"say, where did you learn these skills from? Even the top blacksmiths in our entire city don't match your speed."
"Right right. Just look at that scribing speed and the speed of his hammer swings. It's like watching a grandmaster in the act."
The guards of prison together commented on Asta's handicraft as they watched him repair their stuff with a blinding speed that seemed unbelievable to the eye.
One hand held a brush that placed rune after rune in the grimoires, the other held a hammer than punched the broken runes back to full in just one swing to the weapon.
'just how much did i even break? This don't even look like my work anymore. They did it themselves just for a free repair!' Asta scorned internally as he heard the sound of the guards damaging their own items in the background.
Nevertheless he did make a vow to repair all of them and now he was suffering for giving his words to these beggars who had not a pinch of shame.
He hammered, he scribed, he began subconsciously drifting to the back of his mind. He didn't even bother to look at the items and snoozed in plain light while hands kept going at work.
His half opened eyes analysed the spells at once glance, not a single one of them higher being higher than two clovers so he didn't even to reconsider his work.
The guards kept showering him with praise throughout the entire process, probably trying to butter up to Asta who had long forgotten they even existed.
'What should I eat for lunch? Maybe a veg sandwich like those Charmy used to make or maybe a bunch of pastries from that shop near my room?' he thought, his mind more focused on food than the grimoires but the muscle memories of Jassin atleast kept his work good.
Still, the items just kept coming and coming and coming. Until he felt something approach the prison, a mage and a fighter both trying to spread their presence.
Asta however found one of them a little bit familiar.
"Two people, probably in 5th stages... Why does this mana smell lik-... Noelle!"
Asta came back to his senses, the last hit of hammer ending his work as the guards all began smiling around, celebrating for all the free upgrades they had ended up getting.
Yet the next moment they fell to their knees, the intense mana make them give into fear as all of them retreated without even glancing at people coming.
Asta watched the guards scurrying around, himself not even moving a inch. He looked at the skies, the figures of Noelle and Solid finally coming into his view, together floating up in the air looking down at him.
"I think he is the one." Said Solid to Noelle, his eyes locked onto Asta as he reached for his grimoire.
However-
"Wait! I know that guy."
"You know him?.. ", A thought appears in Solid's mind, "Is he your Ex or something?"
Bang
Red like a tomato, Noelle Jabbed her fist into Solid's stomach. He groaned in pain before she leaned closer to face and spoke.
"Say that bulls*** again and I am killing you. even if you are my brother "
But Solid didn't mind. To him, he never imagined to get such a reaction out of Noelle that the pain was almost worth it to himself.
"You could just have told me you had a boyfriend, i could put a word for you-- Gahh!
"I don't know him!! I just met him once!" Noelle retorted at the blatant accusations being put on her. "Go ask him these questions yourself!!"
Without mercy, Noelle Launched her brother forward with kick. He flew like a rocket, crashing right towards Asta who saw it and side-steps, watching as Solid was put into a human-shaped hole on the floor.
"That ought to have hurt." He commented from the side. Turning back towars the sky and watched Noelle slowly descend towards him before landing in front of him as she put a soldier cap on her head.
"Did reckon I will see you here."
"Neither did i. This guy? *Points at the hole* Is he?"
"My brother." Noelle sighed, changing the topic instead after slight pause, "What are you doing here anyway? This is the prison."
Asta shrugged, pointing at layout of destruction that was made when he was enjoying himself fighting the guards.
" I kind of. did somethings." He said awkwardly. "The warden tried to put some blame on me so I got back at him."
Noelle narrowed her eyes, Leaning forward as she glared Asta while she knelt to pull back her brother from inside the hole.
"Blame you? For what?"
" The clock tower."
...
"You were the one who broke that?" Noelle sneered at Asta, "Who in their right mind would break clocktower of all things?"
"Hey! It's not my fault I got hit by two grade 7 attacks in the face. The tower was only a little cherry on top!"
"Ye ye Whatever you say. As if some grade 7 mage or fighter had time to waste on a someone three tiers below them."
Noelle threw away Asta's claim for innocence into the gutter without a second thought. Honestly you can't blame her since his excuse seemed like hearing two kings ganging up on a gate keeper of a inn's storage.
By this time, Noelle had already grabbed her brother and pulled him out. Yet just as she turned him over, she saw him wide-awake, his eyes peeled open as he perked up his ears after having heard everything they talked about.
Bang
"That scared me!"
Noelle was obviously referring to the creepy expression on Solid's face which made one want to beat up at a glance. It was horrendous to look at to the level of being half a demonic as a certain reincarnated civil engineer with a shovel.
Standing up, Noelle nonchalantly walked away, leaving another man shaped hole in the floor where a boy stood upside down like a sprout rising from dirt.
Asta didn't bother to stay close to Solid either, even if he had remembered him he would still not choose to bring back the bully brother the old Noelle had in silva family.
'I better keep my mouth shut.', Asta sealed his words before they could be unleashed.
Following behind Noelle, he saw her walking towards the guards who were just shivering on the floor with their new belongings now plainly put in the cabinets near the door.
They all knelt like proper soldiers for once. Some of them however couldn't keep up and were struck down by the mana rippling from Noelle instead.
"Which one of you is the warden?" Noelle asked.
... There was no reply, not one of them dared to raise their hand. Leaving Asta to do all the explaining.
"He died."
Noelle's ears perked at the unexpected tone Asta answered in. His voice showing no sign of guilty whatsoever as he answered.
"He fell to a demon's call. I had to kill him."
"Do you have any proof of that? I may be thankful for your help last night but this is too big of a problem for me to ignore."
Asta thought for a second, trying to figure out a way to prove that the warden indeed became a demon. Luckily for him, he just had the thing in his grimoire.
"Does this count?"
He brought out the warden's grimoire from inventory of his own grimoire. The scent of demonic mana penetrating through the air as the rotten smell of tiny bits of remaining flesh disgusted Asta to even look at it.
"Sea magic!"
A pile of Acid desolved the Grimoire within it. Meanwhile Noelle his behind the door, peeking from the side with fear in her eyes.
"Is that thing gone?" She asked in a innocent tone.
Her voice made even Asta doubt if she was still Noelle or maybe a imposter acting as her. It was too weak willed to belong to fighter.
But Noelle wasnt done yet. She brought out a mask and even a pair of sanitation gloves from somewhere Asta couldn't even identify.
'Where did she even get those?" He mentally reviewed.
Then he watched as the ever noble and prestigious Princess made the most Disgusted expression she could make before she blasted the still remaining flesh bits with the a water blast with strength to cut a boulder to powder.
"Tell me before you bring out something like that.. *blergh* I can't stand those."
"You can't stand demons?"
"Not demons, you dummy! I can't stand smelly things that smell like trash and rotten flesh."
"Telling secrets now are we?" Solid said as he popped between Asta and Noelle, a grin now plastered on his face as he winked at her sister as if making a sign or something.
"Hey sis. I am gonna go talk with your boyfriend over here." He said to Noelle, leaving her flustered while he put his hand around Asta's neck and exited the prison.
They both gave eachother a suspicious glare. None of the two speaking the words in their mind.
'What does he want? He can't be a sister-con now like gauche, can he?' thought Asta.
'who is this guy? I haven't heard about someone like him knowing Noelle?' thought Solid.
They turned to eachother, each of them reaching out for their weapons as they clashed at the same time, knocking eachother back.
"I have a advice for you. Stay away from my sister. 'she is gonna get married at any rate.' She belongs to someone else.'
"And who are you to decide that.", 'He really is a sister-con! Should I just kill him?'
The misunderstandings grew larger as the two clashed once more, Asta's katana meeting Solid's trident. Both repelling themselves away as they used neither magic nor ki to increase their strength.