A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Selene fell into a low point in his life, but he quickly recovered.

As a middle-aged man with ideals, goals, and ambitions, and a genius mage who has regarded Acnologia as his life goal since childhood, he knows that wallowing in despair will not help.

Since his target Acnologia was defeated by someone else, why doesn't he just go and defeat that person?

So Serena decided to challenge Fairy Tail, to that brat Kira! He would prove to the world that only he, Serena, was Acnologia's true nemesis!!

But before he could even leave, he remembered something else: this brat named Kira was only 20 years old, his junior. Wouldn't it be beneath him to go looking for trouble like this? Wouldn't the wizarding world laugh at him for going to cause trouble for a rising star, the dignified 'Number One of the Ten Wizard Saints'?

Serena became depressed and dejected.

Serena had heard of Kira. When he left Ishgar for the Western Continent, Kira was at the height of his fame, but such superstar rookies in the magical world appear every few years—for example, Jura before Kira—so Serena hadn't paid much attention.

I never imagined that the kid I had ignored would steal my life's goal in just a few years.

From then on, in order to distract himself from his distress, Serena began to eat voraciously, and soon became a glutton who could eat the equivalent of dozens of people's portions in one sitting.

This continued until the day Dispel appeared before him...

"Do you want to reclaim your glory? Do you want to settle things with Kira? I can help you!"

"Come on, fight me first! If you win, you can go around saying that Kira was defeated by you; if I win, you leave the Alvarez Empire!"

"You ask me why? Because I am Kira!"

Chapter 562 Have fun, rest well, eat well, and play well.

When Serena thought that the person standing in front of him was Kira, he did not hesitate to take action.

Then... he got a severe beating.

His eight Dragon Slayer spells, which he was so proud of, were no match for the opponent's sword. Without any warning or preparation, he was utterly defeated by this boy who called himself Kira.

Even with the earth shaking beneath their feet, even with the wind and thunder raging overhead, even with all the light gone, nothing could stop the opponent's slashing blade.

Whether it's a tsunami, a fireball, a storm, lightning, or even the supposedly hardest diamond, under that flash of light, they all seem like tofu, easily shattered into pieces.

Under those sharp and dazzling slashes, Serena was as powerless as a child facing a giant.

With his formidable strength and unwavering willpower, he managed to drag the fight out for a full hour before finally raising his hand in surrender, panting heavily.

At that moment, Serena felt deep regret, regret for his decadence over the past few days.

Unfortunately, it was too late; a lump of fat that was difficult to get rid of had already grown on his stomach!

……

Boom! !

In the restaurant, Serena finally put down his chopsticks.

"That's it! Starting today, I need to get my physical fitness back up, and I'll just eat until I'm about 70% full at each meal!"

His eyes were very firm, as if a flame was burning inside, representing his youth that had not yet completely faded away!

Dispel stared expressionlessly at the mountain of dishes before him, and behind them, Serena, a man the size of a large orange, while inwardly he was roaring with rage:

This is what you call 70% full?! What kind of pig did you escape from?! I mean, you didn't leave Ishgard just for the food, did you? Or are you not the Twelve Shields, but the Twelve Beasts? And you're the 'pig' among the Beasts?

Where did things go wrong? Wasn't Serena supposed to be a chuunibyou (delusional) middle-aged man? What I see is a fat otaku exuding a decadent aura.

Dispel felt like he had been deceived by Kira: the image of the legendary "First of the Ten Wizard Saints" and "God" before him was completely different from what he had imagined!

"That's right! Cultivation! You absolutely must cultivate! Get your physical strength and willpower back!"

Dispel was pleased with Serena's recovery and didn't want to see her sink into despair. Although one was a mage and the other a swordsman, their pursuit of power was indeed the same.

"Once you regain your strength, or even become stronger than before, go find that bastard Kira who stole your life's goal and take revenge, reclaiming the glory and prestige that belong to you!!"

Now that the other party has been hit hard by Kira, it's only natural that he asks me to help him get back on his feet.

Dispel's plan was this: once Serena defeated Kira with his help, rumors would circulate in Asland that "King was defeated by Kira, but Dispel helped him recover, and with Dispel's help, King finally defeated Kira" or "King couldn't last an hour against Dispel, but he was able to fight Kira to a standstill and even defeat him."

If your defeated opponent defeated Kira, doesn't that mean you're stronger than him?

Thinking of this, a cunning smile appeared on Dispel's face.

"I won the battle, so you must keep your promise and leave the Alvarez Empire!"

"I know!"

Serena waved his hand impatiently, thinking to himself, 'I agreed to leave, but I didn't say I couldn't come back! What an inexperienced young man.'

Dispel had no idea that the fat pig in front of him had just agreed to his request, only to later try to find a loophole, otherwise he would definitely show the other party how sharp his sword was.

……

After leaving the mechanical town, Erza and the others set off back to the capital to meet up with Mavis and Makarov, while also investigating the strength of the two members of the Twelve Shields, Governor Inbell and King Agil of the Desert. Kira, however, claimed that he had important matters to attend to and declined the invitation to travel with them, embarking on a new journey alone.

Kira certainly didn't have anything important to do!

However, he felt that he had worked too hard for a month under Eileen's supervision! Even if eliminating the threat of war was important, he couldn't just keep burying himself in work. He needed to balance work and rest, so he needed to relax properly and spend his month's salary.

This is not laziness, nor is it slacking off; it is spiritual practice!

Master Wu Tian once said: "Active yourself, study hard, play well, eat well, rest well, and live happily every day. That's the best way to become stronger!"

Kira felt he was still far from being good enough!

At this moment, Kira had forgotten his bold words about dismantling the Twelve Shields. With the thought that "there are other people to do the work anyway," he began his leisurely vacation.

The exotic landscapes are beautiful, the women are charming and bold, and the delicacies are plentiful and delicious. Wherever Kira goes, everything he sees and hears is full of beauty and hope.

Alvarez truly lives up to its reputation as an empire encompassing almost the entire western continent; the standard of living for its inhabitants is unmatched by any other nation in Ishgar. Even the third- or fourth-tier towns, not to mention the capital or the first-tier cities under the Twelve Shields, enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of towns surrounding Magnolia.

"I love it here so much!"

Kira strolled along the street, looking here and there, his interest piqued by the various strange and unusual shops on both sides.

Perhaps it was because of his exceptionally red hair, or his unparalleled handsome face, or his otherworldly noble temperament, Kira attracted the attention of passersby wherever he went. Men envied him, women admired him, and 80% of them turned their heads to look at him! Among them were mostly young and beautiful girls who frequently sent him flirtatious glances, adding a touch of coolness to the already refreshing season.

Just as Kira was considering whether to find a place to sit and rest, a gentle female voice sounded behind him: "Hello, sir! May I interview you?"

An interview? Kira stopped in his tracks, frowned, and instinctively wanted to refuse.

It wasn't that he wasn't interested in being interviewed, but this was, after all, the Alvarez Empire, and he was here as a spy. His identity was sensitive, and it wouldn't be good to expose himself so directly to the other party. What if Jelf, who was wandering around somewhere, saw him? Wouldn't that expose his mission?

However, when Kira turned around, his gaze was immediately drawn to two snow-capped peaks, and at the same time, the sweet fragrance of red plum blossoms blooming in the snow wafted over.

"Of course!" Kira changed his mind at the last minute.

I'll just cooperate a little and say a few words; it won't hurt. I can take this opportunity to use the Alvarez Empire's newspapers to convey some views that are beneficial to friendly relations between the two countries to their residents.

For example, by promoting the local customs, history and culture of the Kingdom of Fiore, and saying things like "the food in the Alvarez Empire is delicious, the people are very hospitable, and magic is flourishing," wouldn't the residents of the empire's favorability toward the Kingdom of Fiore skyrocket?

I am proud to claim this great achievement of bringing world peace with just a few words!

Kira moved his gaze upwards and found a fresh and refined young girl with a face like a peach blossom, shy and budding. She was wearing a uniform from some newspaper, and although she was petite, her figure was still quite impressive. She held a pen and a notebook in her hand, and her professional smile was tinged with shyness. Her gaze towards him carried an ambiguous and unspoken hint.

Putting aside her figure, her face is just that of an ordinary, beautiful passerby. Kira couldn't help but sigh in his heart: This is truly the world created by Mashima; even a passerby is so good-looking.

"What do you want to interview me about? Just tell me! I'll answer everything I know!"

Chapter 563 Zena's Troubles as a Young Reporter

The warm morning sun shone down on the earth, waking the sleeping town.

As the alarm clock rang, the girl got up on time as usual, washed up, ate breakfast, dressed up, and changed into her work clothes. She got herself ready in half an hour, and then pushed open the door to start a new day.

Today is a sunny day, and the gentle breeze blowing in my face makes me feel indescribably comfortable and pleasant.

The girl's name was Zena. She was 18 years old and had beautiful long emerald green hair. She had a pure and sweet face, a petite and exquisite figure, and a large bust. Among the group of "passionate and wild" standard Western Continent women around her, she seemed somewhat plain.

This appearance is a result of her mother, who was born in Ishgar, but Zena was not ostracized because of her unusual appearance. On the contrary, with her sunny and cheerful personality, she got along well with others.

Zena is an intern reporter for the newspaper "Imperial Miracles". Her job consists of two parts: writing articles and interviewing passersby on the street to record their opinions on past issues of the newspaper.

Today, her job is the latter.

This kind of work was relatively easy for a novice reporter with little experience to pick up; apart from the tedious nature of the tasks, it wasn't too difficult.

The morning was busy. Zena had already interviewed seven or eight passersby, including men, women, the elderly, and children. This was to ensure that the newspaper content was accurately delivered to the target audience, and to select more attractive topics based on the interests of each target group.

"It seems like people aren't very interested in the content of last issue... That makes sense, after all, 'overseas expansion' has been dominating the headlines for half a year, so it's normal for the buzz to have died down."

Zena, who had just finished interviewing an eight-year-old boy, sighed and looked at the short figure on the street, muttering to herself, "I heard that boys are all military and political enthusiasts, but it seems that the rumors are not entirely true."

This child was clearly more interested in the competitive eating contest, and even asked when the next one would be. How could he possibly know such a thing?

Looking at the comments on various news stories recorded in her notebook, Zena felt depressed, disappointed, and angry.

She never expected that the town's residents would not pay attention to natural disasters with severe impacts like sandstorms, nor to national affairs like overseas expansion, but instead focus on trivial matters such as robots acting like hooligans in the streets and who won a big eater competition.

Even worse, they didn't care about the inexplicable meteor shower near the capital. That's the capital! The most important city in the Alvarez Empire! What were their opinions of it?

"Meteor shower? What's so special about that? It's like everyone's seen it before!"

"Does it work if I make a wish? If not, I won't look at it!"

"With several members of the Twelve Shields there, what could possibly happen?"

This is absolutely outrageous!!

But what infuriated Zena the most, and what the residents were most concerned about, was the light novel that had recently become incredibly popular, "I Became the Thirteenth Shield of the Empire."

When Zena first heard about this book, she was completely stunned: the title alone reeked of mindless, self-indulgent nonsense, utterly lacking in cultural refinement. It was clearly written by someone at the bottom of the magical world, someone who might not even know magic, just for their own amusement. How could anyone possibly enjoy reading this kind of novel?!

However, reality slapped Zena in the face. Not long after she learned about the book, she discovered that almost everyone around her was reading it!

Children are watching it, adults are watching it, men are watching it, women are watching it, and everyone who has watched it says it's good. Even the seniors at the newspaper are full of praise for it, discussing the plot every day, and it has given rise to a bunch of unrealistic daydreams.

The absurdity was so indescribable that Zena once thought the empire was beyond saving.

A few days later, Zena suddenly realized something: when you think something is outrageous enough, reality will tell you that there are far more outrageous things in this world than that.

This light novel has become a huge hit. In less than a month since its release, it has reportedly sold over 100 million copies, and the number is still rising, increasing by several percentage points every day, which means millions of new readers!

When Zena found out about this, she was completely stunned.

How could this stuff become popular?! Has the literary scene in the Alvarez Empire deteriorated to this extent? Was it because I lacked a clear understanding of my own writing abilities before? Shouldn't I be more proactive and take up the mantle of literature?