A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

McCalla tapped its head lightly and said, "Dragons are not so easy to defeat. It might take all five of us combined to fight one to a draw."

Seeing that this senior was speaking with such conviction, Nicole asked curiously, "McCarra, have you ever seen a dragon?"

The female swordsman denied it, saying, "No!"

The gray cat breathed a sigh of relief: "Hey! I thought..."

"But I have seen a genuine dragon's heart, and the man who killed the dragon!"

"What?! Really?!"

Upon hearing her words, Nicole exclaimed in surprise, and the other two people beside her also looked over with curiosity.

“Really! That happened when I was a child…” McCara cleared his throat and said slowly, “I was with the former director at another research institute for a technical exchange when we happened to stumble upon a transaction. When I saw that heart, it was still beating!”

"The seller was a rugged man from the northern continent. I later heard that he had hunted several dragons by himself and eaten all their flesh, leaving only their hearts for the trade."

"Dragon meat?!" Nicol was taken aback by Macala's words, then changed his tone, "Is dragon meat delicious?"

"I don't know, but that person said it was delicious."

"What about the dragon bones?"

"No normal person eats bones! But if you make soup, the nutritional value should be very high."

Lost in his fantasy, Nicole soon found himself drooling with envy: "I really want to try dragon bone!"

Chapter 247 Mechanical Castle

The scene before them looked rather comical: a cat was actually drooling over the dragon bones. If they didn't know the reason, they would have thought something was wrong with the world.

Snapped!Snapped!

Macala slapped the gray cat's chubby face with both hands and shouted, "Hey, Nicole! Wake up! You're a cat! Not a dog! How can you only think about eating bones instead of fish all the time?"

"Come on, Macala! You know perfectly well that bones are an essential part of Nickel's diet too!"

As a clear voice rang out, a young man with short blond hair entered the room.

Upon seeing the visitor, Desizou was the first to step forward and greet him: "Silver? You've finished your experiment?"

McCara raised an eyebrow: "You've spent quite a bit of time in the lab this time!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nicole broke free from Macala's clutches again and threw herself into Silver's arms, saying, "After all, Silver is different from us; he doesn't need to eat!"

"So, what have you made this time?"

Silver stretched and replied, "We've made new mechanical soldiers; this should allow us to upgrade the nearby security system."

What a coincidence!

Sensing the underlying meaning in his companion's words, Silver asked, "What's wrong?"

"Look there!"

Silver then turned his gaze to the large screen in the room, and after a long while said, "Kira Hopelight... In the past two years, his magical technology has become incredibly popular throughout the entire Kingdom of Fiore, and has even been sold to neighboring countries! I was originally planning to go and exchange technologies with him after I came out of seclusion this time, but I didn't expect him to come to me on his own."

Dixi Zu asked, "Could they be enemies?"

"Hmm...it's hard to say." Silver thought for a moment and replied, "There is no reason for us to go to war at the moment."

“The people around him are not good people, I think it’s necessary to prepare for battle.”

Silver was not an indecisive person, and when he heard what Dixizu said, he agreed and then ordered, "Alright, Macara, go and take a headcount of the combat soldiers."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

"Then where are you going?"

Silver waved his hand without turning his head: "I'm going to tidy up the driving center! There are eight of them. If a fight breaks out later, we can still run away if we can't win!"

……

Outside the mechanical castle, Kira and the others finally emerged from the towering forest.

"This is the Dragon Slayer Research Institute?"

After dealing with the mechanical soldiers, Kira led the group along the tracks left by the mechanical soldiers, and soon they successfully emerged from the forest.

The view suddenly opened up before them. The vast open space was brightly lit, the air was fresh, and the concentration of magical particles floating around was just right. There was also a four-story European-style castle.

This place doesn't look like a magic research institute; it's more like a wealthy person's vacation villa.

The castle in front of us is quite unique, with its outermost layer covered by a silver-white metal casing. Various gears, wrenches, pliers, screws, hammers and other tools are hanging on this metal casing.

Kira examined them one by one and found that these tools were all merely decorative, utterly useless for forging or repairing magical items. In other words, they were purely decorative!

Upon seeing this, he blurted out, "This is a magic research institute? I'd believe you if you told me it was Howl's Moving Castle! By the way, what kind of decorations are hanging here? Aren't they a bit too obscure?"

Other castles are decorated with flags, swords, and shields, which look very cool. At the very least, they are decorated with magic crystals. But what is hanging on this castle?

"Indeed, this doesn't look like a place for trading Dragon Slayer Magic Crystals at all. It's a stretch to call it a Magic Crystal processing plant!"

Urudia observed carefully for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. She turned to him and asked, "Didn't you read Brian's memories? Don't you have any information about this place?"

Kira tossed his flowing red hair: "Absolutely not! Not only that, in his memory, this valley didn't look like this at all. The giant trees, mechanical soldiers, and this castle we've seen along the way should all have been completed in recent years!"

Although the mechanical castle in front of us has a somewhat unique style, it is clean and tidy overall, and the hanging objects on the outside are also neatly arranged. Upon closer inspection, it even has a kind of beauty that only tech enthusiasts can appreciate, and it doesn't look like it's uninhabited.

Therefore, the one who transformed this valley must be the owner of this castle!

So, who could it be?

The person who made the trade with Brian back then was an old man who looked like he had one foot in the grave. If that nameless old man is dead, then who changed this place? Was it his descendant? Or his successor?

Kira didn't think twice and knocked on the door.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

The gate is neither stone nor wood, nor is it any type of metal commonly found on the market.

Kira, with his sharp eyes, recognized it as a memory metal with excellent magical conductivity. The distribution of magical particles in this metal was extremely unique, and its abilities could change shape freely like a liquid, fusing together with each other. Once fixed, its hardness far surpassed that of steel.

Kira originally wanted to use this metal when rebuilding the guild, but it was extremely rare and expensive, so he couldn't bring himself to use it.

To Kira's astonishment, the castle before him, from top to bottom, inside and out, including the tools hanging outside for decoration, all seemed to be made of this metal. The enormous castle was a single, seamless structure, with no visible beams or pillars for support.

"How much would it cost to build a castle like this? I'm so glad I came!"

After knocking three times, the door seemed to sense something and opened automatically from both sides, revealing the scene inside. Looking through the narrow door, at first glance, there was nothing special about it; the mechanical feel was much less than the exterior.

"What's going on? There's clearly no one here, so why is the door open? Could it be a ghost?"

Kong Nai shouted and yelled, like an ignorant country bumpkin.

Kira rolled his eyes at her: "You're so ignorant! This is magical technology! With this little bit of courage, you think you can become the 'Oración Seis'?"

The others chuckled, seemingly already aware that their companion was afraid of ghosts.

"What's so strange about girls being afraid of ghosts?! Even men are afraid of ghosts!"

"Yes...yes...you're right!"

Kira waved dismissively, stopped arguing, and walked into the castle.

"Is anyone there? We are a small group of adventurers who are exploring the world. We are just passing by and would like to ask for some water, a good meal, and the night's lodging. We would be grateful if you could do us a favor!"

Kira, as if transformed into Tang Sanzang, began his opportunistic exploits, casually introducing his companions while observing the castle's layout: "This is our team: Ralu, Tia, Snake, Kitten, Dog, Fish, Shrimp..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by several people: "You're being way too casual with how you name things!!"

Just then, the door behind them suddenly slammed shut, then merged with the wall and disappeared.

"Where's the door? Where's such a big door?"

In just one night, Sora's personality seemed to have turned into Kira's. She leaned against the wall, looking left and right, completely unlike the "Angel" she had been two days ago.

"Wow! Well, forget about closing the door, now there's no door at all."

Kira muttered a complaint, then heard a series of chaotic gear-whirring sounds behind him. He quickly turned around and saw that the previously empty wall now had five large, metallic-looking doors.

Seeing this, Gerald was the first to speak up: "As expected! Ever since we entered the valley, our every move has been under their surveillance. Did they deliberately split us into five paths to separate us?"

After speaking, he turned back to look at the five people still discussing the gate, thinking to himself, 'However, given their strength, they shouldn't have much trouble going alone.'

“It’s obviously a trap!” Ultear said to Kira without even lifting her eyelids. “This research institute is strange from the inside out. What do we do now?”

Kira casually replied, "I'm familiar with this pace of development!"

Seeing that the other party seemed quite serious, Ultear looked over curiously and continued to ask, "What do you mean?"

"In my experience, if we split up in this situation, we'll be easily picked off one by one! Perhaps we could put a candle in the southeast corner first; if the candle goes out..."

I knew this guy was a rascal!

"Can you be serious for once?!"

"Alright, alright... Now it's time for everyone to unleash their adventurous spirit!"

Kira gestured with both hands, extending five fingers, and said to the crowd, "Five paths mean there are likely only five people here. Please choose freely, don't be shy!"

Chapter 248 Five Paths

Five choices, each potentially corresponding to an enemy. This might cause some hesitation for others, but Kira, being from Fairy Tail, has only one word for this situation: charge in!

Seeing that the others had no intention of making a selection, Kira turned around and walked towards the middle path: "As the boss, I'll set an example and take the lead!"

Before leaving, the others clearly heard him mutter to himself, "I hope I can get this multiple-choice question right..."

As Kira entered, the metal door in the middle passage, just like the main door when entering the villa, quickly merged with the wall and disappeared.

The others looked at each other and quickly made their own decisions.

Ultear and Gerald walked into the two adjacent passages of Kira, one on the left and one on the right; as for the remaining people, Dark Night, Sawyer, and Sono went to the far left, while Eric and Richard went to the far right.

As the eight people entered one after another, the villa's hall quickly returned to calm.

In fact, Gerald and Ultear didn't really want to play this childish game with Kira. Although they were not much older than Eric and the others, they were much more mature and what they were pursuing now was not freedom.

Like Gerald, he did it to atone for his sins.