A week had passed since the whole Dungeon exploration escapade and Grim, Asta, and Noelle were all invited to give their report to the magic knight's headquarters. Unfortunately, Yami believed that Luck would cause trouble if he went along so he sent on a mission with Magna.
Also during the week, Grim and Asta discovered the secret behind his new anti-magic sword. After a bit of trial and error, they eventually found out that this sword could absorb and contain magic before sending it back.
---
"ITS SO HUGE!!" Asta exclaimed as he looked at the magic knight's headquarters.
"Keep it down moron! You're embarassing us!" Noelle chastised.
Rolling his eyes, Grim was about to say something but stopped when he saw Yuno and the others from the Golden Dawn ahead of them.
Feeling eyes on them, Yuno and his group turned around and raised their eyebrows when they saw Grim and his friends.
"Grim!" Klaus ran over to his side and started looking him over. During this past week he was still trying to understand how Grim was able to use fire magic despite using a different kind of magic with his beast swords. Unlike Mars from the diamond kingdom, Grim's grimoire didn't look like it had been tampered with and it seemed like his magic was organic.
"Boundries dude."
"Oh!" Realizing how strange he must look right now, Klaus quickly backed off and gave Grim some breathing room.
"Hey Mimosa." Noelle greeted her cousin.
"Noelle!" A delighted look appeared on Mimosa's face as the memory of Noelle laying a pool of her own blood was still fresh in her mind. "Are you okay?! Are your injuries all healed up?! Does it hurt anywhere?!"
Seeing how concerned she was for her, Noelle felt a gentle warmth spread through her chest.
"I'm fine. Your healing magic was really effective."
"Really! I'm so happy to hear that."
While the two girls were busy chatting, Asta and Yuno looked at each other before Klaus interrupted and lead the group towards the entrance.
"So you guys are here to give in your report as well?" Grim asked while they walked.
"Yeah, our captain wanted us to rest first so we waited a week to do it. What about you guys?" Mimosa asked while giving Grim a weird look. After seeing how serious he got after Noelle got hurt, she couldn't help but imagine what it'd feel like if someone got that upset over something bad happening to her. Not to mention that she thought he looked really cool when Mars's crystal armour exploded. Just remembering how his yellow eyes glowed in the light of the fire caused her to blush slightly.
Hearing her question, Grim started to wonder why they had waited so long to deliver their report to the magic knight's headquarters.
"I guess our captain forgot." Was the only answer he could come up with.
While walking forward, the group suddenly stopped after encountering a middle aged man with short messy blond hair and blue eyes standing at the entrance of the magic knight headquaters.
'Who's this guy?'
Looking at the stranger, a weird feeling wrapped itself around Grim's heart as he felt the blood in his body start to boil.
'This guy... He's strong.'
Despite not releasing a ton of mana, Grim could sense that this guy wasn't someone he could deal with in his current state. Unlike Yami who had an oppressive aura, the aura coming off this guy was too peaceful, gentle even. But something about it filled Grim with a sense of dread.
"Y-Your majesty!" Klaus sudden kneeled.
'Your majesty?'
Taking a closer look at the guy, the most noticeable about him was the six pointed blue star on the left side of his forehead.
Copying Klaus's actions, Noelle and Mimosa also kneeled.
"Hey Grim." Asta whispered. "Who the flashy old guy?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Grim was just as confused as Asta and Yuno.
"You fools!!" Klaus suddenly snapped and turned to look at them while remaining kneeled. "How could you not recognize the face of the wizard king Julius Novachrono!"
"...EHH!!!" Asta gasped.
'So this is the wizard king... No wonder I feel so uncomfortable around him. This guy's the top dog of this kingdom.'
"Ahem, I have amnesia so its only natural that I wouldn't recognize him." Grim commented so as to not look like a fool.
"You're excused Grim, but the other two definitley aren't! Especially you Yuno! As a member of the Golden Dawn how could you not know the face of the current wizard king?!"
"I-
"Don't speak! BOW!!" Grabbing the top of Asta's head, Klaus pulled him down so that he was kneeling like the rest of them. Following their actions, Yuno also kneeled but never took his eyes off of the wizard king. By the end of it only Grim was left standing.
"What are you doing! Bow!" Klaus chastised.
Taking a look at the wizard king, Grim felt the blood in his body becoming restless as the thought of bowing to someone who he was planning to overcome didn't mesh well with him.
"I don't bow."
"Grim!" Klaus suddenly shouted.
'Oh?' The wizard king looked at him with a bit of surprise before stepping forward.
"Now, now kids. Lets keep things harmonious shall we?"
"Yes your majesty!" Klaus lowered his head.
"Great, now follow me, I'll be the one in charge of overseeing your report."
---
After following the wizard king to a weird tower, Grim and the rest reported their findings to the wizard king. Asta presented his sword to him whereas Yuno showed him the unfamiliar words that had appeared in his grimoire. By the time they were finished, Asta was gushing over the wizard king.
"Um, Mr wizard king sir, is it okay if I ask a question?"
"Go for it." He smiled.
"Well... How do I become the wizard king?!" Both he and Yuno spoke in union catching everyone off guard.
'Yuno wants to become the wizard king as well?'
While having not really conversed with him for a long time, Grim thought that he was the mature one in their Asta and Yuno duo.
The surprise Julius was feeling only lasted a second as he soon started to chuckle.
"So you two are both aiming to become the next wizard king eh? It nice to see young people with such ambition."
"I can't believe it!" Klaus started. "To think that you two would be so tactless as to ask that to the current wizard king. Listen up you two, to be the wizard king you must have a noble heart, the trust of the people and the-
"No." Julius suddenly interrupted him with a tone that greatly differed from his earlier casual attitude. "Its merit. The only thing that matters on the road to this position is the amount of merit that you accumulate. Having a noble heart means nothing if you can't protect those around you, and the trust you're talking about only comes after you've proven yourself through your actions."
Listening to the king's words, a feeling of surprise sprouted from Grim's heart. He expected the king to say some flowery words like never giving up or some bullshit about working hard, but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined just how to the point he was.
"Do you know what the people of this kingdom want from the wizard king?" Julius continued.
Everyone shook their heads.
"Merits that prove that they are the best." He then turned to look at Grim. "Do you also aspire to be the wizard king?"
"No." He shook his head. "Having a title is nice and all, but I don't want something that ties me down like your role does."
"Oho, then what is it that you wish to achieve by being a magic knight?"
"Strength." He immediately answered and clenched his fists. "I want to see just how far I can go relying on my own power."
"Is that so..." Julius smiled and turned away. "Before you guys arrived, we were actually in the middle of holding a decoration ceremony for the magic knights who've been awarded an outstanding number of stars today."
"Decoration ceremony?" Asta repeated with visible confusion.
"It's a ceremony where we award those who have done exceptionally well. I'd like it if you could attend."
"Really!" Asta exclaimed.
"Of course, please follow me." Without turning back to look at them, Julius headed towards a door with everyone trailing him from behind.
"Now Asta and Yuno, you said you wanted to be the next wizard king right? In that case, do you think you'll be able to accumulate more merits than these guys?" Opening the door, the sight of of two clover kingdom captains and members of nobility enter their eyes.