Secre found that being transformed from a human to a bird had both its pros and cons.

For starters, she no longer had to use magic power to fly. She guessed that was a blessing since due to the paltry amount of magic she had, she couldn't go that fast anyway.

She could no longer talk freely either. That suited her because the only person who honestly talked to her in the first place was Lemiel Silvamillion, the first Wizard King.

Cons?

Firstly, was that she now had an annoying habit of being attracted to shiny objects, she just had to have them now. Her nest was littered with the darn things she'd picked up here and there. Thankfully it coincided with her goal of collecting the scattered magic stones.

Speaking of habits, she picked up the unexpected one of people watching. Being a bird and lacking human extremities, entertainment was sparse outside of mindless chatter with other anti-birds. Watching the humans go about their day proved to be…fascinating.

The folk who were Lemiel's descendants, the royals, walked around as if the ground worshipped their very presence, ignorant of the contempt the common folk had for them behind their backs. The irony amused her to no end.

By far her favorite bunch to watch were the Black Bulls.

Yami's delinquent behavior, which frequently earned him demerits, served as a deterrent for would-be criminals on a calculated patrol route.

Finral's constant rejection attempts around town have, unbeknownst to him, put him on a secret blacklist among the women.

Magna and Luck's constant destructive duels were sometimes a byproduct of hired demolition work.

Charmy's obsessive eating and subsequent cultivation of food were actually the envy of horticulturists everywhere.

Vanessa's drunken stupors sometimes were an act to make her look weak. Occasionally her ever-present alcohol bottle would be filled with water or grape juice. In truth, she was probably the most observant of the squad.

Gray hides where she thinks no one is watching and transforms into one of her sisters.

Gordon's doll-making and attention to detail possibly exceeded her own.

Zora's trap setting considered a target's every possible move, down to what they ate for breakfast that morning.

Gauche was kind to all children in general, not just Marie. He held the record for most child-trafficking rings busted.

Henry had a game board featuring miniatures of each person in the squad that was magically linked to move to correspond to wherever in the hideout they were.

Nacht every so often let his devils roam free and all the pranks they played would be attributed to either Luck or Magna.

All in all, they really were an eclectic bunch. However, two stood out about the rest.

Asta and Noelle.

Nero had been by the boy's side since almost the first step of the journey. She made the top of his head into her proverbial nest allowing her to witness everything he had done.

Like the others in his life, she wrote him off as an idiot who stumbled upon Licht's grimoire and swung his swords around like an idiot.

Eventually her perception of him started to change.

She found him quite endearing as he struggled to carve out his place in a world that fundamentally rejected him. A trait that resonated with her own situation.

His kindness and willingness to forgive was foreign to her, yet admirable as it reminded her of Lemiel.

The power he gained from mastering his Anti-Magic gave her faith that he could make all of his boast about becoming the Wizard King a reality.

She couldn't pinpoint when, but she started to think of him in the same breath as Lemiel himself. Not in intelligence, but in capability and charisma.

In some areas she found that Asta exceeded the image she held of the first Wizard King. She was content on being by his side the very way she had done so for Lemiel.

Then there was Noelle.

Awkward was the first word that came to Nero's mind when describing her.

The girl had a totally obvious crush on Asta while the boy himself remained completely oblivious. Endless amusement came from watching Noelle fret about indecisively.

She even went so far as to stalk him whenever Finral dragged him out on one of his Ill-fated group date attempts.

Then her relative, Mimosa showed up and developed her own crush. The cousins constantly tried to one-up each other in appealing to the Anti-Magic user whether that be botched invitations to dinner or fumbling questions in an attempted confession.

Things got a tad more serious after the matter with the elves was resolved. The budding rivalry was starting to simmer down. Luckily, Nero had recovered her human form…

Her mere presence set off alarm bells in Noelle's head. Apparently, her appearance was considered "cute" by the standards of this time period.

She learned of this when the envy flared in her eyes when she happened to pinch Asta's cheeks. The action was a normal expression of affection to her, but the royal took offense to it.

Watching her over-the-top yet mute reaction awakened something in Nero.

She made it a point to brush Asta's hand when walking or to stick close to him. She didn't know why, but it both amused and satisfied her.

For example, today's incident:

"Nero!"

Nero sent a small smile Noelle's way as she removed her lips from Asta's cheek. The boy in question had been frozen solid from shock.

"You can't just… do that!" Noelle shouted, pointing her finger accusingly.

"I don't see why I should not?" Nero reasoned. "Lesson #373 Lemiel taught me was that applying contact to the other party's skin via the lips is the proper way to show gratitude to a person you are fond of."

Noelle's head flusteredly moved somewhere between 'yes' and 'no', her pigtails swinging like whips. She then made a strange noise Nero didn't know humans were capable of making.

"You're technically not wrong…" Noelle whined. "But it's still wrong!"

"How so?"

"It just is!"

Nero tilted her head demurely and put on her most unaware expression. "I do not comprehend. Why am I both wrong and right? If I have made an error, I wish for it to be highlighted so I can correct myself for next time."

The water mage whipped around to the couch where the drunken lush sat observing the whole spectacle. "T-Tell her, Vannesa! Tell her why she's wrong!"

Vannesa quickly waved her hands in surrender. "Oh, no. Don't get me involved in this."

"Do I have a say in this?!"

All three women turned to Asta who had finally pulled himself together.

"No! I mean yes! I mean you're so stupid!"

Noelle then launched Asta away through the window with a burst of water magic ignoring his indignant cries. Realizing what she had just done, Noelle's head became engulfed in a powerful blush causing her to dash out of the room.

Outwardly Nero remained stoic. Inwardly, she was having a blast.

"You play a dangerous game, you know?"

Nero looked at Vanessa curiously. The witch gave her a smile, but it wasn't full of warmth. The smile reminded her of Lemiel whenever she had over thought a topic when the simple answer was right in front of her.

"I love teasing them, don't get me wrong. But the way you're going about it could lead to something unexpected."

"I do not comprehend."

Vanessa crossed her legs and leaned back. "Nero, this is something you have to find out for yourself. But I have to ask you: Do you enjoy messing with Noelle or do you hold genuine affection for Asta?"

The witch then got up and left for the kitchen putting her hand on Nero's shoulder comfortingly as she went by.

When she left, Nero softly touched her lips. The feeling of them being pressed to Asta's cheek still had them tingling. The thought of doing it again seemed…appealing if not for the feeling alone.

Mysterious.

She would have to research this phenomenon further.