"With seven stars earned, Leopold Vermillion of the Crimson Lion Kings, I grant you the title of Intermediate Magic Knight, Second Class."
Vermillion, royal.
Elara, who stood stiffly at the back of the room with the others, watched as a vermillion haired male recieved a medal.
Under normal circumstances, Elara would've been openly marveling in awe at the medals and titles. She honestly didn't know anything about there being a ranking system in the Magic Knights but even without any explanation, it was obvious what this decoration ceremony was all about.
But this isn't a normal circumstance so instead, she could be seen stiffly standing in the back with her friends. Her body language screamed anxiousness and dread, and the others were starting to question it, especially Asta and Noelle. They hadn't seen Elara like this before and it was quite alarming. What could she possibly be worried about?
"With six stars earned, Sol Marron of the Blue Rose Knights, I grant you the title of Intermediate Magic Knight, Third Class."
A tall woman with short hair went forward and accepted a medal from the Wizard King.
"With six stars earned, Solid Silva of the Silver Eagles, I grant you the title of Intermediate Magic Knight, Third Class."
Silva, Noe's older brother, royal.
Elara's hands were starting to become clammy as the decoration went on.
"With nine stars earned, Nebra Silva of the Silver Eagles, I grant you the title of Senior Magic Knight, Fifth Class."
Royal.
Sweat started building up on Elara's forehead as she bit her lower lip in nervousness.
"With seven stars earned, Hamon Caseus of the Golden Dawn, I grant you the title of Intermediate Magic Knight, Second Class."
Noble.
Elara's emotions of fear and nervousness were slowly starting to build up. Completely aware of this, Elara took a deep, silent breath, trying to conceal and control them before the others could feel her change of mana.
"With eight stars earned, Shiren Tium of the Golden Dawn, I grant you the title of Intermediate Magic Knight, First Class."
Another noble.
"With eleven stars earned, Alecdora Sandler of the Golden Dawn, I grant you the title of Senior Magic Knight, Second Class."
Noble.
Elara clenched her fists at her sides before she brought one hand up to her Black Bulls robe and adjusted it, making sure it's hiding her family emblem from sight.
"The Golden Dawn has earned a total of 71 stars. They are the clear leaders." The Wizard King said as he finished handing out the medals. "I hope the rest of squads do their best to not fall behind."
"Well done, all of you. Now then, there's a simple reception set up for you, so go enjoy yourselves." The Wizard King announced.
"Oh, I almost forgot." He added cheerily, "I've invited some special guests today."
The Magic Knights fron the other squads looked back at Elara and the others, making her stiffen up even more.
"Make sure you get to know each other very well."
Elara's eyes widened at that statement. Uncle Julius, what are you trying to do?
Suddenly, a man with blue hair in a bowl cut murmured something to the Wizrad King.
"Something came up, so I have to excuse myself, but have fun!" The Wizard King told them while waving a hand.
You're seriously leaving me here, uncle Julius?! Elara gaped at her uncle's retreating figure.
~
"All those stares are beginning to hurt." Klaus spoke up.
The newbies of the Black Bulls and the Golden Dawn along with their mentor were all gathered at one table, deeply aware of the amount of eyes on them.
Elara and Noelle, who were standing beside each other, held the same expressions on their faces as they kept their gazes down at the table.
"How are we supposed to enjoy this?" Klaus continued, "Why is the Wizard King entertaining us like this? Not to mention the Wizard King went off somewhere..."
Elara clutched her drink a little tighter at the mention of her uncle. What is he trying to accomplish from this?
"The heck is this!?" Asta shamelessly exclaimed with stars in his eyes as he eagerly ate a random dish. "I've never eaten anything like this! So good!"
The others who were at the table with him, just gaped at him.
"How can you be so bold? You're amazing, Asta." Klaus said, sweatdropping.
"No, he's just unrefined." Yuno said.
As Elara looked back down at the drink in her hand, she noticed the golden crescent embedded on her boots.
Shoot! My shoes! Elara thought with wide eyes. She discreetly looked at her surroundings from the corner of her eyes and hoped that no one noticed and if they did, they're not aware of what happened 6 years ago.
"Vulgar peasant." Someone suddenly said which caught Elara's attention. "Why did the Wizard King invite such lowborn scum?"
"I can't sense any magic from him." A female voice said this time. "Them capturing the dungeon must've been sheer luck."
"The way he eats is disgusting." Elara heard another voice speak.
"It's unnatural for him to be here. Filthy rat."
Of course it had to be those kinds of nobles... Elara thought bitterly. Her back was turned towards the nobles and royals so she didn't know who was talking.
"Man, listen to them tear into me. Good thing I'm used to it." Asta said casually as he chewed.
H-he's so forgiving! Klaus and Mimosa thought, baffled.
Typical Asta... Elara sweatdropped with an awkward closed eye smile. Though that's not actually a good thing, Asta-san...
"You also have a peasant in your squad." Another proud voice spoke. "The peasant who's forgotten his place since everyone fawns over him because of the four-leaf grimoire he has."
"I could've handled capturing that dungeon even better." The same voice claimed.
"That's quite confident, crimson brat. It's not like we expect anything from that peasant. We are the ones who embody Lord Vangeance and the Golden Dawn's ideals."
"W-with all due respect..." Klaus tried to interject.
"That goes for you as well, Klaus." Out of pure curiosity, Elara turned her head a bit to see who was talking and saw a male with spiky green hair from the corner of her eyes. She recognized him from earlier as Alecdora Samdler. "Aren't you ashamed, being here with your lack of skill?"
"And Mimosa!" The Alecdora person called. "I heard that you were wounded early on in the dungeon and left the front line. To think that you're royalty of the Vermillion line is laughable."
"I-I'm terribly sorry."
Elara's hands twitched. Calm down, Elara... stay quiet and do not intervene...
She may not be that close with them nor had she known them for a very long time, but she could clearly see that the Golden Dawn who they worked with to conquer the dungeon were honorable, brave, and most definitely strong. Hearing them be degraded was absolutely vexing.
"N-no, Mimosa was..." Klaus tried to defend Mimosa but was cut off by a look from the green haired male.
"Now, now. The most useless fool here... is you." Elara turned her gaze from Alecdora towards a male who was from the Silver Eagles and who Elara knew to be Noelle's older brother, Solid Silva. "Wouldn't you agree, Noelle?"
Elara watched with wide eyes as the man poured water on Noelle's head. Do not intervene, do not intervene...
"Solid-oniisama..." Noelle stuttered out.
"H-how could you?" Klaus asked aghast, while the others stared on in shock.
"You can't even control your magic. You're such an embarrassment." The 'Solid' person said.
"You've basically been exiled from the Silva family. I'm surprised you had the nerve to return to the Noble Realm." Without even looking, Elara already knew that this was Noelle's older sister talking.
Noelle told her about how her siblings treated her before, but she didn't know it was this horrible.
"Nebra-neesama..."
"You got a big head from one achievement. Did you come here intending to bring shame upon the Silva name?" And that must've been the Silver Eagles' Captain, Noelle's oldest brother.
"N-Nozel-oniisama..."
"You do not belong here. Begone, failure that killed our mother."
The world pulsed around Elara as those words escaped the Silver Eagles' Captain's lips.
So we're far more alike than I thought... a small smile appeared on Elara's lips as her eyes were hooded by her bangs.
Just as Noelle was about to run away, a hand grabbed her wrist stopping her from going any further.
Noelle gasped in surprise and looked back to see Elara with her usual closed eye smile. The same smile that brings warmth to whoever recieves it.
"Elara..." Noelle mumbled with wide eyes.
Elara let go of Noelle's wrist and turned around to face the three Silva siblings, the thought of not intervening completely thrown out of the window.
"Please apologize." Elara calmly requested, the smile never leaving her lips. Though it was considerably much colder than the one she sent Noelle, this was more of a polite smile than a friendly one.
Both Solid and Nebra were slightly taken aback by the lavender haired girl's interference. They wouldn't show it but they were slightly unnerved by the smile that was sent their way.
Solid cleared his throat and straightened up, "And why would we listen to you?"
Nebra, too, gathered herself back up and started inspecting the girl. Her eyes then found a certain emblem that was slightly peeking out from behind the Black Bull's robe that she wore.
Nebra's eyes widened in recognition. That's.....
To add further confirmation of what she saw, her eyes landed on the same emblem embedded on the lavender haired girl's boots.
A derisive laugh suddenly escaped Nebra's lips, making the others turn to her in confusion and curiosity.
"Well, well, well... I guess birds with the same feathers do flock together." Nebra said in amusement.
Elara's eyes twitched as she bit her lower lip in aggravation. She knew exactly what the Silva royalty was trying to imply.
"What are you talking about, Nebra? Who is this insolent brat?" Solid, who was just as confused as the others in the room, asked.
Nebra smirked and answered, "A disgrace who has come to defend her fellow disgrace."
Those in the room who hadn't met Elara or come to know her yet were still absolutely confused, except for Nozel, who had also caught sight of the emblem on her boots. Those who knew Elara, on the other hand, were both confused and enraged.
Disgrace? Why would Nebra-neesama call Elara a disgrace? Noelle thought, shocked and confused.
Elara has been nothing but brave, strong, and kind. Why would they call her a disgrace? The ones who'd been at the dungeon with her asked themselves.
"You're the only heir of the Lunate House aren't you?" Nebra asked, which seemed to trigger not only Solid's memory, but also the recognition of the nobles in the room.
Lunate? The noble house that's rarely seen outside their manor but are filthy rich and respectable?
Solid's eyes widened as she looked from his sister to the girl standing defiantly in front of them. "You mean she's..."
"The same heir that murdered her parents." Nebra finished.
The whole room was sent into a state of shock as they stared wide eyed at Nebra and the lavender haired girl, who's head was now lowered, her bangs hiding her eyes.
The noble house that was highly respected in the noble realm had a disgraced heir that killed her parents? This was definitely astonishing news to the people in the room.
Murdered..? Klaus thought, stupefied.
"Her parents...?" Asta whispered to himself, dumbfounded.
E..lara..? Noelle seemed to be the most shocked out of everyone in the room at the revelation.
The Silver Eagles' captain, on the other hand, stayed silent and looked uncomfortable for a solid second before returning back to his normal look of indifference before anybody could even notice. He might look and seem cold and cruel on the outside, but making fun of someone in this kind of personal level was a bit too far even for him. Especially when he knew the whole story of how it all happened.
6 years ago, after the incident happened, the neighbors were alarmed when a huge explosion befell upon the Lunate Manor. They immediately contacted the Magic Knights, and the Silver Eagles were the ones that were sent to investigate. It was just Elara's luck that the ones that happened to lead that investigation was the one and only Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva, and his sister, Nebra Silva. Though it was only Nozel who learned the history, nature, and truth of how that incident had come to; Nebra was only told that this happened because of a curse.
"I'm surprised that you could even show your face in public. Your grandmother might've saved you from getting detained with the excuse of a family curse but murder is still a crime."
Curse? This definitely caught a certain briar mage's attention.
"I can't believe the Black Bulls even accepted you. You'll just soil the name of the Magic Knights." Nebra snarkily remarked. "But then again, the Black Bulls did take in an ex-convict and a whole bunch of other weirdos, and it's not like their name is not already soiled."
Nebra smirked, looking satisfied that she shut up the brat who dared talk back to them.
Asta clenched his fists and was about to stand up for his comrades but Elara beat him to it.
"Please apologize." Elara repeated, still looking at the ground.
"Why you insolent—" Nebra was triggered and was about to make a nasty comment when Elara finally looked back up to meet her eyes.
"You can insult and make fun of me all you want, but what I can't tolerate..." Elara trailed off, unknowingly letting her curse take over, which sent off a threatening wave of mana all over the room.
Chills ran down everyone's spine as an ominous and overwhelming rush of mana flooded the room.
"..is when you insult and make fun of my friends."
Yes, the words that were thrown at her hurt. Of course they did! Despite the fact that she had been enduring those kinds of insults everytime she came across a noble who knew, it still reached the depths of her heart and it stuck there with no intention of leaving. But even though they hurt and all she wanted to do was cry like she did every other time, she couldn't do that here. Not now when her friends were involved.
Though, after this, she might not even have any friends left. They're all probably scared and freaked out of her after hearing about what she did in the past.
Despite being incredibly unnerved by the immense mana that was coming from the girl in front of her, Nebra let her pride take the wheel and summoned her grimoire.
"You disrespectful brat! I'll have to teach you some manners right here, right now. Mist Binding Magic: Mist Spider's Threads."
Mist came charging out towards Elara and surrounded her, but before she could do anything about it, a certain magicless boy sliced through it with his sword, nullifying it.
Nebra gasped in shock as he stared at the ash blonde male that intervened with her 'nice little chat' with Elara.
Asta had enough. He listened and watched as these prickly and judgmental nobles berated him, the Black Bulls, and even the Golden Dawn members who helped them through the dungeon, and he had enough. He didn't care if Mimosa had been taken out of the battle from the start when they were at the dungeon, he didn't think Klaus lacked talent, he didn't care that Noelle couldn't control her powers, and he didn't care that Elara was cursed and had a disturbing past. They were all his friends, friends that he treasured despite their faults.
Asta climbed and stood on a table as he faced the people in the room.
"Calling us peasants, rats, embarrassments, disgraces... Who cares if you think we're worthy or not!?" Asta exclaimed.
Elara stared at Asta, shocked. ..he doesn't care..? Even after finding out about what I did?
This definitely helped in calming Elara down, her curse temporarily yielding in that moment as her heart was warmed by her friend's words and actions. It did not, however, help clear her mind of the dark thoughts that were slowly consuming it.
"Just you watch! I'm going to—" Asta was cut off when sand suddenly rushed around Asta, making Elara and the others near the table jump back to avoid getting caught in it too.
"Silence!" It was Alecdora, who had his grimoire opened in front of him.
"I won't shut up!" Asta yelled back, cutting through the sand, nullifying that too.
"Listen up, you bastards! I'm going to pile up merit, become the Wizard King, and shut you all up!"
He was greeted with silence as everyone in the room gaped at him, though the others not so openly, Klaus, Noelle, and Mimosa, on the other hand, certainly did.
"Not a chance." Yuno said with his own smile as he watched his friend.
Even though the issue about her murdering her parents was now overshadowed by Asta's bold proclamation, Elara stayed quiet as her mind still lingered on the harsh words that were thrown at her.
Murder is still a crime... a crime...
"Become..."
"...the Wizard King?"
So as Elara stayed completely silent and motionless at the side, her thoughts and insecurities drowned out the clash of magical powers that would, in any normal circumstance, have her excited.
"Don't make us laugh!" Nebra and Solid said, laughing as they took out their grimoires.
"Water Binding Magic: Sea Serpent's Coils!" A snake made out of water emerged from behind Solid and came slithering through the air and towards Asta.
Asta easily cut through it, making Solid widen his eyes from shock. "What?"
"Mist Binding Magic: Mist Spider's Threads." Nebra tried to use the spell she cast earlier against Asta again but to no avail.
I knew it, he's erasing the magic. He's no ordinary peasant. Alecdora thought as he had observed how the ash blonde fought.
But... he flipped open his grimoire. If that's his attack range, then there's no reason for concern.
"Sand Creation Magic: Sand-Armored Guard!" A sand knight in sand armor rose from the ground and wrapped its arms around Asta, restrain him from doing anything else.
"A-Asta-san!" Mimosa exclaimed in worry.
"I-I think that's enough." Klaus stuttered out in attempt to prevent Asta from getting into serious trouble.
"Keep your mouth shut." Alecdora ordered, which made Klaus concede. "To act in such a way at a festive occasion like the decoration ceremony... You will surely be punished."
"Come on, now..." Solid said, walking forward, "Why so soft, Golden Dawn?"
"Anyone that self-confident needs to be taught a lesson." He flipped open his grimoire and summoned water to form a huge bullet above him.
"That's.." Noelle exclaimed in alarm.
"So that they can never talk back again!"
"Solid-oniisama, please don't!" Noelle yelled, trying to stop her brother.
From the side, Yuno could be seen taking his grimoire out of its holder, just in case he needed to step in.
"Holy Water Bullet!" Solid ignored Noelle's pleas and released the water bullet, which sailed through the air.
"Asta!"
But before the water bullet could hit him, Asta forced an arm out from the sand with a lot of effort, and took out his other anti-magic sword from within it. He then cut through the sand Knight before hitting the water bullet with the flat surface of his sword, sending the bullet hurtling right back towards its original caster.
"Apologize to Noelle and Elara!" Asta yelled as the water bullet hit Solid.
Before the water bullet actually hit him, Solid was able to make a small shield of water, lessening the force of the spell. Though he still took some damage as he was forced to kneel on the ground.
Yuno put his grimoire back inside its holder, seeing as his intervention wasn't needed after all.
Did you just make me kneel? Solid gritted his teeth as he looked at the ash blonde boy in front of him.
"You lowly peasant!" He yelled in rage, standing back up. "I'm not holding back anymore!"
Asta narrowed his eyes as he took his stance, prepared for whatever the arrogant royal will throw at him.
"Solid-oniisama, p-please, no more..." Noelle, once again, tried to stop her brother from trying to hurt Asta any further.
Though before any of the two males could make the first move, a sudden chilling aura filled the room. Compared to Elara's, this one was way more nerve wracking and fearful.
Asta and Solid immediately froze as they felt the immense pressure. They both turned to look and saw that it was Nozel who was emitting the bleak and powerful mana.
While the others in the room were cautiously watching the oldest Silva strut towards Solid and Asta, Elara had yet to even notice the change in atmosphere much less snap out of her depressing thoughts.
"Nozel-oniisama?" Solid managed to say despite the lump in his throat.
"Solid, don't be so quick to use your magic on a mere peasant." The Captain of the Silver Eagles said.
"B-but..." Solid stammered out but was immediately cut off.
"Silence." Nozel commanded. "Do you plan to shame the Silva family?"
At this, Solid immediately conceded, turning away from his brother with his head hung low.
What is this chill in the air? Asta thought in apprehension. It's a cold pressure that's different from Captain Yami's... This is the Captain of the Silver Eagles?
"A peasant that foolishly tried to defy royalty... How shall I punish you?" Nozel asked with his usual cold look.
Asta gritted his teeth as he prepared himself for what's coming.
Wh-what should I do? At this rate, Asta will... Klaus contemplated.
Just as Nozel started to raise his hand, a voice interfered, making the pressure in the room diminish rapidly. "That's enough."
Nozel turned his head to find the Captain of the Crimson Lions.
"You're getting so worked up over a little boy." The older vermillion haired male said. "And reproaching the only daughter of the noble house that's entitled as the top contributor in the Kingdom? You should be ashamed of yourself, Silvas."
Top contributor..!? Elara's family!? The dungeon group turned to look at the said lavender haired girl—who was still spacing out—in shock.
Asta turned his own head around only to find what looked to be the younger brother of the Captain of the Crimson Lions staring at him.
The younger vermillion haired male suddenly started laughing, startling the ash blonde.
"It's just as Mimosa said. You're quite amusing!" The vermillion haired teen said.
"Huh?" Asta muttered out, befuddled.
"All right, rejoice! I, Leopold Vermillion l, declare you my rival!" The vermillion haired male announced proudly with a boisterous laugh in the end.
"What was your name? Casta?" Leopold asked while walking towards Asta.
"Leopold, it's Asta. He's Asta." Mimosa informed from the sides.
Leopold laughed once more and patted Asta's shoulder, "Asta, eh? That's a great name, my rival!"
"R-rival?!" Asta asked, incredulously.
"Come, now! Rejoice!" Leopold laughed as he kept patting Asta's shoulder. Though after he noticed that Asta wasn't rejoicing, he stopped laughing and faced Asta seriously. "Rejoice." He repeated in a more demanding tone.
"Y-yay..." Asta hesitantly cheered, sweatdropping.
"Vermillion..." Yuno mumbled, thoughtfully.
"Leopold and Fuegoleon are my cousins." Mimosa answered Yuno's thoughts. She then went on explaining their family tree to which Yuno deadpanned a "Too many royals." in reply.
"Um... Thanks, but my rival's actually Yuno, who's standing over there." Asta said, looking over at where Yuno was.
Leopold only laughed and continued his assault on Asta's shoulder, "No worries! One can never have too many rivals!"
"What the heck?" Asta muttered to himself.
"Hey, Asta! You have a very nice body!" Leopold marveled as he started rubbing Asta's shoulders, feeling his muscles. "You are indeed qualified to be my rival! All right! Let us arm wrestle."
"Why!?" Asta asked, incredulously.
"Guys really are dumb, aren't they, Sis?" A Blue Rose Knight commented as she happily ate.
"Mind your manners, Sol." The Captain of the Blue Rose Knights said.
"My bad, Sis!"
"Call me 'Captain', Sol."
"My bad, Sis!"
"Sol..."
"I know, Sis!"
The Blue Rose Knight even added one final "Sis!" to finish off.
"Come at me!" Leopold exclaimed, holding his hand out, fully prepared to arm wrestle right here, right now.
"Is now really the time?!" Asta asked.
Leopold once again laughed, "Why are you holding back? Come!"
"What?!"
Becoming Leopold's rival... Asta truly is amazing! Mimosa thought as she watched Leopold and Asta interact.
"My, aren't we all so very noisy today?" A rather plump member of the Golden Dawn commented as he ate.
Looks like things have calmed down. Klaus thought while pushing his glasses up, relieved.
"A royal acknowledging a peasant as his rival?"
It looked like Klaus spoke too soon...
They're right. I'm not worthy enough to become a Magic Knight of the Clover Kingdom. I've committed a terrible crime and I wasn't even punished for it! I shouldn't even be here. I don't belong here. What was I thinking when I tried to apply for the Magic Knights?
I'm a disgrace!
I tarnished the good name of Lunate and murdered my parents. I should be rotting in prison right now as atonement for my sins... Elara thought, wallowing in self pity that she didn't even notice when the two royal Captains started to clash tremendous mana against each other.
What did catch her attention though was when a mage suddenly burst through the door, bearing bad news.
"The capital is under attack!"
Elara immediately snapped out if her trance, her head quickly snapping towards the mage that just came in.
The capital's under attack? Elara's eyes widened as her brain finally processed the news.
Nanna!