"I'll visit your parents often," the village chief continued, causing Juvia's eyes to well up with tears as she looked at him.
"Go. It's for the best," the chief went on.
He didn't want to see the day when Juvia would be driven out by the villagers, but that seemed unavoidable now.
So it would be better for Juvia to follow Marco to Fairy Tail now.
Other guilds might be one thing, but this was Fairy Tail!
Its reputation spoke for itself!
Marco suddenly understood—no wonder Juvia had hesitated.
Her parents' graves were here.
The chief had mentioned earlier that the girl had become like this after her parents passed away.
Honestly, there were quite a few orphans children in the guild.
"Marco-sama, I'm willing to go with you," Juvia said, finally making her decision as she looked at Marco.
Deep down, Juvia understood.
Everyone wanted her to leave the village.
Though the chief had tried his best to protect her, as the village leader, he couldn't always be stationed outside her home.
There would be times when he couldn't look after her.
The villagers' growing resentment and disgust were visible in Juvia's daily life.
If not for having nowhere else to go, if not for her parents' graves being here, she wouldn't have wanted to stay and burden the village any longer.
Of course, the crux of the problem was that in her current state, she'd be a nuisance wherever she go.
The only solution might be to hide alone in the deep mountains, but she lacked the courage for that.
The reason Mira's family dared to leave was, first, because they truly couldn't stay in the village anymore—the villagers were about to explode at them.
Second, the three siblings could support each other and Mira's Demon Hand gave them some combat capability.
Mira's family situation was different from Juvia's.
Looking at the girl before him, Marco couldn't help but sympathize.
If he didn't come, her future would likely have been bleak.
Well, that wasn't certain—if another guild had taken the quest, Juvia might have been taken elsewhere.
"No need for 'Sama' I'm not much older than you. Just call me Marco" Marco said with a smile, correcting her form of address.
"Alright... Marco" Juvia timidly corrected herself.
She lacked confidence, constantly trapped in a state of self-loathing.
After deciding to leave with Marco, fear crept into Juvia's heart—fear for the unknown future.
"Don't be nervous, Juvia. Everyone in the guild is wonderful. Fairy Tail is a warm family—we're all like siblings. You'll adjust quickly," Marco reassured her, sensing her fear.
He told her about the guild's children—aside from ice magic users, there were fire users, armor users, and even those who could transform into demons.
"Demons?" The term immediately caught Juvia's attention.
Overcoming her fear slightly, she asked with a hint of curiosity.
Demons, in the common perception of people in this world, are synonymous with disaster—utterly evil and terrifying creatures.
Thus, upon hearing that there was actually a demon in Fairy Tail, Juvia naturally felt curious and astonished, to the point where all other magic seemed quite ordinary in comparison.
"Yes, a demon. That girl shares a similar fate as you, though her family had it even worse—they were outright driven out by the villagers."
Marco nodded, recounting the strauss siblings ordeal, which immediately resonated with Juvia.
So she wasn't the only one suffering like this.
She knew she wasn't far from being driven out by the villagers herself, just like Mira.
What people need most is to find resonance and validation.
Upon learning of Mira's experience, Juvia's emotions stabilized and her anticipation for Fairy Tail grew.
The fear of the unknown future gradually began to fade.
This shift in mood manifested concretely in the rain outside—it was transitioning from a steady drizzle to just the occasional drop.
This girl emotions were truly easy to read.
"I need to go complete the village chief's quest first, Juvia. Just wait here for me. Once I return, I'll take you away."
Seeing that Juvia's emotions had gradually settled, Marco prepared to leave with peace of mind.
The quest still needed to be done.
Now, he had come to understand one thing: this village's peaceful existence here was undoubtedly due to the Juvia.
Whether it was the bandits in the woods or the magical beasts, they would all tremble at the sight of this village's condition.
This was magic that directly influenced the weather.
Anyone who didn't understand the situation would be intimidated, especially the less intelligent magical beasts, who wouldn't dare take a single step closer to the village.
As for those bandits, whenever they approached, the rain in the village would fall like knives.
If they didn't flee, they'd likely be pummeled to death by the rain.
If these two threats weren't dealt with before Juvia left, next time she return here might be to bury the entire village.
"Mm, I'll wait here for you Marco." Juvia nodded earnestly.
She would obediently stay at home.
With everything arranged here, Marco left with the village chief.
The old chief gave Marco a rough idea of the bandits' camp location, though of course, he didn't know the exact spot.
The same went for the magical beasts' lair—Marco would have to find them himself.
Though the information was pitifully scarce, Marco understood.
Expecting these villagers to gather much intel was asking too much.
*****
Marco ventured into the mountainous forest.
Though the Kingdom of Fiore had a population of over twenty million, its land area was vast, with many sparsely populated regions and plenty of undeveloped wilderness.
Such was the state of its lopsided technological and infrastructural development.
These vast, untamed forests provided excellent hiding spots for bandits—even Dark Guilds.
Ordinary people wouldn't dare wander into these wild forest, as the beasts and magical beasts alone were enough to give them a hard time.
However, Marco had grown quite experienced in navigating such places.
He was well on his way to becoming a master of wilderness survival.
Ever since he was allowed to take on more challenging missions, Marco had mostly been accepting tasks involving combat—either bandit extermination or hunting magical beasts.
To complete these missions, he naturally had to venture into various forests every day, requiring highly reliable tracking skills.
Given this, it's quite credible that Marco could write The Great Detective Holmes.
His daily missions involved tracking bandits and magical beasts through forests using various clues, showcasing an insight somewhat reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes.
...
'Detective Marco' found his mission target within just two days of entering the forest.
"Sure enough, it's organized by Mages again."
Casually dismantling a crude warning magic circle, Marco shook his head.
There were quite a few Mages who refused to abide by the Magic Council's regulations.
These individuals considered themselves superior, believing the current status of Mages didn't meet their expectations, and thus turned to banditry to assert dominance.
The status of Mages was already unparalleled—even secular laws couldn't touch them.
But these people wanted complete supremacy over ordinary humans, not the current harmony.
They sought to reduce ordinary humans to slaves.
"BOOM!"
Marco kicked the wooden gate of the camp into splinters.
Inside, the bandits had already assembled, as Marco hadn't bothered to conceal his arrival—he'd triggered the warning magic outright.
"A kid?"
The bandits were stunned at the sight of Marco.
Seeing Marco's youthful face, the bandits immediately relaxed and laughing arrogantly.
"Ha, this is the stuff!"
Watching this scene, Marco couldn't help but laugh.
After being constantly praised lately, it almost felt like the whole world knew his name.
Feeling underestimated by a bunch of small fries again gave him a nostalgic thrill.
"Let's fight! Watch me beat you all to your knees!"
Marco grinned, assuming his stance and unleashing a move—
"Pegasus Meteor Fist."
Countless fist shadows surged forth like a stampede of ten thousand horses.
[Pegasus Meteor Fist · Intermediate, Proficiency: 121/1000]
The system notification popped up—his proficiency had increased by one point.
With this punch, countless fist shadows erupted amid a burst of magical power.
The momentum of ten thousand charging horses was no joke—it truly unleashed magic power like a stampede.
The bandits were strewn across the ground, none were able to move.
The Mage leaders among them knelt helplessly, utterly overwhelmed.
Marco had cleared the entire camp in one move, as if it had been trampled by ten thousand horses.
The intermediate-level Pegasus Meteor Fist was indeed much stronger, but the upgrade difficulty had also increased—this attack had only raised his proficiency by one point.
In other words, he'd need to wipe out at least eight or nine hundred more bandit camps to level up.
Actually, that wasn't quite right—the later stages would grow even harder.
He might need to destroy thousands of bandit camps.
"Guess I'll have to find stronger opponents." Marco sighed.
The experience gain from these bandit camps was becoming too low—a single powerful magical beast would be more efficient.
--------------------------------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator