A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

They came here to commit treason... to uphold justice, and their intentions were never good. However, they first exposed their presence, then found themselves unable to locate their target, and now this sudden turn of events has prompted them to immediately prepare for battle.

"Eric?"

An Ye glanced at his companion, only to see that the other was holding his pet snake with a serious expression.

"Watch out! There are many of them, and... they're not human!"

Others might have thought this was going to be tricky, but Dark Night remained calm and even almost laughed out loud: What? Not human? Great!

Since the opponent is not human, or rather, not a living being, they have no intention when attacking and are not afraid of poison, so Eric would not have the advantage in a real fight. The same applies to the motion-sensory slowing magic that Sawyer uses, which affects the human body; it is very disadvantageous to fight against non-human opponents, and the speed cannot be increased. As for Sora... she can't beat any slightly stronger opponent right now.

But Dark Night is different. His distortion magic can twist and destroy things, but its biggest weakness is that it's ineffective against living beings. Although even human opponents would find it difficult to defeat him, he felt a little more at ease since what had come was not human.

Thinking of this, Dark Night couldn't help but glance at Kira, the man who had just defeated him yesterday, and thought to himself: Besides, not everyone is as strong as him.

Just as the group was on high alert, one by one, tiny, half-human-sized robots darted out of the forest.

"robot?"

"Magic technology?"

"Mechanical creations?"

The three exclamations represent three different levels of perspective.

Eric and his companions were on the first floor, the kind of people who knew nothing, but they were, after all, semi-literate and had limited knowledge in this area, so we can't blame them.

Ultear and Jellal, being on the second floor, had a broader perspective and quickly made connections to things like the magical soldiers of the Kingdom of Stella, as well as various products combining magic and technology.

Kira, on the third level, knew that no matter how advanced the technology of this world became, magic would ultimately prevail.

Judging from the metal sphere just now, there is a mage here who has mastered all the technology. So the robot that has appeared in front of us now must also be his work.

With that in mind, Kira straightened his clothes and stepped forward, intending to have a negotiation.

As the group eagerly awaited, Kira waved to the leading robot and greeted him, "Moshi moshi... We are an adventurer team here to explore. Are you a resident of this place?"

"..."

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Kira took two more steps forward, looking left and right in confusion, and finally stroked his chin, muttering, "Could it be that the signal is bad here? Or is there a malfunction in the machine?"

"Hey... Kira! Watch out!"

Ultear's voice came from behind. Kira didn't turn around, giving a strong reply: "Don't worry! I know a little about this too!"

"Oh right! Since it's for establishing a communication connection, shouldn't it involve a three-way handshake?"

Thinking this, Kira grabbed the robot's hand and squeezed it three times hard. Then he heard a few mutterings behind him: "What is this idiot doing? How could that method possibly work!"

However, to their surprise, the robot in Kira's hand actually spoke: "Mage, leave this valley immediately!"

Everyone's expressions changed, and they exclaimed in unison, "It actually worked?!!"

Kira said with some regret, "You're practically telling me to leave right away..."

Everyone: "Hey... that's not the point! The point is, why does that stupid method actually work?!"

Kira looked at them, somewhat puzzled, and said, "Isn't this normal? Three-way handshake communication! Oh, sorry! I forgot you haven't learned this. The so-called 'three-way handshake communication' is..."

Just as Kira was about to explain the details to the others, the leading robot spoke up again: "Mage, leave this valley immediately!"

The identical statements and emotionless voices suggest that they were not intended to be communicated with.

“It doesn’t seem to be an intelligent robot, just an ordinary soldier!” Gerald speculated. “It looks like it’s set to activate when it detects an enemy.”

"So, it wasn't a 'three-way handshake communication' at all!" Eric chuckled behind him, teasing the others. "Hey, what do we do? The new boss embarrassed himself. According to the 'workplace survival rule: never witness your boss making a fool of himself,' should we pretend we didn't see it? Hehe..."

He spoke very loudly.

Sora, Soya, and the others chuckled upon hearing this.

They were also "snickering" very loudly.

Kira: Write this down in your notebook!

"Could they be the guards here?" Urtia wondered.

Kira shook his head and said, "I don't see any sign of 'this place being guarded' in Brian's memory, no surveillance metal spheres buried in the trees, and no such towering trees."

Upon hearing this, Gerald understood: "You mean the changes here only happened in the last seven years? Indeed, the growth rate of these trees is quite unusual!"

"I'm more curious about the people hiding here!" Kira chuckled. "If the owner of this place hasn't changed, then we who are here should logically be his potential customers. What businessman would turn away his customers?"

"Perhaps they have a special way of identifying them?"

"Well... I think if we make a big scene and follow these mechanical soldiers to their doorstep, we should be able to find out!"

Ultear smiled sweetly: "As expected of the 'Fairy Tail' way of thinking!"

Jellal couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled hearing about Fairy Tail's various "misdeeds" every day when he was in the council.

Just as the group was talking, the mechanical soldiers seemed to realize that the intruders had no intention of leaving and immediately went into battle mode.

"Command changed! Drive the intruders out! Drive them out!!"

Chapter 246 Dragon Slayer Research Institute

Dozens of half-human-sized mechanical soldiers, their hands transforming into sharp blades and their eyes gleaming crimson, leaped into the air in unison and pounced towards the crowd.

A few slightly unusual words almost made Kira think he had wandered onto the wrong set.

“Since the decision to go to war has been made, that makes things easier. I was just thinking of taking them apart to take a look anyway.” Kira gestured behind him. “These mechanical soldiers are yours, Mark Beth!”

"Just call me Dark Night!"

Dark Night slowly stepped forward, just about to make a move, when he turned to Kira and asked, "Shouldn't we keep one or two? They might come in handy later."

Kira thought about it and realized he had a point, so he replied, "Alright, then let's keep one!"

"I see!"

Dark Night responded, but remained standing still, its sleepy eyes drooping as it watched the mechanical soldier leap up. The next moment, magic surged and enveloped its body, and then the space in front of it distorted and rippled.

Clang clang clang clang...

As long as it is an inanimate object, regardless of the atomic arrangement of the metal that made it, the distortion magic will be effective against it!

In just a moment, all the mechanical soldiers in front of him were distorted.

The blades in their hands became as soft as the thinnest strips of cloth, and after being twisted and bent several times, they were crumpled into a lump of metal, losing their original cutting power; their bodies lost their original momentum after being folded several times by the darkness like origami, and by the time they landed on the ground, they had become ugly and bizarre "strange creatures".

Thump! Thump! ...

The heavy metal made a series of thuds as it hit the ground.

To show his appreciation for his subordinate, Kira clapped softly from behind: "Well done! Our team's configuration is indeed perfect... Wait! It seems we're missing a powerful offensive mage who can deliver a brutal, visceral punch!"

"Come on, what's the point of mages pursuing brute force?"

Listen to this! What kind of talk is this? What kind of mage can't even land a punch?! This level of understanding needs improvement!

Kira sighed helplessly, "Sigh! This is why you can't beat Fairy Tail!"

……

What Kira didn't know was that as he wiped out the mechanical soldiers that had appeared before him, their every move was being recorded by the surviving mechanical soldier and transmitted wirelessly to another hidden location.

Deep in the woods, inside a mechanical castle, in a certain room, a dark figure was deep in thought, staring at the crystal screen on the wall.

"How did the 'Sage' Kira Hopelight from 'Fairy Tail,' former council members Jellal and Ultear, and the 'Oración Seis' get together? And what are they doing here?"

The one who spoke was a boy who looked to be around 20 years old. His thick, short black hair covered one of his right eyes, while his left eye, which was exposed, gleamed with a gloomy and indifferent light. With black hair and black pupils, a cold face, and pale skin, he looked like a patient suffering from a terminal illness.

This person is Desizhu, one of the five remaining "researchers" of this Dragon Slayer Research Institute.

While I was pondering, a cheerful female voice came from behind me: "According to the latest intelligence, the Oración Seis has been wiped out by a joint effort of the legitimate guilds, and Fairy Tail was one of them. I didn't expect that they weren't imprisoned by the Council?"

The newcomer had long, light pink hair tied into a braid that reached her knees; her light brown skin and pink lipstick gave her an aura of sunshine and health; she carried two holy swords engraved with golden magic runes on her back, and wore a silver-white armor that covered her from head to toe, making her look powerful and beautiful.

The female swordsman, Maikara, is the most senior and oldest member of the Dragon Slayer Research Institute, but in reality, she is only 30 years old this year, which is a mature and steady age.

Although she was in the research institute, she kept a close eye on the developments in the magical world, so she was already fully aware of the events that had just happened yesterday. Of course, this was also thanks to the powerful intelligence network within the mechanical castle.

Tread...  

With two soft sounds, a gray cat walked over standing on its hind legs. It had three white whiskers on each side of its face, golden pupils, a pure white belly, rosy paws, and a tail that swayed casually behind it, making it look quite cute.

Although its body is only the size of its head, the special magical power it exudes reveals a magic that is different from that of ordinary people and even ordinary magical beasts.

Nicol, the transcendent of Edolas, is six years old and the youngest researcher here.

It said smugly, "The council members have been doing nothing for a long time. Even if we replace them with a new batch, I don't think they're even as good as cats."

Behind it followed a woman with a slender figure whose face was covered by a mask.

The woman was staring intently at the image on the screen. After a long while, she finally spoke, "Hmm... there seems to be a very familiar customer. I originally thought our fates would never intersect, but I didn't expect we would run into each other."

Nicol spread his wings and flew to the crystal screen to take a closer look. He then turned back and said, "How about you put on a touching 'reunion after a long separation' drama? The book says that if opposing sides encounter such a situation, their strength will be greatly reduced, but they will be able to turn misfortune into good fortune no matter what danger they encounter in the future. I want to see if it's true!"

McCara grabbed the gray cat by the tail, hugged it to his chest, and ruffled it vigorously: "You should read less of those books, Nicole!"

The hard armor made the cat's face look bloated and cute, and it cried out incoherently, "It hurts...it hurts so much...let me go..."

Desizu remained expressionless, seemingly oblivious to the interaction between the gray cat and the female swordsman, as if he had grown accustomed to this routine: "The important thing now is, what are they doing here?"

The gray cat struggled to peek out from the armored embrace, wondering, "Could it have just wandered in by mistake?"

“It shouldn’t be!” Macara stepped forward and pointed at Eric on the screen, saying, “According to intelligence, this person has a Poison Dragon Slayer Crystal purchased from here implanted in his body. I think they came here for that, right?”

Dixi Zu nodded silently: "That makes sense! If that's the case, then it seems they've made a wasted trip."

Nicole finally broke free of her restraints and asked the two people who were talking, "I remember you said that this was the last one I had, right?"

Desizou looked up at the nimble gray cat flying in the air and said, "That's right! And we haven't done this kind of business since Silver took over here!"

"why?"

Makara jumped up and grabbed the cat back into his arms, explaining, "Where are we going to find so many dragons in this era? Let alone defeat them and take their hearts! Even we're using magic crystals left over from who-knows-how-long ago."

Nicole asked in a soft, innocent voice, "We're Dragon Slayer Mages, we use Dragon Slayer Magic, how can we not be able to defeat dragons?"

"Don't be so naive!"