The Falling Sister Lily

A smile immediately appeared at the corner of Carl's lips. Then he looked at Asta and asked:

"Are you sure this person really didn't have any gold coins on him?"

A black line instantly appeared over Asta's head. He then said rather carelessly:

"That bag was the only thing on him that looked remotely nice. Even if he had money, how much could there be?"

"It's such a tiny purse. Even if it were stuffed full of copper coins, it still wouldn't be enough to feed the children at Hage Village's church for one meal."

Hearing Asta's words, Carl immediately laughed.

Of course, he was not laughing at Asta's innocence. He was laughing because he had finally struck it rich.

She untied the elaborately patterned bag, casually opened its mouth, and turned it upside down.

"Clatter—"

Coins spilled onto the ground.

Asta's expression instantly froze.

What was he seeing?

Asta wanted nothing more than to rub his eyes hard. From a bag that had originally been only palm-sized poured copper coins, silver coins, and even gold coins. What was even more terrifying was that the coins were nearly piling into a small mountain, yet they still kept falling from the bag in an endless stream.

Asta's eyes widened round:

"What exactly is this bag? Is it some kind of treasure bowl?"

Yuno slowly walked over from a distance and rolled his eyes at Asta, who was still shouting in amazement. Looking at him like he was an idiot, he said:

"It's a magic tool. Can't you tell? It can shrink objects and store them inside."

Asta immediately understood, his eyes sparkling:

"So much money! How many things could we buy with this much?"

In the Outer Region, people normally rarely even saw silver coins. Seeing so much money all at once, not only Asta, but even Yuno found it hard to pull his eyes away from the pile of gold.

But Asta quickly restrained himself, pulled his gaze away, looked at Carl, and said:

"You were the one who took down that bad guy, so his spoils naturally belong to you."

Having trained and hunted in the forest every day according to the law of the jungle, Asta clearly believed that Carl rightfully deserved the money.

Yuno beside him nodded as well.

However, when he looked at the hollow in his necklace where the Magic Stone Fragment had once been, a trace of heartache still flashed through his eyes.

This mage necklace had accompanied him for far too long. It could even be said that it had played an extremely important role in nurturing his growth.

Now that it had vanished just like that, it was truly a pity.

Perhaps this necklace also represented his origins.

After hesitating for a long time, Yuno finally took off the necklace and wrapped it around his wrist. After all, wearing a necklace that had lost its magic gem for no reason looked rather out of place.

Asta truly did possess a body like that of a wild beast.

Four large holes had been punched through his legs, and the battle had ended only a short while ago, yet the bleeding had already stopped.

Carl carefully examined Asta's legs and asked curiously:

"How did you do that?"

Asta casually waved his hand.

"Isn't that simple? Back when I chased prey in the forest, I often got scratched."

"As long as I swallowed something from inside them that contained magic power and chewed it up, my injuries would naturally recover quickly. After a while, I seemed to develop this instinct. Whenever I get hurt, I recover fast."

Carl froze for a moment, then smiled.

This guy truly had no idea how great a secret he had just revealed.

So consuming Magic Beast Cores containing magic power could strengthen certain abilities. Asta was often injured, so after consuming the cores, his recovery ability and physical strength had been stimulated.

That explained why his physical constitution was so strong.

After all, not everyone possessed the Eight Gates and could raise their physical power to such a level.

At that moment, an Anti-Bird fluttered over to Asta's side.

The way it looked at Asta was incredibly humanlike, as though it were looking at an idiot. Whenever Asta shouted excitedly, the Anti-Bird even raised its wings to cover its ears.

Yet Asta noticed none of this. He only kept asking Carl about techniques for training his body and how he could use magic.

After all, merely having a greatsword still seemed far too lame.

If he could continuously unleash all kinds of magic like Carl, that would be truly terrifyingly cool.

Under the night sky, the silhouettes of the three of them stretched endlessly beneath the starlight.

They were getting closer and closer to Hage Village.

It was not until dawn that Carl followed Asta and Yuno to Hage Village.

Seeing even ordinary villagers using magic to till the soil and plant seeds, Carl could not help feeling a little fortunate. If he had given up on awakening his Grimoire back then, he would probably still have been mocked and treated as an oddity even in such a small place in the Outer Region.

At that moment, Asta shouted loudly:

"Father! Sister Lily! We passed the Magic Tower's test and got Grimoires!"

"Oh, and Yuno got a Four-leaf Grimoire too!"

As soon as he shouted that, the surrounding villagers stopped what they were doing. Everyone's eyes turned toward Yuno, filled with reverence and admiration.

It really was a world where magic stood above all else.

Carl could not help sighing at the sight.

Just then, Asta suddenly jumped high into the air and looked through the trees toward the orphanage in the distance. Then he let out a scream:

"Sister Lily, marry me!"

"Even if you won't marry me, you can't do this kind of rough work yourself! What if you fall off the roof?"

Asta looked utterly anxious.

In the distance, Sister Lily was lying on the church roof, repairing the tiles.

"Sister Lily! Be careful! Leave it to me!"

As Asta continued shouting, his booming voice nearly made the entire church buzz.

Sister Lily on the roof immediately frowned. Even while frowning, she still looked a little adorable.

"Asta, enough! If you keep shouting, I really am going to fall."

Asta's eyes immediately lit up.

"Then I'll catch you! As long as I catch you, you'll agree to marry me!"

He spread his arms beneath her and kept shifting around, as though Sister Lily would fall the very next second.

"Sister Lily, be careful! Don't fall! If you do fall, please make sure you marry me!"

Asta's actions immediately made the surrounding villagers burst into laughter.

Yuno wore a look of utter disgust, as though he were watching an idiot.

When he looked at Carl, a rare trace of shyness and embarrassment appeared on his face.

This Asta was truly making Yuno look bad.

Yuno's face was burning red. Even the joy of learning wind magic had been washed away.

Carl merely smiled.

Though the village was small, everything felt exceptionally harmonious.

Just then, Lily turned to look at Yuno. When she saw the Four-leaf Grimoire floating beside him, her eyes immediately lit up.

"Yuno, you're absolutely amazing!"

Before she could finish speaking, her foot slipped, and Sister Lily instantly fell from the roof.

Asta, however, somewhat unwillingly pulled out his own Grimoire and loudly showed it off:

"What's so great about the Four-leaf Clover? My Grimoire has a fifth leaf too!"

Yet at the very instant he spoke, Sister Lily was already falling.

Yuno immediately activated wind magic, wanting to save Sister Lily.

But Carl merely stepped forward, lightly pushed off with his toes, and leaped up in an instant, steadily catching Sister Lily and holding her in his arms.

"Miss Sister, are you all right?"