A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Just as he was secretly plotting his revenge, he heard Lucy and Miss Golden Week chatting. Lucy was testing Miss, who was completely unprepared. In just a few words, Lucy managed to extract their 'identities and backgrounds' from them.

"I see, so you came here to find your long-lost family members..."

Yes, that's it!

Miss Golden Week lied without batting an eye, looking just like a left-behind child abandoned by her parents. "Uncle 3 promised to help me find my parents, and I'm so grateful to him for protecting me along the way."

Galdino: "..."

How could the other party possibly believe such an obvious lie?! As expected, Miss Golden Week is still too inexperienced; her lying skills aren't up to par. I need to think of a better excuse to cover this up…

"What a poor child..."

Lucy, Natsu, and Happy all looked at Miss Goldenweek with pity. "Why don't you come with us from now on? We'll definitely help you find your family!"

Galdino: "!!!"

Seriously?! They actually believed it?! Are these guys really that naive?! And to be so generous as to offer to help someone they just met find their family—that's a bit too kind!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Galdino would never have believed that someone who could release flames at will and seemed so extraordinary would so easily trust others.

It's not really Natsu's fault for being fooled; it's mainly because Miss Golden Week is such a good actress.

In fact, although Miss Golden Week is only sixteen years old and only 145cm tall, with a childlike face, she is very smart and her wisdom surpasses that of Galdino. She is the chief director of the Baroque Studio.

This is why she can remain calm no matter what happens!

At this moment, Galdino's eyes widened, his mouth gaped open, and his face was filled with shock. However, while a storm raged within him, a bold idea slowly began to form in his mind: 'Wait! Since these guys are so easy to fool, maybe I can trick them into working for me? If I can use them properly, perhaps I can easily deal with those two giants on the island?? But before that, I need to test their strength first!'

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were completely captivated by the story Miss Goldenweek was telling: their parents had been trading overseas for three years but hadn't returned. A kind-hearted uncle took them out to sea to find their parents, but they encountered a storm and unexpectedly arrived at Little Garden. However, because the place was full of ancient beasts, volcanoes, and giants, they couldn't find a way to leave the sea and had to settle there temporarily. Occasionally, they would get diarrhea from eating expired senbei...

The story is full of twists and turns, thrills and dangers, and you can't stop listening to the simple story of a human and a cat with shining eyes.

Fortunately, Lucy was somewhat intelligent, unlike Natsu and Happy who were foolish enough to believe Miss Golden Week's story. However, her intelligence seemed to have its limitations—

'Natsu and Happy, those two idiots, only see the surface!'

Lucy, with her extensive writing experience, believed she had seen through the truth and had already silently drafted a 3-word short story outline in her mind: 'If I'm not mistaken, this guy named '3' must be… a child trafficker! He tricked this naive girl into going with him under the pretense of helping her find her parents, but actually intended to take her elsewhere to sell her. Unfortunately, he encountered a storm and ended up here!'

In fact, Lucy's suspicion of Galdino stemmed not only from her deep-seated, unacknowledged tendency to judge by appearances, but also primarily from Galdino's arrogant attitude towards the three of them when he first entered, and his weakness after seeing Natsu use his flames. This contrast between his initial arrogance and subsequent obsequiousness was hardly befitting of a "kind-hearted uncle" character.

'I need to test his strength, and then remind Natsu to be careful not to be fooled by this guy!'

Inside a small candlelit room, the steaming aroma of red and green tea filled the air, while the four people and one cat, who were sitting inside chatting and laughing, were each harboring their own thoughts, preparing for a thrilling battle of wits and courage.

After they had almost finished their afternoon tea, Lucy suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, there's something I've been curious about since earlier: how did you make this candle room?"

"Well... I made this. I'm a candle person, and I can make all sorts of things with candles."

Galdino thought about it and realized there was nothing to hide. After all, he had already used the Wax Wax Fruit's power in front of them, and being a Devil Fruit user wasn't a big deal, so he just told them directly.

"Candle Man?!"

"Making things with candles?!"

Natsu and Happy were taken aback, their eyes widening as they leaned closer to Galdino, exclaiming in disbelief, "Could it be that you are...?"

"I am...??"

Galdino was taken aback: Had these people heard my story? Or was my face just a walking encyclopedia of it? Ah, I see! Is that it? That must be it! It must be that during one of my missions, I accidentally let my name slip out!

There's really nothing I can do... It's only natural that a man as charismatic, elegant, handsome, and unique as me would leave a deep impression. Although I always make sure to clean up the mess after each mission, news birds are everywhere, and there's nothing I can do if I accidentally get exposed...

Just as Galdino was lost in his narcissism, Natsu and Happy spoke up again in unison: "Could it be that you are... the Candle-Shaped Mage?!"

"That's right! I am the embodiment of handsomeness and wisdom, noble and elegant, and incredibly powerful..."

Before he could finish speaking, Galdino's proud speech came to an abrupt halt. The proud expression on his face, as well as his posture of standing on a chair with his arms outstretched and his head tilted up at a 45-degree angle, froze. "Huh??"

What kind of appearance is that? What kind of mage are they? Do these two, a person and a cat, have some kind of serious illness?

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Three minutes later...

"So that's how it is... You're also a Devil Fruit user!" Natsu said, looking at Galdino with some disappointment.

"But your abilities do seem quite similar to those of a Shaping Mage, don't they, Happy?"

"That's right! But if we look at it that way, Natsu is the fire man, and Gray is the ice man?"

"That sounds interesting!! What about Erza? Is she an iron man?"

Happy muttered speechlessly, "Natsu, you're so stupid! If it's Iron Man, it should be Gajeel, right? Erza should be Sword... uh... what should it be??"

Natsu didn't care about Happy's feigned ignorance, but he now had a general idea of ​​Galdino's abilities.

It's worth noting that Natsu had previously met Smoker, the user of the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, meaning he already knew that Devil Fruits, which can modify the human body, existed in this world. Therefore, he wasn't too surprised to learn that Galdino was a user of the Candle-Candle Fruit.

However, in Natsu's opinion, Devil Fruits are far less useful than magic, because according to Smoker, eating a Devil Fruit makes one vulnerable to seawater, while the magic they use is not.

Thinking of this, Natsu couldn't help but cast a pitying glance at Galdino.

Damn it! What's with that expression?!

Seeing Natsu's irritating gaze, Galdino felt a surge of annoyance, but he forced it down and retorted, "So what about you guys? Natsu, what's your ability? I think I just saw you use fire at will??"

"Oh, you mean me? I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer Mage!"

Galdino: "..."

Why can I understand each word individually, but when they're put together, I have absolutely no idea what they mean? Could you explain what a Dragon Slayer Mage is?

"Natsu-san, what are these Dragon Slayer Mages you're talking about? How come I've never heard of them in all these years on the Grand Line?"

“A Dragon Slayer is a mage who uses Dragon Slayer Magic! And because my attribute is fire, I’m called the Fire Dragon Slayer!” Natsu explained matter-of-factly.

What's with that arrogant look in this kid's eyes, like, "You don't even know this? You're so ignorant!"?! I want to punch him!!

Galdino clenched his fist.

Could you elaborate?

Natsu succinctly explained: "It means you can set things on fire, and you can also restore your magic and stamina by eating fire, but you can't eat your own fire."

Out of caution, Natsu did not reveal his weakness of getting motion sickness.

Upon hearing Natsu's explanation, Galdino was utterly dumbfounded: Being able to set fires was one thing—there were plenty of people and Devil Fruit users in the world who could do that—but to restore magic and stamina by eating fire?! Even though he didn't know what magic was, the fact that it could restore stamina was incredible! Even Devil Fruit users didn't have such a heaven-defying ability, right??

What kind of monster is this?!

Chapter 823 Fighting? Count me in!

"Speaking of which, what brings the three of you to the small garden?"

Previously, Lucy had learned from Kira that the island's name was 'Little Garden,' so she was somewhat surprised to hear Galdino say the name directly, since they had clearly said that they had encountered a storm and accidentally arrived at the island.

If it was an accident, how would they know this place was called Little Garden? Were they very familiar with the islands in this area? Or did they come to this island for another purpose?

Lucy could leave the lighthearted fun to Natsu and Happy, but when it came to safety, she immediately became alert: "We have a few companions here; we're here to meet up with them."

Galdino was taken aback: "Companions? But as far as I know, there are only two giants on this island!"

Giants are their companions? Are you kidding me?! Those are figures who have fought here for a hundred years! How could they be companions of these people? Could there be other people on the island? But I haven't seen them?

“Our companions have no connection with the Titans; they only arrived a few days ago.”

"Do you need any help? We're quite familiar with this place."

"No need, my other companions should have already found them."

After several exchanges, Lucy revealed a message to Galdino, which could also be seen as a warning: there are still our companions on this island, so think twice before you act.

Even without Lucy's prompting, Galdino wouldn't dare to harbor any ill intentions towards them. Because of Natsu, he dared not act rashly and only wanted to get the people in front of him out of the small garden as soon as possible so that he could make a move against the two giants.

Seeing that the intelligence gathering was nearly complete, Lucy took her leave with Natsu and the others to go back and meet up with Kira and the others.

Miss Golden Week didn't choose to leave with them, which made Lucy very disappointed. She couldn't believe that such a gentle and kind older sister like herself had been outshone by a sleazy-looking uncle.

After the group left, Galdino looked at Miss Golden Week beside him, who was drinking green tea with a calm expression that remained unchanged throughout: "You really are quite composed."

"You were too reckless! If they had stayed any longer, they would have extracted all your information from you."

Miss Golden Week casually complained, and although her words were disdainful of Mr. 3, her gaze and eyes were no different from when she spoke normally, as if she wasn't saying anything sarcastic, but rather something like "I ate," "I'm fine," or "The weather is nice today."

This poker face facial expression management is even better than that of the Phantom Thief Kid next door.

Galdino didn't reply, but took out two wanted posters from his pocket and placed them on the table. The portraits on the posters were those of his targets, 'Blue Demon' Dorry and 'Red Demon' Brogy.

He stared at the two faces, a calculating and sinister glint in his eyes: "The former captain of the Giant Warrior Pirate Ship has a bounty of 100 million Berries. Two people like that would be 200 million Berries. We absolutely cannot miss this huge deal!"

Meanwhile, the three who were rushing back by following Natsu's nose arrived at the place where the two giants were dueling and saw the two lying on the ground resting.

"Oh my god! It's a giant?!"

"This is the giant that '3' mentioned earlier, the one who's been dueling here for a hundred years?!"

"So he wasn't lying to us after all, there really are giants here!!"

Brogy, who was resting on the ground, noticed Natsu and his two companions emerging from the forest and became curious: "Humans? That's rare. It's been so long since I've seen anyone come to this island!"

This guy, who looked like Zhang Sange, had a voice that was bold and unrestrained, like the sound of drums and bells, echoing throughout most of the small garden.

Lying on the other side, 'Blue Oni' Dorry immediately guessed Natsu and the others' origins: "You guys... are you also mages?"

Dorry was able to tell at a glance where Natsu and the others came from. The reason was simple: three groups of people had appeared on the island in such a short period of time, and it was highly likely that they were the same group. In addition, Happy, who was with Natsu at this moment, reminded him of Charlene, who had been with Wendy before. These two winged, talking cats were undoubtedly the same species.

Since those people before claimed to be mages, these people in front of us should be as well.

"Do you know them, Dongli?"

"They should be together with the humans who have appeared on the island in the last two days."

"Really? Humans have come to your place? I'm so envious! Gabababababa..."

Brogy burst into laughter, though it was unclear what he was laughing at. Perhaps for these idiots whose minds were filled with nothing but battle, happiness was that simple.

Natsu and the others were surprised that another giant knew their identities, but after a moment's thought, they quickly guessed that the giant must have met Kira and the others, or communicated with the mages who had come here before. Otherwise, normally, people in this world shouldn't know about 'mages'.

Before long, Natsu won the favor of the two Titans with his simple, enthusiastic, and warlike personality.

"If it weren't for the fact that now is not the right time, I would definitely have a proper duel with you!"

"Really? I'm also looking forward to fighting you guys!!"