Shortly after Wilhelm had been sent back to his room, about an hour, a knock came from the door before it was opened. The teen, who hadn't moved from his spot on the floor with his grimoire, looked at it to see William there.
"Hello again Wilhelm. How are you right now?" The man wasn't exactly thinking it was all good with the kid sitting on the floor like that.
"... I can't read my grimoire." Wilhelm held up the illegible book weakly.
The captain of the Golden Dawn gained an expression of hard thought. He wasn't sure what consequences to Wilhelm's magic would happen, given that he had no mana, but the grimoire completely becoming unreadable? "Nothing at all?"
"Nothing."
"That's not a common occurrence at all… Can I see the book?" The man asked and was handed the book by Wilhelm. He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the book, and saw that the ancient writing style of the grimoire that is only legible to the owner was even more chaotic and confusing than normal. "Hmm… I can take note of this for Sir Julius, or look into this but I was also here to ask about today. I came here to ask if you'd like a chance to leave the castle? I can't imagine I'd be thrilled if I slept for a week and was then just stuck in a specific place."
"I-" The teen cut himself off as he was about to answer, because he didn't know his answer. "I don't know."
"Fresh air may do you some good." William tried to convince him.
Wilhelm thought for a second. "I really just want Nero back to be honest." He hadn't noticed how much he had become accustomed to the bird's presence that not having it there was jarring, especially after it got hurt in Crete.
"We can go get Nero actually, the bird is still here in the capital I believe."
Instead of questioning the man's insistence, Wilhelm got up at the chance to regain his bird. "Okay."
"That's great. Julius said you might be cooped up and I offered to do this."
"Why though?" The kid asked as he followed.
"Everything seems stressful for you, I know how stressful it can be and I wanted to help." The man answered.
"...Okay."
"You don't seem like you accept that answer." The mage replied as he looked at the kid.
Wilhelm was quiet for a second. "Sorry. Mimosa and Selena told me I have issues accepting kindness."
"After the life you had I can't judge your lack of trust." William responded.
"... How much did Miss Dorothy tell everyone?" Wilhelm began to think about how the lady was able to read his thoughts and could have told them just about anything from his memories.
"Captain Unsworth swore to not tell us anything past that the conditions were not well at all. She thought it would be best that you retain the right to be the one to disclose the details."
The teen felt relieved. "I don't plan on telling anyone myself either. No one needs to know."
"If that's what you think is best then it is what will happen, no one really has a right to make you do otherwise."
Wilhelm didn't respond and the two walked in silence for a moment. Not until they exited the castle and we're leaving the main courtyard did Wilhelm speak again. "Why did you really offer to talk to me?"
William turned to the foreign teen in surprise and confusion. "I told you that it was about concern for your health and state of mind."
"Something makes me feel like that's not it." Wilhelm stated.
William took a breath. "That trust of yours is something. You're right honestly, well half right. What I already said is true but there was more. Curiosity if I am being truthful."
"About what?"
"Well… You."
It was Wilhelm's turn to look surprised and confused. "Why?"
"Wilhelm, you have left quite a mark since your first appearance in the kingdom. As someone with no mana, you have achieved some fears even magic knights may not get in their first few months, or even a year. All in the span of a few weeks." The Golden Dawn captain explained. "It's remarkable."
Wilhelm turned red and spoke slightly quieter than usual. "Thanks."
"I actually wanted to ask you about your interest in being a magic knight too. Your drive is impressive and I wanted to know what keeps you going on this path."
"I live out of… spite?" Wilhelm said it like he was questioning himself on it.
"Spite?" William looked slightly worried but intrigued.
The teen was silent as he thought again, William looking at him and waited for a response. When Wilhelm spoke he first nodded. "Yes, spite. I want to live in spite of my old life. I hated every day of it and when I was dying I remember hating that my death would mean nothing, that no one would even bat an eye at my death, I hated that."
"So you want to live this second chance as much the opposite of your past experiences as possible?"
"Yes, to spite every bad memory."
William let out a light laugh. "That could be a good source of drive. I think it already worked out well for you at this point to be candid. Half the capital has been brewing with conversations about what happened in Crete, most of that centered around the kid who defeated the Minotaur."
"I kinda went berserk on it though."
"That's true, but all the same you did save a good number of people and prevented a chain of events that could have escalated into full war between the kingdoms." The captain stated as they began to walk out of the gates to the castle and into the streets of the capital city.
"Something about the event still feels off though."
"That mana you gained was odd, it could be that."
"It's only partly that. I just feel like everything is different because of it."
"Your life has been giving you a lot of that feeling lately." William commented.
Wilhelm didn't make a sound in response, and so the duo walked in silence for a bit again. A few people on the way saw the magic knight captain and showed enthusiasm, greeting the man, thanking him for his service as a magic knight, and general happiness. Wilhelm got odd looks since he still wasn't recognizable as a person yet, not even of a squad to distinguish him from any other random kid.
William spoke again to Wilhelm after a moment. "In your desire to spite your old life, how does being a magic knight fit in?"
"I wanted to make myself matter. Someone that couldn't be ignored and cast aside. The Magic Emperor seems like the most important person and being a magic knight is on the path to that." The teen explained.
William nodded. "I see. I remember you telling Julius that you desired his position. Back then I admit that it sounded preposterous, but now? With your dedication to your efforts so far, it feels more real to see that as a possibility. You do however, still have to join a squad, right?"
"I didn't really think about it past learning the next selections are in April. I mean there's also Sir Fuegoleon who I think has halfway given me an invite to his squad. I don't think I'll take it though."
William blinked. "Why not? The Crimson Lions are a respectable squad."
"I mean no offense to Sir Fuegoleon, I just didn't plan on joining a squad until the spring when the exams took place. I never really had anything normal, so I kinda wanted to at least join a squad the normal way." Wilhelm didn't know how else to word any of his reasoning.
"I can understand that. When everything is odd it's normal to desire making things normal where we can. If you're completely sure about not joining a squad till then, I guess I shouldn't expect a yes to my offer for you to join the Golden Dawn?"
Wilhelm stopped walking and looked at the captain in shock. "What?"
"Come on Wilhelm, I just praised your skill. I think you joining the Golden Dawn would be a good thing." William explained.
"But that's the highest ranking squad and I'm mana-le-... I don't really have the right skill to join." He honestly thought he'd be constantly in Crete situations every day if he joined that squad. He wasn't sure how to use that mana he had used before, or if he could even use it again, so joining felt like it would be purposely taking the most uphill path.
"I understand your thinking, but I disagree with you thinking you don't have the right skill. You show enough wit and tact to navigate uphill battles through means not normally used or thought about by most people. You'd be an eye opener for the squad in terms of versatility. Plus with that sword of yours that can seemingly borrow and give mana among allies, the Golden Dawn and the members' high mana amounts would be a good source of use for the sword." William explained, remembering the sword Wilhelm possessed.
Wilhelm thought for a second before he focused on the part of his sword, and reached behind himself to prove it wasn't there. "Wait, where is my sword?"
"It's in the castle. I believe Julius had it set with someone who could look at it to look for remnants of that mana you had."
"I'm getting it back… right?" The teen asked.
"I see no reason why not." The captain responded. "It belongs to you rightfully. Maybe you will get it back when your training begins."
Once again, Wilhelm stopped to look at the magic knight in confusion. "What training?"
"Right, you must not know yet. I'm not sure if you're supposed to know prior to them telling you themselves, but Julius did task two captains with seeing if your odd mana is something you can will back into use."
"Oh… That's okay I guess." Wilhelm responded plainly.
"You aren't enthusiastic about the chance to use mana?" William asked.
"It's just… should I really want that mana?" The teen answered his question with another question. "Looking back… I don't like how I acted when I used it."
It was William's turn to be silent for a moment before he responded, thinking about what the teen said before he spoke again. "That mana, the way it made you act was unruly, however it was also a key in the defeat of the Minotaur. Who knows what would've happened had you not gained mana in the moment you did. I would like to believe in the training you could learn to control your temperament under its influence."
Wilhelm didn't speak for a moment as he thought about that. The two continued walking in silence until Wilhelm spoke again a moment later. "Can I even control something like that?"
"You used to not know the concepts of mana as we know them. After a few weeks of being around it you went from mana-less to using a mana not normally seen anywhere," William smiled reassuringly as he spoke. "I believe you can do this too."
Wilhelm once again didn't respond with words, but did nod slightly. Another moment of silence occurred, this one broken by William asking a question.
"How do you feel about these memories you have been experiencing?"
"I thought all the information was discussed with the captains?" Wilhelm was wondering why the man was asking if that were the case.
"We discussed what happened in the visions, but I wanted to know how you felt about this. It's a tense situation and I was wondering how you felt."
"Oh, um… I'm not sure. Worried I guess… but not even for myself."
"Who are you worried for then?"
"Mimosa. I didn't realize that was her, or someone like her, in the thing and now I'm worried it will happen to her too."
William was quiet for a second, thinking about his next line. "If that is an event to come to her, then it meant you were experiencing your own future memories, weren't you? Wouldn't you have concern for yourself as well since this fate is yours too?"
The teen went quiet for a minute, after which he shook his head. "No, I'm more concerned for her. I already died once so mine doesn't matter. I'm not even sure if the guy is me or sure if the lady is absolutely Mimosa, but she deserves that happening less than I do."
"I don't think you deserve it either, even if you had died already." The magic knight commented as they approached a building that William moved to the front door of. He opened the door and led the two inside, Wilhelm seeing familiar faces from the Blue Roses as they did.
"I'm just saying, if I could enchant something it would be better for a broom to use to fly around than a rock. It's more aerodynamic." Liv spoke.
"It's not about being aerodynamics, nerd. It's about just slamming my flying ride onto someone." Gina responded.
"You can still do that with a broom!"
"A broom is not gonna hurt as much as a rock!"
"It's been enchanted to fly! It can easily be enchanted to hurt more too!"
"Rocks hurt more than sticks!" Sol joined in.
"It's magic enchantment!" Liv pointed at her.
"Your face is magic enchantment!"
"Personally I think enchanting a random chair would be funnier." Selena commented.
William made a coughing sound and made the people at the table stop and turn like owls to the source.
"Captain Vangeance!" Liv reacted to seeing the man there.
"Hello, I talked with Charlotte earlier about coming to get Nero for Wilhelm." The man spoke to her primarily, and gestured to Wilhelm next to him.
Selena, who had been giving Wilhelm a look of mixed feelings from the second she noticed him, spoke. "Nero's right here." She nudged the bird on her shoulder, which reacted by flapping its wings to fly away towards Wilhelm.
The foreign teen had put his grimoire, which he had been carrying in his good hand since he didn't have his belt at that moment, in his injured hand to have Nero land on his palm. The bird gave him its usual bored look mixed with what looked like concern, and Wilhelm gave it a sad look as he saw the feathers that hadn't completely healed to normal.
"Never do that again." The teen spoke to his bird. "I don't care how hurt I get, I'd rather you stay okay Nero. Okay?" He had used a tone suggesting that it was a non-negotiable order.
At that, the bird gave an annoyed look and flew up to peck the kid really hard in the forehead.
Wilhelm rubbed his head while the bird floated in the air in front of him and cursed. "Fine, be an idiot."
Nero pecked him again.
"I missed you too."
The bird stopped pecking him and landed on his head, accepting that.
"Such a beautiful reunion." Gina commented.
"Thanks for taking care of Nero." Wilhelm looked at Selena, ignoring that Nero pecked him hard enough to have blood drip from his forehead.
Selena however, didn't ignore that. "You're bleeding."
"I'm aware." He said plainly. "I want to say it doesn't matter but I know you're gonna say the opposite.
"You know me so well." The girl replied as she held up her hand and made a small healing spell of water fix his forehead. She applied it with a hand to his head, water dripping from her fingers to form a bubble over the cut.
"Is Galgaria okay? I haven't seen her since Crete." Wilhelm asked while she patched him up, ignoring the odd feeling he got from her touching his forehead.
"She's with Puli getting supplies before we return to Kiten later today. Everyone here is healed up and ready to return to our posts. How about you though? We haven't heard anything about you since Crete."
"I was in a coma until a few hours ago… and can't use my arm for a few days." He wasn't gonna bring up the fact that he was using said arm to currently hold his grimoire.
Selena saw the book, and gave Wilhelm half a dead look before deciding not to point out the obvious.
"Is it true you went all wild child on that Minotaur and the dickhead from Diamond?" Gina asked.
"There has to be a better way to word that." Liv commented with a light laugh.
"I did, and I still don't understand how I did." Wilhelm answered Gina.
"I deleted a man's heart." The girl bragged. "It's not anywhere as flashy as being the hero of Crete but I can stack bodies too."
Wilhelm gave no response past just looking at her, and the pink haired girl sighed at the lack of a response to make more jokes from.
"If that is all, I think we should get back." William spoke. "Wilhelm has gained a schedule that cannot be disclosed."
Be careful Wilhelm." Selena said as the magic knight captain with Wilhelm turned to leave.
"Even if I said I'll try it feels like something will get in the way of that." He responded honestly.
The water Mage sighed. "I know… But you can still say you'll try. It helps."
"I'll try to be careful. I promise." He tried to give an earnest smile but felt awkward because he doesn't really smile often.
It was enough to make Selena gain her own soft smile though. "You're getting better at that."
Wilhelm turned to leave, but said one more thing before he left. "Bye Selena. Tell Galgaria I hope she's okay."
"Gotcha." Selena nodded as the door closed behind Wilhelm.
"That dork really came for the bird and obvious sexual tension with you and left in less than five minutes. Kinda lame." Gina huffed. "I wanted to brag more about my battle wounds."
The water Mage turned red. "That was not-"
"Yes it was." Gina cut her off at the same time.
"It was not!" Selena only got more flustered as she argued.
"It was something." Liv commented. "Anyways I'm just glad that at least he doesn't look creepy as hell anymore though." Liv added. "I was halfway thinking that he was gonna be stuck looking the way he did."
"I wish I could've seen that. It sounds cool." Gina commented.
"No you don't…" Sol spoke after shaking herself from being frozen in place. Seeing Wilhelm instantly made her remember how he was in Crete, and she could only see that version of Wilhelm. It made her skin crawl. "Nothing about that was cool."
Fuegoleon walked into the garden where he knew his younger cousin was, and found Mimosa. The young Vermillion girl was using her mana on a wall of flowers to have them grow through their lifespan to the height of it.
"Mimosa." The man said as he got close, letting her know he was there.
"Hello." She continued to make the plants grow. But slower to give focus to a conversation.
"Not sure how to properly ask questions about this matter… but have you had any odd feelings in regards to Wilhelm?" The man asked.
Mimosa snapped to look at her cousin, accidentally making a few plants burst from a loss of concentration on her flow of mana. "What?! No! Wilhelm is a- uh- a friend! but I- I-, he's a friend!" Her face turning red as she tripped over her words.
Fuegoleon gained a confused expression for half a second before he realized how his question sounded. "I didn't mean in that way, I think that matter isn't really of my concern, especially right now." He was not going to involve himself in two definitely complicated matters involving his cousin and a foreigner. One issue at a time. "Wilhelm woke up from his coma today and-"
"Wilhelm was in a coma?!" The girl interrupted her elder cousin, asking her question in shock and a heavy amount of concern and panic.
"He was unconscious after the events at Crete a week ago, however he is fine and awake now. We gained more insight into his visions from those stones and the story they show us. That's why I'm here, to ask if you also have had any visions of your own, or odd feelings lately."
"I haven't really… wait actually I did have some odd feelings." The girl recalled times she did experience oddities, all seemingly to do with Wilhelm for the most part.
Fuegoleon sat down at a chair set to a table central to the garden. "Go on."
Mimosa joined him at sitting at the table. "When I first met Wilhelm in the coliseum, we both looked at each other and I swear it felt like I knew him before. I know he felt it too- I was looking at his face when we felt it- but I never asked him about it."
"I remember that interaction. To be honest I brushed it off as him meeting royalty and being shocked at the amount of mana you possessed, and you seeing someone in that state of appearance." Fuegoleon really should've guessed it was more than just shock at Wilhelm's disheveled looks.
Mimosa chose to not comment on that and explain more of her feelings. "That and when he tried to leave the castle. I couldn't explain it - I still can't - but I felt like he was in danger and that I had to do something to stop him."
"Danger from what? If I recall, you ended up going with him."
"Every time I heard him talk about those gems, I felt like something bad or taboo was being mentioned. It absolutely bothered me and that feeling was made worse when he held the stone from that Blue Rose in Kiten. I don't know why I gained that initial feeling but I don't trust those gems." Mimosa explained.
Fuegoleon made a sound of thought as he considered the gems and their visions. He knew they were asked to secrecy over the topics discussed in that meeting in regards to Wilhelm, but also did have permission to disclose it to Mimosa provided she also kept it secret. He believed she should know and that she could be trusted to not gossip on the subject. "Do you have any of your own visions at all? Of an event that ends in flames and a spell of light magic?"
Mimosa thought for a second before shaking her head. "No. Although I do sometimes have a recurring dream, ever since I met Wilhelm. It's always the same thing, I start in a field, and a tornado made from strong wild mana shows up and I get caught up in it. I'm always unable to get out of it and I always hear someone shout the name of a spell to cut through the tornado."
"What is the spell? If we know the magic type, we can gain more insight through a number of users of that magic."
The girl squinted her eyes as she tried to recall the name of the spell. "Origin Flash. It's from sword magic."
"Sword magic? I don't think I've ever seen a person with that kind of magic. Captain Jack's magic is the closest with slashing magic." The magic knight decided to bring it up with Julius and perhaps look into recorded magic types to see if there's a record of it anywhere. "Is that all?"
The girl had to think for a minute, but did have more to say. "I did have an odd feeling last week, around the time that they'd have been fighting in Crete."
Fuegoleon leaned forward, knowing that there was no way this was a coincidence. "In the middle of the night? What feeling was it?"
"I couldn't sleep, something felt wrong enough that I was restless. And then felt something like twisted mana wash over me. I don't know why or where it came from, but I felt it and it has been bothering me but no one else in the castle mentioned it so I thought I was just having a bad dream or an effect of not being able to sleep." Mimosa still remembered how that mana felt. "It was cold, and angry feeling mana."
Fuegoleon leaned back in his chair, making a face of surprise as he processed that information. "I did not feel that mana but I know exactly what you felt. I don't understand how you felt it halfway across the kingdom but you felt the mana Wilhelm had gained in Crete. The reports from the Blue Roses who were in Crete match up with your feeling of the mana that he had shown use of. This only confirms you are indeed involved in this situation with Wilhelm."
"I am? Wait, I was considered?" She was questioning that over hearing that Wilhelm had used mana, which was definitely still something she was going to question. She was instead questioning the belief that she had anything to do with it.
"While combing through his visions for details, we discovered someone that looked eerily similar to you. It's very possible that this is actually you in the future, and with the events that his visions give I admit having a level of fear for your safety." Fuegoleon explained.
Mimosa was quiet for a second while thinking. "I was in his visions?" She turned pink at that thought, before remembering how awful the events of Wilhelm's visions were.
"I'm led to believe it is that scenario. I would much rather believe the idea that this is an ancestor of the Vermillion family that you share a striking resemblance with but I also must keep the idea of it being a future event in mind. Especially since I intend to do what I can to prevent this from happening to Wilhelm, those people who are in this vision or you." The man explained. "And I would like for you to expand your training as well. I know you want to wait for the selection exams and to try like anyone else to join the magic knights, but given these new circumstances I also ask you to reconsider and join the Crimson Lions soon."
Mimosa gained a look of surprise, not expecting her elder cousin to bring back up her joining a squad again for the next few months. "I… uhm… I actually think I have another reason to wait to join a squad… Past my other reasons." She paused for Fuegoleon to comment, but he only gave her a look suggesting she should just continue. "It's Wilhelm. I honestly would rather be in the same squad as him."
She almost regretted saying that, because in the span of a single second, Fuegoleon went through several facial expressions showing his emotions ranging from disbelief, shock, almost disappointment and then just looking like he was tired from just hearing that.
"Mimosa… I halfway understand why you'd say that, but I have to say you can't base your joining a squad on the actions of a boy. Especially, and no offense to him, a boy like Wilhelm." The man thought of all the reckless and incredibly dangerous/stupid stunts the kid has pulled since Wilhelm had come to Clover.
"It's just… I'm also concerned for him. Wilhelm is not exactly the best at keeping himself from trouble, and is connected to this situation that I am also apparently connected to. I'd like to go where he goes, to use my magic to make sure he doesn't do more harm to himself than good." Mimosa explained.
The man made a sighing sound. "I can't blame you for that line of thinking. What if I ask him about his thoughts on becoming a Magic Knight soon? I know William already has shown interest, and Captain Unsworth potentially would give him the same offer. He's already completed a mission that is worthy of a Magic Knight so I believe he has more than earned a position among our ranks."
Mimosa thought about it then nodded. "Okay. That works for me." Fuegoleon nodded to her response and stood up, and as he did Mimosa spoke again. "Wait! Can I talk to Wilhelm? He's awake and okay now right?" She definitely wanted to talk to him after everything that happened with him in Crete, to make sure he was okay and to also lecture him over breaking the promise he made to her about being careful.
"He's actually here in the royal castle, in the main section. I can take you there right now if you'd like." The Crimson Lion offered.
In the blink of an eye Mimosa shot up out of her seat. "Yes please!" She spoke a bit louder than she meant to.
The elder Vermillion have a single chuckle to the action. "Then let's go."
Mariella silently walked through the hall, following Cain.
"This way, I feel it." The guy stopped before turning to head right through a mess of halls.
They were in an underground maze. Another dungeon close to the border of Clover, about twenty kilometers on the Diamond side of the border from Kassel.
The two had barely conversed since Cain removed Mariella from her cell, and the girl didn't like that. Normally she preferred less talking with people but the guy had information she wanted to know, but she wasn't about to pressure him or anything since the guy had a vibe that put even her off. She couldn't distinguish it properly, since he put up a front of calmness, but he felt legitimately chaotic under the surface. Every time he looked at her she felt like he was analyzing her for any sort of action or reaction to whatever. It made everything feel tense for the girl who was raised to be an assassin.
Cain stopped when three hallways opened up in front of them, one to the left and right, and one going forward. The guy stood there for a solid ten seconds before throwing a rock he had pocketing, tossing it sideways to the left hall. Before Mariella could comment, a magic trap got set off by the rock and the hallway's walls released explosive spells into the hall. Cain had a neutral look as the explosions happened close enough that he could feel the heat on his face.
"We go this way." He said as he turned to the path opposite the hall he set traps off in. He moved calmly and swiftly down the hall, Mariella following close behind.
After another minute of walking they came to a door that was seemingly sealed shut. Cain moved to the side of the door and looked at the ice Mage next to him.
"Blow it open." He ordered calmly, making it feel like he was asking if suggesting it even though she knew it was an order.
Mariella raised her arm and pointed it at the door, muttering an ice spell's name that sent a massive spike of ice at the door. The ancient architecture was blasted open and Cain walked through the second the dust began to clear.
They had come across a chamber, at least fifty meters across, that was circular and clearly a grave for an ancient person. Boxes and bags were sprawled around a raised stone grave in the center. One bag was slightly open in their direction and Mariella saw the light of gold shimmer from it.
Cain had a slight upturn to his lips as he walked up to everything, eyeing the central grave. He could feel the tingle of mana in the air and knew another stone was here. As he got next to the grave he used his own mana, with two swipes of his hand he broke apart the top of the grave.
Mariella had a blank expression as the man desecrated this grave, she also not having a single concern for the riches around the grave.
Cain stuck his hand in the grave and pulled out an object, a thin crown with a gem in the middle. The gem was golden and rectangular in shape, with two crescent designs, one crescent holding a circular design in its center, etched into the front side. The guy swiped his finger against the ancient crown, slicing it with his mana to release the stone. He caught it and held it up, dropping the crown without a second thought.
As he held it, the guy could feel the power it held, whispering to him. He began to give a light laugh as he held the magic gem.
For one of the first times, Mariella felt a sinking feeling as she saw the guy laugh.
"Two down, nine to go." Cain remarked as he put the magic stone with the other in his possession.
Wilhelm and William continued walking, now on a roundabout way back to the castle.
"I haven't really seen an Anti-bird like your Nero." William commented as he looked at the bird. "Especially one who willingly is this close to someone with a more than average amount of mana.
Wilhelm pet Nero, who had landed on his grimoire he was still holding in his crippled hand. "Nero's not normal, I question its intelligence sometimes because Nero shows more understanding than I thought birds had."
"Birds are smart creatures, more clever than most people give them credit for. However, Nero seems smarter than that. Especially if Nero was able to actively participate in your fight against the Diamond mage to your advantage."
"Nero understands everything I say too, granted Nero only responds to what they feel like responding to." Wilhelm commented.
"I noticed you mostly refer to Nero by name… Do you not know the bird's gender?" William asked.
Wilhelm had a blank look. "I don't. I don't even know how to check."
"I study small birds, they're a personal favorite kind of animal to me. Perhaps I can help." The man offered.
Instead of taking the man up on his offer, Wilhelm looked at Nero. "Nero, are you a guy or girl? Flap your right wing if you're a guy, and the left if a girl."
The bird gave Wilhelm its regular apathetic look and flapped its left wing.
"So Nero's a girl." William found it fascinating how smart the peculiar bird was.
"That's why you're so annoying and I can't win anything against you." Wilhelm spoke flatly to the bird. He wasn't upset by the revelation, more along the lines of it connecting some dots.
Nero pecked Wilhelm's right hand in response to his saying that.
The Magic Knight gave a light laugh at the bird's antics before speaking to Wilhelm. "Do you have something against women?"
"No. Just that the women here definitely are stubborn and on my case half the time." The teen replied. "... That's not even bad either. It's nice having people show that they care, even if it's berating me for my more reckless behavior or choices." He gained a small smile at the thought of people caring about him.
"They have your best intentions in mind, like that Blue Rose who healed your forehead just a bit ago."
"That's Selena, she's the first person here who actually believed in me." The teen spoke noticeably softer when he mentioned Selena.
Lord Julius was the first to believe in me." William commented. "I always hold him in high regard for it, and am grateful for the opportunities he helped me have the strength to get towards." He paused for a second. "Julius is placing the same kind of hope and trust in you, believing you have a kind of potential that can take you a decent ways through life."
"Sir Fuegoleon said something like that. He said he believes I have the heart of a lion. Mimosa also said a few weeks ago that I don't know when to quit. And one of the captains compared me to the other foreigner."
"Yami?" William said the man's name in confusion before thinking about it and letting out a laugh. "I suppose that's actually a fair comparison."
"It is?" Wilhelm really had no frame of reference for the other foreigner except for the little bit of time he saw the man during the meeting earlier that same day.
"Well if I thought about it, you both use swords and have a magic type not commonly, or ever, seen around here. That and a knack for causing or getting involved with trouble follows you both around." The Magic Knight explained. "Not that it is bad, in my opinion it builds you both up."
The teen gained a look of disbelief. "How does getting into trouble build me up?"
"Every instance of trouble you have gotten yourself into has improved your skill in some way hasn't it? Plus it's almost all skirmishes with Diamond mages, so it's not like you are picking fights with other people."
"Uhhhh… Half my conversations back in Kiten were me being kind of an ass to the Blue Roses. And that time I actively ignored Sir Fuegoleon telling me to stay in the castle." Wilhelm pointed out. He has had time to think about things and was definitely aware he was being an ass at times to the others, and had thought to apologize to some of them the next chance he got.
"I suppose that may be true. However I believe they still place trust in you all the same. Yami himself pointed out in your defense at the meeting that most people who get to know you do place trust in you."
"..." Wilhelm opened his mouth to respond, but had nothing to properly say.
"I guarantee if you keep up your efforts towards that goal of yours, you may go easier on yourself." William stated. "You'll see that trust the others place in you and trust yourself as well."
Wilhelm thought for a second before attempting to respond, but as he tried to speak a small portal opened next to his hand and another hand emerged from it. Before the teen could react the hand placed something in Wilhelm's own and the teen seized up.
"Wilhelm?!" William turned as he felt a surge of magic and saw another gem in Wilhelm's hand. This gem was orange and circular, with a star design etched into the front.
The teen fell over as he lost the ability to focus on anything but the stone and its mana that poured outwards and into his hand. Nero had flown off of the teen as he fell over.
William attempted to use his magic to conjure up branches of a tree to block the rest of the street from an ensuing explosion of mana, and instead had to witness as a new portal opened underneath Wilhelm and the teen fell through, disappearing from the street completely.
A/N: Whoa, someone kidnapped Wilhelm, I totally didn't think that'd happen. I mean I did but totally didn't think initially it'd happen at this point in the story. I honestly planned for it to originally happen the first time he was in the capital but that didn't feel right, and then also in that three week period he was hiking with Mimosa, but that also didn't feel right. So it ended up being now. I'll give a shout-out to whoever accurately guesses who just yoinked Wilhelm away.
I brought up with Wilhelm and Mimosa separately their potentially becoming Magic Knights, because I wanted to see how people would feel about their becoming magic knights this soon (which is about five months before Yuno and Noelle would btw). And I also wanted to see what people thought about Wilhelm's placement in the magic knights, like what squad people think he should join. Some people on Discord say it should clearly be the Black Bulls, and others said Crimson Lions.
At one point I considered having him join the Crimson Lions and Mimosa join the Blue Roses just so they'd have robes of opposing colors, but that only makes sense if Mimosa is the pairing. I'm not saying she isn't the pairing, or saying she is, because the topic of who Wilhelm ends up with is still undecided.
I hope people are getting the right vibe from Cain, I want that dude to be a good antagonist by the end of that plotline. Also, since I dunno how to organically put it in the story, Cain is a good 6-7 years older than Wilhelm, so either 21 or 22.
As I say at the bottom of every chapter, I have a discord server with the link in my Bio. Is a good way to talk with me about this or any other story/topic you'd like to discuss.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know how it was and have a good day!