Noah had searched the open sea for days, but still turned up nothing. With no new leads, he finally returned to the guild.
The moment he stepped inside, he was spotted by Yukino, who was chatting at a nearby table with Ultear and a few others. She immediately waved to him, and Noah made his way over. Her eyes lit with hope as she asked:
"Brother Noah, did you find my sister?"
Noah shook his head gently, his tone apologetic.
"I haven't found her. I searched the sea for several days... but there was no sign of her."
Yukino's face dimmed with disappointment, though it was clear she'd been bracing herself.
"It's okay. I'd already prepared myself for that. The Master told me you'd been searching nonstop, and… well, I figured it might turn out like this."
Noah looked at Yukino, who appeared no older than three but the weight of what she'd endured had clearly matured her beyond her years.
People do grow in times like these.
Ultear, standing beside her, reached out and pulled Yukino into a gentle hug, her voice soft and reassuring.
"Don't lose hope. If your sister was taken, it must be because she's needed somewhere. That means she's still alive… and you'll definitely meet again."
Yukino hugged Ultear back, wrapping her small arms around her waist. She buried her face into Ultear's chest, and a muffled voice came from her:
"But I still worry… about what kind of things she might be going through."
"I'll keep looking," Noah promised. "And I'll ask the others to help, too. What you need to do now is take care of yourself. That way, when your sister comes back, you'll be ready to welcome her with a smile."
He turned slightly.
"I'm heading to check in with the Dark Guilds now. Maybe they've heard something."
Yukino looked up, concern plain on her face.
"But… Brother Noah, won't you get too tired? You haven't even had a proper rest."
Even though she wanted her sister found, she didn't want Noah pushing himself to exhaustion.
Noah smiled lightly.
"It's nothing. I've pulled all-nighters studying before and still felt fine the next day. Compared to that, this was a breeze I even rested a little during the search."
Ultear folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"You mean that time we were all out on a mission, and Erza found you locked in the lab for three days straight? She had to break down the door, knock you unconscious, and drag you out."
She gave an exasperated sigh.
"Even if you looked perfectly healthy after, we were still worried sick. We had Porlyusica examine you."
Porlyusica's diagnosis had been blunt as always Noah's constitution was absurdly resilient, and he showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. She'd waved it off with a grumble: "Just ignore him."
But Ultear, Erza, and the others hadn't let it go so easily. They'd made Noah promise: no more skipping sleep, not even for research.
Noah had wanted to argue, but seeing the serious looks on their faces, he'd relented and agreed.
"This time, I slept fine," he added. "At night, I sent my thought projection out to search while I got some actual rest."
Ultear gave a small smile, and Erza nodded in approval.
"That's how it should be, Noah. You need to look after yourself, too."
Noah glanced over at Erza. Since she'd started going on more solo jobs, she'd grown more confident. It suited her.
"Alright then. I'll report to Master Makarov first… then I'll head out and check in with the Dark Guilds."
"Brother Noah, be careful… and thank you."
Yukino looked up at him with worried eyes. Noah gave her a reassuring smile, turned, and waved without looking back.
"I will."
He made his way to where Master Makarov was sitting. The old man took a casual sip from his cup. One glance, and Noah could tell it was the herbal wine he'd brewed himself. He didn't comment just got to the point.
"Grandpa, do you have any recent leads on the Dark Guilds?"
Makarov exhaled, leaning back with a thoughtful look.
"You just took one down not long ago. I doubt there's been much movement since then."
Noah shook his head slightly.
"Dark Guilds are like weeds. If you stop watching even for a moment, they sprout right back up. I'm hoping to find a lead on the Black Magic Cult… I'll ask around with my contacts in the Magic Council too."
"Alright. Let's both do some digging, then."
With that, the two split off to contact their respective sources.
Noah reached out to an old ally the captain of the Council's Enforcement Division. They'd worked together several times in the past, especially during operations targeting the Black Magic Cult. Since then, the captain had gone on to lead multiple raids against various Dark Guilds. They'd stayed in touch.
Noah had learned during one of their conversations that the captain's name was Harris. He had a son named Rahal, whom he was incredibly proud of. The man could go on for hours about his boy without taking a breath.
When Noah asked if there'd been any recent activity from the Dark Guilds, Harris didn't hesitate. Seeing it was Noah, he lowered his voice and passed on a few suspected locations.
"These are just spots the Council's flagged. Nothing confirmed yet, so don't go saying you heard it from me."
"Appreciate it. If it turns out to be a Dark Guild, I'll leave the cleanup to you."
Harris gave a short laugh. That was exactly why he'd shared the intel he knew Noah would be the one to handle the dirty work.
Not long after Noah ended the call, Makarov came back with intel of his own. The two compared notes, marking off several locations with a higher likelihood of being connected to Dark Guild activity.
With the information sorted, Noah said his goodbyes to Makarov, Yukino, and the others. Then he used instant teleportation magic to travel to the most promising of the sites.
The moment he arrived, he could feel it that thick, rancid magical presence clinging to the air like a moldy curtain. One whiff of that kind of energy, and he already knew the people behind it weren't on the side of justice.
"Fairy Law!"
The moment he confirmed the target was indeed a Dark Guild, Noah unleashed his powerful super magic. In the blink of an eye, everyone inside was wiped out.
Well almost everyone.
He had made sure to control the force of the spell. One person, seriously injured but still conscious, was left behind to answer questions.
Noah walked in calmly, dragging the bodies outside one by one using gravity magic. The entire process took only moments.
Of course, he didn't forget to seize every last supply the guild had stockpiled.
Afterwards, he combed through the documents they'd hoarded, flipping page after page at lightning speed. But there was nothing no mention at all of the Black Magic Cult.
They began interrogating the captured members of the Dark Guild, but it didn't take long for Noah to realize none of them knew anything about the Black Magic Cult.
Disappointing, but not surprising.
Using the intel he'd just gathered from the guild's documents along with what he'd extracted through questioning, Noah made a quick judgment. The truly vile ones those responsible for dark magic trafficking, curses, and worse he executed on the spot.
The rest, minor thieves and petty criminals, he simply knocked unconscious.
Once the area was secured, he contacted Harris to take over.
The moment Harris received the message, he rushed to the scene with his men, practically bouncing with excitement. He'd been expecting Noah to call eventually, but not this soon.
The smile on Harris's face didn't fade for a second once he saw Noah waiting for him.
Without wasting any time, he began barking orders to his squad, having them arrest the surviving guild members and tend to the wounded. It was clear he'd done this sort of cleanup many times before.
As for the mysteriously missing supplies and valuables? Harris chose not to mention it.
After all those weren't his. No paperwork, no problem.
The priority here was the bodies lying on the ground. Every one of them was a mark in the win column. These captures meant official credit, promotions, and raises down the line.
So why question anything?
Once Noah had officially handed the scene over, he nodded farewell to Harris and teleported to the next potential location.
In the days that followed, he investigated several sites, destroying two more Dark Guilds along the way. Harris was starting to run out of officers to keep up.
But finally, Noah uncovered something useful.
From the remnants of the last guild's archives, he discovered a new lead: a record indicating that members of the Black Magic Cult had been selling captured children to unknown buyers and the Dark Guilds were being used to transport them.
One name stood out from the documents.
The recipient of those children… was someone named Brian.
....
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