Space rippled like wind over water, and two figures stepped out from its center.
With each new world he traversed, Charles's world magic had evolved a lot. At least now, he didn't have to "ram" his way in like at the very beginning.
Feeling the surging, immense mana of the Strong Magic Region, Charles couldn't help showing a nostalgic look.
Among the many worlds Charles had visited, this was where he'd stayed the second-longest after the Fairy Tail world, and it meant something different to him.
That's right—Charles had brought Stella to the world of Black Clover.
It started after attending several weddings in the Seven Deadly Sins world. Charles had joked that few of the companions he knew ever actually tied the knot.
Either they were dense in that department, or hopelessly awkward—somewhere in there he mentioned Asta and the others he'd known very early on.
Curious, Stella asked Charles to bring her to this world.
Before, Charles hadn't wanted to spend half a year training with Asta and the others, so he chose to leave.
But he hadn't forgotten he still had loose ends here. By his estimate, it was almost time to fight the devil-possessed of the Spade Kingdom.
Since Stella brought it up, Charles decided to come to this world.
Crossing a Strong Magic Region unfit for normal humans was nothing for Charles and Stella. After getting their bearings, they quickly left the desolate zone.
On the way, Charles saw many human remains, already eroded and mangled by the harsh environment of the Strong Magic Region.
He was puzzled. Everyone knew how dangerous the Strong Magic Region was; no one would enter on a whim unless desperate.
Yet there were quite a lot of bones, and by the traces they'd been left no more than a few months ago.
Just as they were about to leave, Charles suddenly remembered a plot point from the original story. After the Elf incident, many in the Clover Kingdom learned of devils' existence.
Some with weak mana even began worshiping devils.
This was a world where mana was everything; weak mana meant being far from wealth, status—even dignity.
To change their lives, those people had even kidnapped Asta and Gauche's sister.
After their plan failed, they plunged into the Strong Magic Region, hoping to cross it to the "holy land" in their eyes—the Spade Kingdom, home of devil hosts.
They were ignorant and extreme, but undeniably pitiful and tragic. They were the true bottom rung of this world, with no hope of rising.
Unlike Asta—strong and optimistic—they weren't, so doing something like this wasn't surprising. The blame lay with the country's backwardness.
With a sigh, Charles could only pin his hopes on Asta realizing his dream of becoming Wizard King and changing this phenomenon.
As someone of common birth with no mana, Asta understood their pain best. With his never-give-up nature, he would break every obstacle and change this country in the end.
Running into this right after returning admittedly soured Charles's mood, but as the demon skull came into view, he adjusted.
Hage Village was just ahead!
…
"Charles!!!"
The white-robed old man ran out with teary eyes and wrapped Charles in a big hug.
Charles had just been talking to Sister Lily when he was suddenly grabbed and hugged; he could only give a wry smile.
"Father Orji, you're as healthy as ever—that's great!"
Father Orji let go and grabbed Charles by both shoulders. "Where have you been these six months? Not a word! I was worried sick!"
Sister Lily smiled. "I can attest to that. Father prayed for you every day, asking the gods to keep you safe!"
"Sorry to worry you," Charles said, moved. "But I'm fine—just busy training."
"Of course you're fine," Sister Lily said with a grin. "You even brought someone back!"
Following her gaze, Father Orji spotted Stella.
With a curious smile, he poked Charles's arm. "Oh—who is this young lady? Aren't you going to introduce us?"
Charles didn't get shy like Father Orji expected. He took Stella's hand openly. "I forgot to tell you—this is Stella, the person I've decided to spend the rest of my life with!
"Stella, these are Sister Lily and Father Orji—the ones who raised me for a long time, my family."
Father Orji looked at Stella, who greeted him politely, then at Charles, and couldn't help a comforting, proud smile.
Charles had always seemed mature and reliable, but it's only at times like this you feel, "the kid's finally grown up!"
Charles then introduced Stella to the rest of the church. A few little girls initially took up "rival alert" stances, but Stella quickly won them over; they trailed after her calling her big sis.
That evening, Father made a feast from the game Charles had hunted, and everyone enjoyed a happy meal.
Sister Lily said Asta and Yuno hadn't been back in a long while, but they still sent letters and money regularly.
Before leaving, Charles had asked Asta to collect his own Magic Knight salary and send it all back to Hage Village.
With support from three people, the church was doing much better.
Charles had brought all their letters back and learned what had happened over the past six months.
Asta's letters were mostly about his daily life—being the straightforward guy he was, he probably didn't pay much attention to other things.
Thankfully, there was also a letter from Yuno with quite a few details. Combined with what Charles knew of the story, he pieced together the things they'd "good-news-only" omitted.
When Charles left, the Elf incident had just been resolved; he hadn't followed the aftermath closely.
Because of Charles's involvement, the damage to the Clover Kingdom wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, most of it was concentrated in the royal realm.
The nobles weren't about to swallow their pride, so some proposed retaliating against the elves. The Magic Knights shot it down.
Not all nobles are fools; elves are gifted by nature, most at Senior Magic Knight level.
To retaliate, setting aside that they'd hidden away in a secret realm and were hard to find, you'd need to commit the entire Magic Knights to even have a chance.
But by then, news had come that the Diamond Kingdom had been toppled by a single person from the Spade Kingdom. If you pulled the Knights to punish the elves, what would you use to face the imminent Spade Kingdom crisis?
The nobles cared about face—but even more about their lives.
They needed an outlet for their anger, so they turned their aim to the true culprit: devils.
And what did they do? They put Asta and Nero, who had rendered great service during the incident, on trial.
On the day of the trial, Captain Yami led the Black Bulls in a direct assault on the tribunal, almost triggering a war.
In the end, with mediation from two royal captains and the Wizard King personally vouching for them, the verdict became banishment for Asta until he proved he had no ties to devils.
Neither Yuno nor Asta mentioned it in their letters, but the sister and the father knew—it had been front-page national news.
Sister Lily still looked shaken when she brought it up.
Unlike Asta, who was branded a criminal and banished, Yuno had had a very good six months. With many merits under his belt, he'd become vice-captain of the Golden Dawn.
Because of the Elf incident, Golden Dawn's captain, Vengeance, was no longer the most likely to become Wizard King. Many believed the rising star Yuno might be the next Wizard King.
Asta, meanwhile, had to grind away searching for devil traces, eventually following the curse trail to the Heart Kingdom.
There, he met the "all-knowing, all-powerful priestess, contractor of the Water Spirit, a queen cursed by a devil," made an alliance, learned of the Dark Triad, and they decided to train for six months before attacking the Spade Kingdom, the devils' stronghold.
In Yuno's most recent letter, Charles saw something very interesting.
The Clover Kingdom's once-in-ten-years martial festival—the Decisive Battle—was about to begin!
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