Chapter 40 - Protective

Getting his broom out of his room, Grim and Asta took to the air as they rode all the way to Sister Theresa's orphanage.

Apparently Grim had agreed to visit the orphanage with Rebecca and her siblings during the mixer event. Having no memory of making such a promise and having nothing better to do on his day off besides training and eating, he decided to go and see how the orphans and sister Theresa having been doing since his last visit.

'I wonder if I can beat her in a fight now? Guess we'll find out later...'

---

"Why are you coming anyway? Its not like you really know them."

Flying through the air at a relatively fast speed, Grim asked Asta a question that had been bugging him for a while now.

Scratching the back of his head and laughing to himself, Asta put on a goofy smile.

"Hehehe, I get along well with kids."

"...I'm sure a lot of priests said that when they had to justify their actions." Grim muttered quietly.

"What?"

"I said I'm sure the kids will like you a lot."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, you're quite likable."

"Oh shucks, you're embarrassing me Grim." Asta laughed lightly while showing off a magnificent smile.

---

"He's here!!"

"He's back!!"

"GRIM!!"

Descending from the sky with Asta sitting behind him, Grim was greeted to the sounds of children cheering and welcoming his arrival.

"Woah, you're really popular." Asta gasped when he saw the amount kids cheering Grim's name.

"...Yeah..."

Seeing the kids looking excited over his mere presence, Grim couldn't help but crack a smile as he realized just how much he missed these guys.

'Its good to be back.'

"Hey Grim! Over here!" Rebecca and her siblings yelled and called them over.

Landing the broom, Asta and Grim jumped down and went to greet them.

"Yo." Grim waved at the kids.

"GRIM!!" The kids yelled and swarmed him in hugs.

Seeing this, Rebecca smiled before her an expression of surprise appeared on her face.

"You're here too Asta?!"

"Hehe yeah, I tagged along."

---

"Me next!!"

"No me!!"

"No me!!"

"Okay, okay, Marco come here you're next."

"YEAH!!!" Running over to Grim's side, he let himself get picked up.

Picking him up in his arms, a green glow coated Grim's body as he activated a spell.

[Dust Whirlwind Cutter]

*BOOM!!*

"WHOOOO!!!!" Marco screamed as the wind brushed past his face.

*Sigh* "When I said you should spend time with everyone, I didn't mean putting them in danger like this." Watching this all take place from the sidelines, Rebecca couldn't help but sigh.

Asta on the other hand was having the time of his life playing with a couple of other kids.

---

Whilst Grim was busy showing the kids what it was like to be a human rocket, none of them knew of the impending arrival of one overprotective brother.

---

Carrying two bags filled to the brim with toys and other commodities, Gauche headed towards the church with a spring in step.

'Marie~ Marie~ *hum* *hum* Marie~ Marie~'

Humming a song that he had created in his head from his prison days, Gauche's mood took an extreme turn when he arrived at the church and saw his sister being brought down from the sky in the arms of another man.

'Marie...'

Seconds later, that small brown haired girl ran into the arms of another man and was swung around while laughing happily.

Frozen in place, it took a moment for Gauche to process what he was seeing. At first he felt shock, then confusion... now he was feeling anger.

Before Asta could go any further with Marie, Gauche appeared by his using some demonic method before knocking him to the ground.

"Stay away from Marie..." He said in a dark tone while emanating a lot of malice.

"EH!!?"

Realizing that someone had just floored Asta at a speed that was invisible to the human eye, everyone who was on the ground couldn't help but gasp in union.

Drawn by the loud gasps, Grim landed back down on the ground and looked towards Asta's direction.

"Asta?" He called.

"Hey Grim." Asta waved from the ground.

Following the boot on Asta's back from the bottom and up to the ȧssailant's face, he was surprised to see that he recognized the person.

"Hey, aren't you that sister loving pervert from the black bulls?"

Recognizing Grim as one of the newer members of the black bulls and as the person who had previously been holding Marie, Gauche's anger turned into rage as he screamed at him.

"FUCK OFF YOU BATTLE CRAZED LUNATIC! I'LL CRUSH YOU AND THIS LITTLE BALL OF MUSCLES UNDER MY FEET!!"

"Crush me?" For some reason the smile that Grim was previously sporting seemed to have darkened.

"I don't know what I've done to piss you off, but... Lets test that theory shall we?"

Switching to Breath of the Beast, a feral aura burst out from Grim's body as his magic power started to climb.

"S-So much mana..."

Having never felt Grim's release of mana before, Rebecca was almost forced to her knees by the oppressive nature of his mana.

Feeling his aura, a large bead of sweat rolled down Gauche's face.

"STOP!!" A young voice suddenly yelled out.

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Turning to look in the direction that the voice came from, Grim, Asta and Gauche were surprised to see a panicked looking Marie standing next to trembling Rebecca.

"Marie?" Gauche said when he saw her.

"Stop being mean to Grim and Asta! They're going to be my husbands in the future!!"

Stunned by Marie's sudden declaration of marriage, Gauche, Rebecca. Asta and Grim fell into silence as their eyes went wide in shock.

'Did-Did this 10 year old just say husbands... as in plural?'

Caught off guard by Marie's proclamation, Grim's mana release dispersed as he was still in a state of shock and confusion.

It was only moments later that everyone snapped out of the stupor by Gauche's eruption of bloodlust.

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL."