, "Fire Magic: Scatter Shot Blazing Balls!" A volley of fiery orbs blasted upward, shattering the descending icicles.
Leo followed up, summoning chains that wrapped around the area to form a shaky defense. Gaps still remained, but it was enough to shield the terrified villagers.
"Knights have come to save us!" one of the villagers cried.
An old man, bleeding on the ground, looked up weakly. A small child beside him whispered, "Grandpa's prayer worked…"
Magna gritted his teeth. "What the hell happened here?"
He spotted the wounded village chief and rushed over. "Hey, old man! Hang in there!"
Asta and Noelle stood frozen, faces pale.
Leo narrowed his eyes. "Stay alert. These people aren't just bandits — they're killers."
Magna turned toward the pale man. "You bastard — did you do this?"
The man didn't respond. He simply checked his pocket watch and said coldly, "You've interrupted my schedule. Three seconds to execution."
He raised his hand. A massive ice spear formed in the air and hurtled toward them.
Magna's eyes widened — his mana was running low. But before he could move, Asta stepped forward, raising his sword.
With a roar, he swung down. The giant spear split cleanly in half, crashing harmlessly to either side.
Asta glared forward. "Unforgivable. Why would you do something so cruel? Who are you people?!"
The cloaked mages exchanged confused murmurs. "How did they enter the mist barrier?"
The frost mage glanced at his watch again. "Black Bulls… slothful, reckless heretics. Five minutes. Eliminate everyone and find the target."
Asta charged, fury blazing in his eyes, but one of the cloaked enemies blocked him with a weapon enchantment. Sparks flew as the two clashed, shattering the fog around them.
The frost mage's expression darkened. "I see. His sword nullifies magic. Annoying."
Asta shouted again, his voice echoing across the frozen square. "I asked you — why are you killing the people of this village?!"