Hello everyone.

I'm writing this chapter after Chapter 10 came out, but I'll organize it, so it's all good.

I don't own Black Clover, but you knew that.

THE BLIND SWORDSMAN

CHAPTER 9

It was after the mission that Asta, Noelle and Magna had finished. They had just arrived at the base and had walked into the dining hall.

"You guys look like shit." Yami said bluntly. "But anyways, good job you idiots."

"The Magic Investigation are examining what they have left behind, but they haven't found anything important yet." Vanessa stated. "That pocket watch he left is valuable and the way they attacked, they were either extremists or dissidents from the noble realm."

"Well, it doesn't matter. In recognition of your actions, you have been awarded a star by the wizard king." Yami said as he held out a tiny star with his fingers.

This had Magna excited but as usual, left Asta confused.

"What's the star about?"

"The nine magic knight groups compete to see how many stars they can collect. It's an honor thing." Vanessa explained. "The Golden Dawn are ahead as they have seventy stars."

"Woah! How many do we have?" Asta asked, now excited.

"As of now, minus thirty." Yami stated.

"...huh?"

"You know, if we hadn't busted up the town on that one mission. That puts us exactly 100 stars behind the golden dawns."

Asta now has a blink expression on his face. 'We have a long way to go.'

"And here, your wages for the month." Yami handed Asta and Noelle a bag of money.

"Woah, Money!" Asta said excitedly.

"It's barely anything." Noelle stated.

"For you." Asta stated, not surprised by the Royal's status.

"Now that you got paid, you can go shopping in Castle Town. I'm free, so I'll take you." Vanessa stated.

"The Castle Town?!" Asta stated.

At Castle Town

There was a large crowd of people walking around, going from shop to shop, with some of them flying on their brooms. Vanessa and Noelle looked around as this was a familiar sight to them before. As they were looking around, they both noticed that Asta had his eyes closed.

"You okay, Asta?" Vanessa asked.

"What's with the closed eyes?" Noelle added.

"It's the only way for me to walk around without having a headache." Asta stated.

Despite the many people present there, Asta could tell that this was a nice place. He then thought about bringing the people from home so they can see this place as well.

As they were walking, many people noticed that they were magic knights, more noticeably that they were Black Bulls. Most of the comments they had were negative, they talked about their magic knight group and about Vanessa as well.

"There's a lot of commotion…" Noelle stated.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just having magic knights around deters criminals. Besides, we might attract a fine guy or two." Vanessa laughed as she held bottles of booze While Noelle looked unimpressed. "Health recovery herbs… Consumable magic items… Once we get the major stuff, I'll take you to a special place."

After they got the important stuff, Vanessa talked to… an alley.

"Somewhere special…? This is just an alley…" Noelle said.

"Here. Over here." Vanessa waved at them as she was going through one of the walls.

As they walked through as well, they found themselves in a place like the Castle Town but dim and more secretive.

"It's the Black Market. It may be a bit more dangerous, but they have some very effective stuff here." Vanessa stated while looking at Noelle. "Surprised?"

"Well, Nobles and Royals wouldn't come near this place, out of prejudice." Noelle stated.

"You can't control your magic yet, right? All you learned to control is the magic that stays in one place."

"Th… That's true. What about it?"

"There are some items here that repress magic. If you find the item that best suits you, you might be able to control it."

As Vanessa stated that, her and Noelle noticed that they were the only two there.

"Where's Asta?"

With Asta, he was walking around. He was soaking in what the place had to offer. He was amazed by the amount of people that was here. He then noticed that one place was more untamed than the rest of the place so he decided to see what the commotion was about. As he walked through the doorway, he sensed Noelle and Vanessa's energy coming from behind him.

"There you are, Asta. Don't wander off like that!" Noelle told him.

"Sorry." Asta said without changing his direction. "What's happening over there? It's really jumpy."

"That's a casino. You two are still young for that. Amateurs need to take it easy or they'll ruin themselves." Vanessa laughed after her statement.

Asta then noticed Magna's energy and by what he could tell, was extremely excited about the game he was playing. He then started looking around to see what he could find. Unknowing to him yet, there was another familiar energy here.

Sekke. He was there playing cards with a small, elderly lady.

"Dang It, I lost! Again!" Sekke exclaimed furiously.

"I can see the future, sonny." The elder lady claimed.

Sekke started complaining in his head. How since he joined the magic knights, they kept giving him odd jobs, how when he actually got a mission they used him as bait He's constipated and losing his hair. After his complaint, he blamed the one person he thought was responsible for it, Asta.

'Is there anything good here?' He wondered before his eyes caught Noelle and Vanessa, who was looking for something that Noelle could use. He decided to walk over to them.

"Well, well. What are you two doing in a place like this?" Sekke said, leaning on the wall, trying to be cool. "This is no place for lovely ladies like you. Did you get lost? I'm an elite magic knight, so I can escort you."

"Vanish, insect." Noelle harshly said as Vanessa yawned at his attempt at flirting.

"Hey guys, look at this stuff I found." Asta said as he walked towards Vanessa and Noelle with a bag of items.

Sekke was shocked at who these ladies were talking to. "You!"

Asta then picked up Sekke's energy. "Oh, it's you. Uhhh…"

"It's Sekke." He claimed as he did his laugh.

"Who is he?" Noelle asked.

"He took the entrance exam with me." Asta answered.

'These babes are talking to him?' Sekke thought shockingly. "Going shopping with the ladies? Even though you're a peasant."

"I just got done with a mission." Asta stated. "And got a star as well too."

"Hmph, well I got two stars." Sekke lied.

"You're not a very good liar, are you?" Asta stated. But before Sekke can answer back…

"THIEF!"

They all turned to the elder lady, who had won against Sekke many times, yelling at someone who just robbed. The thief was getting away, using Wind Magic: Bandit's Thief Wind.

"My winnings… Stop!"

"Hold this." Asta handed Noelle his bag. He then chased at the energy of the thief.

"Right in front of magic knights. That's one brave idiot." Noelle stated.

Sekke laughed and used Bronze Creation Magic: Sekke Shooting Star.

'There's no way I'm letting you get all of the glory, Asta!' Sekke thought. "I'll handle this. You ladies sit back and wait for me."

Vanessa and Noelle were disgusted by his attempt at flirting again.

As the thief was escaping, he noticed that Asta was not only chasing him, but keeping up with him.

'He's just running… How is he keeping up with me?'

Asta then pulled out his Katana imbued with anti-magic and waiting. When he realized that he had a shot, he launched his sword straight at the thief. The thief got cocky.

'Like he could cut my wind magi-' Before he could finish his thought, the sword hit his spell, negating it. "What the…?!"

As the thief was falling, Sekke came in and rammed at the thief, trying to look cool.

Asta wasn't impressed.

The thief then pulled out Magic Item: Paralysis Knife and stabbed Sekke in the foot. Sekke then fell to the ground.

"Oh No, it seems that they got me." Sekke said, being overdramatic. "I'm probably not going to make it. This is where my legacy is going to end. And when I'm just becoming a good magic knight. Asta, it seems that this is the end of our rivalry."

Sekke finishes his dramatic speech, hoping to get a reaction out of Asta.

"Really, man?"

Sekke was not expecting that response.

"That wasn't that much mana in that knife. You're going to be alright."

Vanessa and Noelle arrived. Vanessa healed Sekke's wound and they headed to the elder lady with the winnings of her.

"Oh, thank you kind people." The Lady thanked them.

"It was no problem." Asta responded.

Sekke was about to shoot his shot at Noelle. "So, hey. How about you and I-"

"Not interested." Noelle responded quickly.

Asta was looking at the lady with confusion on his face.

"Are you ok, kid?" The lady asked with concern.

"Are you using mana, Ma'am?" Asta asked, which surprised the lady.

"Why yes I am. I'm using mine so my fragile knees can keep up with the people here."

"Oh. Well it's time for me to go. Keep safe." Asta said, waving as he headed back to his two squadmates.

"You're done here, Asta?" Vanessa asked.

"Yep. Oh, before I forget." Asta reached into the bag and pulled out a wand. "This is for you."

"For me?" Noelle asked as she grabbed the wand.

"Yeah. Vanessa said that there were some items here that helped with magic. So I did some sensing and found that wand."

"Oh.T-Thank you." Noelle said, blushing a bit.

"You're Welcome. Now can we hang back to the base." Asta asked as Vanessa was already going through the wall.

"I'm waiting for you two."

Asta and Noelle followed Vanessa through the wall.

The Elder lady was walking back before taking the path of a blocked area. She looked around to see if someone was watching her and deactivated her transformation spell. After the spell deactivated, it revealed a person. Not just any person, it was a man named Julius Novachrono.

The Wizard King.

"Ah, there you are, sir." Julius turned to a silhouette calling him by his magic device.

"Marx Francois. What can I help you with today?"

"You know why I'm calling. You ran off from your duties to do who knows what."

"What I was doing is looking at the wonders of magic." Julius said with stars in his eyes.

"Again with your obsession with magic." Marx said a little disappointed.

"But it doesn't have to deal with magic this time." Marx looked at Julius confused. "I saw and talked to an interesting fellow."

Marx waited for him to answer before realizing that the wizard king was being suspenseful. He sighed.

"Who did you meet?"

Julius smiled before going into his exciting expression. "I met this kid! He managed to sense the mana I used to disguise myself!"

"That's… Quite impressive."

"Another thing is that he's blind!"

"Wait, blind? You don't mean-"

"Yes. He has the eyes! And the scar! There's no doubt that he's one of them!"

"We'll talk more about this, Julius. But now you need to head back to the Royal Kingdom."

"All right." Julius said before hanging up and headed back to the kingdom. As he was walking, his smile never left his face.

"Let's see what you're capable of, Asta."

And that was Chapter 9. For anyone wondering about the deleted chapter, I will upload it back.

With that being said, I hope you enjoy and until next time, bye.