A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Kira himself was also puzzled as to why Ultear's personality differed so much from that of the original character.

Could it be that I have had too much influence on her?

He vaguely remembered that the first time they met was on Alcatraz Island, when he punched her in the face. Could it be that the punch was too hard and made the young woman stupid?

It seems I'll have to make sure she gets a thorough check-up when we get back!

Otherwise, if he turns into an idiot one day and tries to extort money from me, the savings I've worked so hard to accumulate over the years will be in danger.

In the afternoon, the two, having eaten and drunk their fill, strolled side by side down the street to digest their food.

Kira eventually gave them the money; he couldn't possibly watch Ultear starve to death in a foreign land.

Using spatial magic, the palm-sized animal skin wallet was connected to the seventh small vault in the basement of Hope Cottage, which contained enough money for her needs.

After receiving the money, Urutia happily ate two large bowls.

Kira then realized that when girls said they "had no appetite" or "couldn't eat," they were often lying! It was just one of their means to achieve their ultimate goal.

In fact, their stomachs are as well-organized as computer hard drives using volume management. The unfilled spaces in their stomachs are like their cleavage; as long as you're willing to squeeze, there's always room.

"Oh my, isn't this Mr. Kira? I haven't seen you setting up your stall for the past few days. I thought you had already left."

A plump middle-aged woman was walking towards them. She was a regular customer of Kira's who often patronized his business when he sold magical items here a few days ago.

This middle-aged woman certainly didn't want to date a young girl. While women in the West Continent are passionate and open-minded, they aren't so inconsiderate of age differences. Her main intention was to introduce her daughter to Kira.

"No, no, I've been busy with things these past few days, dealing with check-in arrangements, so I'll have to take a short break from setting up my stall."

The middle-aged woman's face lit up with joy: "Does this mean Mr. Kira intends to stay in this town?"

"Yes, I really like the environment here."

"That's wonderful! By the way, about what I mentioned last time, about you and my daughter trying out a date, I wonder what Mr. Kira's thoughts are going with it?"

"Well... let's talk about it another time..."

When the middle-aged woman left, her face showed a hint of disappointment, and the complex look in her eyes as she looked at Urutia was a mixture of amazement and resentment.

"Why does she look at me like that? I shouldn't have seen her before..."

"How would I know? Did you have coffee at her family's coffee shop and not pay?"

"How could that be?! I don't even like coffee."

Ultear and Kira discussed it for a long time but couldn't figure out the reason, so they had to leave it at that.

……

The Alvarez Empire, capital city, Vistarion.

In a courtyard of the guesthouse, Makarov and Yakiel, two equally thinning old men, were playing cards.

The continents of Arakitasia and Ishgar are at similar latitudes, but the Kingdom of Fiore is near the sea, while Vestario is inland, and their climates are quite different.

It was early winter, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard were beginning to wither in accordance with the season. In addition, the presence of two elderly men sitting there added an inexplicable sense of desolation to the air.

Perhaps, the afternoon sun overhead is the only thing that can warm one's heart.

As Makarov put it, he made a fair and open visit, and the other party sent a person of considerable importance to receive him, and maintained a very friendly diplomatic relationship in public.

Neither side chose to resort to the unwise act of "military diplomacy," which would bring no benefit whatsoever. Instead, they engaged in a silent battle of wits.

The guild master of Fairy Tail and a minister of the Alvarez Empire, relying on their decades of life experience, engaged in one duel after another with complete focus.

The way to engage in intellectual combat is by playing cards.

Lyjaka is a popular tabletop strategy card game in the Alvarez Empire.

Compared to Kira's 'magical kill' in the Kingdom of Fiore, which was based on his personal magical talent and god-generated skills, Lyjaka's cards are undoubtedly more in line with the culture of this world and more in line with the identities and status of these two old men.

King, Queen, Knight, Magician, Goddess, Demon, Healer, Assassin...

In this game, each class has its own role, and players can only achieve victory in the final battle by reasonably combining and using characters of different classes.

Although Makarov is knowledgeable and has few rivals in magical skill, he is not necessarily good at strategy. In the past few days, he has not won a single game!

The elderly man threw down his cards and sighed regretfully, "Lord Yakir, you're just too good at playing Lejaka, I've lost again..."

Even when playing 'magic kill' with Kira and the others, Makarov had never lost like this when faced with certain obviously unbalanced rules set by Kira.

It's clear how sinister the old man across from you, with his hunched back and needing a wooden cane to walk, is.

Akiel picked up a card with a knowing look and said, "The key to victory is to hold onto the [Goddess] card tightly in your hand!"

The goddess on the card, more accurately the "Elf Goddess," has long, light golden hair, a pair of wing-shaped ears, and wears a white dress. She is bathed in the sunlight in the forest with her eyes closed, her hands clasped in prayer, and she looks so holy, gentle, and peaceful.

Makarov seemed somewhat dazed. He suddenly remembered that when he first met Lyjaka a few days ago, Yakir had told him that this card game had only existed in the Alvarez Empire for less than a century.

"Is the key to victory the Elf Goddess? That sounds quite intriguing..."

Yakiel remained silent, his keen intuition telling him that the visitor before him had a hidden meaning in his words. But before the imperial minister could grasp the implications, a commotion broke out outside.

Makarov's old eyes darted around, and he quickly sensed the reason for the commotion. He couldn't help but say, "These young people nowadays are really full of energy..."

Yakiel twitched his two white goatees, each over twenty centimeters long, and said, "Young people compete in strength, while old people compete in intelligence; this is true in any game."

"Really? Then the gaming cultures on the two continents might be different."

Makarov, understanding the implication, spoke eloquently: "In Ishgar, people value the next generation more, so in order to allow the 'seedlings' to grow strong, the old people in the game are given wisdom and strength far surpassing that of the young people."

"These older players can play an unpredictable role in the game, steering it in their favor and sometimes even completely reversing a seemingly hopeless situation. They are very important!"

Yakiel coughed twice and asked, "If both the 'old people' and the 'young people' have the advantage, can the disadvantaged side still turn the tide?"

"In those situations, it comes down to the tactics the players use."

Makarov glanced at the "Goddess" card on the table. "Only the best strategist can enable his soldiers to play their best role and achieve final victory."

Yakiel nodded and didn't say anything more; as long as both sides had conveyed the meaning, that was enough.

Just then, two figures walked in one after the other, one wild and unrestrained and the other reserved, their personalities in stark contrast.

The former is Agil, the grandson of Agil and one of the Twelve Shields of the Empire, nicknamed "King of the Desert"; the latter is Geral, who is accompanying Makarov this time.

"This is your thirteenth encounter in the past few days. Has a winner been decided yet?"

Agil was quite surprised by Yakiel's question: "What's wrong, Grandpa? Didn't you always oppose me sparring with him? Why are you suddenly concerned about this today?"

"I just wanted to tell you that it's time to stop when you've had enough fun. Constantly dragging visiting guests into a fight is not the way the Empire treats its guests!"

"It's time for you to grow up!"

Chapter 506 The Manor

Agil has spiral brown hair, wears a yellow headscarf, and has large red Buddhist bead earrings. He is shirtless, revealing his dark skin from years of sun exposure. He wears bracelets on his wrists and baggy trousers.

His personality was unrestrained, warlike, cruel, bloodthirsty, and impatient for quick success, and he was always careless and underestimated his enemies.

Makarov remembered that, according to Kira, he was the weakest of the twelve shields.

"cut……"

Agil gave a dismissive smile, like a rebellious teenager, and indeed he was going through a rebellious phase.

"I just heard that this guy was one of the 'Ten Wizard Saints' in Ishgar, just like God Serena, so I wanted to test his abilities."

Gerald did not heed Kira's advice to use the name 'Mystogan', since he was no longer a wanted criminal by the Council and did not need to hide his identity.

Furthermore, he believed that the position of 'Captain of the Fiore Royal Family's Exclusive Magic Squad' might provide his team with certain advantages in this diplomatic mission.

Most importantly, he didn't believe that such a large and ambitious empire as Alvarez would be without publicly available information about the Kingdom of Fiore.

Jellal, a former member of the Ten Wizard Saints, wanted by the Fiore Royal Family for abolishing the Magic Council, and a member of the Royal Magic Squad...

These are all old news from a year ago. Throughout the entire Kingdom of Fiore, and even most of Ishgar, anyone who pays attention to the magical world knows about them.

The Alvarez Empire intended to conquer Ishgar, and it's impossible that they hadn't investigated this beforehand, so disguising themselves as Mystogan would have been pointless.

"So, what was the result?"

"He's nowhere near as good as that immature middle-aged man!"

Akiel's mind raced: No direct answer... does that mean the battle is still undecided...?

"Thank you for your hard work, Gerald!"

"No, Chairman Makarov!"

In fact, Makarov was also surprised by this situation.

Although Kira confidently stated that this 'Desert King' was one of the weaker members of the Twelve Shields, he originally thought that the opponent was at least a 'Elite Four' level powerhouse, and that Gerald, a young man, might not be able to defeat him.

Unexpectedly, the two sparred more than ten times over the course of a few days, and each time the outcome was still undecided.

'This is really surprising... It seems Geralt is much stronger than I thought...'

Makarov glanced at Gerald, who seemed completely unaffected, then lowered his head and silently sipped his tea without uttering a word.

'I wonder who's stronger, him or Laxus...'

……

"Achoo!"

Laxus sneezed violently.

"What's wrong, Laxus?! Do you have a cold?!"

Felid was extremely anxious. Three seconds later, he grabbed Wendy and ran back, "Quick! Quick! Wendy! Quickly check on Laxus!! It must be a side effect of the boat trip these past few days!!"

"Waaaaah... Laxus... you absolutely can't get hurt..."

"That's enough! I'm not a child anymore!!"

Laxus, his face flushed, roared and turned his head away arrogantly, "It was just a few days on the ship, it's nothing to me!"

"But you sneezed! You don't usually sneeze..."

"I already said I'm fine! You're so nagging!!"

"But ah..."

The others were speechless as they watched the two of them having a conversation that sounded exactly like a mother caring for her teenage child.