A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

[It's just a historical document, nothing too important... Hey! Where are you going?! Don't go! I'm here for you—]

"What a waste of time!"

Kira walked away again without looking back, leaving only a heartless silhouette. "I thought I could decipher the text and learn new magic, but it turns out I got nothing."

The moment he stepped out of the palace, the shouting behind him disappeared.

"Huh? The sound disappeared? Oh, so they must have been locked up again. Poor thing!"

After a moment of silence for the poor wretch who hadn't even had a chance to ask his name, Kira turned and left the town.

He had originally come to investigate out of curiosity about the sound, but after figuring out the reason, he naturally didn't want to stay in this desolate, ghostly place any longer.

Adventure is like opening a blind box; it can be thrilling or mundane. The main takeaway from this trip was visiting the so-called 'City of Time' and learning about the 'Curse of the God of Time'.

After learning about this person's story, Kira became even more determined to stop Zeref from starting a war!

According to the original storyline, the war is still about seven years away, but no one knows if Zeref will suddenly bring it forward. It would be foolish to rely on the so-called 'storyline' for such a thing!

"Speaking of which, it seems like it's been almost three months since we arrived in the Western Continent, right? Hmm... it's about time for everyone to return as planned. Why don't we go to the capital to meet up first?"

"If we go back a few days later, we'll miss this year's S-level assessment!"

"Oh, right, I should put that journal back before I leave. What a piece of junk, worthy of gathering dust in my warehouse?!"

Kira cursed as he boarded the magic airship, started the engine, turned the steering wheel, and, based on his memory, flew directly towards the town where he had stopped a few days ago, leaving two white trails of smoke in the sky.

Chapter 574 Return

Vistarion, West Suburbs Estate, Auguste Residence.

The March deadline has arrived, and the expeditionary force has returned!

Fairy Tail... Assemble!!!

"Oh oh oh!!!"

The long-lost noise once again echoed through this field and forest filled with a profound magic, breaking the tranquility and peace that had remained unchanged for decades.

After nearly three months of travel... no, I mean expedition, the group finally showed the Empire's Twelve Shields the immense power of Fairy Tail, and from then on, they had to carefully consider launching a war.

Most importantly, several of the Twelve Aegis were defeated during this process, which means that they will never be able to keep up with the version again and will only become stepping stones in the next appearance.

The world is safe!

Late at night, in this manor that clearly belonged to a wealthy family, familiar faces were holding a familiar banquet.

"Now, let's take stock of what we've accomplished on this trip to the Western Continent!"

Around the campfire, Kira, Mavis, Prehito, Makarov, and Gerald gathered for a debriefing meeting before leaving the western continent.

"Our initial purpose in coming to the Western Continent was to investigate the movements of the Alvarez Empire. It has been determined that their overseas expansion has been halted, nipping their war plans in the bud."

"Regarding the Twelve Shields, the five who were successfully negotiated were August, Irene, Val, Timaria, and Brandish; the three who were successfully taught a lesson were Serena, Agil, and Neinhart; the one who was directly killed was Bradman; the two whose whereabouts are unknown are Larcade and Jacob; and the last one, Inbel, refused to negotiate."

"Of the eleven remaining, August, Serena, Brandish, and Timalia are going back with us, Eileen is going to Giltina, and Val is obsessed with the new mechanical soldiers. Less than half are left, and they can't cause much trouble."

After saying that, Kira pushed up his non-existent glasses and looked at the four people in front of him, saying, "Overall, this operation was quite successful!"

He then stealthily glanced at those two old fellows, Precht and Makarov...

"You two old men really came all this way and just lay around here for three months? You're too lazy to even go on a trip. It's a complete disservice to the adventurous spirit of Fairy Tail!"

"Guild Master, I'm serious, why don't you just go back and step down! Give me your position, and I guarantee we'll become the richest magic guild in the Kingdom of Fiore!!"

Laxus gave a cold snort.

Handing it over to you? Then you'd have to turn the tavern into a casino and the magic guild into a business guild, wouldn't you?

After thinking for a moment, Makarov politely declined Kira's offer: "This old man can still work for a few more years!"

"Hehehe... You'll regret this, old man!"

"Hmph! I am the guild master of Fairy Tail!"

After listening to the banter between the old man and the young man, Gerald suddenly asked, "This is from the Empire's side, what about our side?"

"The situation here is not optimistic either!"

Kira said with a serious expression, "Selene and Chnuki took Irene to Giltina, Silver stayed in the mechanical town with Waal to research new soldiers, the First Generation is busy playing house with his mother, the two old men are obsessed with playing cards and health preservation, Natsu and Lucy's relationship hasn't progressed any further, and Ultear has spent all the money in my Warehouse No. 7..."

There's no loss at all...

A moment of silence fell over the group.

Meanwhile, Serena, who was enjoying a beer, received a shock from the others.

"The number one of the Ten Saints?! That Serena?!"

"A second-generation Dragon Slayer Mage? Like Laxus, he had a Dragon Slayer Crystal implanted in him?"

"Eight of them?! Is that even possible?! I've heard that Dragon Slayer Crystals are incredibly powerful, right?"

A gasp escaped Serena's lips; the sheer terror was palpable. Each exclamation was a welcome relief, and Serena couldn't help but become a little childish, gesturing wildly in the air by the campfire, her two ponytails swaying wildly, stealing the spotlight from Wendy.

"Because I am God~ Serena!!"

clap clap clap...

The Y-shaped hand gesture and the singing and dancing moves drew applause and cheers from Nazgre and the others. However…

"It's so different from what I imagined!" Lucy started her daily rant.

Erza looked at the clown-like middle-aged man in front of her and said, "It's normal for powerful mages to have some strange quirks, like Senior Warlord's way of speaking..."

"Uh……"

I wasn't talking about his personality...

Lucy glanced furtively at Serena's large belly and sighed inwardly. Who would have thought that this obviously number one mage in Ishgar would be such a fat man?

“Don’t let his current appearance fool you, he wasn’t fat at all before,” Brandish explained to Lucy. “I wonder what he’s been through lately…”

What he went through is not important; what matters is that he is now on good terms with Natsu and the others, arm in arm, just like Gildarts.

Happy, always eager for drama, stepped forward and asked, "Hey, Serena! You're the strongest of the Ten Wizard Saints, so doesn't that mean you're even stronger than Kira and the Chairman?!"

"certainly……"

Serena proudly straightened his back, but before he could start bragging, Dispel's sneer came from the side.

"Heh, him?"

This feigned arrogance was like a tickle to Serena's nerves; he bristled like an orange cat, cursing and swearing like a clown: "Call him over here right now and let's see what he's got! I refuse to believe that guy is really that strong..."

Serena already knew about the relationship between Dispel and Kira, but until they had fought, he didn't acknowledge that Kira was as strong as Dispel.

Dispel ignored him and continued drinking and eating.

Just as Serena was about to go and challenge Kira to a duel to prove his strength, an old voice rang out.

"How did you become like this?"

The speaker was August, the master of the place. Without Mavis by his side, he regained the majesty of the leader of the Twelve Shields, but Serena's greatly out-of-shape figure almost made him lose control of his expression.

"Oh! It's old man Auguste! Long time no see!" The overweight Serena greeted the old man first, then said with a sorrowful expression, "It's all some sad stuff, too many to tell!"

Suddenly, Serena moved closer to August and lowered his voice, saying, "I heard you're the emperor's son, is that true?"

August's eyelids twitched instantly: The news spread that fast? And what's with that gossipy look on your face?!

In fact, to avoid causing too much of a stir, Natsu and the others were specifically instructed not to spread August's background around, and they did just that. But once someone enters the manor and sees August and Mavis's undisguised and joyful interactions, it's only a matter of time before they realize they are mother and son.

Serena wasn't an idiot, and naturally noticed something amiss quickly. However, he shouldn't have known about Zeref, so his source of this information was...

Who told you that?

"newspaper!"

August: ? ?

Taking the latest newspaper from Serena, I saw, sure enough, the "Entertainment" section prominently displayed in bold black lettering: "Having ruled the empire for eighty years, I am the true crown prince!"

Further down, there was some "evidence" that he and Jelf were father and son. Although the whole manuscript looked like something a marketing account had written randomly, August couldn't sit still.

If Father is in the Empire, he'll probably come back to visit if we publish this in the newspaper, right? And if he sees we're not here... oh well, it doesn't matter!

Anyway, I've already taken leave and will be going to Ishgar with my mother tomorrow, so let the rumors spread.

That evening, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves immensely.

The following day, everyone packed their bags and boarded the airship bound for the Kingdom of Fiore.

Chapter 575 Magnolia Starts Making a Scene Again

The sky was clear and blue, stretching for thousands of miles.

Since the harvest festival, Magnolia has enjoyed several months of unusual peace and tranquility.

The townspeople had all heard, more or less, that it was because the most troublesome members of Fairy Tail had disappeared, and even the guild master was nowhere to be found. So the guild's mages were either at work or staying at the tavern, and hadn't come out to "trouble" the other residents of the town.

But with the return of Makarov, Kira, and others who had been away from the guild for nearly three months, Fairy Tail once again returned to its former liveliness and bustle.

Like winter snow melting and spring breezes caressing the face, life has been restored once again.

Bang!

As the door was pushed open violently, several familiar figures rushed in and headed straight for the tavern.

"I'm back!!"

"I miss the guild so much!!"

Happy took the lead, followed closely by Natsu, while the rest strolled leisurely behind, adhering to the philosophy of "I'm the boss, I'm not in a hurry, the later I appear, the more arrogant I am." They politely pushed and shoved each other, showing great deference to one another.

As Kira reached the guild's entrance, he heard Natsu's excited shouts from inside: "This time, we have an amazing person coming back with us!! You'll never guess who it is..."

Makarov was walking with August, Mavis, and Precht. Hearing Natsu's voice inside, he smiled awkwardly at the three beside him: "Sorry, please excuse the commotion..."

Mavis shook her head, not at all offended, but rather beaming with delight: "You've managed the guild very well, Third Generation! You haven't changed a bit over the years, still so energetic..."