Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose (UPDATED)

(We are 50 per cent towards our goal guys, Whether this fic will continue or not will depend entirely on the support I get which is either from Powerstones this fic receives or the number of Patreon members)

Akeru strolled through the streets, looking at the various shops.

'Proper civilization finally, I missed it…' Akeru thought, observing everything carefully and noticing the differences between his world and this one.

Other than the fact that this world was in a medieval setting compared to his modern world, this world had mana.

That alone changed a lot of things.

'There were some gaps in the canon, or more like possibilities for such things to happen, but I guess that side wasn't explored,' he thought, watching a noble being teleported with a person beside him, who had a grimoire open.

'Anyway, I don't think it would be wise to go to Vermillion House directly. I don't know the value of that emblem, despite getting it from arguably the strongest person in Vermillion House. That fact alone worries me.' He frowned, looking at beggars begging on the street.

"Please give m-... Uh, go somewhere else, this is my spot for begging," the teenage girl changed her tone from polite to outright angry.

"Yes, yes," Akeru lifted his hands in surrender, quickening his walking pace.

'Despite wearing the sto- gifted clothes from Bandits, I still am mistaken as a beggar. I wonder if that is a good thing or not.' He thought, amused by his situation.

Due to how he had lived in his previous life and in this life, living in an isolated area for years, he was very open-minded about the social status of a person.

'Still, that girl was unusually beautiful. It won't be unusual for something to happen to her like in a cliché plot—unless…' Akeru looked around and examined the faces of people—from commoners to beggars, and to some nobles.

'These guys are definitely pretty, or beautiful, whatever word fits in this case. Any of these people could model in my previous world. How interesting. Is it due to mana, or some other factor—maybe evolution or something?' Akeru thought.

Due to watching so much fiction, he figured that, other than mana being a reason, it could be due to humans evolving for a long while, and this civilization being much older than his previous world.

In the canon, it wasn't revealed how old this world is or how old humans are, so from a non-technical standpoint, a person who doesn't know the intricacies of evolution might find this theory plausible.

Akeru's eyes suddenly widened. He quickly looked around and finally found a mirror.

'It's unbelievable that in more than three years in this world, I haven't looked at my face properly, due to one reason or another. It's the moment of truth.'

"Young man, do you mind helping these old bones to carry these things?" As if fate itself didn't want him to look at his divine face, it stopped him with an obstacle.

'Uh, should I just ignore her?' He thought, seriously considering ignoring the granny.

It was a granny in a red cloak.

However, his eyes widened as he looked at the granny—no, more specifically, at the amount of luggage near her. He looked behind her and noticed the shop.

"Did you earn all this from gambling?" His shock could be heard in his tone.

'People win things from gambling?' It was as if someone had poured water on his perception of reality.

"Indeed, it seems I was lucky." Her smugness wasn't audible, but her voice was clear despite her old age.

"But how do you think I could carry all these things with small bones of mine?" Akeru decided to use the same tactic as the old granny by using the same tone she used when making a request.

"I think you have a hidden power inside you that could help me."

"Huh?" 'What the hell? Is she bullshitting, or can she really sense that I can use mana? Is she a retired knight or something?' Akeru maintained his calm face, but internally, he was anything but calm.

He had thoroughly checked out her body subtly while talking to her previously, but due to her robe, it was hard for him to get a proper look to see if she had weapons inside or a grimoire.

"Fine," he sighed and decided to carry the bags.

He didn't want to provoke someone who could be a hidden expert.

'This world is really dangerous,' he internally cursed while helping the lady.

This lady was so despicable that she let him carry all the stuff.

'Hmph, I won't use mana enhancement despite this much weight. I'll just pretend that I'm a normal kid.' Akeru wouldn't let this old lady have the last laugh.

What if she wanted to take him as a disciple or something if he showed that he could already use mana? What if she was in contact with some hidden cult or something, like he had seen in anime? His caution was at its maximum.

He continued walking at the old lady's pace, time passed.

5 minutes

10 minutes

20 minutes

'Does she live far or something? This town is really big, huh?' He thought while looking around.

40 minutes

1 hour

"When are we gonna reach?"

"We are close," she said and continued walking.

2 hours

'Whoa, are they selling ice creams? Do refrigerators still exist in this world?' Akeru made a mental note of shops in the town.

3 hours

"When are we gonna reach?" 'This old lady could walk for 3 hours continuously despite taking breaks in between. She definitely is not ordinary.' His mental image of the lady had solidified in his mind.

"We are here." Akeru looked at a mansion that could be described in one word: "Haunted house."

The granny turned around. "Why don't you—where are you going?" She saw her items placed on the ground, and the boy was running away.

"I forgot that I have some stuff to be done," he said while running.

"Wait, I have a reward for you!" The granny shouted.

"I'm good. I didn't do this for any reward," he didn't stop; instead, he increased his speed even more.

He was really terrified when that lady mentioned a reward.

'That lady is up to no good. Let me take a few more turns, and I'll use mana enhancement to run away.' He thought while retracing the path he had come from.

"Who was that kid?" a voice said beside the granny.

"Just a commoner boy. I thought he had some talent in controlling mana due to a hunch, so I decided to let him follow me here." The granny said in a voice that didn't sound old.

"Oh, so is he talented? Did you find out?"

"Nah, he doesn't even have a proper affinity with mana. His body wasn't releasing any mana—more like it didn't have much." The old lady shook her head.

"That's a shame. We could have at least used him as a sacrifice in the ritual. Why did you let him go?"

"I was going to invite him, but it seems his luck is good or something, as he ran away with some excuse."

"Should I chase him?"

"Leave it. We don't have time to waste on talentless wastes. Have we been found out by the magic knights?" The granny asked into the air.

That voice was seemingly coming out of no particular direction.

That person definitely was using some form of magic to hide himself.

"Not yet, but they have increased patrols for some reason in this city. Do you think they've found us, or are we suspected?"

The red-haired granny started moving inside the mansion; the door already opened.

"It could either be a coincidence, or they might have found out about us one way or another." She frowned.

"But we didn't even leave any trace of our existence. How could they find us? Everyone is under curse magic, which prevents them from betraying our organization. I personally made sure of that." The unknown figure felt that she was indirectly hinting that he might have divulged information and betrayed them.

"They might have other means to find us, like some form of prophetic magic."

"Prophetic magic exists?" The person's shock was clearly visible in his voice.

"The world is big. Don't underestimate the Empire's forces." She said and disappeared into the mansion.

Akeru had unknowingly escaped a calamity.

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Lol, this work would be a bit of AU to expand more on the world, as I think a lot of possibilities exist with help of mana, so some things would change, but overall the cannon world would remain unchanged.

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