Yuuki had no interest in being tangled up with Sally. After tossing out a few quick questions, he watched as Sally instantly fell into deep thought—then slipped away using Space Magic, leaving the Eye of the Midnight Sun's hideout as fast as possible.
He couldn't afford to stay out for too long.
After nearly a month of spending time together, Rebecca had already dropped most of her guard around him… but he couldn't treat her like a fool. If he disappeared for long stretches every time he stepped out, even someone as thick-skinned as Asta would start to notice something was off.
So Yuuki moved all his activities to nighttime.
Lately, most of his attention had been spent on developing composite magic.
Ever since he'd become able to freely restore the spells in the grimoires he consumed, his interest in developing single-attribute spells had dropped sharply.
Human energy was limited.
Especially now—now that he possessed more and more kinds of magic. Developing techniques for every single attribute was not something that could be done casually.
Even if he referenced spells from the anime of his previous life, he still had to simulate them with mana, adjust them, study them…
With that kind of effort, he might as well use the time to develop far more powerful composite spells.
Others didn't have that luxury, but Yuuki did.
As for the information he'd ordered the Eye of the Midnight Sun to investigate—the whereabouts of the Baro-Neg brothers—there was still nothing. Yuuki was a bit disappointed.
It seemed the brothers still hadn't arrived near Sosshi Village.
Or maybe they were hiding well. After all, what Baro was doing was anything but clean. If he didn't keep his head down in secret, the Magic Knights would've wiped him out already.
Boom!
A muffled explosion rumbled across the open fields.
"Water Creation Magic—Sea Dragon's Cradle!"
Noelle's crisp voice rang out as surging mana converted instantly into a swirling mass of water that rose from nothing, forming a vortex-like barrier meant to shield her.
However—
Before the spell could fully form—
"Magic Binding—Iron Lock Array."
Yuuki's calm voice followed immediately.
Rattling chains burst upward from the ground, and before the watery protection could close, they shot through the gap and wrapped tightly around Noelle.
Bang!
Deprived of mana support, Sea Dragon's Cradle collapsed on the spot, the barrier bursting into scattered droplets that sprayed across the field.
"Ugh! I messed up again!"
Noelle didn't even care about the chains binding her. Her expression was filled with frustration, her voice dripping with unwillingness.
Clearly, this wasn't the first time.
Yuuki flicked his hand, and the chains wrapped around Noelle dissolved into mana.
Her magic returned to her.
"Why are you always one step ahead of me?" Noelle rubbed her slightly sore arms, her violet eyes fixed on him.
"It's not that I'm fast. You're just slow."
Yuuki replied mildly.
"Slow?"
Noelle's eyebrow twitched. She felt like he was brushing her off.
Boom!
Mana burst from beneath Yuuki's feet, and his figure vanished. Before Noelle could react, he reappeared barely half a meter in front of her.
"Ah!"
Startled, Noelle let out a small cry and instinctively stepped back. A second later, she realized what she did and flushed bright red.
"W-What are you trying to do?!"
Yuuki sighed helplessly.
"Noelle, I seriously don't know what's going on in that head of yours. At that distance, you didn't even have time to activate a spell. How do you still not admit your reaction speed is slow?"
He spread his hands.
"Honestly, defensive magic is already at a disadvantage against offensive spells. If your mindset isn't proactive… of course you won't be able to block Chain Magic."
"Wh-Who isn't proactive?!" Even with her cheeks still red, Noelle reflexively snapped back.
"Oh—not 'not proactive.'"
"To be precise… you're holding back because you know this is training."
Yuuki said thoughtfully.
"Hmph! I'll just develop offensive magic instead."
Noelle didn't deny the truth of his words, but she refused to admit it aloud. She changed the subject instead.
Yuuki shrugged. "Then you'll need to work hard. By the way, I haven't seen Asta these past few days."
Noelle's face stiffened. She seemed to recall something unpleasant.
"He's been training with a few reckless idiots. You won't see him for a while."
She explained simply.
After the last mission, Noelle had finally seen the true danger of life as a Magic Knight. If Asta was training, then she couldn't afford to fall behind. That was why she came to Yuuki—to develop defensive magic—and she'd made it this far thanks to her earlier control training.
"I see. What about you? Why aren't you training with them?"
Yuuki noticed the look on her face and more or less pieced it together.
"I'm not training with those rough, chaotic lunatics." The mere thought of their barbaric training scenes turned her expression dark.
"Well, lucky me."
Yuuki chuckled softly.
Noelle raised her chin, flicking her silver ponytail with a display of pride. "You should feel honored."
"Anyway, Rebecca still has a lot on her hands, so let's end training here for today."
Yuuki relaxed his arms a bit as he spoke.
"When does the tavern open?" Noelle asked suddenly.
Yuuki paused, a little surprised. "You care about that?"
"Who cares?! That tavern was built using my money!"
"And it was my earnings!" Yuuki protested instantly.
Seeing him look genuinely flustered for the first time, Noelle let out a triumphant smile.
Yuuki's mouth twitched. He turned and walked away quickly.
Restaurant
After several days of work, the two neighboring shops had finally been merged into one.
Rebecca and her younger siblings were busy cleaning the place, deciding what to throw out and what to keep.
"Sorry, I'm a bit late."
Yuuki walked into the restaurant and spoke apologetically when he saw how busy Rebecca and the children were.
Rebecca looked up immediately.
"Miss Noelle's matters are far more important. These chores—just leave them to me."
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled.
"You're the tavern's owner. I'm also the tavern's owner. I can't dump everything on you." Yuuki replied with a smile.
"Are we throwing these tables away?"
"They're too old. We need new ones."
"It feels like such a waste…"
"We don't have a choice. It's a tavern now."
"Tables are made from trees, right?"
"Haha, Marl, you're so silly. Of course they're made from trees."
"No, I mean—if only there were magic that could turn these old tables back into trees, we could recycle everything."
Rebecca's siblings chattered in the background.
Hearing their murmurs, Yuuki froze mid-movement.
A sudden thunderbolt seemed to strike through his mind.
He realized—
He had overlooked something very important.
(End of Chapter)
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