On the beach of Larkay Town, the Magic Knights Headquarters was currently clearing up the members who had been killed or wounded by Vetto. Evidently, when Vetto violently broke into the Underwater Temple, he had been intercepted by the Magic Knight Squad members on the ground, but the result was a crushing defeat for the Magic Knight Squad.
On the other side of the beach, a lone figure stood gazing at the sparkling seawater, muttering to himself, "Are the Captain and the others having fun? Another lonely night by myself, waaaaah~"
The banquet lasted for a long time and finally had to end because it was getting too late.
"Welcome to everyone who traveled from afar to attend this banquet. I am truly touched; it has been a long time since the depths have been this lively. Thank you for bringing so much popularity to the deep sea!" As the host, Gifso gave a passionate speech before finally announcing the end of the banquet.
"Asta, thank you for the invitation. We had a great time, truly a great time!" Domina said, hugging Vanica's arm as she bid farewell to Asta.
"Take care on your way back, you two! And you too, Mariella!" Asta waved goodbye.
"He actually remembered my name!" A look of surprise flashed in Mariella's beautiful eyes. She had thought she was just an insignificant nobody in Asta's eyes, a mere passerby. She hadn't expected that Asta would not only smile warmly at her but also enthusiastically call out her name!
"You too... heal well!" Mariella had originally intended to leave coolly, but she was caught off guard by Asta's greeting. She stuttered out her reply before leaving.
"Hmph!" Noelle immediately let out another cold snort.
"Asta, we're heading back too. Thank you so much for inviting us to such a beautiful place. I really want to come back more often!" Rebecca looked at Asta with reluctance. Because the wine in the deep sea was so sweet, she couldn't help but drink a few more cups, and she was clearly much bolder than usual at this moment.
"You will. When your younger siblings grow up, you can open a branch here too!" Asta smiled.
"Yeah! When that time comes, I'll open restaurants all over the world so that everyone can eat ramen!" At this moment, Rebecca seemed to have found her goal to "surpass her limits." Who said that the only way to surpass one's limits in this world was through combat? Opening a restaurant everywhere in the world was also a way to surpass one's limits!
"Yeah, I look forward to that day!" Asta nodded, then watched Rebecca and the others leave.
"Goodbye, Brother Asta!" Marie and her little friends all waved happily at Asta.
"Listen to the sisters at the church, okay?" Asta also smiled and waved at the children, thinking to himself that when he had more money in the future, he would donate more to help the children of Nean Town.
"Boy, you did well. I hope one day you will be able to carry the banner of the Clover Kingdom!" Theresa said this specifically as she passed by Asta, then walked away without looking back.
"She really is a cool older lady!" Asta could imagine that in her youth, Theresa must have been a girl who dared to love and hate.
Soon, the banquet returned to silence, and Asta and the others were arranged by Gifso in the best guest rooms of the temple. As for Yami and Magna, they had challenged some deep-sea gamblers to a duel that lasted until dawn before returning with yawns.
"Little ones, you've played enough yesterday. There's nothing left to do here, so let's head back. I also need to report back to the Wizard King!" Yami felt that if he stayed here any longer, he might even lose all the magic stones he had on him, so he quickly planned to lead the team away.
"How are the gamblers in this remote place so skilled?!" Magna cursed and grumbled. Apparently, he hadn't lost little throughout the night!
"Captain, is it okay to be so rushed? Don't we need to say goodbye?" Finral asked, puzzled.
"Goodbyes and such aren't necessary. Besides, you have the coordinates now, so you can come whenever you want!" Yami took a drag of his cigarette to perk himself up.
"That makes sense. Goodbyes are too sentimental." Vanessa nodded.
"Besides, Asta's arm is still injured, so it's time to go back for treatment," Noelle said thoughtfully.
"Alright then, let's go!" After Yami finished speaking, Finral opened a portal directly to the Black Bulls base. Everyone filed in, and seeing the familiar environment, they couldn't help but stretch and yawn.
"Geez, I get sleepy as soon as I get back. I'm going to take a nap!" Vanessa said, stretching lazily as she walked toward her room.
"I'm going back to freshen up too!" Noelle said, taking small steps toward her room, as if she would start smelling if she walked any slower.
"Whoosh—" Grey playfully shifted back from Gordon's appearance to her large, chubby form. This was all quite normal to the others, but Finral suddenly bristled. He had suddenly remembered what he had forgotten: he had forgotten to pick up Gordon!
"...Hey, Finral, where are you going? Wait for me to take a dump, then take me to the Magic Knights Headquarters!" Yami saw Finral trying to sneak away and quickly called out to him.
"Right away, Captain Yami!" Finral said, quickly opening a magic portal to the restroom. Originally, he wanted to pick up Gordon without anyone noticing, but he had been stopped by Yami. However, he wasn't panicked. Based on his understanding of Yami, Yami would take at least half an hour to come out of the restroom, so he still had time!
"That's better!" Yami said as he walked into the restroom. Finral quickly slipped away and opened a portal to the villa in Larkay Town. Who would have guessed that as soon as he teleported to the entrance of the villa, he would see Gordon hiding in the shade of a tree.
"The Captain and the others have actually completed the mission, and the Magic Knights Headquarters has reclaimed the villa, yet they forgot about me... they forgot about me..." At this moment, the shadow in Gordon's heart reached the sky, and various negative emotions came one after another. Finral felt incredibly guilty looking at him. Although he didn't hear exactly what Gordon was saying, the pitiful sight of Gordon sitting alone in the shade of the tree was truly pathetic!
"Uh, Gordon, the Captain sent me to pick you up!" Finral said, hesitating.
"Finral! Was it fun in the deep sea?!" Gordon broke down instantly, tears streaming down his face. Finally, someone had remembered him! He was so excited that he wanted to hug Finral, but Finral, seeing Gordon's face full of poison gas, quickly backed away two steps.
"Let's go back first. You have no idea how dangerous the deep sea was. As soon as we went down, we encountered a perverted old man who forced us to play dangerous games. Then, the terrorists from the Eye of the Midnight Sun showed up. Magna and Luck were almost beaten to death. I wanted to suggest that you join the battle, but the Captain said the deep sea was dangerous and told you to hold down the fort at the villa, and everyone agreed. Obviously, everyone dotes on you!" Finral spouted a bunch of nonsense, carefully avoiding any mention of the Dragon Palace banquet!
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"