Lily, Asta, Noelle, and Magna reported their mission to Captain Yami who started laughing out loud, saying they had their hands full on that mission. He kept on laughing and Asta asked if this was really the time to be laughing.
"Why not kid? Is being sad gonna bring Seihi back, huh?" Captain Yami replied.
"No. You're exactly right Yami Sir! Seihi wouldn't want our sorrow. He was a man of laughter. Come on, let's laugh for the old guy." Magna said firmly as he started laughing too. Asta, then Lily, then Noelle joined him, laughing nervously. It was awkward.
"Okay that's enough. It's a real shame what happened to Seihi, but you protected the villagers. Hold your heads high. You did a good job. So be proud of yourselves you idiots." Captain Yami said.
"Sir!" Magna, Asta, and Lily said together.
"Thank you." Noelle said while slightly averting her gaze. There was a faint blush on her face as if she was flattered. Asta then looked over to Magna and asked what he was doing with his hand. Magna was in disbelief that he didn't know the Magic Knight salute. He explained its symbolism and told Asta to try it which he did. Just then, Finral and Vanessa came back through a portal.
"We're back." Finral said.
"We heard about Saussy Village. Good work out there." Vanessa complimented the four of them.
"Thanks! It was a tough mission, but we did our best." Asta said as Lily nodded in confirmation.
"We visited the Magic Investigation Department, Captain." Finral informed Captain Yami.
"Yeah? Good. Did you learn anything?" Captain Yami asked Finral and Vanessa.
"Like who the hell that guy was? I'll find his hideout and tear it apart! And the same thing goes for the one that got away." Magna said with strong emotions behind his words.
"Yeah about that guy... The investigators checked the area and went over the things he left behind, but so far no dice." Vanessa revealed.
"What good are they then?!" Magna said as he threw a fireball at the wall out of frustration.
"That's enough! Hear me?! QUIT BREAKING EVERYTHING!" Captain Yami yelled as a menacing purple aura surrounded him and he punched the wall behind him, making a large hole in it. Magna immediately apologized. As the dust cleared, Finral brought up an important detail.
"That pocket watch was pretty nice. Not something just anybody would own." Finral pointed out.
"That's true. Also, based on the remarks he made about commoners, I'd say we're looking at somebody at fairly high rank." Vanessa brought up another good point.
"Royalty or at least nobility." Magna specified as Noelle looked off to the side. Suddenly, the anti bird that had been following Asta around popped up out of his hair.
"Oh! Who's this? Cutie pie!" Vanessa said, referring to the bird on Asta's head.
"What's so cute about this pest?" Asta said as Noelle looked at it with eyes full of admiration.
"Um only everything!" Noelle said as the bird started pecking Asta on the head and flew away when he tried to grab it.
"Come here little one." Noelle said to the bird as it paused then flew away from her. Noelle seemed a little devastated that it rejected her.
"Ugly feathered little nuisance! I'm gonna fry you up for dinner!" Asta said as he got his sword out.
"Asta, I don't think that would be enough meat for dinner." Lily said, but he was too busy trying to get the bird.
"You won't lay so much as a finger on him!" Noelle said as she formed a swirling water spell and aimed it at Asta who was chasing the bird around the room.
"Say your prayers birdie!" Asta yelled as he went after the bird, swinging his sword at it.
"I told you to leave him alone!" Noelle said as she cast her water spells at Asta, creating holes in the walls of the hideout.
"You guys, you're gonna make Captain Yami mad!" Lily yelled but it was no use.
"Are you two trying to destroy the whole building here?!" Captain Yami yelled as he punched another huge hole in the wall. Asta and Noelle stopped what they were doing and immediately apologized to Captain Yami, bowing to him apologetically.
"Okay everybody shut up and listen. Doesn't make a difference whether the guy is royalty, nobility, whatever. We'll leave the investigation to the pros and wait for the report to come in. Now that's settled, I've got some good news for you." Captain Yami said.
"Good news? About what?" Asta, Lily, and Noelle asked simultaneously.
"Ya wanna hear?" Captain Yami asked as Asta and Lily got all hyped up.
"Yeah, of course we do!" Asta and Lily said together.
"Believe it or not, the Wizard King himself has recognized your efforts." Captain Yami said as Asta's interest was piqued even more.
"The Wizard King?" Asta said.
"For your work in Saussy Village, the Wizard King awarded us a star." Captain Yami said as Manga and Asta got all pumped and Noelle flicked her twin tail behind her shoulder.
"Wow nice!" Vanessa said, complimenting Asta, Lily, Noelle, and Magna.
"Congrats you four." Finral congratulated them. Then Asta asked what the star meant and Magna was once again astonished at how clueless he was.
"You're celebrating when you don't even know?" Magna said in disbelief.
"It's a symbol. The Wizard King gives them to people who perform great deeds." Vanessa explained as Asta asked what it's good for. She then explained that it's an honor.
"Ya get it now? It's an honor. A real medal for us real men." Magna said, putting his arm around Asta.
"And women too, don't forget." Noelle added.
"A real medal for us real men and women!" Magna said enthusiastically as Noelle sighed and said how he doesn't make any sense half the time. Then Vanessa said it was also a competition, how the squads compete to get the most. Finral then added that stars were an indicator of a squad's achievements. The more stars a squad has, the more successful it is.
"Right now, the Golden Dawn is ranked highest in terms of stars and they've got seventy." Vanessa said as Asta repeated the number out of shock. Then he asked how many stars the Black Bulls had.
"How many do we have? With this one we're officially at negative thirty now." Captain Yami said as he added the star to the star board on the wall. Asta was in complete shock at how far behind Yuno's squad his squad was.
"Alright just one more thing. Your wages for this month." Captain Yami said as he gave everyone a bag of yul. Asta was amazed at how much money was in his bag while Noelle was unimpressed with the amount.
"Barely pocket change." Noelle said as Asta was shocked at her statement.
"Wow are you kidding me?! This could buy ten years worth of pot potatoes easy!" Asta said as Noelle asked what pot potatoes were. He explained what they were.
"They sound disgusting." Noelle said after hearing his description of pot potatoes.
"Well they're not at all! Everything that Sister Lily cooks comes out great!" Asta said as Noelle's curiosity was piqued.
"And who is that?" Noelle asked Asta.
"The beautiful woman I decided I was going to marry someday." Asta said as Noelle and Lily couldn't believe they were hearing. Noelle couldn't believe it because Sisters were women of the cloth and can't marry. Lily couldn't believe it because Asta said he was over his infatuation with Sister Lily now. She stared at him in utter disbelief.
"What?! Sister means she's a woman of the cloth. You do know they can't marry." Noelle said as Asta seemed shocked.
"I was gonna make it work somehow. It's all about surpassing my limits." Asta said as Noelle turned to him.
"Are you insane?!" Noelle said as Lily gave Asta a jealous glare right before punching him hard in the shoulder.
"Ow! That really hurt! What was that for Lil?!" Asta asked Lily, rubbing his shoulder. Lily just crossed her arms and pouted angrily at him, saying nothing. Vanessa then approached the three of them.
"Congratulations on your first payday! So whatcha gonna spend it on?" Vanessa said as she put her arm over Asta's shoulder, making him blush. Lily just glared at Asta. She thought he was getting flustered, but he was actually blushing out of nervousness.
"Nothing special." Noelle answered.
"And what about you?" Vanessa asked as she poked Asta's cheek.
"Oh I'm um sending it to the church back in Hage where I'm from." Asta said averting his gaze to the side nervously, glancing at Lily to see her reaction to Vanessa getting so close to him. She wasn't happy.
"Cool. That's what a real man does, Asta. Helps his family." Magna said. Asta asked him if he was going to do the same thing. He said he would after he increased his wages one hundred times, meaning he was gonna go gambling. Then Vanessa told Asta that it was good he was going to send it back home but not to send all of it and to spend some on himself.
"Okay I guess I can do that, but how exactly?" Asta said, unsure of what to do with the money he'd be saving for himself. Vanessa told the three of them she would take them shopping in the Castle Town of Kikka tomorrow.
~Time Skip~
Asta was in his room writing a letter to Sister Lily. Right as he put down his pen, there was a knock at his door. He got up and opened the door to find Lily standing there.
"Oh hey Lily. What's up?" Asta said as Lily walked into his room. She saw the letter he just finished writing on his desk and went over to read it.
Dear Sister Lily,
How are you? I'm doing great. The other Black Bulls are really nice. They look out for me. I'm working hard. I did so well on my first mission that the Wizard King gave us a star as accommodation! Isn't that awesome? If this keeps up, who knows what could happen. I might even be Wizard King by next month! Once I am, I'll make this a world where everyone can be happy no matter where they come from. And then, I'll come back to you. So please, wait for me. Oh yeah! I had my first payday so I'm sending you some yul.
"Asta, we need to talk." Lily said to Asta as she put his letter down and went over to his bed and sat down. She patted the spot on the bed next to her, signaling for him to sit down. He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face then sat down on the bed with her.
"What do we need to talk about Lil?" Asta asked Lily who sighed in frustration.
"I thought you told me you decided you were gonna marry me... that you were over your infatuation with Sister!" Lily raised her voice out of anger and hurt. Tears threatened to leave her eyes.
"I am over my infatuation with Sister Lily." Asta said.
"Then why did you tell Noelle you were planning to marry Sister and that you'd make it work out?!" Lily asked as she stood up, threatening to strike Asta.
"W-w-w-wait Lil! The words I said were Sister Lily is the beautiful woman I decided I was gonna marry someday and that I was gonna make it work somehow. I meant it as past tense I swear!" Asta said as he raised his hands up defensively.
"And what about that letter you just wrote?! You wrote to Sister Lily that you'd come back to her and told her to wait for you!" Lily mentioned the letter that was sitting on his desk, her hand still raised.
"I just meant that I would visit her while I was the Wizard King!" Asta said frantically as he braced himself, still expecting for Lily to hit him. But instead she sat back down on the bed, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Even so, why...? W-why would you do that Asta?" Lily said with a hushed voice as she tried not to cry.
"Did you even think about how that would make me feel?!" Lily raised her voice as she whipped her head in his direction, the tears that she had been fighting finally started rolling down her cheeks.
"Well, I uh... I just thought it would make you jealous." Asta said as Lily glared at him.
"Now why in the hell would you want me to get jealous?!" Lily asked Asta as he sighed.
"Because I think your jealous pout is adorable. I really am over Sister Lily. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm really sorry Lil. Can you forgive me?" Asta said, asking Lily for forgiveness as he reached up towards her face. She let Asta wipe away the tears from her cheeks.
"I suppose I can forgive you." Lily said, faintly smiling as she closed her eyes and leaned her head into his hand while placing her hand on top.
"Please... lemme make it up to you." Asta said as his face drew nearer until his lips met hers in a sweet and passionate kiss.