章 2: Chapter 2

Sato just sat against the orphanage's walls, watching in amusement the boisterousness of his family. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, until he heard his name being spoken about in a not so nice manner.

"Big brother Sato is always sleeping!"

"It's what he's best at, and cooking!"

"Isn't he just being lazy, as usual."

Opening his eyes, Sato quickly stood, searching for those who would tarnish his name.

"Who is speaking badly about me?" he asked while looking around. His eyes landed on three children younger than him. The first two who spoke were a pair of toddlers. A boy named Hollo, and a girl named Aruru. They were Sato's adoptive siblings and he couldn't help but smile down at them. The third voice belonged to a young boy named Nash.

"Oh, it's just you three. Can't you see I'm napping?" Sato asked, as if they had committed some grave offense.

"Haha, you're always sleeping, big brother Sato." laughed Aruru.

"Big brother Sato is the king of naps!" Hollo proclaimed.

"Such silver tongued children, get over here!" Sato yelled while chasing the two toddlers around. Unfortunately, Sato isn't the most athletic person and quickly gave up the chase after a few seconds and went back to his spot.

"I'll get you next time, don't you worry about that." he said while waving at the two who still had plenty of energy.

"Ehhh, Big brother Sato is giving up already?" asked Hollo in disappointment.

"Like I said, lazy." Nash said as if it was a well known fact. Well it was, but that didn't mean Sato would accept it. Suddenly the church doors burst open and out came Father Orsi, the head of this little family.

"Yuno is the hope of this church!" he yelled with tears running down his face with arms raised while looking up to the sky. As if making a proclamation to the heavens.

"I won't be surprised if you end up joining the magic knights who serve the Wizard King, Yuno!" yelled Nash, his personality doing a one eighty with how he spoke to Sato.

Asta sat apart from the group, head down and sulking. Sister Lily walked over to him to give some words of encouragement.

"The awarding ceremony is coming up, Asta. Once you receive your grimoire, it should trigger something within you, and you should be able to use magic too." she said in an attempt to cheer him up. For Asta, in a world where magic is commonplace, he is one of the rare few who is unable to use it.

"What about Big brother Sato? Won't he be a magic knight too?" Hollo asked.

"Ha, if Sato got his grimoire, he'd still be lazy." Nash pointed out.

A vein appeared on Sato's forehead upon hearing the words of Nash.

"Big brother Sato can be the first lazy magic knight!" Aruru cheered, causing another vein to appear on Sato's forehead.

"Tehehe, I think you're being too optimistic, would they even accept a couch potato like Sato?" Nash replied, further twisting the knife.

"Like Asta, Sato is always welcome back here." Father Orsi added.

"Hmph, I don't have to take this, you know. Those magic knights would be honored to have me." Sato said while standing up and pointing at the group.

Unfortunately, the others had already moved on from him and he was forgotten. With a deep sigh, Sato went into the orphanage to make something to eat. No longer caring about the topic of discussion.

"Huh, I'll just leave then, see how they like being ignored. Maybe I should make some fried tatoes."

A few months passed by and it has finally come time for Sato to get his grimoire. He stood in a tower along with Asta and Yuno, along with other kids his age from the area. Unlike Asta who seemed unable to contain his excitement to himself and shouting aloud. And Yuno who is trying to put on a nonplussed demeanor. Sato is sitting against a wall, in and out of consciousness.

"Hmph, I guess today's the day I become a full fledged mage." a young man who might have been a noble. They way he spoke with arrogance and his blatant contempt for everyone else made Sato dislike him immediately.

"Hey, look over there. Pathetic, isn't it? They shouldn't have to give grimoires to dregs like that." his companion said, with equal measures of contempt and arrogance.

Sato just shook his head at the two buffoons. He couldn't understand their thought process at all. So he did what he always did when he found someone to be annoying, he ignored them and went back to sleep.

Unfortunately, the two kept on bad mouthing Asta. They didn't even have the decency to whisper. They were beginning to annoy Sato, and while he wasn't known to be aggressive, he wouldn't tolerate people speaking ill of his family.

Just as he was about to stand and give those two a piece of his mind, a loud voice broke the chatter in the hall, attracting everyone's attention to the speaker.

"Welcome, young men and women. You all begin a new journey today. I wish you all faith, hope and love." The speaker was an old man who personified the image of a wise old wizard. He stood on a podium at the end of the chamber and was using magic to amplify his voice.

"I am the master of this grimoire tower. We've never had a Wizard King from this area, nor anyone who's actually achieved greatness in the magic knights. I sincerely hope that one of you will become the Wizard King someday. No, really! Seriously!"

Sato was startled by the old man's sudden outburst. He wondered why this old man would try to play with his heat like that. The room was silent, unsure of how to react to the old man's last statement.

'Crazy old man, trying to scare me half to death? How much longer is this going to take anyway?'

"Ahem. Now it's time for the awarding of the grimoires!"

With his declaration, countless books that filled the tower began floating from the shelves. They glowed as they moved, some red, other blue and a few green. These were grimoires, magical items that enhance a mage's ability to use magic. They also serve as a repository for mages unique spells.

Sato stood from his seated position and stared up in wonder. He had long since accepted the reality of magic in this world. In fact, he even had a very high mana capacity, even higher than Yuno's. And while he enjoyed slinging spells at first, he eventually grew bored of the simple things that he could do with it. He knew he wouldn't get to cast any cool spells until he got his grimoire anyway. So he spent his time only learning how to control his mana and nothing else.

Soon the books began flying towards their owners. Each is different from the other, signifying their uniqueness to the individual owner. Soon a book made its way towards Sato and he became excited. His book glowed a dark red. It was thick and average in length. The cover was balck and it's pages were blood red with golden outlines.

On the cover was an image of a demonic looking skull with an open mouth and horns. The gray skull had rubies for eyes. In the mouth of the skull was a red three leaf clover. And under the head was one word. It curved under the skull in a stylish but foreign print. A style Sato had never seen before in this life or his last.

In golden print, the words read, legion.