"Huh? People from the Golden Dawn—so you're here too?"
Yami rested one hand casually on the dining table and looked at Klaus with a hint of surprise.
What?
He hadn't noticed them at all?
Klaus's expression twitched. Being ignored like this—especially when it was the Golden Dawn—was infuriating. If the man before him weren't a captain, he might already have made a move.
"Oh, right, I remember now. You're that four-eyed noble from the Golden Dawn—what was it, something-s?"
Yami appeared to think seriously for a moment before speaking with sudden realization.
"My name is Klaus Lunettes!"
The veins at Klaus's temples bulged as he spoke in a low, controlled voice. Then he abruptly turned around and strode toward the tavern exit.
"Yuno, Mimosa—we're leaving!"
Yuno shrugged, nodded once at Asta, then turned and followed.
"Goodbye, Noelle," Mimosa said with a gentle smile, waving at her.
"Such a bad temper," Yami laughed, blowing out a ring of smoke.
Finral muttered in complaint, "You called him a four-eyed noble. Of course he'd get angry."
"Captain, Captain! I want to fight that guy named Yuuki!"
Luck raised his arm, arcs of lightning crackling around his body as he spoke excitedly.
Asta immediately shouted back, unwilling to lose, "Luck-senpai! If anyone's fighting Yuuki, it should be me first!"
"Hey, hey—don't forget about me!"
Flames surged up Magna's fists as he knocked them together, brimming with enthusiasm.
"Do whatever you want. Just don't tear the tavern down," Yami said calmly, taking another drag from his cigarette.
At that moment, a gentle voice sounded from behind them.
"That might be difficult."
"Being able to spar with members of the Magic Knights would be an honor, but the tavern has just opened, and I really can't spare the time. If someone gets injured by accident, Rebecca won't be able to handle it on her own."
Yuuki walked over from the back, carrying a bowl of richly fragrant soup, and spoke with a light smile.
"So that's how it is…"
"The tavern does seem pretty busy. If Rebecca's handling it alone, it really would be too much," Asta said, scratching his head as he sat back down in disappointment.
Luck and Magna both looked crestfallen as well, though their eyes still held a trace of anticipation as they glanced at Yuuki.
"How about this," Yuuki said after a moment's thought, smiling. "When I have some free time another day, we'll have a match. I'd like to see the gap between myself and Magic Knight members too."
"That's great!"
"No problem!"
Luck and Magna replied at once, their faces lighting up.
Yuuki merely smiled.
In his previous life, another day never meant a specific date. If you really had to name one, it would be the eighth day of the week.
"Did Yuno and the others leave already?" Yuuki glanced at the now-empty seats.
"Wow, that smells amazing! What kind of soup is this?"
Before Yuuki could even set it down, Charmy had already reached out and taken the bowl, drool almost dripping from the corner of her mouth.
With Yuno gone, Charmy finally stopped pretending and revealed her true gluttonous nature.
"This is one of the tavern's specialties," Yuuki explained patiently. "It's called White Jade Soup, slowly simmered with tofu and fish. Captain Yami, you should try some too."
"I knew it—I smelled something special coming from the kitchen," Charmy said excitedly, holding the bowl.
Yami served himself a portion, took a bite, nodded in satisfaction, and then began eating heartily as well.
Yuuki had just sat down when—
Suddenly.
Yami looked up again and asked, "Meath disappeared, and his entire family was wiped out overnight. You know about that, right?"
Yuuki paused, then looked at Yami with a puzzled expression. "Meath?"
"The noble you fought during the Magic Knights entrance exam," Yami said casually, though his gaze lingered on Yuuki.
"Oh. Him."
Realization dawned on Yuuki's face.
This wasn't an act—he really had forgotten Meath.
To the current Yuuki, Meath was nothing more than a minor character buried deep in his memories. Being brought up so suddenly, it was only natural that he hadn't recalled him immediately.
Meath's disappearance had been Yuuki's doing. As for the fate of Meath's family, that had happened after Yuuki joined the Eye of the Midnight Sun, meant to prevent any trouble arising from Meath vanishing.
Using his status as a core member, Yuuki had dispatched a group from the Eye of the Midnight Sun to handle it.
They were clearly experienced in such matters. Everything had been done cleanly, without leaving the slightest trace. Even now, the Magic Knights hadn't found a single lead.
"By the way," Yami said after swallowing his food, casually tossing out a far heavier bombshell, "any interest in joining the Black Bulls?"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone at the table—except Charmy, who was still immersed in her food—looked up in shock.
Then—
Asta, Luck, and Magna were the first to break into excited grins.
Noelle's mouth fell open unconsciously.
But it wasn't only the Black Bulls who were stunned.
Yuuki himself was just as surprised.
"I can join without taking the entrance exam?" he asked in disbelief.
"Of course. Plenty of these idiots were recruited personally by me," Yami said, waving his hand carelessly as he exhaled smoke. "So? Interested?"
"Yuuki, if you join the Magic Knights, then we can all be together again!" Asta said eagerly.
Noelle remained silent, but her gaze drifted toward Yuuki again and again, faint anticipation hidden within it.
Clatter.
From the direction of the kitchen came the sound of dishes hitting the floor.
Yet what truly surprised the Black Bulls was this—
Normally, anyone who heard they could join the Magic Knights would show excitement no matter what.
But Yuuki was calm.
Not forced calmness, but the kind that made it seem as though the offer were entirely inconsequential.
After a brief silence, Yuuki shook his head.
"I'm very sorry, Captain Yami. To be personally invited by you to join the Magic Knights is a great honor."
"If this were in the past, I would have agreed without hesitation. But now, I want to focus on running my tavern."
Yuuki stood up, bowed slightly toward Yami, and spoke with sincere seriousness.
"Yuuki?" Asta stood as well, staring at him in disbelief.
"Don't worry, Asta. I know exactly what I'm saying," Yuuki replied with a smile. "Back in the village, I told you my dream wasn't to become the Wizard King, didn't I?"
"Yuuki… you always have your own ideas," Asta said weakly after a moment, his shoulders slumping.
"In that case, forget it," Yami said, a trace of regret in his voice.
The Black Bulls continued to stare at Yuuki in disbelief, glancing at him again and again, as though they simply couldn't accept that someone existed who could refuse the Magic Knights.
Twenty minutes later—
Under Yuuki's gaze, the Black Bulls departed one by one through Finral's spatial magic.
When the last of them vanished, Yuuki slowly exhaled, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
Am I being suspected?
Whether it was his words or the way he concealed his magic, Yuuki was confident he hadn't slipped up. And yet, Yami's series of strange actions just now—
—made Yuuki realize that he might already be under suspicion.
"…It's ki."
Yuuki narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. If everything else was fine, then only one possibility remained—the ki that Yami could sense.
This was indeed unexpected.
More precisely, Yami coming to the tavern at all had been unexpected.
Still—
Yuuki wasn't particularly worried.
No matter how suspicious Yami became, he would never connect Yuuki to what had happened before.
What's more, with Yuuki's current strength, he might not even fear Yami.
(End of Chapter)
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