We stuck around for one more day then went back to the base. I got to hang out with the rest of the Black Bulls as Charmy had decided to make a feast to celebrate my first successful mission.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER! SHE WAS SMILING AND ASKING HIM ALL THESE DUMB QUESTIONS FAST, THEN SUDDENLY THEY WERE ALL TIED UP. IT WAS SO COOL! WE DIDN'T EVEN NEED TO FIGHT!" Magna described.

"AND THEN SHE WAS LIKE 'You have a nice smile and look smart. Let's make a deal. We're taking the kids, and you don't die'. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS FACE?!" Asta jumped in.

"Hey! I don't sound like that!" I gave him a light punch on the shoulder while laughing about that.

"You guys will probably have to go to the castle to give a report," Vanessa said

"Cool! Can we do anything after that?!" I said excitedly. I wanted to see Mereo-san, tell her all about the first mission and set up training sessions. I wanted to learn how to boost my feet to move faster.

"Got someone special to see?" Vanessa said with a cheeky smile

"Yeah! But not like that. I was just going to see Mereo-san. Plus, I still have to tell the guys why I didn't go to the Crimson Lions."

"Aren't they all just guys over there?" Magna asked

"Yeah! I never really got any clarity on why that is. I've known most of them since I was twelve. Plus, I kinda miss them! And I was training them on pressure points, so I need to make sure they didn't accidentally kill each other or something."

"What's that?"

"Oh! It's so fun! My mom taught me how to read the energy movement in people's bodies to know which pressure point to hit and mess with their mana or blood flow or nerve endings. It's what I did for the magic knight exam. Want to see?!" I said excitedly.

"Sure!"

"I need a volunteer!"

Luck volunteered for it. "Do we get to fight?!" he said with his crazy eyes.

"No. There's no magic in it. Ok. Do you want the one you pass out or the one that makes your hands stop working? Passing out is about two hours, and the hand thing hurts like a bitch after I fix it."

"Pass out," he chose. I pressed the pressure point between his shoulder and neck, then his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he fell.

"Is he dead?"

"No. He just fainted. It's the same as choking someone until they pass out since it just cuts off blood to his brain. I was hoping he would choose the hand thing. He looks like the type to enjoy pain. I guess I was wrong," I said with a shrug.

We spent a few more hours bonding. Luck woke up about an hour and a half feeling dazed and asked me to teach him how to do it. I told him I'll think about it. He might forget and start making people pass out instead. Captain Yami came in and told us we'd see the Wizard King the next day since we'll have to report on the mission. I was excited to finally meet the Wizard King. I heard he nerded out on people's magic. After that, I could barely fall asleep. I might also get to see Fuego if he'll be at the castle.

The day was finally here when we were going to the castle. I wore my best outfit and had made rollers for my hair the previous night, so my curls looked good in the morning. Finral was going to use his spatial magic to take us to the city. I was also hoping we'd get done early so I would have enough time to visit everyone.

"Good Morning, Finral!" I said

"Uhh…Ummm…" was his reply. His face was very red.

"Right. Good talk!"

Some guy with a mushroom haircut met us at the entrance. I didn't quite get his name, but he was the Wizard King's top advisor. The mushroom guy walked us to through the hallways to the Wizard King's office. The Wizard King looked like a young, blonde-haired kid, which was so surprising to me.

"You must be Sayuri. I'm Julius Novachrono. I've heard so much about you," the blonde teenager said as he shook my hand

"I thought the Wizard King was old-er. You look my age," I caught myself there. Nice save, Sayuri.

"Yeah. This was a time magic accident," he said with a closed eye smile while he scratched the back of his head

"Yeesh! Can't imagine going through puberty twice. My condolences." I uttered. "Umm…Sorry. That just came out. I'll be quiet now".

"Thank you. I understand the sentiment behind that. Well, let's get started. I heard you did very well with the strategy to search for the children."

"I don't like going somewhere I don't know with no plan. That's how you end up dead or lost. So I just came up with the most logical plan since we needed a lookout and a wide search range but one where we didn't have to shout to each other."

"How about the plan to rescue the children once you discovered they were hostages? How did you come up with that?"

"I just sensed their magics since kids' magic feels a bit chaotic. I figured I would need to shield them before I did anything, so I sent little iron balls to the cave and sent enough to restrain everyone behind the leader. My mom told me that men are dumb, and as long as I smile and act dumb or ask as many easy questions, they won't notice anything around them, and they'll believe anything you tell them. So I kept asking questions and gave him a few compliments while I sent the steel around all of them. I restrained them and bluffed about steel rods, gave us a forty-five-minute head start, then released them. No offense on the men thing".

"None was taken. That was a brilliant strategy. You seem to be quite the strategist. How did you learn that?"

"Survival training since I was five. My parents taught me what to do if I end up in the woods and have to interact with people," I said.

"Five. That seems young. Why five?" he asked. I had the feeling that he knew my whole story. He just wanted me to fill in the details.

"That's when I got my grimoire for my magic. That's also when I got more control over my magic and could start recognizing what I can control as part of my composite magic."

"Magic?! Can I see them?" He asked with a starstruck look in his eyes. But, of course, they weren't kidding about his nerding out.

"Sure" I made a bunch of little balls from all the metals I knew and a small water orb. "I can use a bunch of metals and manipulate anything as long as it has water," I said

"Can I see your grimoire?" I took it out and gave it to him.

"One side is metal spells, and the other is water spells."

"That's really fascinating!" I could literally see the stars in his eyes.

"And you came here from Hino Country?"

"Yes. My mother and I are the last of our people, and we were getting hunted. So my parents sent me here for my safety," I said and involuntarily touched my earrings and looked down, trying to hold back tears.

"Do you mind if we move on from this? I told Mereo-san and Fuego-san everything so they can answer any questions you might have, I'm sure. I don't really like talking about it. I'm not trying to be secretive; I just don't want to overthink whether my parents are still alive or not," I said, still looking down and trying to keep my tears back.

"I understand. You're really brave for making it this far on your own."

"Well, I owe most of it to the Vermillions. I consider them my family, and they were very welcoming and accepting of me."

"So how did you end up choosing the Black Bulls? I heard you were practically a Crimson Lion."

"It was actually Captain Yami. He probably doesn't know this, but it's a comfort to me being in the same squad as someone from home. Kind of reminds me that I'm not alone here. I'm always welcome at the Crimson Lions, so it'll just be a matter of explaining to the rest of the guys why I did."

"Good answer. Well, we do have a banquet with some of the captains and their squad members. Also, we had a Ranking Ceremony earlier. Unfortunately, I won't attend, but I do invite all of you to join. Hopefully, this one goes on smoothly" What did that mean?

We were led through a hall past the Magic Knight Captains offices towards a set of doors. Before we reached the door, I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Sayuri! How's my little apprentice?"

"Mereo-San!" Mereo-san was walking out of an office. Just the person I wanted to see. I ran towards her and gave her a hug!

"I missed you! And everyone at home and the Lions! I hope you're not mad at me for picking the Bulls over the Crimson Lions. It's just that I saw Captain Yami there, and he reminded me so much of home, and I knew I had to be in that squad. And he can speak my language so I don't have to forget! I was going to stop by after that whole thing to tell you all about my first mission. Will you be home? If this goes late, I'll come with Leo!" I told her.

"I'm not mad at you. I don't care much for the squads anyway, but you made the choice you felt was right, and I completely understand. Just tell me if that meathead captain of yours gets to be too much, and I'll handle it," Mereo-san said with a smirk.

"I'll definitely let you know! I was worried about you being mad at me, but I feel much better about it now. I guess I have to go face the rest of the guys," I sighed.

"Good luck with them. I'm sure once you explain, they'll understand. These banquets tend to run long, so just stop by whenever you have time. You're always welcome, and it is still your home. I'll be here for another two weeks, and then I'll be off."

"Ok, Mereo-san! I'll talk to you later!" I gave her another hug and waved her goodbye.

I walked towards the ballroom and opened the door to step in. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. However, the door seemed to have its own idea as it made a loud bang when it closed.

"Ummm…whoops," I said as all eyes fell on me. My face felt like it was heating up as I made my way to my squad. Asta and Magna were preoccupied with the food, so I decided to find the Crimson Lions. They were standing around one of the tables in the farthest corner of the room.

"Leo!" I exclaimed excitedly as I ran towards him. I decided not to jump for a hug since I could still feel some eyes on me.

"Yuri! We missed you! Pretty sad I don't get to see you almost every day anymore," He said with a pout.

"That just means when you do see me, it's more special," I said with a huge grin! "Hi! Ben! Rokken! Ruben! Where's the rest of the crew? Didn't you have a new member?" I hugged all of them.

"They're off on a mission. Speaking of, I heard you just came from your first one?" Ruben asked

"It was so exciting. Plus, I didn't have to hurt anyone, and no one died! Pretty awesome!" I replied.

I heard a voice behind me harshly comment, "They should know better than getting familiar with foreigners. Sullying the royal status and the Vermillion name"

My face dropped into a frown, then back into my sly smile. "Uh, oh. This is going to be great!" I heard Leo say as I turned around.

"Nozel Silva. Problem?" I turned around and asked him with a fake smile.

"How dare you address me like that? I am a captain, and you will address me as such."

"I won't. Be glad I didn't call you anything worse, NOZEL. You don't deserve that level of respect from me. I seem to recall you raising your hand for me at the entrance exam. Hard to imagine how I would be treated had I chosen your squad. You know, I could have spent my time spitting out 'Royals' with the same amount of disgust you say 'Foreigners.' but I don't. I actually have a legitimate reason to hate your type. Royals and nobles are the reason everyone who looks like me except for my mother and I are dead. But a noble is the reason I'm still alive right now. See, I know there's a difference between good people and bad people, so I treat everyone with the respect they deserve. Now, my mother taught me that I should respect everyone, but every once in a while, some people have to be humbled to learn what respect is, right, Leo?" I said as I moved closer to the Captain.

"Right!" Leo replied. Everyone's eyes were on the two of us, and I noticed Captain Yami had an amused smile on his face.

"You will learn your place!" He hissed as he moved his hands towards his grimoire. Before he could grab it, I maneuvered behind him and quickly jabbed the base of his spine. I heard Leo snicker behind me.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

"You should never assume that spells and mana are the only way to do magic. If you were a bit more accepting of foreigners, you would have learned that people from different places know things you don't know. Lemme guess…you're feeling a bit shaky. Wouldn't it be weird if you suddenly found that you can't do magic anymore?" I asked, then smiled at him. I saw his two siblings reach out for their grimoires.

"Uh, uh. Liquid…Zebra. I wouldn't do that if I were you. See, I'm the only one who knows how to fix it. I could leave him like that for the next two weeks. I could choose to hit another pressure point and make him piss himself in front of all these people. Even better, I'm sure many of the men here would like to know what happens when they have a boner for four hours so I could test that out. Still, I'll be the bigger person here. All you have to do is sincerely apologize. Otherwise, you'll just be a useless Magic Knight Captain without Magic and no skills to make up for it," I said as I smirked and folded my hands across my chest.

"Yami! You need to order your subordinate to put a stop to this at once!" Nozel hissed at Captain Yami

"Why would I do that? This is hilarious. Maybe you should just do what she says. Personally, I would like to see that boner trick!" Captain Yami said.

"I'd like to stand here and watch the panic wash over your face when you finally come to terms with the fact that your grimoire is just a book of scribbles now, but I'll go back to my friends. When you're ready, feel free to find me. You should know that I won't be able to fix it after thirty minutes. After that, the process to fix it is probably hard for you to do," I said to him, then walked towards the Asta, Magna, and Captain Yami.

Asta was standing next to a tall, elfish-looking guy with shaggy hair from the Golden Dawn. He was handsome but looked a bit pompous.

"Hi, Asta! Hey…I'm Sayuri. Asta's friend" I introduced myself as everyone slowly began mingling with their colleagues, leaving Nozel to fume where he was standing.

"I'm Yuno. Asta's brother and co-captain of the Golden Dawns," I looked back and forth between them, "I don't see the resemblance." I might have lingered a bit longer on Asta. He's so hot!

"He's my foster brother," Asta said.

"Ah! Hage Village's greatest hope. Nice to meet you. You're in that squad with the pretty mouth Captain, right?" I reached out to shake his hand and looked at Asta, then smiled. I heard Captain Yami chuckle in the back. Yuno had a fairy flying around his shoulder. She began buzzing around me after introducing myself, telling me that Yuno was hers alone. No other woman should look at him or something.

"Your girlfriend?" I asked as I picked up a strawberry on Asta's plate and ate it.

"Wind spirit," he said as he blushed.

"Hmm. She must be quite a hit with the ladies…or gents. Does she ever calm down?"

"Ladies. She calms down if she thinks someone is not a threat. I have to take her with me because she's part of my magic."

"Interesting. You should tell her to calm down. I'm totally not a threat," I said, then chuckled.

"Did you really block his magic?" Asta asked.

"Yeah. I thought I'd try that out. I used ki to look at the energy flow in his body and hit the area that controls magical energy. If he waits too long, he'll need to find his inner peace to unblock it, and I doubt that man has ever known peace. So sad"

"That's pretty cool! Not for him, but that's awesome!" Magna said.

"Aren't you a little too young to have mastered reiki?" Captain Yami asked.

"Training to survive sharpens the mind. I haven't fully mastered it, but I know enough. My tiny fingers help with the precision."

"What else do you know?"

"Enough that I can defend myself without using magic. Or probably get a job as a ninja assassin at home. But that's neither here nor there."

"Weren't you young when you came here?"

"Yeah. Eleven. My mom said I had a photographic memory. That's why I was able to learn that fast. If you ever need a refresher on any of that stuff, there's a chance I have it stored in my head".

"Ummm…Sayuri. I think the Captain needs to talk to you," Asta said as he looked behind me.

"I'm already talking to him. Did you need something else, Heichou?" I knew he was talking about Nozel, but I spoke to Captain Yami.

"Nope"

"Captain Silva. Behind you," Asta said, and I grinned as I turned around.

"Hi, Baka. What do you want?" I asked him.

He cleared his throat. "I would like to apologize for my previous comments. I made an error judgment and realize that as a Captain and as a Magic Knight, I need to show respect to everyone regardless of their standing. I understand the need to cultivate trust and respect from my comrades as a knight of higher rank and a leader. Likewise, I need to trust and respect my subordinates regardless of their squad. I hope you can accept the sincerity of my apology."

"That was actually pretty decent. Are you apologizing because your thirty minutes are almost up, or do you mean it?" I asked smugly. I was surprised by the apology.

"I am sincere in my apology. However, you have no reason to trust my word, and I eventually hope to earn that trust."

"Hmm…I don't know." I looked at him suspiciously. "I want you to apologize to Heichou as well. If you said that about me as a foreigner, then god knows what you said to him all this time he's been here. You don't have much time, Nozel."

"I apologize to you as well, Yami. I haven't treated you as a fellow captain all these years and would like to apologize for my previous behavior. I would like to take this as a learning opportunity for me to correct my behavior". Captain Yami looked just about ready to laugh out loud.

"Kimi no iken wa dou da ne?"

"Just fix him, Sayuri. I think he's had enough."

"Come with me," I looped my arm through his elbow. "See, Baka, being a decent person is not that hard. Keep it up, and I might just be your first friend." He frowned at that comment. I created a small metal platform since I needed to reach his forehead. "I need you to move your braid."

I did the hand signals to unblock the chakra and flattened my palm on his forehead.

"There. Good as new. I also threw in a bit of mental cleansing, so you might be a bit more pleasant to be around. In my country, you would be what I call Ikemen. You know…handsome. It's too bad you have a terrible personality. You'd probably have someone to make you happy every day if you were more agreeable," I told him, then I walked away.

"By the way…Mercury magic. Can you train me in that? Call it a peace offering," I said.

"Do you have mercury magic?" he asked with a frown.

"Mercury is a metal, so yes, I do," I said as I produced a mercury ball. "I just never use it because my mother told me it could be dangerous."

"I'll let you know," he replied.

Solid came over to Nozel and decided to say something to me.

"How dare you treat my brother like that?! We are royalty. Know your place!" I looked at Captain Yami and raised my thumb at him. I didn't want him to anticipate anything so he could reach for his grimoire, so I pretended to walk away. I then turned around, knelt, and hit his pressure point right above his pelvis. He immediately moved to cover his crotch area.

"If you think about it, I just did you a favor right now. I'd recommend spending about four hours in your room getting to know your little friend; otherwise, you're going to feel like you'll explode. You have a terrible personality, so I doubt you have any lady or gentleman friends to help you out, so make sure you drink a lot of water."

"I demand you fix it!" He hissed at me. I decided to go a bit further.

"I am disgusted, Solid. That is so uncharacteristic of royalty to proposition strangers. Especially ones as old as your younger sister. Are you some sort of pervert?" I said out loud, then smirked at him.

I walked back to my squadmates. I suddenly felt someone hug my waist and lift me up.

"Arghhh! Leo!" I yelped then started giggling.

"I know he's my cousin, but that was AWESOME and funny! Are you coming home soon? I can't wait to tell Mereo about this!"

"Maybe you should let me tell her. Actually, let me tell Fuego-san on my own. What time are you heading out?" I said to him as I imagined how that conversation would go.

"We were just about to, actually."

"I told Mereo-san I'll go with you. So I'll just go back to the base early tomorrow morning," I said goodbye to Captain Yami and Magna.

"Nice to meet you, Yuno! You know, I can give you a few hair tips, so you don't have to walk around with that Silva mess," I told Yuno as I shook his hand. "Bye, Magna! See yah, Heichou!" I gave Asta a hug and left with the Crimson Lions. I made Leo give me a piggyback all the way back home!

Asta POV

Sayuri is the coolest person I know! She spoke back to a captain and wasn't afraid of him. She might be one of the bravest people I know. We left the Wizard King's office and headed to the banquet, but she stayed back to talk to Mereoleona. She ended up coming in later and accidentally banged the door. I thought she looked pretty cute when she apologized. Then she saw Leo and ran to him to give him a hug. I felt myself get a bit jealous of Leo, but I didn't know why. Magna looked at me with one eyebrow raised.

"Did you say anything to her?" he asked.

"Not yet. I need to talk to Vanessa about what to do."

She said Leo was like her family, but I think he might like her more than that because he does touch her a lot when they joke around. I have to talk to Vanessa about this soon.

Yuno came over to talk to me, but he was only asking about Sayuri.

"Who is the new girl in your squad? I saw her at the Magic Knight exam, and she was outstanding. Although Captain said there's something too controlled and strange about her magic. She has tons of it, and that other thing she did to the girl's arms was interesting as well. The Captain said he thought she was joking about using her hands. She's really beautiful too," Yuno remarked.

"That's Sayuri, and she's really awesome. She has two kinds of magic and also knows how to use a bunch of weapons."

"Asta thinks she's pretty too, don't you, Asta?" Magna teased. My face turned red.

"Is she going out with Leo? They seem pretty close."

"No. She said he's like her brother. His family was taking care of her after she came here".

"So, she's not going out with anyone?"

"Not yet," both me and Magna said at the same time.

I suddenly heard Sayuri talking to Captain Silva. He said something about her being a foreigner, and this made me angry. I wanted to go and defend her, but Magna held me back. She had the same look on her face when she talked to the bandits' leader from our mission. I saw Leo laugh at something she said and answer a question she asked him. Captain Silva looked like he was about to pull out his grimoire, then Sayuri was suddenly behind him and poked his back.

"This should be interesting. The kid is just full of surprises." Captain Yami said.

She told him she had blocked his magic. I didn't even know that was possible. I looked at Yuno, and he was looking at her like he was in love with her. She called Nebra Zebra and Solid Liquid.

"Wow. Can you introduce me to her?" Yuno asked me. His fairy started yelling at me for trying to bring other women.

"Ok. You probably don't have a chance, though"

"Why is that?"

"She already told me she likes me. Here she comes" She said hi to me, then introduced herself to Yuno and asked if he was in the squad with the pretty mouth captain. That was pretty funny. I think she was making fun of him when she called him "Hage Village's greatest hope" then looked at me and smiled. She picked a strawberry out of my plate and ate it. My heart jumped as it always does. She looked really good eating it. His fairy went to her and started yelling at her about taking him away. She did not look happy about that. She told Yuno the fairy must be a hit with the ladies or gentlemen, whichever he prefers, then asked if it calms down.

"Ladies. She calms down if she thinks someone is not a threat. I have to take her with me because she's part of my magic."

"Interesting. You should tell her to calm down. I'm totally not a threat". I wonder if she thought he meant attacking coz; otherwise, she just rejected him.

We kept talking about other stuff until I saw Captain Silva come up behind her. I told her he was there, and she spoke to Captain Yami. She had a huge smile on her face. She was really enjoying this. She then turned around and called him something she might have called Leo before, then asked what he wanted.

Captain Silva actually apologized, and he even looked like he was sorry about what he did. I don't think she did this because she cared about what he said. She also made him apologize to Captain Yami. I think she was just trying to teach him a lesson. I felt like I had butterflies in my stomach, thinking about how she cares about other people. She held his arm as she led him to a corner and told him something about if he kept being a decent person, she might be his first friend. She's hilarious! She created a step with her metal magic and told Captain Silva to move his hair. She then did something with her hands then hit his forehead.

"She fixed it and did something else to him." Captain Yami said again.

"What did she do?"

"I don't know."

She said she fixed him and cleansed him so he'd be agreeable to have around, then called him handsome. She even managed to convince him to think about training her. Solid said something to her. She looked at Captain Yami then raised her thumbs up.

"Holy shit! I thought she was kidding before." He looked like he was having fun. I turned back to Sayuri and saw her kneeling next to Solid, and he was blocking the front of his pants.

"What did she do?" Magna asked.

"That boner trick she was talking about."

"What's that?" They all laughed quietly. He told her to fix it, and she called him disgusting and a pervert. I don't understand what she did.

"I don't get it either," Yuno said. Everyone got quiet when she walked to the table.

I saw Leo come up behind her when she was walking back to us, then hugged her from behind. She shouted his name then giggled about it. I started getting angry again, but I knew I shouldn't really get mad because I hadn't said anything back to her. I felt my face turn red when she agreed to go with him and the other Crimson Lions. She told Yuno she could help him with his Silva mess hair. She hugged me before she left but climbed on his back and laughed when they were out in the hallway.

"I thought you said she told you she liked you. Are you sure they're not going out? Or went out before?" Yuno asked.

"I told him to talk to her about it before it's too late and other people get interested in her," Magna piled on.

"Well, she certainly made a name for herself today. But, unfortunately, you are about to get some competition for her attention," Captain Yami added on.

"Girls never tell you they like you, and you found one that did. Do you know how many guys wish for that? Plus, she's pretty, she's funny, and she's got balls of steel, literally and figuratively. And she just did that whole thing to Captain Silva and the other one, so even more people will be interested in her." Magna again commented.

"I GET IT! What do I do?" I finally snapped at them. They were making me feel dumb about it.

"Ask her to hang out. One on one, then you can talk to her before Leo beats you to it," Magna said. "And whatever you do, do not ask her about Leo. Girls hate when you ask them about guys they've already told you about," He added.

"At least she hugged you when she left. But, unfortunately, all I got was a handshake," Yuno said.

"No, she rejected you," Magna told him.

"When?"

"Didn't she tell you to tell your fairy she's not a threat?" Magna said while trying to stifle a laugh.

"She also kinda made fun of you when you were talking," I told him.

"How?"

"When she called you 'Hage Village's greatest hope.'. She looked at Asta and smiled about it. Then, she called your hair a Silva mess," Magna said as we were all trying not to laugh.

"Remember, she did say men are stupid because they believe anything if women tell it with a smile," Captain Yami said. We all laughed except for Yuno.

"Sorry, Yuno. I did tell you that you didn't have a chance. Maybe if you left your fairy at home?" I said to him. His fairy told him she still loved him.