Here is the ninth chapter of this story released when I wanted it to be in keeping with my self-imposed upload requirements for this series. Fairy Tail is back and getting back into the swing of things so what better way than to go on a job and what better way for the Black Bulls to observe them then to watch them in action, if the job works out and so it's time for a little Nero spying to see if that works out and if it does then they'll have to decide how to go about observing Fairy Tail in action. That is all the administrative stuff I have for you and the only question to really answer is that of course the devices mentioned in the last chapter were Black Clover communication devices that they've made to compete with the ones in Fairy Tail. There are also no guest reviews that require a response though one did raise something that has been raised before which I need to clarify as it seems to have come off as a mistake on my part when it's not so I will clarify that issue now. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from those who enjoy my work.

What I need to clarify so as to clear it up as there has been some confusion in a few reviews over it as it has come across as a mistake on my part when it wasn't and that is when Yami, back in chapter 5, thinks that his Dark Magic is lost magic in Earth Land. This was not a mistake or me not knowing the lore of Fairy Tail or anything, this was a deliberate decision I made to show how little Yami understands about the nature of magic in Earth Land when he arrives, especially because he says this on their first day in Earth Land and after learning the basics about magic there from Gordon and Gauche's report. It shows how they don't fully know the magic they're dealing with and are trying to fit their own magic into it where it is strange, in Yami's case it's his Dark Magic's ability to cut dimensions, so that they can avoid suspicion. Obviously, he's not right about this but he's only been there a day, so he's not had time to fully understand how his own magic fits in with this world. This is to add a sense of realism to the situation and show how much the Black Bulls have to do and learn to fully understand and integrate into Earth Land without giving away who they are. Context of chapters and who's POV is being used matters in this fic and I'm sorry if that wasn't clear when I did it but hopefully this clarifies things for back then and anything going forward though at this point they've been in Earth Land for almost 2 years so they should be well adjusted by this point.

Anyway, that is it for pre-chapter note so it is time to end it so that y'all can sit back and enjoy the ninth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 9: Scouting Opportunity

Nero settled herself in her nest in the rafters above the main room of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall as she looked down on the activities that were going on below her. It had only been a fortnight or so, she wasn't 100% sure as she had a bad habit of tracking time while in her bird form given all the centuries she'd spent as a bird, since the return of the main members of Fairy Tail and finally things seemed to be getting settled after the surprise of their sudden return.

Things had been a bit hectic when they'd first reappeared what with the fact that they'd all returned safe and sound and how they'd not aged at all having been in stasis the for 7 years but now it was getting back to normal. Fairy Tail had handled Twilight Ogre and squared the books with them, though with 7 years of back rent for most of the returners were still broke with a few exceptions as Grey had sold things to Erza the other day, while the nation got used to them being back.

Of course, they still had their low reputation, so things were still tight for Fairy Tail hence why Nero hadn't stopped by in the last 2 weeks. Now, though, it seemed like as good a time as ever to fly on by to see what Fairy Tail was currently up to.

She knew that Grey had a report for Yami, she'd spoken to the shy woman before coming here having spent the last few weeks checking on the other major Guilds in Fiore to see how they were handling Fairy Tail's return, and how they were preparing for the upcoming Grand Magic Games, so she got a decent sense for some of the main returners from Grey. It would take Grey a little time to recover it seemed but Yami wasn't going to let her back until it was clear that running the store in Magnolia wouldn't be a productive source of information anymore, so she was stuck there.

Still, Grey had provided Nero with some good information on a few of the returners and that had prompted Nero to come to her nest here to see if she could watch them in action. They would have a lot of work to get back to the top so perhaps Nero could see how they worked a bit and understand why losing these 19 or so members had been so disastrous for their reputation.

Well, that and there was little doubt in her mind that they'd enter the Grand Magic Games as a shortcut to the top despite how they'd come last the year before, so she needed to get intel on them for the Black Bulls. That was because it would be the Black Bulls not Fairy Tail who used it to slingshot to the top this year.

It was clear to Nero that Fairy Tail would really need at least a strong showing to get back into the big leagues however. A win would of course help but just showing that they were back to full strength and able to compete again with the likes of Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, and Sabertooth would help a lot. That was what would help the Black Bulls and she was sure that a former top Guild would need less than the Black Bulls to get back into desirability range and boy did Fairy Tail need it.

Nero had been watching them on and off for two years and knew how few requests they got these days as she'd seen them decreasing in numbers over the years. Even the Black Bulls now got more jobs that paid better, providing there wasn't water nearby though Nero did know that Noelle hadn't meant to flood the town she'd been trying to complete a change with her Valkyrie armor and lost control of her magic.

Why after all her control Nero still didn't know but then she'd learned that when Noelle had succeeded in creating the change and saw the final result, which for some reason none of them knew seemed to enhance and accentuate Noelle's breasts, that there'd been some lecherous men nearby who'd commented on them. That had set Noelle off and without Asta around to help out by dispelling the magic at play Noelle lost control and that had cost them.

Naturally, she'd blamed Asta for it because he wasn't there, which wasn't true, but Noelle's pride was still a thing even after all this time and when you added her insecurities around Asta it was bound to come out. Nero had a feeling what would help it, but that girl was in so much denial that it would take a long time, or an extreme event, before she sorted that out. Regardless it would be entertaining for Nero while it unfolded especially with Mimosa around as that girl could get as flustered as her cousin got. That little love triangle was as amusing to Nero as it was frustrating.

Regardless of all this, the Black Bulls did have a steady reputation and all of them got special requests these days. Well all of them but Asta did but that's because they'd still not bothered to explain exactly what he could do his and as he'd yet to really show off his Black form on jobs where non Black Bulls could see it, which they were going to say was some form of Takeover Magic, there hadn't been a need for his specific services. Once it was revealed that his power was Anti-Magic, no doubt during the Grand Magic Games, then Nero was sure that Asta would get a lot more special requests.

As for the others, Vanessa was still on the modeling gigs though did do some highly specialized jobs that required her Thread Magic and fine control over it, the high paid transport jobs asked for Finral these days, for food based Charmy was the go to girl, even with the mistake Noelle's water magic was such that she got plenty of special requests that she did well on, Mimosa was often busy with plants and healing, and the list went on. Nero was actually one of the few who rarely got requested unless there was something that only her Sealing Magic could be of use for.

That was fine with her as it allowed for her to focus on her items and on spying like this and right now things were about to get really interesting as she watched. That was because as she watched, Natsu Dragneel, the pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer that Nero had heard a lot about over the last two years but had yet to really see in action walked into the Guild Hall with his partner and best friend, the blue male exceed called Happy, and headed up to the request board. It was clear that he was looking for a job and announced as much as he needed to make some money seeing as he and Happy were broke.

Nero just hopped out of her nest and along the rafters to get a better view as Natsu and Happy looked for a job amongst the scant requests on offer for them. This would be a great chance to follow one of the most talked about Fairy Tail members, and one who was very much like Asta it seemed based on the descriptions that Nero had heard, in action. It would also give her a good gage his fighting skills as he was almost certainly going to be on Fairy Tail's team for the games, well one of them as you could have multiple teams and Nero was certain that Fairy Tail would put forward more than one team.

The problem facing Natsu, and Nero could see it from here even if she didn't know it already, was that there were very few jobs on offer these days beyond generic and low paying local ones. Few specifically requested Fairy Tail for anything these days and when there was a multi Guild S-Class job Fairy Tail hadn't gotten it because for 7 years none of their S-Class members were present. Still, there were a few jobs that did pay well and as Nero watched Natsu found one that paid 4 million jewels to apprehend a criminal and escaped prisoner which he seemed interest in and was considering.

As he was doing this Nero felt another magical presence enter and turned to see a very attractive blonde girl around Natsu's age wearing a blue and white outfit that but for the thigh high black tights she had one would have left more skin on display than cloths entered the Guild Hall and headed to where Natsu was. In fact, it was only slightly less skimpy over her impressive bust than what Vanessa wore out.

Even if Nero hadn't had confirmation from the celebrations and then Grey's report, she'd recognize the woman based of her appearance as Lucy Heartfilia one of the newest members before the incident and Natsu's primary job partner. This was good as it meant that she too would be in action as well as almost always went on jobs with Natsu, so she was bound to join him on the job.

Nero wasn't sure if they were more than just friends or even if there was a spark between them, though their closeness was easily one that could rival Asta and Noelle's in her book minus that strange dynamic that Nero's squad mates had. As such, she would watch them closely because it was clear that Lucy was also looking for a job as well.

That meant that it was almost a given that she'd join Natsu on this which would give Nero a chance to observe Lucy and her strange magic, the whole Celestial Spirit Magic was one of the few that really didn't fit with the magic Nero knew, in action and thus allow Nero to understand it more. She'd seen the Celestial Wizard in Sabertooth once, that girl was one of Sabertooth's newer members, but from what she'd heard Lucy was on a whole other level so watching her would be good.

It also meant that if the two took the job, which seemed more likely now as Lucy saw the reward money and offered to join Natsu on that job so as to get her own cut of it, that the others in their little group would join in. That was made a guarantee when Nero heard that Gray Fullbuster, Natsu's best friend and the ice to his fire in a way that only Luck and Magna's friendship could match up from what Nero had heard, had almost taken it a while back but when it was worth a lot less money.

That was all interesting and as the Guild Master Macao rose to speak to them, though Nero was sure that he'd relinquish his position soon now that Makarov was back, to explain the client more so Nero listened in closely to get as much intel as she could. What Nero learned was a little different to what she was expecting but it ensured that she'd stick around if for nothing more than that what was about to go down would be amusing to watch.

That was because it turned out that the guy who requested the job, some Count Balsamico who Happy and Natsu thought was a condiment for some reason that escaped Nero, threw a fancy ball every 7 years that was super exclusive, so much so that only wizards could be invited with the next one that coming weekend. To add to it, the wanted man, Velveno according to the job request, was rumored to be making an appearance at the next one so it was worth going to it to crash the ball and catch the guy. Natsu was clearly fired up for that plan and ready to put it in action right away.

Honestly, it sounded just like something Asta would consider doing, which further showed how similar Natsu was to Asta, but thankfully Lucy seemed to have a sensible head on her shoulders as she noted that if they were going to go to a party they should work on their dance moves before going to it. It seemed that she was a bit like Noelle, minus the whole extreme upper class arrogance that masked her many insecurities that Nero had watched Noelle overcome most of with the exception of her inability to admit her feelings to herself, as the voice of reason in their group.

At least Nero, as the de facto talking animal sidekick which she'd never call herself, wasn't like Happy. Well, for the most part she wasn't like Happy as she was as loyal to Asta as Happy was to Natsu but that was as far as her similarities to the fun loving exceed went.

Still the dance lesson looked interesting to Nero so after Lucy's suggestion Nero waited for them all to head out to a training area out behind the Guild Hall and then flew down to find and 'borrow' a copy of the job request to take back to the Captain. That would come though as she was looking forward to watching the dancing lesson, so she flew out of the building and up to the top of the Guild Hall to roost there and watch the amusing show below her though where the music came from was beyond her.

Nero just sat there with her 'borrowed' request pinned under her as she watched as Lucy tried to teach Natsu how to ballroom dance. Honestly, it was quite cute to Nero until Natsu stood on Lucy's foot and then it just became amusing like she'd expected it to be.

Clearly Lucy had some class to her, Nero knew this for a fact from her spying though Lucy had actually run away from that wealth and joined Fairy Tail though her father had ended up losing his wealth 7 years ago and remade himself after that. Nero was also aware that Jude Heartfilia had passed away only a few months before Lucy returned from stasis so it was admiral to see how well she was doing despite that.

It was as Nero was thinking this, and only moments after the dance practice began, when it devolved as Gray had arrived, thought it was a game, stripped of his shirt for some reason, and then tried to dance with Lucy only to be savagely and expertly kicked away by the blonde girl. Nero couldn't fault Lucy's reaction to that and mentally praised the kick, the girl had some raw strength to her for sure which was something that the Black Bulls would have to be aware of if they faced her.

That was just the tip of the iceberg of devolution, no pun intended, as the moment Gray tried to dance with Lucy his obsessed stalker Juvia was on the scene and willing to strip down to dance with him much to the creepy older men's delight. Nero had heard the stories of this strange, apparently one sided, romance but seeing it like this was something else but she couldn't help but think that there was at least some level of similarity between Juvia and Noelle though clearly Juvia had more than accepted her feelings while Noelle was still epically in denial of hers.

Nero just watched that with amusement as Natsu and Lucy seemed to naturally go back to dancing together before Erza appeared on the dancefloor. She then declared that she was known as the dancing demon and then requipped into a simple ball gown with a plunging neckline of all things.

She had to admit, despite coming off as more masculine what with the whole armor and scary warrior vibe, Erza could still pull off feminine really well and it gave Nero a sense for how requip worked. At least in some sense that is as it was an interesting usage of Spatial Magic, and it would take Nero some time to really study how it worked as she had no basis for comparison given how Spatial Magic worked in her world.

That was all Nero got to study of Erza's magic though as she very quickly showed the truth of her nickname by taking Natsu and, well, not dancing with him but rather making him into a spinning top which was amusing in its own right. He tried to take a break from that experience when another girl, a white haired girl called Lisanna that gave Nero some Mimosa vibes and was the younger sister to Mira, stepped in to dance with Natsu with the same amount of enthusiasm as Erza had done. Not to be outdone, Erza had taken Lisanna's brother Elfman and begun dancing with him like she had been with Natsu.

Despite all this amusement there was still some actual dancing going as the youngest member of Fairy Tail, well post the 7 year stasis nap, and one of the three Dragon Slayers, Wendy began to dance with Warren, and it actually good and proper dancing. That said Warren was more than twice Wendy's age which made Nero a little uncomfortable as Wendy was still a preteen from what she'd heard and Wendy's exceed partner, a mature and sophisticated white female called Carla, agreed before dancing with Happy in a cute dance though in her bird form Nero wasn't too comfortable around cats.

Then there were the arguments between some of the men and the women that Nero watched with interest. Mainly it was Macao and his friend Wakaba arguing over who could dance with Mira which was another age discomfort to Nero given the ages at play though all were adults at least, and Jet and Droy arguing over who'd dance with Levy the third member of their team.

The second one was just a little sad to Nero as it was clear the two men were in love with Levy even after the 7 year gap where she'd been on Tenrou Island, but Levy seemed oblivious to that while also seeming to like the last Dragon Slayer in Fairy Tail Gajeel. He tried to play all cool and not dance with Levy but then danced with her anyway.

The whole impromptu dance lesson and practice was strange for sure and not something that Nero had ever experienced before with the Black Bulls, base destruction yes but spontaneous dance party no, so she couldn't look away from it. It was clear that after some issues things settled down and partners began to form, some of which Nero could tell were budding romances, but out of it all the girl who'd suggested it was the only one left alone as Lucy somehow ended up on the sideline with a weird bipedal snowman thing next to her that Nero was sure was one of her spirits.

Then another spirit appeared on its own, this one a tall anthropomorphic goat in a butler's uniform of all things that Nero was sure was one of the special zodiac spirits she'd heard about, and began to instruct Lucy on dancing in a very serious and intense manner. All in all it was actually quite the wholesome affair and not what Nero had expected from a Guild that was known for destruction wherever they went.

Regardless, she couldn't stay all day as this was an important bit of news that the Captain would want to know about, so she took her 'borrowed' job request and took to the sky to fly back to base and report this in. It wasn't big news, but it was newsworthy, and the Captain would know what, if anything, to do with it.

Back at the Black Bull hideout, Yami was as always smoking and reading a paper in the corner. He'd just come back from an intense S-Class job that had paid 8 figures and really pushed his limits and then some but for once it hadn't been for the jewel that he'd taken it, it had been for the challenge that it had posed him. Course that jewel was going into his personal wealth here, which he really needed to figure a way out to convert for when they returned to the Clover Kingdom as he would be really rich back there if he could manage it, and he was sitting happy on that wealth as he relaxed.

The only other people in the common room were Henry who was in his little office going over the latest paperwork from the stores along with Zora's report from the Crocus and Gordon's report on the state of the tavern while constantly eating some of Charmy's special food to keep his stamina up, Charmy herself who was cooking and eating at her usual pace, and Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa. The trio had just come back from a tough job where the girls had to bail Asta's ass out of trouble, again, and were taking the rest of the day to recover before training some more tomorrow.

Finral, Magna, and Luck were all also based in the hideout at the moment as they were on the Grand Magic Games team but the latter two were off on an S-Class job for training while the former was doing his own actual training in the area around them. Finral was due back soon though which was good because Yami needed him to get some food into him and then take him to Crocus to inspect the status of the tavern before he enjoyed the hard earned jewel he'd just received in the gambling pits and other ale houses of the capital city.

At least that was the plan until the telltale flutter of wings was heard and they all looked up to see Nero flying in through a window. She wasn't supposed to be due back for a bit so if she was here then it must be something worth reporting and as she had a job request in a roll in her feet it seemed so. She dropped said request on the floor before transforming back to human and picking it up.

"Something to report?" Yami asked.

"I think so." Nero said as she rose with the request in her hands. "Some of the main returners to Fairy Tail are going on a job in a few days, ones who almost certainly will be on their Grand Magic Games team, and based on the information I overheard it's a job we could possibly sneak into and watch to observe them in action as we have no baseline for the returners. Figured you'd want to know Captain so you can decide what to do."

"Certainly, sounds interesting." Yami said with a puff of his cigarette as he put his paper down. "Bring it over an I'll have a look at this job."

Nero did that without a word as she took the request to Yami while the others watched and waited to hear what would be done about it. She'd had the idea to spy on the mission like this to really see those members in action on her flight back as it made sense to her. They should be able to get into the ball without much issue and then observe some of Fairy Tail's best, or at least most notable, in action without being noticed. It would be a great way to scout out some of the upcoming competition.

Yami took the job request and looked at the image on it. It was a drawing of a man with a giant afro, pointed ears, and a strange goatee like beard that had a swirl on the chin rather than hanging down. He had a cigar in his mouth which seemed to add to everything. There were some notes on who he was at the bottom and the specifics of the request. The man was called Velveno and was a wanted criminal who'd broken out of jail over 7 years ago, along with the impressive 4 million jewel reward.

"What can you tell me about this Velveno?" Yami asked as he handed the page back to Nero.

"Not much more than what that says and what I found out on the way back." Nero said with a shrug. "He broke out of jail some 7 years ago and this Count Balsamico put out the job on him, but it was only 400,000 jewel back then according to what I heard Macao say. Now it's 4 million likely due to how long he's been on the run. Clearly this Count wants him arrested again."

"Well, a wanted fugitive isn't a good thing." Yami said. "While I don't trust nobility, present company excluded, and this man is one of the few nobles here it seems, it's not a bad request on the face of it but I'm sure that there is more to it than just wanting to bring this fugitive to justice."

"I wouldn't doubt that." Nero said as Yami looked over the notes on the man's magic. "4 million is a lot, especially for a non-S-Class job, and they don't seem to mention his crimes so I don't think they're too major or else they would have listed the specifics of his crimes as well."

"It says that he's broken out a fair few times so that would be the reason for the hiked reward if I had to guess." Yami said. "Odd seeing as this place has pretty good magic suppressing items, stuff well beyond what we have."

"I've been buying them up when we have the profits for them." Henry said in his usual slow tone from his office. "They'll sell really well back home, but I have yet to figure out how to replicate them with our own magic."

"Good job Henry." Yami said with a nod, they were stockpiling unique stuff here and trying to learn how to make them as well so that they could sell them for high prices back in Clover when they returned but that was for later as they had other things to focus on at the moment. "Now, what is Fairy Tail's plan to catch this man?"

"There is a special magic ball coming up at the estate of Count Balsamico." Nero said. "It's this weekend, actually, and is held every 7 years. Only magic users can attend so it is very exclusive. Velveno is expected to make an appearance at it."

"This guy?" Yami asked looking at the picture again. "Kinda distinctive isn't he? He doesn't strike me as the kinda guy who'd be able to crash a magic ball, he'd look about as out of place there as I would."

"I thought so too so I stopped by at a local station on the way back to get more information on him beyond what the poster said to confirm what I'd overheard at Fairy Tail." Nero said. "Not his crimes, that was too long a list to go over as he seemed to have been quite productive though nothing major to note, but his abilities. He is a gifted Transformation Mage, probably close to Grey's level though only with humans, as well as skilled user of a magic called Magical Drain."

"Transformation Magic I understand." Yami said. "But what is Magical Drain? I've never heard of that before. Sounds more like a spell than anything else."

"I had to look into that, and it seems to be most closely related to Rhya's Copy Magic from our world." Nero said reminding Yami of the guy who'd copied his dark magic after he'd briefly captured the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. "Not exactly as it is temporary rather than permanently added to his grimoire like what happens when Rhya uses his magic but Magical Drain does require Velveno to touch a person to copy their magic. From there he can use it and switch between what he's recently copied, I think at least."

"Ah that is a useful combination to have." Yami said understanding it now. "The fact that people here can use more than one attribute is something we're going to have to be really careful of in the games."

"Our grimoires make our spells stronger as they maximize our potential but yes the multiple attributes and greater range balances it out well." Nero said. "And of course, magic power is still a thing here, we've all noted that there are mages here at your level or above Captain."

"Few that I've met are at my level but yes there are plenty of strong wizards here." Yami said before moving on. "Anyway, those abilities will explain how Velveno will get into this ball and if he's going to be there than Fairy Tail will be as well. Do you know which members will be at it?"

"A team of theirs called Team Natsu." Nero said. "So Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Wendy Marvell, Gray Fullbuster, and Erza Scarlett, along with the exceeds Happy and Carla so the same group that Grey recently met in our store in Magnolia. It seems that Elfman Strauss is also going while their telepath Warren is backup, the last one is the only one not on the list of being lost for 7 years."

"All people who are likely to be on their team, minus that Warren guy so definitely worth checking out." Yami said. "Which means that we need some of our people there as well to see how these people perform on a job. It will give you an idea of what they can do if nothing else."

"Oh, send me Captain." Asta said excitedly having listened this entire time before speaking though that had been more due to the food he was eating than anything else. "I can do it. I'll go to that ball thing and watch what they can do."

"You don't have magic so you technically aren't a wizard but yes if we can get you in you're going." Yami said. "To observe though, this is their job request and specific to Fairy Tail so we can't interfere with it, that is against the rules and dishonorable as well. Nothing stopping us being there though so you're going to observe the competition in action. No contact with them from those on the team but if it does get dangerous and it seems like the members of Fairy Tail present can't handle it on their own, and innocent lives are at danger, then I give you permission to act if need be."

"Got it Captain." Asta said with a nod.

"Captain." Noelle said. "Are you sure that Asta is the best person to send on a job like this? The last time we went to something fancy he ended up fighting some royals and nobles and almost caused a scene, as well as a potential fight between Nozel and Fuegoleon."

"It was because they treated you so poorly." Asta pointed out. "So, I had to do something."

"I, I know." Noelle said with a blush at that as she had loved how Asta had defended her back then. "And it was the right thing to do but still not exactly within decorum for such an event."

"You do have a point Noelle which is why you and Mimosa will go with him." Yami said clearly unaware of what he'd just suggested. "We need people who actually understand these fancy parties there to make sure that Asta behaves himself."

"What?" Mimosa said going bright red at that as her mind went straight to what went on at balls. "A dance with Asta at a fancy ball, oh my."

"Wh, wait." Noelle said as it hit her as well and she fought her internal conflict over wanting to dance with Asta and denying that she wanted it while also not wanting him to dance with Mimosa because she still didn't know why this was happening to her, or so she told herself. "D, dance with Dorksta? Me? No way, well, I guess…but still…"

"You two are royals, you know these fancy things." Yami said with a shrug not sure why they were acting the way they were and just chalking it up to a royal thing. "So, you can make sure Asta doesn't do anything stupid. I'll send Finral as well, this is his kinda thing. Nero, you go as a bird and then just transform while there as well, they won't notice one more girl so we can get you in there as well."

"Understood." Nero said. "But how shall we get invited?"

As if on cue a portal appeared and Finral stepped out of it looking tired and drained from training, but he was smiling as he'd really pushed his limits out there today. Instantly a Sheep Cook appeared with Charmy's mana replenishing food and Finral accepted it and began to eat. It recovered his mana almost instantly but not his stamina though at least that was something.

"He just arrived." Yami said with a grin. "Finral, I have a job for you."

"Captain I'm tired." Finral said and he sounded it. "I've been training all day."

"Are you defying me?" Yami asked threateningly.

"What no." Finral said. "Just, um…"

"Good." Yami continued. "As soon as you've recovered your mana I want you to take some of our best products that Nero has made along with a selection of our merch, and a couple catalogues, and head to the estate of Count Balsamico."

"Count Balsamico?" Finral asked. "Who's he?"

"Some rich nobles who's hired Fairy Tail for a fugitive apprehension job." Yami said. "He's hosting a magic ball in a few days that is where Nero thinks Fairy Tail will act as the fugitive is expected to be there so we need to be there to watch them and see how they handle a job. You're to go and secure 4 tickets minimum, 5 if possible, from the Count and use what we have to offer to manage it."

"The Count has ordered from us in the past." Henry said as he looked through his orders. "So, he is aware of our products and has spent a fair bit on them in the past. He'll be at least interested."

"Good then it should be set." Yami said. "I'm sending you with Asta, Noelle, Mimosa, and Nero to this magic ball thing to scout out Fairy Tail in action."

"Well why didn't you say so." Finral said as his energy returned at the mention of a magic ball, and he was already thinking of all the pretty ladies who'd be at it. "I'll get on it right away Captain."

"Hold up." Yami said looking to Henry to prevent Finral from running off right away. "Henry, make a list of the best items we have here so that Finral can prepare them as well as what we have in stock and in the pipeline just in case it takes something new to secure the invites. Don't list our top tier stuff but some of the good stuff we have planned should suffice."

"Yes Captain." Henry said.

"Also, Finral, take the others to Crocus to get what they need." Yami said. "They're going to have to properly prepare for this job."

"What Captain?" Asta asked confused.

"This isn't Clover, we can't wear Magic Knights robes everywhere here." Yami said. "You need fancy clothes so Finral is to take you and the girls to Crocus so that you can get what you need there. Even if we don't get into that ball, there will be other fancy events that we'll end up in after we win the Grand Magic Games so we're all going to need some fancier clothes which is a pain, but we aren't in Clover, so we have to be follow the customs here."

"Been a while since we properly dressed up Noelle." Mimosa said.

"True, I do hope that they have what I want." Noelle said thinking on what she'd wear and subconsciously trying to think of something that would get Asta's attention while also being modest and in keeping with her personal style. "We may have to get things tailored."

"Good thing we've not spent much of money here then." Mimosa said, she was going to get something that really looked good for Asta, but she'd have to be careful with her cousin as Noelle still wasn't aware that their resources here weren't as infinite as back home. "But we will make it work."

"Finral, you take charge of Asta for this part." Yami said. "When you're done with the Count that is."

"Why?" Both asked.

"Because Asta has never worn fancy clothes and you're a noble." Yami said in a tone that brokered no arguments. "So, he needs something good and you're the only one here who can probably help him out. Got it."

"Yes." Finral said.

"Alright then if that is all get to it." Yami said. "This is our chance to see some of those fairies in action so we're not going to lose it."

The others nodded as they went to it. Well, Finral did as the others didn't need to worry too much though Asta was still confused by a lot of what was going on. Nero sighed as she saw this and went to them to try and explain it to him because both Noelle and Mimosa had suddenly remembered the whole dancing with Asta part now that the shopping for dresses part was over and were currently indisposed. One thing was certain though, this was going to be on interesting magical ball.

I think I'll end this chapter off here, a good little stopping point before the ball itself. I had planned on having the ball here as well, but it quickly became apparent that the ball part is going to be really long, so I broke it off and made it its own chapter which is for the best as its draft came out at 9,700 words. Therefore, it will be out next week instead so you can look forward to it then as this slight two chapter arc, the last before the Grand Magic Games begin, concludes with a fun ball and you'll see why I decided to include this anime exclusive episode only. That is all that I have for y'all however, so I'll leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog