Inside the hideout,
Marcus was sprawled on the couch, still lost in an exhausted sleep.
"Now, Magna, do it. Give him his money! Haha," Luck teased, patting Magna on the back.
"Stop it, you punk! You lost! How could you not see the broder of the ring?" Magna's veins bulged as he tried to keep his anger in check.
"Oops, sorry. Do you want to fight?" Luck asked with a mischievous smirk, raising his fists.
"Shut up, damn it!" Magna snapped. "You lost my damn money, you... punk!"
Luck, still smirking, shrugged nonchalantly. "Um... well... what if I smack your head really hard so you forget about it?"
That suggestion made Magna's face turn beet red. "Damn it, you short punk! I've had enough!"
"Give him what you bet and get me some toilet paper, you idiots," captain Yami pointed at Marcus before storming into the restroom, clutching his grumbling stomach.
Veins bulged on Magna's face, but he suppressed his anger.
Marcus turned to Magna. "You don't have to pay the money right now. Just say, I'm great."
Marcus simply shrugged.
Clenching his teeth, Magna took a deep breath. "You're great," he muttered, tears streaming down the delinquent's face.
Marcus smirked. "I know, senior."
"Okay, come on. I'll show you your room," Magna grumbled.
"Oi, you too, Shrimpasta! Come on!" Magna barked at Asta, who was lost in another world, admiring the robe he had just donned.
Asta and Marcus followed behind Magna. After a few detours inside the hideout, he brought them to two rooms.
Two unkempt, messy rooms. Marcus didn't care for that right now.
He quickly said his good nights and hopped onto the bed, falling asleep immediately.
"This punk," Magna sighed, then showed Asta to another room.
"So, what do you think? It's tiny, dirty, and you know my room is twice—" Magna started, but Asta, tears of happiness welling in his eyes, interrupted.
"My... own... room. I've never had my own room before."
"I'll clean it until it shines," Asta said, already starting to tidy up.
"Oh yeah, polish it until it's good. You're free anyway, and if you need something, come find me," Magna said, walking out.
He came back. "By the way, Asta, you should write letters."
"Huh?" Asta turned his head.
"To your church. They're your family, right? Don't make them worry."
Magna suggested something good and left.
"Right." Asta smiled, sat down, and started writing letters in his unimaginable handwriting.
After that, he was exhausted and fell asleep with a happy face.
The morning came as quickly as possible. Morning was one of the most irritating parts of the day for Marcus, who loved his sleep.
If there were a way he could get free food for a year, he'd sleep the whole year.
He reluctantly woke up—not because he wanted to, but because there was a freaking noise coming from outside.
He calmly opened the window, the gentle breeze slowly touching him.
He took a deep breath and looked below.
"Shut up!!!! You fools, let me sleep!!! Peacefullyyyyy!!!!"
Marcus clenched his teeth as he shouted. It worked—the noise stopped, and for a brief moment, peace returned.
"Screw you, sleepyhead!!!"
Then, a fireball came flying at his window, blowing everything to bits. Marcus quickly summoned an ice shield to block it.
The room, already a disaster zone, now looked like a snowstorm had exploded inside.
A huge bunch of ice spikes suddenly shot up into the air.
"Magna, look! Marcus sent his 'good mornings,'" Luck said with a grin, pointing at the spikes.
The ice spikes shot toward Magna like missiles.
"What the hell!!!"
With a yelp, Magna started dodging, frantically using offensive magic to protect himself.
"You punk!" Magna screamed as a black orb materialized and shot toward him. Ready for the attack, he conjured a fire bat to smash it to pieces.
But, to his utter disbelief, the orb suddenly changed direction—straight into another room. The room where Captain Yami was taking a dump.
Magna's jaw hit the floor as he watched Yami's death glare pierce through the wrecked doorway.
"Ah... Ah…" A loud scream echoed from below, coming from Marcus' room window.
"Well, there goes my beautiful morning…"
Marcus, now wide awake, used his icy wind to blow away the dust and cover the room with a thick layer of frost. The freezing gusts wiped out all the stains, leaving the room spotless and practically livable again.
As soon as he stepped into the living room, his fire delinquent of a senior grabbed him and dragged him along with Asta.
"Listen up, idiots! I'll show you the great places in the Black Bulls' hideout," Magna announced.
"Follow me, morons!" he yelled, dashing through the corridors.
"Got it, Mr. Sunglasses," Asta replied cheerfully.
"Moron! You mean Great Magna," Magna corrected, turning his head to glare at Asta.
"Moron Great Magna," Asta repeated with a grin.
"Don't add 'moron', moron!" Magna roared.
Why am I even following them? Marcus facepalmed inwardly.
After some running and misdirections courtesy of the Great Magna Senior,
"This is the great cafeteria," Magna declared, introducing them to a massive dining hall where Charmy—only Charmy—was devouring an entire stockpile of food.
They continued dashing.
"This is the bath," Magna announced, showing them a spacious bathroom where everyone was already bathing. Marcus stood aside as Magna waved him in.
"I'm already freshened up," Marcus replied.
"How?"
"With my magic, moron," Marcus replied expressionlessly.
"Huh?" Magna glared at him.
"Sorry, Moron Great Magna," Marcus smirked.
"Dammit!"
Eventually, Marcus joined them in the bath.
Damn, it's hot. But not for him—he conjured a block of ice beside him.
After the bath, Magna showed them the most trapped and dangerous place in the hideout—the way to the girls' room.
Whoever enters there from the boys' side will definitely be killed
"And this is the toilet," Magna said as he opened the door, waking the beast inside-Captain Yami.
Yami glared at them.
"I will kill you."
"Again!"
They started running, with no chance of escape from the place.
Magna brought them to a dark room filled with loud roars.
"This is the beasts' room. They're Captain Yami's pets," Magna explained, pointing to the shadowy figures of the creatures inside the cages.
"This is an honorable job to feed—"
"Not interested," Marcus interrupted, cutting Magna off mid-sentence.
Magna clicked his tongue in irritation and sweet-talked Asta into feeding the beasts instead.
The poor kid was almost swallowed whole by one of the creatures.
Magna then showed them another room. "This is the playroom," he announced.
It was clearly a torture room.
As the tour ended inside, Magna began leading them outside.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed.
From the entrance, a girl approached them slowly. Her silver hair cascaded down to her waist, and her ocean-blue eyes gleamed in the dim light. She wore the Black Bulls' robe.
"Hey, that's your colleague," Magna said, introducing her.
"Our new colleague? I like the sound of that!" Asta, brimming with his usual energy, bounded over to the girl.
"Hey! I'm Asta from Hage Village," he said enthusiastically, extending his hand to her.
She slapped his hand aside. "I did not give you permission to speak to me."
"Lowly insect?!"
"Insect?!"
"Lowly?!" Asta and Magna shouted in unison.
"My name is Noelle Silva. I belong to the royal family of the Clover Kingdom," she declared haughtily.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at her words.
Beautiful, sassy, royal... heroine?
And more importantly...
Why do I feel a familiar mana presence from her?
He couldn't recall the sensation but instinctively recognized it.
What the hell is happening?