The boy without magic

Chapter 18: Reconciliation

"Sister Lily!" Yuno shouted. The nun stopped what she was doing and looked to where she heard that familiar voice. "Yuno? What's wrong? Who's this?" The nun started to bombard Yuno with questions. "Can you please heal her hand?" Asked Yuno pointing at Noelle. The confused nun took a look at Noelle and was caught off guard seeing someone dressed so nice. A girl Yunos age wearing something that looked very expensive, alongside her clothes was the eye catching jewelry. The nun looked at Noelles earrings and was shocked. "She's from a royal family?" Thought the nun. Lily took a glance at Noelles right hand which looked like it had a fracture in the pinky. "Come here, I'll heal your hand." Said the nun. Noelle walked towards the sister and offered her hand for treatment. Lily summoned her grimoire and placed her hands on top of Noelles right hand. A blue hue covered Lilys hands and soon spread to Noelles injured one, the girl gritted her teeth because of the pain in her hand. This was the first time Noelle got any injury to this degree; she had been cut and had scrapes before due to training, but a fracture was completely new to her. Eventually, the healing magic did its job and Noelle started to notice that the pain was no more. The girl wiggled her fingers and started to form a fist, she felt no pain whatsoever. "It worked. Thank you sister." Noelle said. "You're welcome young lady." Said Lily. "Thank you for healing Noelle." Said Liebe making an appearance. The nun shrieked at the unexpected appearance of a small black being. "What's that?!" Asked the nun shocked. "Don't worry. That's just Liebe, uhh the uhh..." "the spirit of anti-magic." Said Liebe finishing Noelles sentence. "Oh. Nice to meet you Liebe." Said the nun. "Nice to meet you too." Liebe said back. "Now Yuno. You have some explaining to do." Said Lily looking at the child she raised. "What do I have to explain?" Asked Yuno. "Who these people are and how she got hurt." Lily answered. "Oh right. Well this is Noelle and that's Liebe. Also, Noelle was hurt by-" Yuno was cut off my Noelle who said "I fell down and hurt myself. It was no big deal." "Your pinky had a fracture. I don't think a fall could do something like that, but if you say so." Lily said doubtfully. "Trust me, she only fell." Said Yuno. "Aside from that, what's anti-magic? And a spirit? I've heard of a wind spirit and fire spirit, but never heard of an anti-magic spirit. As a matter of fact, I've never even heard of anti-magic. You spirit, who's your owner?" The nun asked. "Uh. He's not here at the moment." Liebe answered. "What would a spirit be doing away from its owner?" Asked Lily. "I'm just helping his girlfriend get her hand fixed." Liebe answered. Liebe started to sweat due to all of these questions. Lying wasn't one of his strengths and he feared he might blow his cover. The nun looked at Noelle who seemed to look worried, the nun assumed something was up."You have a boyfriend and he didn't help you when you were injured?" Sister Lily asked Noelle. "He wasn't there at the time because something got his attention." Noelle lied. "That reminds me, we need to find him. He's been gone for a while." Said Yuno trying to change the topic. "Oh that's right. Thank you for your help sister." Said Noelle easing up a bit. "You're welcome young lady." The nun looked over to Yuno who looked busy staring at the ground. "Yuno. Make sure to come back soon. Everyone has been missing you, and father Orsi has been practically crying with you gone." Yuno sighed because he knew the father was always dramatic. "Why can't that old man just worry about himself? I'll be back soon, but I still may have these guests with me." Yuno said. The nun was surprised hearing Yuno talk about Orsi that way, this was the first time he had referred to Orsi as an old man. "Well.. whatever you say. Just stay safe." Lily said. "Let's get going, I can feel Astas presence nearby." Liebe announced. "Asta?" Thought the nun upon hearing that familiar name. The three teenagers began to run towards the forest and left the nun in her thoughts, she was sure about hearing that name before. The thoughtful nun went back inside her church hoping to ask Orsi if he had heard that name. She had arrived inside the church and saw the father praying alongside the children, the nun joined the prayer as to not cause any disturbance. The father has his hands held together and was saying "And may God bless us with wisdom and prosperity. Amen." The children and the sister followed by repeating the last part, eventually Orsi had changed his more serious attitude into his regular silly one. "And may God also bless us with many riches!" That had caused the nun to sigh, she had already spoken to him about how materialism wasn't a blessing rather it was more of a pleasure. The kids had left the small prayer hall and left to do chores, the nun took that opportunity to ask father Orsi of the name she had heard. "Father? May I ask you a question?" "What is it sister Lily?" Orsi asked. "Have you heard the name 'Asta'? I heard one of Yunos friends say that name, and from what it seems I think they're looking for this 'Asta'." The father had placed his hand on his chin, the name sounded very familiar. Soon enough, the realization struck him. "That bastard is still alive? I thought he'd be dead." Orsi had spoken without realizing it. "Watch your language! You're in a place of worship. And why would you ask that?!" The nun was angry, not only did a father curse in a place of worship, but he also implied someones death. "Forgive me for cursing, but you don't know who this boy Asta is." Orsi said. "Boy? You were wondering how a boy was not dead?" Asked Lily getting angrier. "You don't understand. That boy is a defect, completely useless. He didn't have a single hint of mana in him and he was also a bad influence on Yuno." "You call yourself a man of God, yet you call one of his creations a defect. You should be ashamed." "He always talked about how his mother was cursed and bragged about it. Him boasting about his mother made Yuno depressed of being abandoned. I'm sure what he got the last time I saw him taught him a lesson." "How old was he?" "I believe he was five. Why?" "A five year old boy talking about his mother? That's completely normal to do and it probably didn't even make Yuno depressed. If anything he was most likely happy for Asta. What did you do to him?" Asked the nun. Sister Lily was disappointed and angry at the father, she had never expected all of this from a priest. "I didn't do anything. It was the kids of this village that taught him a lesson." "What did they do?!" "You're losing your calm sister. A woman of the cloth shouldn't get angry." "Answer the question." Lily said through her gritting teeth. "They assaulted him, berated him, used their magic on him. They gave him a taste of something he doesn't have and he'll forever know that he cannot be the same as Yuno." Orsi answered. A loud slap echoed through the church, the father placed his hand over the red hand mark on his cheek. "You call yourself a priest?! You call yourself a man of God?! You're nothing but a liar! A sinner! You let a child get hurt just because you didn't like him! You always talk about loving everyone as how much you love yourself, but when it comes to a child who was cursed with no mana, you defy what you believe. You should be ashamed. You should be disgusted with what you are." The father was lost in shock; he had never imagined the woman in front of him to have so much anger, it was as if he was facing a completely different person. "The worst part is that you probably didn't even interfere. I'm an idiot for thinking you were a good man. From now on, I will only be helping these children. I will not cooperate with sinners like you." Said sister Lily. The nun left the church to see what the kids were doing which left the man alone with his thoughts. "But.. there's no way. He is a direct spawn from hell. This stupid nun just needs to realize that the boy isn't a creation of God. God would never create such an imperfect being." Thought Orsi. Outside the church, sister Lily could be seen storming near the drying laundry. "I hope I can meet Asta. I- I still can't believe what just had happened. And that sinner calls himself a man of God, what a joke. I should write to sister Theresa about this, I need to know what she has to say about this." The nun thought. As all this happened, the three teenagers were getting closer to what felt like Astas ki. "He should be here somewhere. Oh loo-" Liebe was interrupted by Asta. "About time you guys showed up." The boy looked down from the tree and saw Noelle. Noelles face only showed concern, there was no pain evident and brought relief to Asta. The guilt had remained, however. Asta jumped from the tree and landed in front of Noelle. The two stared at one another, but soon Asta teared up remembering he had caused her pain. "I'm sorry." Asta said bowing his head. "I never wanted to hurt you. It was the voice, it made me so angry that I lost control of myself." Said Asta. The three heard Astas voice breaking down as he spoke, Liebe hadn't seen Asta like this since he had his nightmares. Noelle could see how devastated Asta was, she knelt down and brought him into a hug. "I know you would never want to hurt me. It was only a mistake, and I forgive you. Although, you shouldn't have run off like that. I want to help you, and when you leave that that makes me worried." Noelle said. Liebe cleared his throat and said "'We' and 'us'." Noelle glared at Liebe with killing intent which scared the young devil. Asta couldn't return the hug, a simple forgiveness and hug wasn't enough to make him forgive himself. "Why are you hugging me? Aren't you scared that I could hurt you?" "You'd never want to hurt anyone close to you and we all know that. I'll never be scared of you because I love you." Noelle said tightening her hug. "I'm so stupid. Of course you'll never be scared of me, but I'll be scared of losing control again. I won't ever lose control of my emotions ever again. I promise you." Asta finally decided to return the hug and felt more assured. He knew that his friends loved him, and he knew they would always help him. The boy remembered what Alexander had told him: he has good people surrounding him, and making bad decisions could have them stray away from him. "I'm sorry you guys had to see that, especially you Yuno." Asta said. Yuno waved his hands and said "It's totally fine. I'm just glad you two have made up and you're doing better now." Asta only chuckled while wiping his eyes. The chuckle wasn't due to relief, it was more so because of embarrassment. Asta had thought crying was a sign of weakness; he had done well with hiding his sensitive emotions, but even the strongest walls can break. Hurting a loved one was Astas breaking point, he had learned how to repress his sadness, depression even, when in front of people he didn't fully trust. As a matter of fact, Noelle and Liebe were the only two people Asta completely trusted. Asta had lost some trust for Ridder and Ilu when he first learned he was cursed; not telling the boy something so important about him changed his perspective. Asta loved his brother in law and sister, but only his brother and best friend could be his emotional support. Crying in front of the boy who he had once known was somewhat disgraceful for him. "I think we should go back home." Noelle said. "No. I think I should visit the village, at least have a little tour of where Yuno lives." Asta said. "Are you sure?" Liebe asked approaching his brother. "Yes I am." Asta answered. The other three were hesitant, but had no choice but to comply. "We could go back and I could show you around. I don't have much time left though, sister Lily told me that I need to be home soon." Yuno said. "That's fine, I don't plan on wasting too much time." "Let's get going then." The four began heading towards the village again and Noelle decided to grab onto Astas hand. Asta looked at Noelle who was just looking at her own path and kept the same pace as him. The boy decided to not ask any questions, rather he just enjoyed the moment feeling serenity replacing his anxiety. "I'm going to be honest; there isn't much to see, so I hope that's fine with you guys." Yuno said. "That's no problem at all. I actually just want to spend more time with you." Asta said. "Aww that's so sweet." Noelle commented. Yuno smiled when hearing that. "Even as you got older, you're still someone who loves those close to you." Yuno thought. "I'm glad you still want to spend time with me. Unfortunately, I don't have much time left so let's make it last." Yuno said. "What do you mean you don't have much time left?" Asked Asta. "Sister Lily told me that I shouldn't stay out for too long." Yuno answered. "Oh damn. That's unfortunate." The gray haired boy replied. Yuno had noticed his church was visible in the distance, so he decided to say "We're nearby. You ready?" "I don't have to be ready for anything. I'm just gonna say my hellos and maybe have some small talk. Nothing I don't do everyday." Asta replied. Yuno nodded and lead the other two back to his home. Once they arrived, sister Lily was the first to notice their arrival. She was surprised by seeing another boy. "That must be Asta." She thought. Lily approached the group and greeted "Welcome back. And you must be-" the nun was cut off by the boy "Asta. Asta Staria. It's a pleasure to meet you." Asta offered his hand for a handshake along with a bright smile, the nun was somewhat surprised seeing someone well mannered. "My, what a well mannered boy. It's nice to meet you too." Said Lily shaking Astas hand. From the church, father Orsi was looking at the interaction. "You will soon realize that this boy is nothing but a nuisance." Orsi whispered. Back outside the church, Asta noticed a ki signature from inside the church. His blood began to boil, but he tried his best to keep his calm. "I'm going to be honest, it's been a while since I've been here. I think I recall you also being here several years ago." Asta tried to make conversation, he was good at it, yet for some reason this was difficult. "I've been here ever since Yuno was only four. I believe I have seen you before, but never got the chance to actually meet you." "I'm guessing with all the work you have to do, time may not be abundant for someone like you." "Well you're right about that. Luckily as all these children grow, I have more time to relax." "You deserve to relax. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to take care of so many children. I have a little spirit to take care of and he leaves me exhausted every day." Joked Asta. Liebe looked over at his brother and yelled "What do you mean 'take care of'?!" Asta laughed at Liebes reaction, and everyone else joined in on the laughter. Liebe was a bit embarrassed, but the laughter caught up to him eventually. Once the laughter had died down, Lily decided to speak. "Why not take a trip down memory lane and see how much the village has changed?" "That's what we were planning to do, but I think it'd be better to just hang out with Yuno." The boy answered. "That sounds good. Yuno doesn't have many friends and he spends most of his time training. I think spending time with him would be a favor for him." Said Lily. "Sister Liiilyyy. Come on, don't say that. It makes me sound like a loser." Yuno interjected. "I'm sorry, but what I said is true." "Don't worry Yuno, you're not a loser. Also, who needs more friends when you have someone as good as me?" Asta said. "I literally saw you after eight years." Said Yuno with a stoic expression. Asta chuckled while scratching the back of his head, it had truly been a long time. "Have you two already caught up with everything?" Asked Lily. "Yeah we did, and we learned a lot. It's good to know that Yuno's doing well after all these years." Asta answered. "Same here. Asta has been holding up pretty well from what he's told me." Said Yuno. "That's great to hear. Well, I best get going. All these chores won't finish themselves." Said the nun. "Bye sister Lily. It was a pleasure speaking with you." Said Asta. "I can say the same. Farewell, and have a blessed day young man." "Thanks you too." The nun left to complete her remaining chores, and the four teens were left alone without having an idea of what to do. "So... What do guys wanna do know?" Yuno asked. "I don't know." Replied Asta. "I kinda wanna see the rest of the village." Noelle said. "Same here." Said Liebe. "Ehh, why not." Asta said. "Alright then. A tour it is." Said Yuno walking passed the other three. The three followed Yuno and were only looking around at the small houses and farms. Noelle was appreciating the simplicity of the area, Liebe was looking at how small the crops were, and Asta was fighting a internal battle. "Brings back some nice memories, doesn't it?" Asta ignored the voice, yet the voice was persistent. "Remember that spot over there? That's where those kids taught you how worthless you really are." The voice said. Asta looked to see a familiar area; trees that had grown from the last time he saw them, flowers that had bloomed after his departure, and small animals feeding from the grass. "It's good to see that this place is as peaceful as ever." Asta said. "This is a pretty quiet village. I really wouldn't have it any other way if I'm honest." Yuno said. "You guys could use some help with your crops. They seem to be unwell." Said Liebe. "This year's harvest hasn't been the best. Our soil has gotten worse over the years, and we really can't afford to fix this issue." Yuno said with a frown. "If money is a problem then I could help." Said Asta. Yuno jolted his head towards Asta and asked "Are you sure?" "Yes I am." Asta answered. "You don't need to. Besides, I can't accept help from you. Don't get me wrong, your money would be greatly appreciated. But... we don't deserve it." Yuno said. Asta raised an eyebrow and became confused. "Why don't you deserve it? The people of this village work hard and deserve better than what they get." Asta said. "Asta's right. Besides, me being from royalty and Asta coming from nobility, money isn't an issue for us. We would love to help this village, and maybe we could also help other villages that seem to be forgotten." Noelle said. "This village does belong in the 'forgotten region'" said Asta with annoyance. Yuno couldn't hide the big smile he had when hearing his friends would help his village, but something didn't sit right with him. "It just seems like.. we're going to get this money out of pity." Said Yuno. "It's not pity money. My sister told me that my father had helped many villages with their problems, and I want to do the same. I think this could be a step into the right direction." Asta said truthfully. Noelle and Liebe smiled upon hearing Asta. Noelles heart had begun to beat faster and a warm feeling rushed throughout her body. Liebe was happy hearing his brother decided to help the villagers rather than hate them, he knew his brother was beginning to mature. "If you really want to, then who am I to stop you? Thing is... what will the money exactly do?" Asked Yuno. Asta thought for a moment and hit a roadblock. "Shit. I don't know how this exactly works, but I guess you guys can use the money for purchasing new equipment. You guys can even buy food instead of just growing it." Said Asta. "You guys can also buy these soil products that can help make your soil better. When I was studying botany some time ago, I learned that they have these magic pills that help improve soil. All you have to do is plant one pill and the soil in that area gets better." Said Noelle. "When do you study botany?" Asked Asta. "Maybe if you keep up with your studies you would know." Noelle answered. "It's so boring though." Asta complained. "It's still important." Noelle replied. Asta sighed and ignored what just happened. "Anyway, I'm sure the village can figure it out. Besides, we did just give you some ideas." Said Asta. "Sounds good to me." Yuno said. "Perfect. Say Liebe, what time is it?" Asked Asta. "How would I know? I don't have a watch." Liebe said. "I think I have one. Let me see what's in my bag." Noelle said. The girl reached for her bag that was tied to her waist, she searched through it and eventually felt something metallic. She pulled it out and found her silver pocket watch to see that it was an hour past noon. "It's already one pm." Noelle said. Yuno bit his tongue, and slapped his forehead. "Aw crap. I think I have to go back home." The three frowned and Asta asked "Do you really have too?" Yuno nodded and said "Sister Lily told me I had to come back soon." Asta understood, but had an idea pop up in his head. "We can come with you. We can also tell them about the money and aid we can give." Yuno turned his head towards Asta and said "That sounds great. Let's get going, I don't want to get yelled at by the sister." Said Yuno hurrying back to the church. The other three had followed the black haired boy. "I think it's time to fix things with that old man." Asta thought knowing what was about to come.
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Authors note: Ayo, sup guys? I decided to make chapters shorter than how they normally were. Mainly because my previous chapter seemed kinda stretched out just for length and I want to avoid that. My writing style might be improving now because I'm doing whatever I can to make my writing as clear and concise as possible. Also shorter chapters = less wait time for the next chapter and the plot moves at a faster pace. After this arc, there will be a chapter about the birth of Ilus and Ridders child. After that, a time skip to the magic knights exam! I think I flushed out the premagic knight stuff enough. Have a good day to everyone reading this!