Chapter 42 - Vanishing Act

"Ahh, this is good." Asta said rubbing his stomach after filling himself up from Rebecca's food. "You'll make a wonderful bride one day."

Hearing that, Rebecca's face went red as she quickly glanced at Grim.

"You think so?"

"Totally! Your future husband will definitely love your food!" Asta reaffirmed.

"Hey sis!" Rebecca's sibling Luka pulled on the hem of her sleeve.

"Yes?"

"Ask him." She pointed at Grim.

"What?"

"If he enjoys it duh! They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"What?! Who taught you this?"

"Its what the ladies who get their hair done at Ellen's salon talk about. Just the other day, that Evelyn lady was talking about her husband could no longer get it up and how she had to seek a younger stallion to ride."

*Silence*

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Don't go to Ellen's salon anymore."

---

By the time night had fully descended, Asta, Grim and Gauche each went to their separate sleeping areas. Originally Grim thought that the three of them would be bunking together, but Rebecca had got all the kids to sleep together in order to make room for their guests.

'Ahh, so this is a bed that she can afford... Kinda reminds me of the years I spent sleeping on the ground.' Laying down on one of the kid's beds, Grim couldn't help but remember the time he was homeless and surviving in the forest.

'Seriously, how poor is she?' Thinking back on it now, Grim didn't actually know a lot about Rebecca. Besides the times that they worked together inside the restaurant, the two of them hadn't really interacted with the other.

'Wait a second, was I socially inept?'

While Grim was experiencing an epiphany, a loud explosion brought him out of his thoughts as he felt the house shake slightly.

'What the hell was that?'

Jumping out of bed, Grim charged out the room and ran into a distressed looking Rebecca.

"Rebecca?"

Hearing her name, the distressed looking Rebecca turned back and saw Grim staring at her.

"Grim! My siblings!! My siblings are missing!!"

"What?!!"

*BANG!!*

Feeling the house tremble again, Grim ran past Rebecca and followed an active mana signature that was close by.

---

"Its snowing?" After being thrown out of the house by Gauche's mirror beam attack, Asta's face was warped into one of surprise as he noticed that it was snowing despite it not being winter.

"I couldn't care about that, now die." Standing in the middle of the hole in the wall that Asta had shot through, Gauche looked down on the gray haired boy and prepared to attack again. But just before he could proceed, the voices of several parents looking for their children sounded out.

"Euryan, where are you!!"

"Chris!! Chris!!"

"Fon! Come out Fon!!"

"Huh? What's going on?" Asta said aloud as he heard the parents shouting.

"Asta!!" Grim yelled coming out from the house.

"Grim?"

"Have you seen Rebecca's siblings?"

"Rebecca's siblings? They're sleeping aren't they?"

"DIE!!" Gauche yelled before firing a mirror beam at Grim and Asta.

'What's going on?'

"Did you find them?!" Rebecca asked after hurrying out.

Shaking his head, Grim looked at all the worried parents.

'It seems like there a lot of kids disappearing...'

"This snow... I feel mana in it."

"Huh?" Turning around, Asta, Grim and Rebecca saw Sister Theresa and another nun walking towards them.

"Sister?"

Enhancing his senses with [Breath of the Beast], Grim realized that there was indeed small amounts of mana mixed in with the snowflakes.

"This snow... its not natural..." He raised his head to look at Theresa. "What is this?"

*Sigh* "Its a magic that lets the user control a person. I don't know whether its fortunate or not, but it can only control children who have yet to fully develop their own magic."

'Controlling others...' Taking a second to think about it, a dark thought flashed through Grim's mind as he realized that there was no way that Theresa would come all the way to Rebecca's house and leave the children alone in the monastery while a child kidnapping spell was active.

"The children from the orphanage..."

Seeing the look on his face, Theresa nodded. "They're missing to."

*BANG!!*

"What do you mean they're missing! Marie better not be one of them!" Gauche grabbed Theresa by the collar and spoke in a dark voice.

"Grim?" Rebecca called out as she saw Grim not reacting.

While all of this was going on, a flood of memories spanning over two years flashed through Grim's mind as he recalled the glowing looks on the children's faces whenever he came to visit.

"Grim?" Rebecca called out again.

"Huh?!" Snapping out of it, he realized Rebecca was talking to him.

"Did you hear that? That mirror guy has a way to find the missing children."

'He does?'

Nodding his head, Grim looked at Gauche before getting his broom.

"I'm coming with you." Rebecca said getting ready to sit on his broom.

"Nope." Grim said and gently pushed her off the broom. "You'll only slow me down."

Seeing the nonchalant look on his face, Rebecca clenched her teeth as she spoke in a dark tone.

"Grim, I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but don't you think its a bit rude to mention a lady's weight!"

'Huh? Y'know what, I don't have time for this.'

Confused by what she was talking about, Grim gave her a weird look before turning away.

"You coming Asta?"

"Of course!!" He nodded before taking a seat behind Grim.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Gauche activated his mirror tracking magic and took to the skies on his broom.

"Lets go."

Nodding their heads, Grim, Asta, and sister Theresa followed his actions as the group of mages disappeared into the distance.

---

Feeling the wind blow against their faces, Grim's eyes hardened as he wondered why anyone would kidnap a bunch of children.