The scene shows a pile of bandits laid on top of one another as a lone figure sat atop the pile. It was none other than Gauche. A fellow Black Bull. He had single-handedly defeated these bandits and smiled at a picture he had of his little sister, Marie. Today was her birthday, and he was planning on spending today with her.

Later that same day, Sister Lily received money and letters from the boys. They opened Yuno's letter first to see that he was promoted to junior Magic Knight first-class. And they opened Asta's to see he was in third class. When they opened (Y/n)'s, they were all shocked to see he made intermediate fifth-class.

Today was also a free day for the Black Bulls as they had got their wages in. Everyone had their own things they wanted to do, especially Gauche. So he decided to go ahead and leave to head into Nean. Where his sister lived. (Y/n) himself had something he wanted to do, so he went ahead and walked out as well.

Asta:"Yo, (Y/n)! Where are you headed?"

(Y/n):"To Nean."

Asta:"What for?"

As they talked, Noelle overheard them and hid around the corner and listened in.

Noelle: Nean?! Isn't that where he went to that stupid mixer and met that girl?!

(Y/n):"There's someone I'm meeting up with. I promised I'd hang out with them. Hey, you should tag along. They got lots of siblings like us, so it'd be a great bonding experience."

Asta:"Really?! Count me in!"

Noelle: There's no doubt about it! He's going to see her! Why am I getting so worked up?! I'm totally, most definitely not worried!

(Y/n) called his broom, and the two got on and flew off to Nean. They eventually reached the town and walked around for a bit before he noticed a familiar someone.

(Y/n):"Hey! Rebecca!"

She heard her name being called out and smiled when she saw (Y/n).

Rebecca:"(Y/n)!"

(Y/n) reached her and smiled.

(Y/n):"Asta, this is Rebecca and her siblings. Rebecca, this is Asta, my brother."

Asta:"Hey there!"

Rebecca:"(Y/n), these are my siblings here."

They waved at the two boys, and they waved back.

(Y/n):"Alright, Asta, let's show them a fun time!"

Asta:"You got it!"

The two bumped fists before they started to play with the kids in their own respective ways. Asta let them hang on his arms as he swung them around. (Y/n) used his magic to create little flashy shows. He did this by shooting out bubbles, freezing them in the air, and blasting them with lightning. The frozen bubbles exploded and glittered in the air.

Rebecca:"Is that your magic?"

(Y/n):"Yep! I got many magic types at my disposal! Pretty cool, huh?"

The two kept having fun with her siblings when a friend of theirs showed up. And it happened to be Marie.

So Asta started to swing her around as (Y/n) combined spells to give the other kids a show. They were all having a blast until Gauche finally showed up. He saw Marie laughing as Asta swung her around, which only ticked him off.

He set Marie down as the other kids wanted to get a turn swung around from Asta's arm. Gauche grew furious and kicked Asta in the cheek and knocked him to the ground.

Gauche:"Get away from her right now, you scum!"

Asta:"Oh! It's the bloody-nose sister lover... GAH!"

Gauche started to grind his heel into Asta's cheek as he writhed in pain on the floor.

Gauche:"Call me a "bloody-nose sister lover" again, meat head, I'll squash you!"

Asta sat back up and pointed a thumb at himself proudly with stars in his eyes.

Asta:"That's not gonna happen! Not the way I've been training! HAHAHA!"

Gauche: Shut up!

Rebecca and (Y/n) just looked on in shock and concern.

Gauche:"I only get to see my sister once a month, which means these visits are sacrosanct! Today, I set aside all other thoughts ready to dote on my Marie in every way possible! It was supposed to be flirty, fun, and perfect! So how was it that you showed up here before me?!"

(Y/n):"What did he say?"

Asta:"So you do have a sister complex and get nose bleeds! And how was I supposed to know that she was your sister?"

He pointed briefly at Marie before being picked up by the collar of his robe.

Gauche:"Stop pointing your grubby little finger at my angel! I know I showed you her picture, don't lie!"

Asta:"Did you? I don't remember. I met her today when I came with (Y/n) to hang out with his friend Rebecca and her little brothers and sisters!"

Rebecca:"Uh... Hi?"

Two of her siblings ran over and hugged her legs. Her youngest sister was scared as her little brother, Marco, looked up at her, confused.

Marco:"What does flirty mean? I don't know that word."

Rebecca:"Sshhh!"

Asta:"Well, Marie's cute, that's for sure!"

(Y/n):"Asta, you're not helping your case!"

Gauche proceeded to grind his heel on Asta again.

Gauche:"Of course she's cute, but that doesn't give you permission to make eyes at my sister, you filth!"

Marie:"Stop, Big Brother! I don't want you doing mean things to him! Please, Asta is going to be my husband someday!"

(Y/n):"Oh no...."

Her words petrified Gauche, and he felt like he would crumble at any moment. He fell to his knees before he started to say one word over and over.

Gauche:"Kill. Kill. Kill."

He stood up and used a spelled called Reflect Ray, to summon a mirror that shot out a blast of light. Asta dodged it as Gauche kept trying to attack him.

?:"Oh my, it's awfully noisy out here!"

They stopped what they were doing as a nun walked over.

?:"Marie, it's time to go. You need to get back to the church now."

Marie:"Sister!"

Gauche saw the old nun and instantly scowled.

?:"Oh, I see, you're here too, Gauche."

Gauche:"That's right, hag!"

?:"That's sister to you! Mind your manners!"

Gauche:"Marie and I are going on a date. You can head back to the church on your own."

?:"No, Gauche! She's coming! The sooner you accept that, the better for us all. When are you going to realize you're no good for an impressionable young girl like Marie?! She deserves to be with someone better than you! With your bad attitude and nasty tongue!"

Gauche:"What was that, you old crone?"

?:"See?"

Gauche:"Just drop dead."

?:"A nice thing to say to an old woman nearing the end of her life, thoughtless fool!"

Gauche:"Says the demon witch who lived for another hundred years, or two, or three!"

?:"Only a thug would resort to that sort of name calling!"

Gauche:"Shut up, you worthless bag!"

Asta:"Whoa, hold on! You can't just talk to an elderly woman of the cloth like that! It's just wrong!"

Gauche:"Nobody asked you to get involved! Now, back off!"

?:"Just go home! Come along now, Marie."

Marie:"Bye Gauche! Bye (Y/n)! Bye Asta! I had fun!"

They waved her off as she walked away with that nun as Gauche collapsed to the floor. He felt like his soul was ripped from his body as Marco poked his body with a stick.

Marco:"He's really weird."

(Y/n):"Tell me about it."

Rebecca:"Hey (Y/n), you guys hungry? We could eat at the restaurant while your knight friend recovers. You could umm... stay the night at our place if you want?"

Rebecca looked off to the side with a red tint to her cheeks.

Asta:"Ooh, I'm hungry! Say yes (Y/n)!"

(Y/n):"Alright, easy, Asta. We would love to. Thanks so much, Rebecca!"

He gave her a smile, which caused her to smile in return. Her siblings seemed happy that we would be staying over as Asta swung them around again.

In a nearby corner

Noelle: Stay the night?! Are you kidding?! Sleeping at the house of a woman he just met?! That's madness! Madness!

Later

They were in the restaurant Rebecca worked at, and Asta and (Y/n) were chowing down. Gauche was still on the floor unconscious.

(Y/n):"Oh my gosh! This is just so amazing!"

Rebecca:"Really? Thank you!"

Asta:"HAHAHA! He's right! Each bite is better than the last! You know, you'd make a great wife with these cooking skills, don't you agree (Y/n)?"

(Y/n):"Oh, most definitely! I can't get enough!"

Rebecca:"O-Oh! Well, I wasn't going for that."

She looked away, embarrassed as Asta and (Y/n) kept eating. Across the restaurant, Noelle sat at a table alone with a red hood and the clothes of a commoner to disguise herself.

Noelle: This is ridiculous! Cooking skills aren't the only things that make someone a good wife!

Marco walked over to Rebecca and tugged on her apron.

Marco:"Hey sis, are you gonna marry (Y/n) someday?"

Rebecca:"SSSHHH! NO! Why would you say that?!"

Noelle: Yeah, right! Over my dead BODY!

The glasses of water that people had suddenly shot up like a geyser as Noelle grew angry. (Y/n) and Asta were preoccupied with delicious food to even notice the geysers of water coming from their glasses.

Luca:"So, are you gonna make a move on him while he's here?"

Noelle gasped in shock as the geysers died down as Rebecca grew more embarrassed.

Rebecca:"No! Where did that come from, Luca?!"

Then Pem, her youngest sibling that was strapped to her back, gave Rebecca a tiny thumbs up.

Rebecca:"Pem! You too?! I don't need all of you ganging up on me!" Make a move on him? No! That's crazy!

Later that night

They were all in the neighborhood that Rebecca lived as Noelle had followed them from a distance. However, she was outside with only a match to give her warmth.

Noelle: I never thought I would miss Magna's Exploding Fireball. Why's it so cold? It's not even winter.

Noelle looked up to see that snow started to fall to the ground below. Up above stood a mage on a broom with their grimoire summoned.

As the snow fell, children began walking out of their houses with dull eyes.

In Rebecca's house, everyone was sleeping soundly. Asta and (Y/n) had their own rooms to sleep in. Rebecca was the only one who had trouble sleeping. She was hugging her pillow as she thought back to what her sister Luca had said about making a move on (Y/n).

Rebecca: Stupid! Ridiculous! Insane! I would never do anything like that! I'll go check to make sure Marco and Luca are asleep. Maybe then I'll get some rest.

Rebecca stepped out of her room to check on her siblings. But it seemed she wasn't the only awake as Gauche finally regained consciousness and walked over to the room Asta was in. He tried to shoot a beam of light with his Reflect Ray, but Asta sneezed at the last minute and dodged the attack in his sleep. But the sound it made when it hit the wall woke him up.

Soon, Gauche continued his assault on Asta, who managed to quickly slip into his robe before Gauche used another spell. Real Double. It created a clone of himself who also had a mirror shooting beams of light. He shot Asta out of the room as he made a giant hole. The sound of the wall breaking shot (Y/n) awake as he slipped into his robe as well and saw Gauche staring out the giant hole.

(Y/n):"What the hell is going on?!"

Gauche:"I'm killing Asta."

(Y/n):"Wait, why is it snowing? It's not even winter."

Gauche:"Who cares?"

(Y/n) jumped out the hole and landed in the snow next to Asta. He helped him up before Rebecca ran outside.

Rebecca:"What are you guys doing?!"

Asta:"Sorry! Things got out of hand!"

Rebecca:"Never mind that! The children have gone missing?!"

Both:"WHAT?!"

Soon, the parents of the neighborhood began walking out and calling out to their kids. Elsewhere, the children of the area could be seen climbing up the side of a mountain. Rebecca's siblings were seen as well as Marie.

Rebecca:"Where are they? Why would they run off at this hour?"

The parents continued to call out to the kids, but the kids were already too far out of earshot. Despite the circumstances, Gauche continued to attack Asta. Asta ran around and dodged the blasts of light as (Y/n) reached out to let the snow fall into his hands.

(Y/n):"This snow doesn't feel right..."

?:"Can someone please tell me what's wrong with this village?! Having it snow at this time of year is just absurd!"

(Y/n):"Noelle? What brings you to Nean?"

Noelle:"Just... passing through, seeing the sights, that sort of thing, you know..."

Rebecca:"(Y/n), who is this?"

(Y/n):"A friend from the Magic Knights. Noelle, this is my friend Rebecca."

Noelle: That's his friend?

Rebecca: His friend?

They glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes.

Both:"Uh-huh...."

(Y/n) couldn't help but feel like something was off, but didn't pry.

Noelle:"Hey, listen, a little while ago I saw a bunch of kids headed to the mountains. What was that about? Some sort of late night festival?"

Rebecca:"The kids!"

Gauche:"I have a festival of blood planned!"

?:"Stop that!"

Gauche:"Old hag!"

Asta:"Sister Granny!"

?:"This snow isn't natural. I can sense some sort of spell in it. One that controls people! But only children whose magic has not yet developed. Several of ours have disappeared. Why would someone be spiriting these children away?"

Gauche:"Wait, crone, you lost some of yours? Marie better not have been one of them!"

?:"Unfortunately, she was."

Gauche:"Damn you!"

He ran over and picked up the old nun and glared at her.

Gauche:"You decrepit old fool! How could you let this happen to her?!"

?:"So quick to resort to violence! You truly are hopeless! You can hit me all you want, but it won't bring them back! It won't help, Marie!

Gauche:"It won't, but it will make feel hell of a lot better!"

He got ready to throw a punch before Asta ran over and took the punch for the sister.

Gauche:"Asta, you will die."

Asta:"Hey, why don't we just take a deep breath and cool off a little BIT?!"

He kicked Gauche's head straight down into the snow.

Asta:"We're Magic Knights, after all! We have to learn to remain calm, got it?!"

?:"Well done. I like this boy."

Gauche:"Calm? I got it."

Asta:"See?"

Gauche:"I'll kill you very calmly!"

He began to stomp on Asta's back.

(Y/n):"Gauche! Chill out for a second, would you?! We gotta start looking for clues or something!"

Gauche:"Like it'll be that easy! Hmm, wait... I told Marie to keep her magic mirror with her at all times. The snow will interfere with transmission magic, but if we track down the mana within the mirror... Then we should be able to find her!"

Asta:"There, you see?!"

Gauche:"Whatever! So what if your friend was right?! That's not gonna keep me from stomping the life out of you, maggot!"

?:"I'll come too. The church's children are my responsibility.

Asta:"Thanks, Sister, but maybe you should just stay."

Gauche:"No, the hag may be infuriating, but she does have her uses."

Asta:"Really? But isn't she kinda... old?"

?:"Heh, I can still teach you youngsters a thing or two."

Rebecca fell to her knees and looked over to (Y/n) with tears in her eyes.

Rebecca:"(Y/n)... Between Marco's immaturity and Luca's stubborn streak, I'm really worried about them! What am I going to do? If anything happens to then-"

(Y/n):"Rebecca!"

She looked up to see (Y/n) standing proudly.

(Y/n):"Get it together. I promise you that I'll do everything it takes to bring them back. So, no moping, okay? I don't think they would want that."

He gave her a gentle smile as she wiped away her tears and smiled back.

(Y/n):"Let's get a move on!"

Gauche got on his broom as he whacked Asta with it, and Asta was left dangling on it. The old sister was on hers, and (Y/n) whistled for his and got on it.

Noelle:"You're not going to leave me behind, are you?!"

Gauche:"You can't fly a broom on your own, either. Do you wanna be a dangler like him?"

?:"There's also a chance the village might be attacked while we're gone! Please stay here and look after it!

They all began to fly off as Asta called out to Noelle.

Asta:"OH! AND LET THE MAGIC KNIGHTS KNOW WHAT'S UPPPPP!!!"

Rebecca:"(Y/n)! We're counting on you!"

Noelle: Right. I'm stuck here with her.

In the mountains, the children were gathered inside a large cave as they all carried a dull look on their face.

?:"Look at all the new friends I made! Let's all play nice, okay?!"

Marie soon regained a hold of her senses and looked around curiously. The magic mirror Gauche had given her had protected her from the spells effect. The mage who casted it noticed that Marie was able to grasp her surroundings. He asked if Marie wanted to be his friend, but she denied it and said someone who used their magic to force people into becoming a friend wasn't a real friend at all. That set him off as he backhanded Marie and sent her flying across the cave a bit as she skid along the rocky floor.

The mage wasn't alone as someone else had been hiding in the cave. It was a much larger man wearing spectacles.

One of them had a purple tinted lens that could view the mana of the children. Marie had the most out of everyone else as the other children seemed to have similar amounts. However, his eyes gazed over Marco and saw his magic was the smallest of the group.

He grabbed Marco before tossing him out a random hole of the cave, and he was thrown outside in the cold. (Y/n) and the others continued their flight as Gauche felt the mana getting stronger.

Back in Nean, Noelle was trying to reassure the villagers that the Magic Knights would save the children.

Noelle:"Now, everyone, please remain calm! The Magic Knights will find your children and bring them home safely!"

Man:"Whoa! Look at her robe!"

Woman:"Are they really going to bring my son back to me?!"

A woman clasped Noelle's hand and looked at her with pleading eyes.

Rebecca's younger brother asked where Marco and Luca were as she was still worried.

Noelle:"It's alright, (Y/n) will bring them back. I promise."

Rebecca:"Yeah, they'll be back before you know it."

Rebecca and her siblings went back inside to try and patch up the big hole Asta and Gauche made.

Noelle:"Right, I need to contact the other Magic Knights."

She grabbed a circular bronze device from her pocket and opened it up. It displayed a magic image of Sekke.

Sekke:"Hey! This is Knights Headquarters!"

Noelle:"They got you working at headquarters?"

Sekke then went on a tangent on how Captain Jack stationed him there part-time, and he kept yapping much to Noelle's annoyance.

Noelle:"We have an emergency, you babbling idiot! Listen, there's snow falling in Nean!"

Sekke:"Really? How romantic."

Noelle:"Do you understand what an emergency is?! Someone used magic to create snow to kidnap children from the village!"

Sekke:"Wait, huh?! You should tell the Magic Knights right away!"

Noelle:"What do you think I'm doing, NOW?!"

Sekke:"Don't worry! Sekke is on the case! Haha!"

Noelle:"I don't find that reassuring, idiot."

Noelle looked up to the sky as (Y/n), and the others reached the caves.

(Y/n):"This must be it then. Wait, look! It's Marco!"

Asta:"It is! Gauche, bring me closer to him."

Gauche:"Just drop off the broom, Marie is the only one that matters."

(Y/n) just scoffed as Asta let go and crashed down below and rolled along the ground. (Y/n) flew down closer, as did the sister. They all ran over to Marco. The sister held him up gently as Asta was stuck in a massive snowball.

?:"He won't wake up. He's stuck in a trance."

(Y/n):"Asta."

Asta:"I hear ya! Loud and clear!"

He broke free from the snow and summoned his massive sword.

?:"Wait, what are you doing?"

Asta gently tapped Marco's head with the hilt of his sword, and it broke the spell's effect.

Marco:"Huh? What's going on? (Y/n)? Asta? Sister?"

(Y/n):"Hey, little buddy, you alright?"

Marco suddenly felt the pain he was in as he had frostbite and was covered in scrapes. The sister used healing magic to both warm him up and soothe his pain.

(Y/n):"Marco, we still gotta save your sister and the other kids, so can you stay in that cave until we get back?"

Marco:"What?! It's scary in there, can't I stay with you?! Please, (Y/n)!"

(Y/n):"What's with the tears, little buddy?"

(Y/n) kneeled down and took off his Black Bulls robe before putting it on Marco.

(Y/n):"Here, wear this. This will make sure you're not scared! It's full of Magic Knight courage, right Asta?"

Asta:"Heck yeah!"

Marco:"Thank you!"

(Y/n):"So chin up and dry your tears. When you get back home, you can tell Rebecca how you weren't scared to be alone. She'd be pretty proud of you. I wouldn't want her to feel sad knowing you were scared. If she was sad, then I would feel awful."

Marco only smiled widely as (Y/n) rubbed his head. He stood back up and got his grimoire ready. His back was turned to Marco as he gained a serious look on his face. They entered the cave and began searching for the kids. They soon encountered Gauche fighting off against these snowmen creations as a large man held onto Marie as a hostage. Asta cut down some of the snowmen before throwing a sword at the man's cheek and grazing it.

Marie ran over to Gauche and Asta before clinging to Asta. The sister healed the children, but she told everyone that their magic was completely drained. Marie said that the big man was going to use their mana for money.

Upon hearing this, Asta was furious. (Y/n) took notice of this and looked over at the big man who glanced at Asta with his magic glasses and laughed when he saw Asta had no magic power. (Y/n) smirked when Asta dashed across the cave and struck him fiercely with his large sword and sent him crashing into a wall.

(Y/n):"Come on, Asta, we're gonna make sure these guys pay!"

Asta:"Yeah!"

End of page 12.