Chapter 2

"Welcome to the worst Magic Knight Squad in existence"

The base is on fire.

Why in the heavens is the base on fire!?

Elara sweatdropped with an awkward smile as she watched Asta charged into the fire only to end up being blasted away again.

When they finally got the chance to go in, what they were met with was such a strange sight that Elara had to take a double take. It was absolute chaos.

She looked to the side and turned beet red when she was met with an underdressed lady that was probably wasted. She immediately turned away, embarrassed, and was met with a short girl that was munching on an incredible amount of pastries. On another side of the room, she saw a guy bleeding in front of a mirror.

Is he ok?

She turned to another side of the room and saw a giant fellow that was breathing out smoke. The cause of the smoke? She will never know. And in the middle of it all, was a guy with a baseball bat made out of flames, hitting fireballs towards another guy who apparently stole his pudding.

Kid, my team's already full of weirdos. You'll fit just right in.

Was the words floating through her head at the moment as she just stood there, frozen in astonishment.

"I see they're at it again" Finral said nonchalantly, like this just happens everyday.

If this happens a lot, then I do fit right in. I've caused a lot of accidents as it is, this shouldn't be a problem.

Elara was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Asta step forward and started shouting, trying to make himself heard over the chaos.

"I'm Asta from Hage Village! It's a pleasure to meet all of you! I'm gonna be the Wizard King!"

Sadly, his efforts were futile as his voice was completely ignored.

"That pudding you were saving sure was delicious." The blonde guy who was on the recieving end of the fire attacks, teased.

"That's going to be your last supper!" Replied the attacker, giving into the blonde guy's teasing.

"That's enough, you two! What if this ruckus you curs are causing wakes up my little sister, you dumbasses!?" The guy who was bleeding earlier scolded the other two guys but was completely ignored by the recievers, instead getting a comment from a completely different person.

"Oh shut up, sister lover!" The underdressed woman complained, "I remember up to when I started a drinking contest with some old guy."

"Thanks!" The short girl eating the incredible amount of pastries said as a sheep with a chef's hat brought her another platter of pastries, filled to the brim.

Elara grinned to herself.

This totally beats living with nanna. She basically ignores me and the house is just so quiet, it drives me mad. More importantly, how in the heavens does that girl fit everything into her stomach!?

"This is for my pudding!" The one hitting fireballs shouted, hitting one towards the one who was moving like lightning everywhere while laughing. Though the hit was fruitless as the other guy dodged the attack which caused it to hit Asta instead.

Oh the poor boy.

"Would you guys shut up? You're not helping my headache!"

"Shut up, you booze-swilling hussy!"

"What'd you call me!?"

Elara watched as Asta tried to get up but was instead hit by a bottle.

The poor, poor boy.

"You virgin delinquent!"

"Wh-wh-wh-who're you calling a virgin delinquent!?"

"Uh-oh! If you look away, I'm going to kill you." The blonde guy decided to butt into the conversation.

"Just try and kill me!"

"I told you to shup up!" The guy with the mirror shouted, "In the name of my angelic sister, Marie, I will kill you all!"

After you get past the shock, everything happening is actually quite entertaining. Well, at least for Elara it was.

"All of you..."

Elara froze mid-giggle when she sensed the dark aura emitting from the Captain beside her. She then cautiously looked to her side, only to witness Yami punch the wall behind him, which caused a giant whole to take its place.

"Stop breaking everything!"

Elara sweatdropped, staring wide-eyed at the gaping whole Yami just made.

He just broke the wall though...

His method, despite being quite violent, was nonetheless very effective as this caused everything to halt.

"Captain!"

And just like that, all of the members were swarming up to Yami, excitedly discussing about all sorts of stuff, whether it be asking him to fight with them or asking him for a drink. Elara stepped away swiftly, as to not get trampled upon. Asta, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

Yami chuckled at the attention, "I see, I see. So you guys love me that much, eh?" He said cheerily, but then, "But you need to shup up."

That immediately got all of then to sit down in a straight line in front of him like a bunch of school children being scolded by their teacher.

"Sorry.."

A drop of sweat formed on Elara's temple as she watched everything unfold before her eyes.

Eh?

Elara subconsciously straightened up, trying to make a good first impression as things were finally settling down.

"I brought new mem—" Yami cut himself off abruptly. He began to look around once he noticed that he was only standing with one brat instead of two. "Where'd the other one go?"

Elara also started to look around once she realized that Asta had suddenly gone missing.

I swear I just saw him here a moment ago.

"Over there."

Elara looked to the source of the voice and found that it was Finral who found Asta. Elara's eyes widened and she had to try hard to hold back a snort when she saw that Finral was pointing under the giant fellow where Asta's head and arms were sticking out.

"Save me"

Oh the poor, poor, poor boy.

"Why are you fooling around over there?" Yami deadpanned, not caring at all if the boy suffocated.

At this point it was getting harder for Elara to contain her laughs and settled on covering her mouth and lowering her head to avoid being caught with a red face from trying to hold in her laughter for too long.

This squad— I just can't! They're too funny.

~

After saving the poor kid from under the giant fellow, Asta was finally standing in front in the middle of Yami and Elara.

"This is shrimp no. 1 and shrimp no. 2," Yami said gesturing towards Asta and then to Elara.

Ok, I know I'm short, but that doesn't mean you get to pick on me for it! Elara internally huffed.

"They're our other new members." Yami continued.

Other? Elara looked towards Yami questioningly.

Yami the looked down at Elara and Asta, "Uh.. what were your names again?"

Asta immediately looked forward with determined eyes, "Right!"

"I'm Asta from Hage Village! It's nice to meet all of you!" Asta shouted.

Hage? In the forsaken realm? Wowie, he's come a long way.

The members' attention were immediately on him, "Hage? Seriously? Talk about out in the sticks." The guy who was wielding the flaming bat from earlier commented.

Elara decided to take a step forward next, "Hello, I'm Elara Lunate. I'll be looking forward to working with all of you!" She said with a soft smile and bowed politely in greeting, purposely avoiding mentioning her home town hoping that no one would recognize her.

Elara internally sighed in relief when no one seemed to be making a comment about her and her past.

I guess only a few nobles seem to know about what happened. Nobody here seem to know a thing. Hopefully, it'll stay that way.

She then looked down to look at her attire after realizing that they would definitely suspect her for being a noble in this dress. She gulped in nerves.

I shouldn't've worn this! I wasn't really thinking when I left home huh? I even wore the family emblem! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

She straightened back up when Yami spoke again, "Hey, introduce them to the other members." He ordered Finral.

Elara looked at the other members comprehensively.

They don't look like they've noticed or even care about what I'm wearing. They might really be clueless after all! Thank goodness!

"Oh, right. Well, you've already met him, but..." Finral started and gestured to the guy with the hat to which Yellow still didn't know the name of. "This is Gordon Agrippa."

Oh thank goodness! I didn't have to ask after all.

"He's pretty gloomy, and you never know what he's thinking, but he's a good guy. And there," Finral looked towards the underdressed lady who looked like she had way to many drinks.

Elara, who was not used to seeing other people so underdressed, again, turned a bright red and looked away quickly after making the mistake of looking at the lady's direction.

The other members (which was only Magna, Luck, and Vanessa herself since the others were too busy doing anything else to notice) noticed her actions and the faint red tint on her cheeks and grinned in amusement.

Looks like we've go ourselves a flustered type. Magna and Vanessa thought simultaneously while Luck only grinned because of pure amusement to her reaction.

She looks familiar! Do I know her? Luck thought while staring at Elara with his usual grin, trying to find out where he's seen her before.

"...is Vanessa Enoteca. She'll get in your face when she's drunk, but she's a good person."

"I won't get in anyone's face." Elara assumed that this was Vanessa who was talking as she was still looking elsewhere, trying not to stare at the woman. "Hage... isn't that a small village out in the boonies?"

She must be talking to Asta.

"Yes!" Elara heard Asta reply.

"Huh...To come from out in the boonies and join the Magic Knights...You must've worked really hard, little boy. How about I reward you with a special treat?" Elara heard Vanessa say and she couldn't help but agree.

A special treat? Wha—

Out of pure curiosity, Elara unconsciously looked over to where she saw Vanessa last to see she wasn't there anymore but instead getting into Asta's face (a thing she just denied doing earlier) while the poor boy was experiencing a nose bleed.

Ehhhh?

Elara's eyes widened and she once again, quickly looked away in embarrassment. Her movements caught Vanessa's attention, who now just noticed her attire and got curious about where the girl came from and was about to ask.

"Hey—" but then she started vomiting glitter.

"Let's continue with the introductions" Finral interrupted.

From the corner of her eyes, Elara saw the blonde guy, who was probably a lightning mage from what she witnessed earlier, stood up abruptly while raising his hand high up.

"I'm next!"

At this Elara decided to take a proper look at the guy, trying so hard to avoid looking at Vanessa while doing so.

"This is Luck Voltia. He loves to fight and is obsessed with battle, but he's a good guy."

"Nice to meet ya!"

Yeah, he does look quite friendly.

In a split second, Elara was startled as she witnessed as Luck suddenly appeared in front of her and Asta. "Do you like to fight?" He asked, too cheerfully for her comfort.

"Uh-uh.." Elara cautiously took a slight step back, "m-maybe..." she stammered uneasily.

"I love to fight!" Luck stated, "Wanna fight? Wanna fight?" He said while throwing playful punches towards Asta's now raised hand.

"Huh? What?" Asta asked nervously while Elara waved her hands in front of her to try and stop a fight from actually ensuing.

"I like your enthusiasm and all, but we'll settle for introductions for now." Elara declined with a polite smile.

"Awwww!" Luck pouted in playful dejection before laughing it off.

"Hey." Elara and Asta looked and saw a guy holding up a picture of cute little girl. "Look."

How cute...

"This is my little sister Marie. She's an angel."

The guy said, who was once again bleeding.

I totally agree.... but is he okay?

"Right.." Elara heard Asta say.

"Listen well. If any of you lay a finger on Marie, I'll kill you."

"Ehhhhhhh!?" Elara and Asta sweatdropped, exclaiming in unison out of pure shock.

"This is Gauche Adlai. He's a bit too obsessed with his little sister, but he's a good guy."

Elara snapped out of her previous state and became thoughtful.

I guess there's nothing wrong with loving their younger sister. I for one always wanted to have a sibling. It gets lonely sometimes.

Finral then gestured to the short girl who was munching on a cupcake. "This is Charmy Pappitson. She eats way too much, but she's a good person."

"Nice to meet you!" Charmy said without even stopping her assault on the food

Elara just stared as Charmy ate the pastry eagerly, she then looked down to her own stomach and touched it with both hands.

She's still eating after all those pastries from earlier!? How does she do it?

"This is Grey. I don't really get him, but he's a good guy." Elara looked up at the giant fellow that looked quite intimidating.

I mean...Finral senpai did say he's nice, so why doubt it, right?

"Hello" Elara smiled politely in slight unease.

"And then we have Magna Swing. He's a delinquent, but he's a good guy." Finral said gesturing to the guy who was shooting fireballs earlier.

Well as long as he's as nice as you say, we'll get along.

"And I'm Finral Roulacase. I'm super popular."

Ehhhh?

"And last but not least, the captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro!" Finral said gesturing towards the guy who brought me here in the first place.

Why's he not calling him a good guy?

Elara saw Asta bowing, "Th-thank you for having us!" He shouted.

Elara quickly followed his example, "Yes, thank you!"

So many unique characters in one place. I can tell that this is gonna be one fun journey:> Hopefully, I'll be able to control my emotions and mana along the way.

"There are other members, but they're either on some mission, taking a break, or slacking off. Try to get along with them all."

"Yes sir!" Elara simply replied, straightening herslef up.

But Asta wasn't satisfied with just that so he all but yelled,

"Right! I'll super get along with them all!"

..then,

"Once again, it's nice to meet all of you!"

"You're height and the volume of your voice are all out of proportion." Yami comment to which Elara snorted to but quickly covered it up with cough.

"Yes sir!" Asta, once again, shouted.

"Shut up." The dark aura suddenly returned and Elara went stiff in nerves.

"Sorry!" Asta quickly said.

"Anyway, put them to work, but don't kill them." Yami ordered to the other members.

Elara's eyes widened, but refused to let herself falter.

Ehhh!?

Magna suddenly stood up which caught both the newbies' attention, "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Asta asked, confused.

"Captain Yami said to put you to work. I'll gladly put you to work."

Ok I gotta give it to him, but Magna-senpai is pretty intimidating too.

"A weak-looking shrimp like you from a village like Hage out in the boonies and I barely sense any mana from you." He said to Asta.

Magna then looked to Elara, "And you. You didn't even bother saying where you came from, you probably are from the boonies too."

Elara gulped in uneasiness.

At least now he thinks that I live far away from the noble realm, right?

"And you're both new members of the Black Bulls? I don't know what a hick like you with no magical powers did to get on Captain Yami's good side and I don't know what a puny pushover is even doing here!....but.."

Owie... he sure knows how to hurt people's feelings..

"You want one of these Black Bull robes?" Magna asked challengingly.

"A-A Magic Knight robe! S-so cool!" Asta gaped.

"Isn't it?" Magna milked.

On the other hand, Elara was only able to nod and stare at the robe longingly.

~

The Lunate family was strolling through the capital as per the request of their precious daughter.

A little 6 years old Elara was giggling excitedly as she walked in between her parents, looking around at all the colorful shops and people. Her parents were also laughing with her, amused by their daughter's excitement.

Suddenly screams echoed through the streets, bringing a halt to the small family's laughter. The father of the family immediately pulled his wife and child close to him and pulled them to the side as three masked men came running through the middle of the street pushing and blasting everyone and everything in their way, while carrying a sack of gold and jewelry on each of their backs.

Following the men, were five other men, two of which were actually women, dressed in robes that had the same insignias on them.

From within her parents' arms, little Elara watched as those people went after the thieves all the while, saving the people that were fallen victims to thieves' recklessness.

"Woah..." little Elara breathed out in awe.

She then tugged on her father's sleeve which caught both of her parents' attention.

"Papa? Who are those people wearing the robes with logos on them?" The six year old asked her father.

"They're the Magic Knights, princess. They protect our kingdom from those who want to ruin it. They keep us all safe." Her father replied.

"Magic Knights..?" Little Elara muttered, watching in awe as the thieves were caught and the gold were retrieved.

Her eyes sparkled in awe and she looked up to her parents in a new found excitement, "I wanna be like them, mama, papa! I wanna be a Magic Knight and help protect you both AND the kingdom too!" She declared.

Her parents looked down at her with soft smiles, "That's great sweetheart! With your abilities already developing greatly at this age, we have no doubt that you'll get in!" Her mother said supportively.

"Yes! And when you do finally get in and become a well renowned Magic Knight, I'll tell all the other nobles that our little princess is the best mage in all Clover Kingdom!" Her father said proudly.

She and her mother both giggled at her father's antics. He was always such a proud man.

"In that case, I'll definitely work hard and get into the Magic Knights! I'll make both of you so proud and bring great honor to the Noble House of Lunate!" Little Elara declared with a huge determined smile.

~

But then she realized something. She raised her hand, which caught Magna's attention.

"Yes, shrimp?" Magna called.

Elara then looked down at herself and pointed at the Black Bulls robe that Captain Yami gave her earlier.

"I already have one though.."

Magna looked at the Black Bulls robe that she's wearing in realization, as if only noticing it just now.

He then cleared his throat, composing himself, "Well, if you don't pass then I'll be taking that away from you!"

Elara gulped and nodded frantically.

I need this robe.