The content of the letter was:
Yuno, It's Sylvar!
I plan to use space magic to go back to the village tomorrow. Just ask for about two hours of leave. Check with the Golden Dawn to see if they will approve your leave. If not, please write back to me as soon as possible.
By the way, if you are granted leave, please write back and tell me how long you can stay. We've been away from the village for quite a while. It's time to go back and see everyone.
Also, Asta and I already went back once before, so now you're the only one who hasn't returned, Yuno. Yo~
By the way, the meeting place is the alley entrance of the black market where I teleported you last time.
Then it means we will meet soon!
My best friend — Yuno!
After finishing the letter, Sylvar sent it out.
The space owl carried the letter away.
Seeing that Asta was still in the room, Sylvar spoke calmly.
"Asta, good night."
Asta replied, "Good night!"
Day 2, 7:20 AM.
Asta was shouting outside Sylvar's room.
He kept yelling for him to wake up quickly.
Sylvar opened his eyes. He raised his hand and looked at the mechanical watch he had brought back from the Hunter × Hunter world last time. It showed seven o'clock in the morning.
Damn it.
This is basically 996.
Training alone takes up most of my time every single day. Then I still have to clean the base and test all my ideas. Every minute of my day is filled. What a miserable life. Why can't I just enjoy life?
I finally slept the whole day yesterday. That was supposed to be my real leisure time, but I still get woken up by that damn Asta.
Why is life so hard?
Sylvar felt irritated. He listened to Asta's loud voice outside the door.
So annoying!
Even though he wasn't drunk this time, his temper was still bad. Sylvar spoke in an unpleasant tone.
"Asta, we're leaving at eight o'clock. Why are you in such a hurry when it's only seven?"
Asta replied loudly.
"When I went to ask Captain Yami for leave, he said that as long as there's no mission I can go anywhere. But since we're newcomers, we have to clean the base before leaving. That's what he said!"
Sylvar rubbed his forehead.
"This unreliable leader. Didn't he even give a proper answer when you asked for leave? Just saying 'go anywhere' is way too unreliable."
"I still have to clean too. How annoying."
Sylvar yawned deeply. Then he noticed a letter addressed to him inside the envelope.
He opened it and looked at it.
It really was Yuno's reply.
The letter said that his leave had been approved today. He had three hours of leave and would arrive at the entrance of the black market before eight o'clock.
Sylvar folded the letter.
"It's settled with Yuno. The three of us can go back together."
Asta's eyes lit up.
"Really? That's great!"
At 7:10, the two of them finished breakfast in the cafeteria.
Asta suddenly asked, "Should we bring some breakfast for Yuno?"
Sylvar rolled his eyes.
"Golden Dawn is the number one squad. Do you really think Yuno won't have breakfast there?"
"Hurry up and start cleaning. Once we're done we'll go straight to the black market. I have a few things I want to buy."
Then the difficult process of cleaning the base began.
Asta dragged the mop across the floor with great effort.
Sylvar directly used chains.
He tied the rag, the mop, and the bucket together with chains. Then he controlled them with magic power and entered ultimate work mode.
Multiple tasks were happening at the same time.
After cleaning the corridors of the base, they moved on to cleaning the hall.
After cleaning the hall, they went to the toilets.
Sylvar slowly opened the toilet door.
This time, Captain Yami was not inside.
That unreliable captain was usually a regular visitor here.
Maybe it was because Sylvar's medicine had taken effect.
That was probably why Captain Yami wasn't here today.
Thinking about the last time made Sylvar feel uneasy.
He had opened the door and saw Captain Yami sitting on the toilet with a dark face.
Captain Yami had squeezed Sylvar's skull with murderous intent and said in a cold voice,
"Do you want to die?"
Even now, the word "die" still echoed in Sylvar's mind.
After cleaning the toilets, the two of them went to clean the bathhouse from inside to outside.
Finally, they went to the area where the beasts were kept.
Asta took a piece of meat and tried to feed it to one of the beasts.
The beast bit down.
It swallowed the meat.
It also bit Asta's head at the same time.
Sylvar did not tolerate this at all.
He stuffed chains directly into the beasts' mouths. Then he tied up their four sharp fangs with chains. Using magic power, he forced their jaws open.
It looked exactly like performing dental surgery.
The beasts' mouths were stretched open as wide as possible.
Then Sylvar stuffed the meat inside.
After that he used chains to tie their mouths shut.
Whether they wanted to eat it or not, they had to eat it.
Around 7:40.
The two of them finally finished cleaning.
All the chores in the base were done.
Sylvar let out a long breath.
"Asta, do you want to take a shower? You're covered in sweat. I'm going to take one anyway."
Asta replied casually.
"I don't mind. If you want to wash, we can wash together."
Inside the bathhouse, Sylvar took off his clothes.
He looked at Asta's muscular body.
Then he looked down at his own body. His muscles were present, but the lines were not very obvious.
He fell silent.
At 7:55, after washing and changing into new clothes, Sylvar opened a space channel directly at the entrance of the bathhouse.
The portal connected to the alley entrance of the black market.
The two of them stepped through the portal.
The moment they appeared in the alley, they saw Yuno standing there leaning against the wall at the entrance of the black market.
Sylvar greeted him.
"You came early, Yuno. Good morning."
Asta waved.
"Good morning, Yuno!"
Yuno nodded slightly.
"Good morning."
Sylvar looked at both of them.
"I'm going to buy a few things in the black market first. You two can walk around if you want. Or you can come with me."
Asta and Yuno both answered immediately.
"Let's go together. We don't have anything to do anyway."
Sylvar did not waste time talking.
He walked straight to a pharmacy.
Inside the shop, he bought nine bottles of healing potions. He spent a large amount of gold coins, but he didn't feel the slightest bit of regret.
After all, who would feel bad about spending something they picked up?
After getting the potions, Sylvar directly stuffed three bottles into Asta's hands and three bottles into Yuno's hands.
Asta and Yuno immediately refused.
"These are too expensive!"
"These three bottles cost almost one and a half months of salary!"
Sylvar waved his hand.
"It doesn't matter. All of this was taken from the Demon Palace anyway. It's basically war loot."
Asta stared at him.
"Hey! Can you say something that important so casually?!"
Yuno simply nodded.
"If that's the case, then it's fine."
Sylvar explained calmly.
"If the Demon Palace hadn't collapsed, everything inside would have been divided after the war between the Clover Kingdom and the Diamond Kingdom."
"But since the Demon Palace collapsed, the items inside became unclaimed property. Whoever took them first owns them."
"Of course, some of it still has to be handed over."
After leaving the pharmacy, the three of them returned to the alley outside the black market.
Sylvar looked around carefully.
There was no one nearby.
He activated space magic again.
The reason he didn't open the portal inside the black market was simple.
The black market was not a safe place.
If someone stabbed you in the back, it would become troublesome.
The portal opened.
The three of them stepped through it.
When the light faded, they were standing in front of the church gate in Hage Village.
Outside the church, the priest was chopping wood.
He stopped.
He stared at them.
For a moment he looked like he couldn't process what he was seeing.
Then the three of them shouted at the same time.
"Father!"
The priest's eyes immediately filled with tears.
"It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back."
Sister Lily was hanging clothes outside to dry.
The children nearby were playing.
When they saw the three of them, they all ran over.
"Yuno-nii!"
"Sylvar-nii!"
"Asta-nii!"
"Is it really you?! Is this real?!"
Sylvar smiled.
"It's real."
The priest wiped his eyes.
"Yuno, Sylvar… and… Asta is back."
Sylvar thought silently.
So you paused before saying Asta's name?
How much do you dislike him?
Asta saw Sister Lily.
His daily self-destructive routine immediately began.
"Sister Lily! Please marry me!"
Sister Lily didn't hesitate.
She used the water magic she always used on Asta.
Water Creation Magic: Holy Fist of Love.
One punch.
Asta flew backward and collapsed onto the ground.
Later, the priest hugged Sylvar, Yuno, and Asta. He told stories about them while crying.
Sister Lily spoke from the side.
"Have you eaten breakfast? If not, come eat."
Sylvar felt uncomfortable with the priest's emotional enthusiasm.
He gently pushed himself free.
He walked over to Sister Lily.
"We already ate breakfast. We just came back to see everyone. The three of us are only on leave, so we can't stay too long."
Then he added something important.
"Also, don't let too many people know about the money Yuno and Asta sent back."
"If thieves find out, they might try to steal it."
"The money itself doesn't matter. For the three of us now, losing some money isn't a big deal."
"But if the children get hurt during a robbery, that would be terrible."
Sister Lily nodded.
"Okay. I understand."
At that moment, Sylvar took several books out of his storage.
He handed them to Sister Lily.
"The most reliable person in this church is Sister Lily."
"These books teach methods for using and controlling magic power."
"Even if someone has very little magic power, or their grimoire is weak, as long as they study the experience I summarized in these books, they will gain a certain level of strength."
Sister Lily froze.
She looked at the books in her hands.
The covers were blank.
She looked up slowly.
"Really?"
Sylvar nodded.
"Of course."
After that, he prepared to talk with the children for a while before returning.
At that moment, Sylvar noticed a child sitting alone in a corner.
It was the same boy who had been excitedly talking to Asta earlier.
Now he was sitting there quietly with a sad expression.
The boy spoke softly.
His voice was so low that only he could hear it.
"Even Asta managed to join the Magic Knights…"
"I need to work even harder."
After saying that quietly, the boy stood up and walked away.
Sylvar looked in the direction he left.
The boy was heading toward a dense forest.
Sylvar followed him quietly.
In the forest, the boy repeatedly used his magic power again and again.
Sylvar understood immediately.
The boy wanted to become stronger.
He wanted to become a Magic Knight.
Sylvar stepped out from behind a tree.
"Do you want to become stronger?"
The boy jumped in shock.
"Who's there?!"
Then he recognized the voice.
"Brother Sylvar?!"
The boy nodded immediately.
"Yes! I want to become stronger!"
"Brother Sylvar, you've always been the smartest and most capable one. If it's you… can you help me become stronger?"
Sylvar spoke calmly.
"Yes."
"No matter how little magic power you have, as long as you possess magic power."
"No matter how thin your grimoire is, as long as you have one."
"Everything is possible."
"Because a grimoire represents the power of will."
"As long as you never give up, your grimoire will respond to you and make you stronger."
The boy asked excitedly.
"Really?"
Sylvar smiled.
"Of course."
"Even Asta has no magic power, yet he still became strong because of his unwavering will."
The boy's eyes lit up.
"Really?! I can become stronger too?!"
Sylvar nodded.
"I wrote several books about refining magic power."
"In my opinion, the human body is like a cup."
"The size of the cup determines how much water it can hold."
"That water represents magic power."
"Since the cup itself cannot be changed, the only thing we can change is the water inside the cup."
"In other words, we improve the quality of the magic power."
"When the quality improves, your strength increases as well."
"It becomes equivalent to having more magic power."
"Even if your original magic power is small, as long as the cup exists, the power inside it can still grow stronger."
The boy became extremely excited.
"Where are the books, Brother Sylvar?!"
Sylvar answered calmly.
"I left those books with Sister Lily."
"If you want them, you'll need her approval."
"So tell me."
"Do you want them?"
The boy answered without hesitation.
"I want them! I want to become stronger!"
Sylvar laughed lightly.
"If you want them, go get them."
"I left everything inside the books."
"Hahaha."
He suddenly felt satisfied.
Those words felt incredibly good to say.
It reminded him of the feeling of someone like Gol D. Roger declaring something boldly.
It really did feel good.
The boy hesitated.
"But… how can books make me stronger?"
Sylvar raised his hand.
He chopped lightly on the boy's head.
"What a brat who can't read the atmosphere."
The boy clutched his head.
"Why?!"
Sylvar looked at him helplessly.
"Books contain wisdom, idiot."
"Did you forget the theory I just explained?"
"As long as you follow the methods written in my books, you can refine the quality of your magic power."
"That will make you stronger."
The boy still looked doubtful.
"Can that really work?"
Sylvar pointed at himself.
"Of course."
"I'm living proof."
"Otherwise why would I leave those books with Sister Lily?"
"Fine. Let me introduce them briefly."
"The first technique is called Entanglement."
"It allows you to wrap magic power around your body freely."
"The second technique is Isolation."
"It allows you to conceal your magical aura."
"It's mostly useful against detection magic and isn't very important in direct combat."
"The third technique is Refinement."
"It allows you to release more magic power at once."
"The fourth technique…"
"This one lets you manipulate magic power directly for attacks. You can even fire magical projectiles."
"This was created before I fully understood the attributes of my own magic."
"At that time I was weak, so I needed a method to attack."
After hearing all of that, the boy immediately ran back toward the church.
He wanted to ask Sister Lily for the books.
Sylvar suddenly realized something.
I don't think I actually told Sister Lily to set any conditions.
Should I go tell her now?
Sylvar thought for a moment.
Then he shook his head.
Ah… forget it.
That sounds troublesome.
Let the kid figure it out himself.
People who truly want to work hard will eventually find their own path.
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Author's Notes:
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