A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"You think you can snatch her from me like this? You're kidding!"

Ji stretched his hand into his pocket and pulled out the locator.

Several days ago, Kira planted locators on Princess Emerald, and not just one!

Of course, it's not for any strange reason, but to prevent unexpected events during the mission. Just like now, if she's captured by the enemy, I can find her location.

The target's position on the locator is moving rapidly, and its z-axis coordinate is far from its own, which means that the target is flying at high speed at high altitude.

"So, it really was inside the robot from before? This is really troublesome!"

There's a saying that goes: If it's too difficult, then don't do it at all!

But Kira can't just give up now! He's always believed that money should be earned and reputation should be protected, because that way he can earn even more money.

No one can get the better of me, Kira! If anyone does, it's either because I'm being merciful, or because doing so would allow me to gain an even greater advantage!

Kira then flapped his wings and took flight, casting a speed spell as he chased after the direction indicated by the locator.

Before long, he arrived at a valley near the capital, where the giant machine was visible in the distance.

It was only then that Kira discovered a hidden town in the valley, with various buildings surrounding a European-style castle, which was the target of the machine giant.

Kira raised an eyebrow. Although he knew the other side had a large number of people, the scene before him still surprised him.

It's important to understand that such a base couldn't be built overnight, which means that the other side has possessed that kind of "biotransformation" black magic for a long time.

Suddenly, the giant machine began to descend. Kira immediately pulled out his locator, and the target's Z-axis coordinate was rapidly decreasing, which meant that the target was falling!

"As expected, the hostages are inside!"

Chapter 385 This kind of thing is best enjoyed on a small scale.

After the giant machine landed, several orcs escorted Princess Emerald, Jura, and their guards out, pointing and whispering about the prisoners as they walked.

"I can't believe it, we actually defeated a mage ranked among the 'Ten Wizard Saints'!"

"This is all thanks to this body!"

"I think it's thanks to those technological weapons, right? And if it weren't for the demon-sealing effect above, even if we outnumbered him tenfold, we still wouldn't be able to defeat him!"

Hearing the conversation of the group, the handcuffed Jura looked ashamed: "Your Highness, I am truly ashamed! I failed to protect your safety. I have failed the name of 'Holy Ten' and the trust placed in me by His Majesty the King."

“This is not your fault, Lord Jura, you don’t need to apologize for it!” Although she was imprisoned, Emerald forced herself to calm down and even comforted Jura, “No one could have predicted that the other side would send out such weapons and troops.”

"But protecting your safety is my job..."

Princess Emerald's forehead was covered in cold sweat, but she forced a smile: "The ones who are truly at fault are the ambitious ones who tried to provoke conflict between the two countries, not us who worked hard to quell the conflict!"

The two men's conversation quickly drew the orcs' attention.

"She just said she was trying to calm things down... What did she do?"

"I don't know! By the way, is this woman really a princess? She seems so weak!"

“The Kingdom of Fiore is different from the Kingdom of Bosk. It does not rule the country with magic, so most of their royal family members are ordinary people.”

"Huh?! There are countries in this world that don't rely on magic to rule a kingdom? How have such countries managed to survive to this day?"

Hearing the beastmen's undisguised mockery, Princess Emerald felt both ashamed and angry, her face turning bright red.

She wasn't the kind of person who couldn't see reality. She knew that crying for help and revealing her identity would be useless, so she just secretly vowed in her heart that she would practice magic diligently when she got back.

'Kirasan was right after all; the enemy has the ability to transform humans into beastmen and control them! Damn it! What kind of magic is this? How can it turn people into this? I remember reading in a book before that the legendary black mage Zeref had the ability to modify demons, could it be…'

Finally, the group arrived at their destination—the prison!

Once the iron gate was closed and the chains were locked, Princess Emerald instantly lost contact with everyone else.

"This is troublesome, what should we do?"

She paced anxiously through the prison, fearing for her future. "Judging from their tone, it seems they want to turn everyone into orcs like them? But can Kirasan get there in time to stop them?"

“In fact, I’ve already arrived!” Kira’s voice suddenly came, directly interrupting Emerald’s anxiety.

"Kira-san?!" Emerald turned around in surprise and saw Kira sitting in the only chair in the room. She was overjoyed, and the worry on her face disappeared. "What are you doing here?"

“Of course I walked in!” Kira waved the invisibility cloak in his hand. “There aren’t any of those broken machines here. A few orcs can’t detect me!”

Princess Emerald gave an awkward smile: That machine isn't exactly junk...

After hearing her story, Kira learned how they were captured: it turned out that when he used his ultimate attack to clear the monsters, the attack did not include the area that Jura had trapped with the Rock Iron Pillars, which gave the orcs an opportunity to ambush and take away the Emerald Princess. Later, they also successfully ambushed Jura and took her with them.

"That giant machine possessed a weapon that could seal magic. Lord Jura was caught off guard and that's how he was captured!"

Kira suddenly realized: "The Demon Sealing Stone? No wonder they were able to capture Jurasan..."

"We can't stay here any longer. If we don't stop them quickly, they'll turn everyone into orcs! Even if we're lucky enough not to regain our senses, we'll be forever controlled by these ambitious people!"

"Indeed! I've heard that the higher the magic power, the more successful the transformation. If Jurasang is turned into an orc by dark magic, it will be troublesome. We must find him first!"

Kira looked helpless and could only take out the locator again, repeatedly pressing the buttons on it with his index finger while muttering to himself, "Jura... Jura... No... This isn't it either... Ah! Found it!"

Emerald keenly noticed that each time Kira pressed the button, the text and indicator keys on the crystal screen changed, and after several changes, the fluctuations finally stopped.

"Uh... Kirasan, what is this?!"

"Ah?! It's nothing, it's nothing!!" Kira waved his hand with a smile, "This is a special way for us mages to communicate, Your Highness, you don't need to worry about it."

"Huh? Really? I've never heard of this kind of contact method before?"

"Because this kind of prop is quite precious and can only be enjoyed... I mean... used in a small circle, most people don't even know it exists."

"I see..." Princess Emerald nodded, seemingly understanding. "Speaking of which, how did Kirasan find this place?"

Why does this girl keep asking herself a million questions? Do you, a naive and innocent princess, need to know these things?

"Dragon Slayers have a keen sense of smell, and I used their olfactory principles to create a magic tracker." Kira naturally wouldn't reveal that he had planted a tracker on the other party, so he gave a casual answer to get by.

Princess Emerald, as expected, didn't understand. After nodding, she changed the subject, saying, "Ahem... let's get back to the battle plan! I think we need to find a way to open the iron gate, and then..."

Before she could finish speaking, a loud bang suddenly came from her ear. Emerald looked up and froze on the spot. The prison cell that had been tightly locked up had disappeared!

"Iron gate? What iron gate?" Kira withdrew his right hand, the residual magic on it still lingering.

"...No, it's nothing!"

Kira could enter silently, but he couldn't leave silently. The noise of breaking down the door alerted the guards, and within a minute, the passageway was filled with noisy footsteps and conversations.

"What is that sound?"

"It sounds like it's coming from the prison! Did that woman escape?"

"Even we can't break into this prison, how did she manage to do it?"

Thump—thump—thump!

The sleep magic spread, and before the orc guards could even get close, they were knocked unconscious by the magic. Kira walked along, and the orcs lay down in their wake. Following the locator's directions, the two quickly found Jura being escorted.

"Kirasan?! And Her Highness the Princess!" Upon seeing the two, Jura's expression visibly calmed down. "It's so good that you two are safe and sound!"

"Jurasan, isn't the rest of you here?"

"They were taken away first..."

"Take them away... that probably means they'll be turned into beastmen, right? How pitiful!"

Just as Kira was mourning for the unknown extras and minor diplomats, Princess Emerald suddenly bowed and earnestly said, "Kira-san, Jura-san, could you please rescue them?"

“This…” Kira and Jura exchanged a glance and said in unison, “Of course, no problem!”

"I am the captain of the escort team for this mission, and protecting my men is my duty!"

“That’s right! If we can’t bring them all back safe and sound, we’ll be disgracing the name of the ‘Ten Saints’ of Khurazan!”

"I am truly...extremely grateful!"

After all, they were colleagues who had spent several days together. For both professional and personal reasons, Kira couldn't stand by and watch them be transformed into alien creatures by dark magic. Besides, he was also interested in finding out more about that dark magic.

……

In a secluded alley in the orc town, several figures dressed in blouses, completely covered up, were gathered for a meeting.

"If I'm not mistaken, this place is the lair of those suspected demons!"

"Come on! You can tell just by looking, right? There's not a single normal person here except for a few of us. It's practically the lair of the 'Gates of the Underworld'!"

These people were Gerald, Urutia, and others.

A few days ago, while sweeping through the Dark Guilds, they found an organization suspected to have been created by "Zeref's Demon". Upon further investigation, they discovered that the organization actually came from the Kingdom of Bosk, and then they investigated all the way to this place.

Sora stood behind Melty and naturally hugged her, their actions intimate, making them look like sisters: "Little Melty, do you think everyone here is a demon?"

"In short, it doesn't look human; it looks a lot like the demon I saw on Sirius Island!"

"What ugly creatures! Angels are indeed the most holy beings in the world!"

"By the way, did you guys see that robot just now?"

"Yes, it's a really cool creation!"

"Do you think we should get one too? We could use it as our future headquarters!"

"Using robots as an organization's base? That's really strange."

"What's so strange about that? I've heard that 'Heart of the Devil' uses magic airships as its base, haven't I?"

"That's true! Hahaha..."

The people around him were chattering and laughing, having a great time and showing no signs of the tension of being in enemy territory.

Only Jellal, the leader, frowned and endured the noise, squatting on the ground silently pondering: "Strange, why would a city inhabited by demons have a robot like this? Also, why does that robot feel so familiar? Is this place really related to Zeref?..."

"Hey you guys! Can't you just shut up for a second?!"

Chapter 386 Black Magic

Inside the castle, in a huge room, rows of human prisoners knelt, tightly bound by iron chains.

They included men and women, young and old, and judging from their attire and aura, most of them were mages. This was not surprising, given that this was a country where almost everyone studied magic.