"I'm here for revenge! I'm representing Phantom Lord to challenge Marco!"
Once he made up his mind, Gajeel immediately grew bolder.
He shouted loudly, as if wanting the whole world to hear him.
"..."
The two staff members exchanged glances, seeing the same disbelief in each other's eyes.
"You?"
The more straightforward one voiced his thoughts outright.
"You looking down on me?!"
The staff member's attitude made Gajeel mad.
He glared furiously, barely restraining his temper.
Right now, he really wanted to punch this guy teeth off!
"Ahem, kid… can you even beat your own guild master?"
Gajeel's furious glare made the staff member take a nervous step back, but he still felt obliged to offer a word of caution.
"...No." Gajeel paused, then answered honestly.
This answer wasn't entirely unexpected.
Both staff members were from Magnolia and would naturally side with Marco.
They couldn't imagine this boy being as strong as Marco.
"Then... how dare you come here?"
The two staff members voiced their thoughts aloud.
"None of your business! Just tell me where he went! After I defeat him, all of you will understand just how strong I am!"
Gajeel was on the verge of losing his temper from their questioning.
His patience had never been great and it showed as he looked ready to throw a punch.
"He just left on that train. We have no idea where he's headed. Maybe you can ask at Fairy Tail."
Knowing when to back down, the two staff members quickly chose to yield.
Though the person before them was just a kid barely over ten years old, if he really went berserk, they'd have no way to handle it.
This troublesome individual was better left to Fairy Tail to deal with.
"..."
Gajeel was furious.
This wasn't how he'd expected things to go.
The thought of having to take another train to chase down Marco made his entire body ache with discomfort all over again!
He couldn't help but wonder: after enduring such a journey, even if he did catch up to Marco, would he still have any strength left to fight?
*****
Unlike the miserable Gajeel, Marco had a smooth and comfortable ride to his destination, after which he simply rented a carriage.
Though the transportation in this world wasn't particularly advanced, it still offered some convenience for travel.
The motion sickness issue for Dragon Slayers was indeed severe, making long-distance missions quite inconvenient.
Sitting in the carriage, Marco couldn't help but think of Laxus.
"Here we are, young sir."
Soon, the carriage brought Marco to the village entrance.
Hearing the coachman's words, Marco opened the door and stepped out.
"It's raining." Marco held out his hand as a light drizzle fell onto his palm.
"Didn't you know, young sir? The weather here has been overcast and rainy for the past few years. They say there's a rain woman here. Never seen her myself, but it feels like it might be true."
The coachman, who had already turned the carriage around, shared the local rumor with a smile.
Clearly, he treated it as nothing more than a tall tale—what kind of rain woman could keep the weather like this for years?
"A Rain Woman?" Marco frowned.
His first thought was magic, but it seemed too far-fetched.
What kind of extraordinary talent would it take to influence the weather for years?
Still, aside from magic, there weren't many other explanations for such a natural phenomenon.
It couldn't possibly be because they'd offended a Dragon, could it?
Not to mention, the Dragons of this world didn't seem to have any control over rainfall.
Marco strode into the village.
Whatever the reason, it confirmed his earlier suspicion—this village's ability to stand firm in such conditions meant there was definitely something unusual about it.
"Where did this kid come from? What's he doing here?"
As soon as Marco entered the village, he drew the attention of the villagers.
Strangers were always noticed when they arrived.
"Is the village chief here? I'm a mage from Fairy Tail, here for your request. Please, have the chief come to confirm the paperwork."
Looking at the wary villagers gathering around him, Marco spoke directly.
These villagers seemed to be living rather poorly and he had a hunch that collecting payment this time might be difficult—mainly because he'd feel bad taking it.
Of course, whether he accepted payment or not depended on the villagers' attitude. If they scraped together whatever they could to offer him, Marco wouldn't take it.
But if they outright tried to weasel out of paying, then sorry—Marco would insist on collecting.
He was the type who yielded to kindness but never to pressure.
"A mage from Fairy Tail? Fairy Tail actually took the request?! But why they send a kid?!"
After Marco's words, the villagers erupted into murmurs, their gazes filled with suspicion.
It was a look he hadn't seen in a long time—recently, he hadn't experienced this kind of reaction at all.
Strangely enough, he found it somewhat nostalgic.
Apparently, people in this remote backwater village still didn't recognize him!
But from another perspective, the fact that even folks in such a remote place knew to send a request to Fairy Tail for help proved just how well-known the guild was in the Kingdom of Fiore.
That reputation meant that, despite their confusion about why a kid had shown up, the villagers still sent someone to fetch the village chief.
Marco waited quietly, offering no explanation.
Instead, he silently observed the rain, sensing something off about it—though it didn't seem entirely magic-induced.
Feels like stepping into the Village Hidden in the Rain.
He chuckled inwardly, but the village chief didn't keep him waiting long.
Soon, a middle-aged man with a somewhat honest face arrived, his expression puzzled.
"Young man… you're a mage from Fairy Tail?" The village chief hesitated as he spoke.
Yes! This is exactly the reaction I wanted!
Marco smiled inwardly before introducing himself.
"That's right. Marco Dreyar, i'm the grandson of Fairy Tail's guild master."
The moment he dropped the 'grandson of the guild master' title, it had an immediate effect—adding at least a little credibility.
"The guild master's grandson? Then you must have some skill!"
Sure enough, the surrounding villagers began murmuring again and the chief's expression brightened slightly.
They had sent their quest to several guilds.
Logically, Phantom Lord should be the one answering it since it have been closer, so he didn't expect someone from Fairy Tail to take it.
"You sent it to multiple guilds? Is it urgent?" Marco was surprised.
Submitting quests to multiple guilds was allowed—after all, each submission required a fee, so the guilds wouldn't lose out.
And if a Mage arrived only to find the job already taken, the guild would provide compensation.
In short, under a well-established system, these things were minor issues.
"It is urgent. As you can see, our location is terrible—we're caught between a rock and a hard place, and right in the middle, there's also…"
The village chief sighed, looking exhausted.
Everyone in the village seemed worn down, as if tormented by something.
"Don't worry. Now that Fairy Tail is here, the problem will be solved." Marco reached out and patted the village chief's shoulders with an air of confidence.
"Then I'll leave it to you, young man."
Though doubts and worries still lingered in the chief's heart, Marco's confidence had swayed him, leading him to accept Marco taking charge of this mission.
"By the way, Chief, you mentioned being caught between a rock and a hard place earlier. What's in the middle? Does it have something to do with this strange rain? I've heard people talk about the legend of the rain woman. Is it... real?"
After settling the commission details, Marco couldn't help asking curiously.
He wasn't foolish—the chief's behavior made it clear this village had problems.
The rain woman legend probably wasn't baseless after all.
There might really be something to it!
"The Rain Woman... yes, it's the Rain Woman."
At Marco's question, the old chief sighed heavily.
That single response told Marco there was definitely a story here.
Looking around at the villagers, he saw expressions of disgust on every face.
"Fairy Tail Mage! Get rid of that rain woman too!"
Someone even shouted out, though few others joined in.
The village chief immediately scolded the loudmouth.
"At least take her away if nothing else! You mages must have a way, right?!"
As soon as one was scolded, another villager shouted.
This time more voices joined in, the villagers voicing their agreement.
Marco remained silent.
He'd roughly deduced that the villagers had accumulated much resentment toward this "Rain Woman," though not enough to demand her death.
Still, their desire to drive her away showed they'd reached their limit.
Honestly, Marco didn't find this too excessive.
He even felt some sympathy for the villagers—their patience in tolerating her this long before wanting her gone surpassed even Mira's village's endurance.
Of course, another possibility was that the 'Rain Woman' hadn't killed anyone, whereas the demon Mira had taken in might have.
Whether lives had been lost was a crucial dividing line.
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