Chapter 259: Surveillance
"I just prepared a little extra, and it turned out to be useful."
Noah shook his head. A magic circle flashed in his eyes, and he located Gajeel's current position.
"You two, chase him out of Magnolia," he instructed Ultear and Sorano. "I'm worried that since he failed to attack the guild, he might go after the members. They have protections, but the fewer people who know about that, the better. I'll keep you updated on his location."
A keyboard and several screens made of light appeared in front of Noah. He typed rapidly, and a progress bar appeared in front of Ultear and Sorano.
"Fine," they sighed, rolling their eyes at his habitual modesty.
When the bar filled, Gajeel's location was downloaded directly into their minds. They turned and sprinted in that direction, disappearing into the shadows between the buildings.
Noah kept the Archive running, broadcasting Gajeel's location in real-time, while he turned to address the neighbors who had been woken by the commotion.
He explained that someone had attacked the guild but had already been driven off, so there was no need to worry. He assured them that he and other guild members would be staying at the hall to protect the neighborhood, so they could rest easy.
The neighbors, seeing the battle scars on the ground and knowing Fairy Tail's reputation for honesty—chaotic as they were, they never lied about their actions—believed him immediately.
"Who would attack Fairy Tail in the middle of the night? They must have a death wish."
"Good thing someone stopped them. If the rest of the guild saw this tomorrow, they'd go berserk."
The neighbors nodded in agreement. Fairy Tail was rowdy enough on a good day; seeing their home destroyed would likely trigger a rampage.
"But who was it, Noah? You stopped them, right? Did you see who it was? Not a Dark Guild, I hope?" one neighbor asked nervously. The thought of a Dark Guild made everyone shudder; those groups were a threat to ordinary people.
"I don't think so," Noah said carefully. "His arm turned into an iron club, and he had the mark of Phantom Lord on his right shoulder. It looked like their Iron Dragon Slayer."
"Phantom Lord? Ah, that makes sense."
"Yeah, they're always fighting with Fairy Tail. Attacking the guild isn't surprising for them."
"I said it looked like him," Noah emphasized. "I can't say for sure."
Without solid evidence, and knowing he couldn't wipe out Phantom Lord in one blow just yet, he stuck to being cautious. But the neighbors knew Noah. If he said it looked like him, it was almost certainly him. His lack of certainty was just his usual prudence.
Satisfied, the neighbors yawned, said their goodbyes, and shuffled back to their beds. Being woken up in the middle of the night was no fun.
After they left, Noah repaired the damage to the street and the furniture while continuing to update Ultear and Sorano on Gajeel's movements. It didn't take long to clean up the mess.
In Noah's senses, he could see Ultear and Sorano tracking Gajeel to the outskirts of Magnolia. Once he left the city limits, they stopped and waited until he was far away before heading back to the guild.
They returned shortly after.
"That guy didn't leave immediately. He was prowling around the city," Sorano said as soon as they walked in. "If I remember correctly, there are guild members living near where he was, right?"
"Yes," Noah confirmed, checking the Archive. "There are several members living in that area."
"That bastard! He couldn't hit the guild, so he was going to attack our friends?!" Sorano was furious.
"They want to provoke us into striking first," Ultear said calmly. "The best ways to do that are destroying the guild hall or hurting our members. If we lose our temper and attack them, their plan succeeds."
She understood Gajeel's logic, but that didn't make it any less despicable.
"Since they're definitely targeting our members, I'll monitor the area around Magnolia for the next few days," Noah said. He paused, then corrected himself. "No, I'll monitor the entire kingdom. It's safer."
He began typing on his light keyboard.
"Did I just hear something insane? Monitoring the entire kingdom?" Sorano looked at him like he was crazy. Ultear looked equally shocked.
"I've already tagged the magic signatures of Phantom Lord's strongest members," Noah explained, still typing. "With Archive's analysis, tracking them isn't hard."
"You're doing this with your own magic?" Ultear asked.
"Of course. It would be easier if I could tap into the Council's satellite network, but I don't have the clearance, and hacking them would be rude. I can handle it myself, so there's no need for the trouble."
"You really are a monster," Sorano muttered.
"I agree," Ultear nodded.
"I'm still far from strong enough," Noah said, shaking his head. "I'm just getting started."
Ultear and Sorano decided to stop talking to him. If he wasn't strong enough, what did that make them?
"Alright, let's see where they are."
A map of the Kingdom of Fiore and the surrounding countries appeared on Noah's screen. A white ripple spread out from Magnolia. Moments later, several red dots appeared on the map.
"These dots are the strong members of Phantom Lord?" Ultear asked, leaning over his shoulder.
"Yes. This large dot is Jose. The ones around him are the Element 4. Based on their location, they're at their guild headquarters. And this isolated dot... that's Gajeel. He's moving away from Magnolia, but he's not going far. Is he still thinking of attacking?"
"If you hadn't told us to act weak—to pretend it took both of us to drive him off—I would have crushed him right there!" Sorano fumed. "Ungrateful jerk!"
"Relax. We needed to avoid scaring them off completely," Ultear said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "But we can't keep this up forever. We can't monitor them indefinitely, right?"
"Actually," Noah said casually, "monitoring just these few targets takes almost no magic. My regeneration rate is higher than the cost. I could keep this up forever."
Sorano threw her hands up. "Monster. Confirmed."
Ultear just stared at him speechlessly.
"You're right, though. Defense isn't a long-term strategy," Noah continued. "But I estimate that if they don't succeed in a day or two, they'll try something else. They've already started moving. Jose isn't patient. There will be a new development soon."
"So they'll walk right into our trap?" Ultear asked.
"Yes. If I'm right."
"Alright then. I'm done for tonight," Sorano said, yawning. "I need sleep. Real sleep. I haven't slept well the last few nights."
Knowing they were safe now that the attack had happened, she felt the exhaustion hit her.
"Me too," Ultear said. "I'm going to bed. The monitoring will run automatically. It'll alert us if they get close to Magnolia."
Noah set the Archive to auto-monitor.
"Wait," Ultear paused. "Won't Jose detect this? He is a Wizard Saint."
"No. I've monitored him several times before. He's never noticed."
Ultear didn't even have a response to that. She just waved and went to her room. Sorano followed. Noah cleaned up, turned off the lights, and went to bed.
The next morning, a crowd of guild members was already waiting outside when Noah opened the doors.
"Did Phantom Lord attack last night?"
"I heard it was the Iron Dragon."
"Was the guild damaged?"
"You guys drove him off, right? Is he really that strong if he got away?"
Noah held up a hand. "Come inside. I'll explain everything once Gramps and the others are here. I don't want to say it twice."
They filed in, buzzing with questions.
Soon, Natsu burst in, Happy flying beside him. He charged straight for Noah.
"I heard the guild was attacked—!"
Noah grabbed his head and shoved him into a chair. "Calm down. Wait for Gramps. And with me and Ultear here, do you really think the guild suffered any damage?"
Natsu blinked, then relaxed. That was true. He trusted Noah and Ultear completely.
More members arrived, followed by Wendy and the girls, and finally, Lucy, escorted by Ultear and Sorano.
Finally, Makarov arrived, looking serious. He hopped onto the counter. Noah clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Early this morning, our guild was attacked."
The room erupted into noise. Noah snapped his fingers, silencing everyone instantly with a spell. "Listen first. Then talk."
The guild quieted down.
"Last night, the guild was attacked. We anticipated this, so Ultear, Sorano, and I were sleeping here. Ultear and Sorano intercepted the attacker and drove him out of Magnolia. The guild suffered no damage, other than some scratches on the floor outside.
"The attacker could turn his arm into an iron club and had a Phantom Lord mark on his shoulder. We suspect it was Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer."
Noah snapped his fingers again, lifting the silence spell. "Alright. Questions?"
~~~
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