A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"..."

Everyone was completely baffled by Kira's thought process and could only remain speechless.

"But why didn't it riot? Isn't it said that once it loses its mind, it becomes a beast that only knows how to kill?"

"He probably hasn't quite processed what's going on yet. After all, he absorbed such a chaotic individual of the Sea Demon King, and then absorbed three more demons before he could even fully digest them..."

Kira stroked his chin and speculated, "Thinking about it, some of its words and actions just now did seem a bit disjointed, and there were subtle differences compared to when it was on the snow mountain."

"Putting everything else aside, just the tone of their voices is very similar to that of the demon who uses cloud magic. I thought it was because they had lived together for a long time and their personalities had become similar, but now I know that's the reason!"

Fortunately, no one here has the concept of "hindsight bias," so when Kira said this, they all thought it was really impressive that he could discover such a subtle difference.

At this point, Harpy asked a very important question: "What should we do with this guy? We can't just leave him like this, can we?"

Erza suggested, "Why don't we let the council handle this?"

"That's true..."

"No!" Kira interrupted their discussion, and everyone looked in his direction. They saw him looking at the demon with a strange expression. "The Council is not a safe place. Even if it is put there, there is no guarantee that it will not be released again."

"Then what do you mean?"

Kira turned to Winter: "Why don't you take it?"

Kira actually wanted to take it back to Mira, but by the time he got it back, he didn't know if the demon would still be alive. After all, only a living demon could be accepted.

Moreover, even if he were alive, given the demon's chaotic thoughts and Mira's still-recovering mindset, he wouldn't dare let Mira receive it directly.

However, Winter shook his head and refused: "Impossible. I have already received the souls of the Black and White Goddesses. If I were to receive this demon as well, the energy would clash."

Huh? Is that so?

Seeing the confusion in Kira's eyes, Winter said, "This is what the Celestial Maiden told me!"

“Okay!” Kira nodded.

It seems I'll have to keep it myself and take it back to study the artificial demon project.

If Zeref can do it, there's no reason why I can't, right? For some reason, Kira has an inexplicable amount of confidence in this regard.

"Speaking of which, you're really lucky! You actually managed to receive the soul of the legendary celestial maiden... Wait, your father was sacrificed to the heavens, you started as an orphan, you avenged your great enemy, you have exceptional talent, you survived falling off a cliff, and you inherited the legacy of a master..."

Kira looked at Winter with a strange expression. "You...you're not actually the protagonist of this world, are you?!"

Winter frowned and asked, "What are you saying?! I don't understand at all!"

"If you understood, I would be the one panicking... Anyway, it's finally over, and this mission should be considered a success!"

At this point, Natsu suddenly realized, "Ah! Come to think of it, this was my mission!"

"No! Natsu!" Killer and Erza spoke at the same time. After exchanging a glance, Erza continued, "This is not a mission you can accept, nor is it a mission you can complete! And you will be punished when you return!"

Even if the mission is completed, the fact remains that they accepted an S-rank mission without authorization, and Natsu, Happy, and Lucy, as the masterminds, must be punished. Furthermore, if Kira and the others hadn't arrived in time, it's questionable whether they would have even been able to complete the mission, or even survive.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you this time either," Kira said gloatingly from the sidelines. "At most, I'll tell the chairman to change the punishment to my devil training..."

Happy cried, "Then I'd rather let the president punish me..."

It knew the guild leader wouldn't kick them out, after all, it was the only cute cat in the guild!

……

In the makeshift Forget-Me-Not Tavern, Poole brought out all his treasured wines and started a barbecue feast with the snow wolf meat scattered all over the ground.

He was very happy; from now on, he could take his niece back to live a normal life in the city.

Winter was overjoyed; she had truly become a remarkable mage, proving her growth to her deceased father and ending the responsibilities of the Eisnew family.

Kira and the others were very happy because the mission was finally over and they could relax.

Natsu was very happy. Although he would be punished when he returned, he had at least completed an S-class mission.

Lucy was also very happy. Although Erza insisted on not getting the mission reward, Kira generously offered to lend her the Celestial Key after drinking, promising to pay it off in installments without interest.

"Are you really not coming to Fairy Tail?" Kira took the opportunity to extend an invitation to Winter at the banquet, but was refused.

"Well, since I've decided to go out into the world, I'd like to travel around and see other places first. If I have the chance, I'll visit you."

"Really? That's good. After all, you're still young, and it's good to see more of the world. Plus, you're strong enough to protect yourself."

Although Kira had high hopes for this young girl who seemed to have all the makings of a protagonist, he didn't push her too hard. His only regret was...

"So, there really isn't that so-called 'man who makes goddesses fight over him'?"

“Yes! According to them, it was false information spread to lure the demon into a trap!” Winter said with certainty. “The man at the center of the rumors was just an ordinary young man in the human tribe at the time. I heard he was a very good cook, which made him quite popular in those days!”

"What?!?!" ×N

Good at cooking? The closest one to that is... The group stiffened their necks and turned their gazes to Erza, who was standing to the side with her arms crossed.

"Heh heh heh... So, in that case, I won the bet!"

"How could this happen?! I refuse to accept this!!!"

"I never expected it to end like this!"

"Erza won! Damn it!!"

"Hahaha……"

rustle……

Just then, Kira sensed someone approaching. He turned around and saw a weathered-looking man staring at them in surprise: "Kira?!"

Kira's eyes widened: "Gildas?! What are you doing here?!"

Upon hearing the voice, everyone turned around sharply, and the person in front of them was indeed Gildarts, who had been away from the guild for three years.

Chapter 89 Is this the end?

Meeting Gildas in this savannah place is truly a matter of fate!

Everyone was excited to see each other after so long, especially Natsu, who rushed up to fight, only to be hammered into the snow with one blow, as expected.

Of course, the most excited person was Kana, after all, it was her father.

Under the bright night sky, everyone lit a bonfire for a feast, grilling meat, drinking, chatting, and talking about the changes in recent years.

From the widespread fame of the Fairy Tail crew to Kira opening a magic shop; from Laxus's increasing rebelliousness to Makolov aging considerably in recent years; from Lisanna's death two years ago to Lucy's recent arrival...

Gildas sighed in admiration.

On the other side, Happy also introduced Lucy to Gildarts, the guild's strongest member, whom she was meeting for the first time.

"The one with the most ability?"

Happy nodded while munching on grilled fish: "Yeah, Gildarts' strength might even surpass that of the guild leader. You could basically say he's the strongest person in the guild!"

"The strongest? Stronger than Erza, Kira, and that Laxus?"

“Of course!” Gray put down his glass and said, “There are a total of six S-rank mages in the guild. It’s no exaggeration to say that if the remaining five of them attacked together, they should be able to fight Gildarts to a draw.”

"What?!" Lucy glanced at Kira discreetly, and when she saw that he didn't refute her, it was already a rare display of humility.

"Wait, Kira, Erza, Laxus, Mystogan, who's the last one?"

"It's Mirasan! She used to be known as the 'Demon'!"

"Huh?? Mirasan?!" Lucy was hearing this news for the first time, but after hearing the story of Lisanna from the others, she understood why.

After a few bottles of beer, Kira asked the question he was more concerned about: "Speaking of which, weren't you supposed to be on a century-long mission? What are you doing here?"

Kira and Gildarts are probably close in mind because they are of similar age. When Kira first joined the guild, Gildarts helped him with many quests.

Fairy Tail was in a rather difficult situation during that period. They faced the aggressive presence of Phantom Lord from the outside and the unfilial son of Makarov, Ivankov, who had ulterior motives. Although Ivankov had already been expelled from the guild, they still had to be wary of his backstabbing.

Fairy Tail has experienced a significant power gap, with Gildarts basically holding the fort. Characters like Macao and Wakaba are out of the question, as they still lack real strength. Meanwhile, characters like Erza and Laxus either haven't joined a guild yet or haven't fully matured.

With such a talented young mage finally arriving, Makarov spared no effort in nurturing Kira, hoping he could grow up quickly and become a pillar of Fairy Tail in the future.

Under Maklov's orders, Gildas, aside from occasionally doing good deeds to help the poor and needy, basically took Kira with him on every mission, which made Cana extremely envious.

Upon hearing Kira's question, Gildarts replied, "Oh, according to the information I've gathered recently, this place seems to have some connection to my mission objective, but I haven't found anything after being here for several days..."

Contact? Kira instantly thought of what Ice Demon Ace had said about the enemy they would have to deal with after absorbing the Sea Demon King.

After thinking for a moment, Kira told Gildarts about the mission: "The enemy that demon said he was going to deal with, could it be your mission target?"

The demon king born from the cannibalism of demons, aiming at the five divine dragons, is somewhat presumptuous, but still quite possible.

"So, how's your mission going?"

Gildas scratched his head and laughed, "It's too difficult, there's almost no progress!"

"What?!" Erza and the others were all surprised to hear this. "What kind of mission is it? Even you've been in charge for three years and there's still no progress?"

Giladas took a sip of his drink and said, "Ah, this? I signed a confidentiality agreement when I accepted the mission, so I can't reveal any mission information. I'm so sorry!"

"That's terrible! Does that mean you haven't had any income for three years?" Kira laughed. "Why don't you take me with you? I'm quite interested!"

"Hehe, I'm so sorry! Although you've become much stronger, you can't add people during the mission!"

"Oh, I understand..."

Kira nodded silently, took a bite of wolf meat, and thought, 'It's just the Five Divine Dragons, how could I not know?'

Should I tell him directly, "Stop being so secretive, I already know the details of this quest," or subtly ask, "How many dragons have you encountered so far? You must have suffered a crushing defeat?"

Hmm... this is such a difficult choice...

I remember Gildarts failed because he encountered a black dragon during the mission, and he was seriously injured. His left hand, left foot and internal organs were injured in an instant, which shows how strong the black dragon was.

As for being defeated in the end, that was entirely due to the protagonist's halo.

Thinking of this, Kira glanced at Gildarts without leaving a trace. He was in good health, which meant he hadn't encountered the black dragon yet.

Wait a minute? We haven't met yet?

Kira's slightly tipsy mind instantly cleared, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Logically, the Five Divine Dragons' mission should be on another continent!

Where did Gildarts encounter the black dragon in the original work? Was it mentioned? It's been too long, and Kira can't remember at all. Now he only regrets not reading the manga properly back then.