Manipulated

Chapter 1 • Life After War

Asta wakes up in his bed back at the Black Bulls base, it's been about a week since the end of the war of the Spade Kingdom, Dante and the others dead, the Kingdom being freed from the grip of the Devils who controlled it

Yami and Willam were saved as well, then returning to their positions of captains as everything seemed to go back to normal......

Asta walks to a nearby mirror, looking into it as he takes a deep breath, looking at his arm to see it glowing with its normal black aura, ever since he had to sacrifice his arm for power, he's kept it, along with befriending the devil living in his head, Liebe

"It's been a week, but i still feel a sense of uneasiness, i don't feel.... right" Asta tells himself as Liebe pops onto his shoulder

"How come? We won Asta! we killed them and saved the kingdom, you shouldn't feel weird at all!" Liebe says as he disappears again, back inside of the grimoire as Asta takes his word for it, getting dressed and walking out of his room to see everyone there greet him

Asta says hi to each of the bulls who seem to be doing their own thing, Vanessa is drinking, Zora is asleep, Noelle is reading a book, Yami is reading a newspaper, Gordon is making dolls, Grey is in the corner, Gauche is obsessing over his sister, Henry is locked away, Luck fighting with Magna and Charmy is eating of course

Asta sits down to eat, attracting the attention of Yami as he gets up and pats Astas back, a smile appearing across of Yamis face

Yami truly thinks of Asta like his own son, he knew the boy was strong from the start, and Asta even saving Yami and Willam from Dante cemented the trust that Yami really has for Asta, deepening their father and son relationship

"Hey kid, we have a mission today, You will go with Noelle, Luck and Magna to investigate some robbery's that have been happening in the Forsaken Realm, relativity easy" Yami says as Asta nods, getting up and walking over to Noelle, sitting down next to her as she smiles

"Morning Bakasta, Ready to go?" She says as she turns to Asta, him faking a smile as he looks at the ceiling

"Yeah, let's go" Asta says as Noelle nods, but noting how Asta seems down, or at least in a bad mood today

"Are you okay Bakasta? Did you sleep bad? Did you not eat enough today?" Noelle asks Asta fastly as she fires off questions, Asta smiling a how cute she seems

"I'm fine Noelle, promise" Asta says as he pats Noelles head with a smile, Noelle starting to blush deeply

"O-Okay, let's go" She says as she gets up and quickly walks off in embarrassment, the others laughing as she goes off to the door and out of the base

Asta, Noelle, Luck and Magna quickly get on brooms, well Asta on his sword, as they all fly off and make their way to the village where the robbery last happened, a small village called Jordan

Asta stays quiet the whole ride, still trying to shake off this sense of uneasiness he feels, as the others talk amongst themselves, but still noting how Asta is acting off today

Asta and the group land in the small town, Asta getting off as he goes and talks to the nearby villagers, who all happily say hi to Asta and treat him well

After news got out that Asta killed Dante, Asta is treated as a war hero, almost all of his past hate seems to have disappeared, people now look at him as the one who saved them all from doom, Asta liking how people have changed towards him

Asta asks around about the robberies, all getting the same response.... they don't know anything

Asta frustrated, walks back to the group as he tells them about what happened