A New Life in Fairy Tail

Noah recognized the name. Wasn’t that the former director of the Magic Development Bureau? They hadn’t found him when they dismantled the Bureau; he had escaped, and the Magic Council had issued a large bounty for him, but there had been no news since. Now that he had a lead, he figured he might as well try to catch him and collect the bounty for his research fund.

But Noah also found it strange. Why wouldn’t the dark magic cult conduct the transaction themselves? Since he didn’t understand, it was time for an interrogation.

Through the questioning, a member of the dark guild said he had accidentally overheard a conversation between members of the cult. After the previous devastating blow, the cult was now extremely short on manpower. To avoid being tracked again, they were using other dark guilds for transportation. The members responsible for the trade had already departed.

Noah got the location of the transaction from them, and as usual, handed the prisoners over to Harris. He then teleported to the vicinity of the meeting point.

The transaction was set to take place in an open field. There was no cover, and the view was clear in all directions, making it perfect for trading illicit goods. When Noah arrived, the dark guild members hadn’t yet reached the location. He prepared to set up some magic formulas to prevent their escape and to protect the children. First, however, he used his detection magic to scan the surroundings, but found no one.

After quickly setting up his formulas, Noah perched on a large rock far from the field and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. A group of men whose clothes and appearance screamed ”I’m not a good guy” arrived at the field. They were pulling a horse-drawn carriage, its windows covered by curtains so no one could see what was inside.

Noah immediately focused, using his detection magic to probe the interior of the carriage. He sensed about ten weak life signs inside. One of them felt extremely similar to Yukino’s. He knew his efforts had not been in vain; he had found Yukino’s sister.

Noah didn’t act immediately. He was still thinking about the bounty on Brain. But after waiting for a long time, the dark guild members were starting to get restless, and still, no one else appeared.

Noah used his detection magic again, expanding its range, but found no one else. It wasn’t until he narrowed the range and increased the precision, scanning the entire field inch by inch, that he found a few inconspicuous pebbles that were abnormal; they were emitting an extremely faint magic fluctuation.

After discovering the magical pebbles, Noah could only shake his head. He figured Brain wasn’t going to show up. Such exquisite and covert magic items must have come from the hands of the former Bureau director; there was no way a normal dark guild would have something like this. And these items also meant that Brain had already detected him. The fact that he hadn’t come after so long meant he had abandoned the transaction.

So, Noah decided to rescue the children in the carriage first. He activated the formulas he had set up in advance.

”All personnel without a Fairy Tail mark are forbidden from moving!”

In an instant, everyone within the range of the formula was frozen in place. Noah teleported to their side. They tried to speak, but the powerful formula had even sealed their mouths. All they could do was make muffled ”Mmm, ahh” sounds.

Noah ignored them and opened the carriage door. Inside were about ten children. The space was small, and their hands and feet were tied, forcing them to be packed tightly together. As Noah opened the door, one child nearly fell out, but he quickly caught them.

He scanned the interior and found his target: a girl with light blue hair sitting by the window.

Noah raised a hand, and with his Gravity Magic, the children all began to float, one by one, out of the carriage in a line. They all looked at him with frightened eyes.

”Don’t be afraid,” he explained. ”You’ll be safe soon.”

He then began to contact Harris to come and deal with the people here.

While waiting, Noah checked the children’s physical condition and found that they were only weak, with no other major problems. He moved them to a spot far away from the dark guild members, but still within the range of his formula, and had them turn their backs to their former captors.

Noah then began to interrogate the dark guild members. He immediately killed the most wicked among them, crippled the second-worst, and left the others for the Magic Council to handle. He then collected the magical pebbles for research and found that they were just as he thought: magic items disguised as stones, inscribed with a type of magic he had never seen before, but he could guess it was for concealment and detection. He was even more certain they were made by Brain. It was a pity about the bounty.

When Harris arrived with his men, he was greeted by the sight of the terrified dark guild members, some of whom had even lost control of their bladders. When he saw the few who were motionless and clearly dead, he looked at Noah, speechless.

”What happened here?”

”They resisted, so this happened.”

Harris had a look on his face that said, Do you really think I believe that? He then pointed to the children. ”Are these the children who were being traded?”

Hearing Harris mention them, the children all shrank back, trembling. Noah nodded. ”That’s them. By the way, the girl with the light blue hair needs to stay. Her little sister is looking for her.”

The light-blue-haired girl was startled when she heard Noah’s words. Then, hearing that her sister was looking for her, she ignored her own weak state and, her legs trembling, stood up and ran towards him. She nearly fell halfway, but Noah saw her and used his Gravity Magic to float her over.

He set her down on the ground in front of him. Before she was even steady on her feet, she grabbed his clothes, nearly pulling him over. ”You said my sister is looking for me?” she asked desperately.

”That’s right. Your sister’s name is Yukino, isn’t it? A little girl with light blue hair, about two or three years old.”

”Yes! That’s my sister! Where is she now?” the girl asked excitedly.

Noah placed a hand on her shoulder, signaling for her to calm down. He turned to Harris. ”Then I’ll be taking this girl. I’ll leave the rest of them to you.”

”Mhm. Thank you again for wiping out so many dark guilds. Let’s keep in touch.”

”You’re welcome. And thank you for the information. We’ll keep in touch.”

With that, Noah turned to the girl beside him. ”I’ll take you to see your sister now.”

She nodded frantically. Noah placed his hand on her shoulder, activated his teleportation magic, and brought her to the entrance of the guild.

He pushed the door open. Yukino, who had been watching the entrance, immediately saw the girl beside Noah and threw herself forward.

”Sister!”

The older girl also wrapped her arms around Yukino. ”Yukino!”

The two of them held each other tightly, collapsing to the ground there in the guild’s doorway, and began to cry loudly, their sobs heart-wrenching.

Noah, along with Ultear, Erza, and the others who had walked over, watched them silently. It was a good thing for them to cry and vent their emotions. Everything else could wait until they were finished.

~~~

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