Charles stepped out of the spatial portal and, visibly moved, grabbed the hand of the man who followed after him—Finral Roulacase. A noble by birth, Finral had inherited his family's space magic, but his personality was timid and non-confrontational, always looking to avoid both giving and receiving beatings.
Since a mage's spells are born from their will, the only magic Finral could use was spatial transport magic.
Add to that his hopeless flirtatiousness—which often interfered with missions—and it was no surprise he had been "relegated" to the Black Bulls, where he now served as Yami's personal errand boy and chauffeur.
But to Charles, Finral was a lifesaver—literally. The man's portal magic meant he never had to ride another nauseating vehicle again.
"Finral-senpai, let's be best friends from now on! I'm counting on you for all travel—there's just no way I can deal with transportation again."
A vein popped on Finral's forehead. "Don't treat your senpai like some kind of vehicle, you jerk!"
Yami threw his head back with laughter. "Heh! You've already gotten close to the crew so fast! That's why I've got high hopes for you!"
"Let's be friends too!"
That came from Gordon, but—as usual—his voice was so low no one could make out what he actually said.
Yami gestured behind him at a dilapidated building that looked just like his rugged personality. "There it is—the Black Bulls' headquarters! What do you think? Pretty grand, huh?"
"It's just kinda falling apart," Finral muttered bluntly.
"…."
Still couldn't hear a word Gordon said.
Asta was practically vibrating with anticipation. "Starting today, I'm gonna—!"
Before he could finish, he bolted toward the front doors. Charles knew what he wanted to say: that his journey to becoming the Wizard King would begin here.
Asta flung the doors open and shouted, "I'm Asta from Hage Village, the newest member of the Black Bu—!"
BOOM!
A fireball exploded from inside, blasting Asta away before he could even finish his sentence.
Yami turned around, facing the now-burning entrance of the Black Bulls' base, extended a hand, and declared, "Welcome to the worst and most troublesome Magic Knight squad—the Black Bulls!"
Asta picked his head up off the ground, dazed but undeterred. "Not over yet!"
Charles had to admire Asta's resilience. Even after taking that blast, the guy was totally fine. And loud as ever.
Plus, that thick skin of his was something else—he'd just been attacked, yet was already charging back in.
Naturally, another fireball came flying out and sent Asta flying once again.
But this second fireball cleared away some of the flames, letting them glimpse the chaos inside.
"Alright, now I'm pissed! You ready for this?!" shouted a delinquent wielding a flaming baseball bat.
A short boy with a slightly awkward smile dodged incoming fireballs in midair and taunted, "Not really, but come at me!"
"Die!" the thug roared, swinging the bat and launching fireball after fireball.
On the couch, a woman in nothing but underwear groaned, "Why's it so noisy… drank too much… my head's killing me."
A tiny girl sat before a table stacked with food, shoving cake after cake into her mouth.
Behind a mirror, a man bleeding from the nose muttered, "So cute… like an angel… my sweet Mari. You bastards are too noisy!"
The only one who looked remotely normal was a pudgy man exhaling white mist—yet his creepy face betrayed the illusion.
All of them wore black cloaks with the Black Bulls insignia. These were the Black Bulls' core members—each and every one a certified problem child.
Only someone like Yami would gather such a band of misfits. And this wild, chaotic scene? Just another day at headquarters.
Still undeterred, Asta ran back over, shouting, "I'm Asta from Hage Village! Nice to meet you all! I'm gonna be the Wizard King!"
No one responded.
They just kept fighting, shouting, and stuffing their faces. Not even a single glance toward the newcomer. The only welcome Asta received was another fireball to the face—his third time being launched across the room.
As the chaos began to escalate again, someone finally had enough.
"You bastards…" Yami raised a hand, menacing magic power flaring to life.
"Don't… break… stuff!"
And then he casually punched a wall with so much force that the entire thing exploded, debris flying in every direction.
"So much for not breaking stuff," Charles murmured.
At last, the troublemakers took notice of Yami. They immediately stopped and swarmed around him, babbling all at once.
"Captain Yami! Any punks need a beating? Just point me at 'em!"
"Fight me today, Captain! All out, no holding back!"
"Forget these brats, come drink with me!"
"Wanna try this? It's really tasty!"
"Sorry, I've reached my limit—can I go visit my sister Mari now?"
"Wheeze—!"
"You guys sure love me, huh?" Yami grinned. Then his face darkened and his tone dropped dangerously. "But you're too damn loud!"
"Sorry!!" they all yelped and immediately sat in formal seiza position like obedient children.
Yami said, "Bring the newcomers over."
He turned—but only saw Charles. "Wait, where's the other brat?"
Charles pointed. Asta was somewhere under a pile of people and rubble. Who knew what kind of mess he'd gotten himself into now?
——
Once Asta was pulled free, both he and Charles stood beside Yami.
"These two brats are our newest members! Uh… what were their names again?"
Asta ignored the "other two" comment and shouted, "I'm Asta from Hage Village! Nice to meet you!"
"Charles, also from Hage. I hope we can all get along," said Charles politely.
After their self-introductions, Yami barked, "Oi, someone introduce the rest of the squad."
Naturally, that task fell to their professional errand boy: Finral.
He started pointing people out one by one.
"This here is Gordon Agrippa."
The gloomy guy with the zombie face.
"Nice to meet you!" Gordon whispered. Still unintelligible.
"Creepy but nice guy," Finral offered helpfully.
"Next, Vanessa Enoteca. Bit clingy when she's drunk, but also a nice person."
The scantily clad redhead groaned, "I'm not clingy…"
She promptly leaned on Asta and Charles. Charles, with his sharp nose, caught a strong whiff of booze—was she soaking in alcohol? He instinctively ignored the "free fanservice." Asta, however, was totally unprepared for this level of stimulation and looked like he was about to short-circuit.
"Hage Village's way out in the boonies, right? For you two to pass the entrance exam from there, you must've worked really hard. Wanna do something fun as a reward?"
As Asta battled with his inner angels and demons, Vanessa's hangover hit full force. A technicolor rainbow of vomit poured from her mouth.
Fortunately, Charles had seen it coming and yanked Asta out of harm's way just in time.
Finral kept going.
"This energetic guy is Luck Voltia. Loves fighting—but also a good guy."
Luck struck a boxer's pose. "You like to fight? I love to fight! Let's fight!"
Asta had no idea how to respond.
Then, a man with long bangs covering one eye shoved a photo in Asta's face. "Look! My sister Mari. She's an angel."
"…Yes, sir."
The man growled, "Touch her and I'll kill you."
"That's Gauche Adlai. Hopeless siscon—but a good guy," Finral said as Asta whimpered.
Finral gestured to the girl still gorging herself on sweets. "That's Charmy Pappitson. Big appetite—but a good person."
"Nice to meet you!" she chirped between bites. Honestly, the fact she managed to greet them at all while dual-wielding cake was impressive.
"This here is Grey. Not much known—but nice person."
"Hi!" Asta greeted nervously, unsure how to respond to someone who didn't say a word.
"And that's Magna Swing. Bit of a thug—but good guy."
Even through his sunglasses, Magna's intimidating glare made Asta's voice falter during his greeting.
"And then there's me—Finral Roulacase. Super popular, by the way."
Finally, Finral pointed dramatically. "And our beloved Black Bulls captain—Yami Sukehiro!"
"You didn't call him a good guy," Asta muttered—but Charles promptly shoved him down into a bow.
"Nice to meet you, Captain!"
Yami shrugged. "There's a few more members, but they're either on missions, resting, or slacking off somewhere. You two figure out how to get along."
Charles looked around at the wild crew before him.
Every single one of them was a unique character.
But something told him that life here… was going to be incredibly fun.