chapter 11: Castle town, Kikka

Black Bulls Hideout-

"Hahahaha! You guys really had a rough time out there! Whatever... Good job, you idiots."

Yami's laughter echoed through the hideout as the Black Bulls reported on their mission.

Noelle frowned as she thought, 'Why is he so happy?'

"YES, SIR!" Asta and Magna shouted in unison.

"The Magic Investigation Department is examining the criminals left behind, but so far, they haven't gotten any important info from it. The pocket watch left behind was valuable. Considering that and how they acted, it's possible that they were extremists or dissidents from the Noble Realm." Vanessa then got distracted by the anti-magic bird on top of Rown's head, who he had named Nero.

"We'll it doesn't matter. In recognition of your action..., The Wizard King has awarded us a star." Yami pulled out a golden star and showed it off to the Black Bull members.

"Whooooooa! For real!?"

"A star? What's a star!?" Asta exclaimed in surprise.

Vanessa explained, "The nine Magic Knight squads compete to see how many stars they can collect. It's an honor thing. The Golden Dawn's at the top right now. They've seventy."

"Great! It's a nice, neat minus thirty! And here's your pay for this month!" Yami pulled out a bag of coins and handed them to Asta and Rowan.

"Whooooaa! Money!? Thank you so much, Yami!" Asta exclaimed in excitement, his eyes lighting up as he grabbed the bag of coins.

"Yes! This money will go a long way. The kids back at the church can probably eat something besides potatoes now. I'm sure they'll be really happy." Rowan smiled, happy to know that their hard work was paying off.

"This is barely anything," Noelle said, shaking her head.

"ARE YOU NUTS!? I COULD BUY 2,000 NOMOTATOES WITH THIS MONEY!" Asta exclaimed, waving the bag of coins around.

Noelle raised an eyebrow and asked, "Nomotatoes? What's that?"

"It's a potato from Hage," Rowan explained.

Vanessa smiled and asked, "Congratulations on your first pay day! This means you'll want to go shopping in the castle town, right? I'm free. I'll take you."

"No, that's okay," Rowan said, shaking his head. "I have to send money to the church. I'm not much of a shopper."

"Come on, Rowan! You don't have to buy anything! You gotta come with us! Right, Noelle!?" Asta said, giving Noelle a hopeful look.

Noelle got flustered by the sudden question. "I-I uh... I don't c-care what he does," she stammered, blushing slightly. "I mean, it's up to him. He can do whatever he wants."

"Oh! You're not getting away from me," Vanessa said with a mischievous grin. "I'm going to make sure you all have a good time. Come on, let's go!"

Rowan sighed, "Uh... OK. Well, since you want me to go, everyone, I guess I'll go."

Then they traveled to Castle town, Kikka, a bustling marketplace full of stalls, shops, and vendors. There was a wide variety of items to choose from, ranging from food, clothing, weapons, trinkets, and more.

"There's all sorts of yummy loking fruit I've never seen before! And there's tons of magic stuff here! Geez, that's expensive! This place is really nice... Sister Lily and the church kids would like this place, right Rowan?" Asta said, unintentionally or intentionally forgetting father Orsi.

Rowan smiled and nodded. "Yes, they would love it here."

Commoner 1: Hey... That robe... Aren't those Magic Knights!

Commoner 2: "That s.. Eeep! they are Black Bulls!"

Commoner 3: "That little guy?"

Commoner 1: "Over there... That's Vanessa, the Black Bull's lush witch! Talk about hot."

Commoner 3: "So the cutie next to her is a Black Bull too!?"

Commoner 2: "Who's that white-haired guy?"

Commoner 1: "Whoa! He looks cool!"

"There's a lot of commotion," Noelle said, looking around at the crowd.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just having Magic Knights deters criminals," Vanessa said with a smile.

Vanessa led them down an alley, and they came to a stop in front of a small stall.

"This is just an alley..."

Suddenly, the alleyway was gone, replaced by a bustling marketplace full of numerous stalls lined up next to the walls. Merchants sold a variety of items, ranging from food, clothing, weapons, trinkets, and more.

"It's the Black Market! It's a teensy bit dangerous, but they've got some super effective stuff here," Vanessa said with a wink."

"Yes, I've been here before. I'm familiar with the area," Rowan said, looking around at the crowd.

Noelle's eyes widened in amazement at the sheer variety of items the Black Market had to offer.

"You can't control your magic yet, right?" Noelle nodded, and Vanessa smiled. "Well, there's plenty of magic items here that can help with that. You just have to be careful, because some of them might have a nasty surprise." She winked and started browsing the stalls.

Asta quickly got distracted and ran off to explore the other stalls and vendors. Meanwhile, Rowan leisurely walked around the marketplace, taking in the sights and marveling at the variety of items being sold.

When Rowan was wandering the stalls, he suddenly spotted a familiar face and realized it was Charlotte, the captain of the Blue Rose squad. He was surprised to see her here at the Black Market, and he was about to go over and say hello when he noticed she was deep in conversation with a merchant. He decided to leave her be and continued exploring the market.

"It's always good for wondering around right, Char," Sol said with a grin.

"Call me Captain Sol, and focus on -"

"HEY...! MS. "CHARLOTTE!" Rowan shouted, catching Charlotte's attention.

Charlotte's face turned red as she quickly turned her head only to see Rowan coming towards her direction.

"Hello, Ms. Charlotte! You're here too?" Rowan said as he approached her. Last time we saw each other at the entrance exam, you looked angry. I just wanted to make sure I didn't offend you in any way."

"N- no I- it's not like that!" Charlotte nervously stammered as her face grew even redder.

"Oh really? That's fine then," Rowan said with a smile. "It's a shame that the Blue Rose Squad is only for girls, or I would have joined you!"

"Really?" Charlotte asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeah, you offered me to join because I helped you that day, right?" Rowan said, his smile widening.

"I- I..." Charlotte didn't know what to say, and then Sol, who had been ignored, quickly jumped in. "Hey! Who do you think you are talking to Char like this?" Sol said, scowling at Rowan.

"Sol! Stop this in an instant," Charlotte glared at her and then looked at Rowan. 'Calm down, calm down, *inhale-exhale*' she thought and then said, 'I'm sorry for her rude behavior, Rowan. Anyways, what are you doing in a place like this?"

"It's okay," 'I know how Blue Rose members were all hostile towards men' he thought before continuing, "It was just that I received my first pay yesterday so Vanessa took us here for shopping."

Charlotte raised her brow, but before she could say anything, suddenly, a gust of wind blew from behind, causing Rowan to stumble forward towards Charlotte. His head clanged with her helmet, and his bright blue eyes were suddenly dangerously close to her own blue eyes. Charlotte's face turned even reder than before, and her eyes widened in surprise. The sudden closeness of the situation caused Charlotte to... faint. Rowan slowly got up, his cheeks flushed pink.

"Ahh....that hurts a little, I'm sorry, Ms. Charlotte! What?" He noticed that Charlotte had fainted, and Soul quickly put her head to her lap and glared at Rowan. "What did you do to her?! You better explain yourself!"

"Did I just knock a captain of the Magic Knights out with my head? That's impossible!" Rowan exclaimed in surprise. He was quickly brought back to reality by the old woman's voice.

"My winnings....stop!"

Then he looked at the guy who pushed him and saw he was flying on his magic spell. "Oh, so he was the one who pushed me," he thought. "Sorry miss..., I think it's Sol, but I need to go. Please tell Ms. Charlotte that I didn't do this on purpose."

Rowan quickly activated his spell, "[Ice God's Thundering Foot]," and dashed towards the thief. He glanced at Asta, who was also following the thief, before quickly picking up speed and trying to catch up.

Asta then threw his sword at the man, cutting through his magic. Sekke then appeared, smashing into the thief and sending him to the ground.

Sekke then proudly declared, "The credit is all mine! I caught the thief!"

"[Paralysis Knife]"

Sekke let out a loud cry of pain as the thief stabbed him in the foot.

"Are you ok!?" Asta shouted as he ran towards Sekke.

"You're the one who took me down, Asta. The top is for you...for me as well! I'm entrusting my dream to you. I know you can do it, Asta. I believe in you!"

Asta chopped him across the face and shouted, "Don't shove your important stuff onto me! LIVE! Make your dream come true yourself! Don't you dare give up, you idiot!" He then grabbed Sekke's hand and pulled him to his feet.

"He got stabbed in the foot, but he'll be fine."

The girls finally managed to catch up to the boys and saw Asta helping Sekke to his feet.

Vanessa quickly took out a jar of ointment from her bag and applied it to Sekke's wound. "There's no way you'd die from this. It's just a temporary numbing poison. I'll put some of the shique ointment I just bought on it. It'll be fine in no time." She said reassuringly.

Sekke then got up immediately right after, his face lighting up with determination. "Train harder until we meet again, Asta!" he shouted before running away as he saw Rowan coming towards them.

"See you later, Har!"

Rowan watched as the Black Bulls returned the winnings to the old lady. He eyed her suspiciously, feeling that there was something off about her. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to her than she was letting on.