Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious

Magnolia Town, Fairy Tail.

At that moment, a small figure appeared at the Fairy Tail guild's gate.

A little girl stopped and looked up, staring blankly at the Fairy Tail guild emblem.

She was also holding a small white dog on a leash, which was staring at the gate just like her, wagging its tail happily.

Six-year-old Cana followed her mother's dying wish and came to Fairy Tail Guild.

A man wearing a cloak walked out of the lobby on the first floor. Cana immediately realized that this man was the man she had seen in the photo, her father Gildarts.

Kana kept staring at Gildarts until he realized she was watching him and their eyes met.

Kana's eyes lit up, her lips curled into a smile, and her cheeks flushed.

She finally met the father she had been longing to see.

"You should go home right away."

After Gildarts said that, Cana was stunned for a moment.

He smiled and continued walking forward without looking back.

"If you stay in a place like this, your clothes will smell of alcohol!"

Cana took a few small steps toward Gildarts, watched him leave, reached out her hand, and looked sad.

Strange, why?

Why didn't they discover who I am?

She finally withdrew her hand slowly and stopped walking.

She lowered her head, unable to utter the words of acknowledging her biological father.

"Hey, Ron."

"Where did this new character come from today?"

Gildarts' voice suddenly came from not far away, causing Cana, who was immersed in grief, to subconsciously raise her head.

Gildarts, who hadn't gone far, was standing with his hands on his hips talking to a strangely dressed child. Gildarts was covering his mouth and laughing, seemingly very happy.

The child was wearing a dark purple robe with exquisite gold trim embroidered on the front.

He wore a pointed helmet made of cardboard boxes, with cheek guards on both sides to cover the front, leaving only his eyes, nose and mouth exposed.

Just by looking at his eyes and mouth, you can feel his serious and composed demeanor.

"Hi."

Ron gave a brief reply and nodded at Gildarts, then said nothing more.

Gildarts knew that the boy was playing the roles in his script every day, and seeing that the boy could come up with new tricks every day, he just found the boy's efforts to keep a serious look somewhat cute.

He chuckled, patted Ron's cardboard shoulder armor, and strode away.

Ron watched Gildarts leave, then turned and walked toward the guild gate.

As the strange man approached her, Kana somewhat awkwardly led her dog aside to make way.

As they passed each other, Ron's eyes met hers, and he noticed Kana's low spirits.

He didn't say much, just nodded quietly to her, and then pushed open the guild door first.

After Ron entered the hall, Kana glanced back at her father's departing figure and murmured to herself.

"Is this Ron a Fairy Tail mage like Dad?"

Ron attracted everyone's attention as soon as he entered the guild, Makarov.

The lobby on the first floor was as noisy as ever. Ron silently walked to the bulletin board covered with task lists, ignoring the unsurprised stares of everyone.

He looked up and scanned the list, finally tearing off an E-level mission form that met his criteria.

E-level missions are mostly simple tasks, consisting of trivial matters, but they offer slightly more J-coins than temporary workers hired from outside.

Ron maintained a serious expression as he walked to the bar and placed the food on the wooden table.

Makarov, who was drinking, lowered his head and looked at Ron's cardboard helmet in front of him, and his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"Hey kid, judging by your outfit today, you've written another script?"

Ron nodded and then fell silent.

Makarov glanced at the mission list and frowned.

"Isn't it necessary to find a partner for my first mission?"

Ron tilted his head down, shook his head while holding the helmet up.

"Okay, just be careful not to hurt yourself."

Seeing Ron's firm stance, Makarov said no more and agreed to his request.

"I wish you success in your first mission."

Thank you.

After saying those words, Ron turned and left under Makarov's gaze.

Makarov shook his head and continued drinking from the already full wooden barrel cup in his hand.

A short while later, Ron arrived at his mission location, a rather large slaughterhouse.

The slaughterhouse owner came out to greet him and, after confirming that he was wearing the Fairy Tail guild badge, led Ron to the slaughterhouse next to the chicken farm.

The slaughterhouse was filled with a pungent, fishy stench—a strange smell resulting from the mixture of the smell of studying and chicken droppings.

"Little brother, your job is simple. Just get rid of these chickens in the cages. The knives are on the table."

Their previous worker fell seriously ill, so they sent him home to rest and recuperate, thus freeing up a man at the slaughterhouse.

"If you're scared or can't take it anymore, you can call me anytime..."

Before the proprietress could finish speaking, Ron had already walked to the wooden table and picked up a chicken-killing knife stained with dried blood.

Seeing that Ron did not resist after putting on the gloves, the proprietress breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and left to attend to her own business.

giggle~

Ron reached into the cage, grabbed the chicken by the neck, and pulled it out of the cage.

Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!

The chicken in Ron's hand was flapping its wings, trying to break free from the restraints around its neck.

Swish!

Ron swiftly brought the cleaver down, slicing it across the chicken's neck, and it instantly died.

Just then, Ron's eyes widened slightly, a hint of excitement in them.

Because a system notification appeared in his eyes.

[Triggered by Infinite Intelligence]

[Target eliminated, forced extraction]

[Maximum Magic Power and Mental Power +0.01]

Really useful!

Ron's lips curled slightly, but his hands did not stop moving in the slightest.

He quickly grabbed the second chicken and cleanly bled it without hesitation.

Then they caught a third, a fourth...

Swish~ Swish~ Swish~

Inside the slaughterhouse, only the relentless sound of Ron bleeding the chickens and their dying cries could be heard.

A few hours later, the proprietress got up to rest and decided to check on how the strange child was doing.

She was stunned when she peeked into the slaughterhouse.

The table was piled high with bloodied chickens.

Ron's apron was splattered with dark red blood, and his helmet was also mostly covered in chicken blood, with the edges of the helmet wrinkled and limp from the blood seeping through.

He was so focused on killing the chicken that he didn't notice the proprietress watching him.

From his gleaming eyes and slightly upturned lips, the proprietress couldn't tell that he was tired; in fact, he seemed to get more and more excited as he killed.

This scene gave the proprietress goosebumps and sent chills down her spine.

"Should I... not have bothered him?"

The proprietress swallowed hard, then quickly retreated without making a sound and slipped away to rest elsewhere.

As Ron watched the constantly appearing "+0.01" numbers, his knife never stopped, like a ruthless bleeding machine, relentlessly reaping magic and spiritual power.