"Pick them up!"
Phoenix's voice was sharp and concise, an undeniable aura firmly enveloping everyone. Under this powerful presence, no one dared to speak. Although unwilling, the man tremblingly knelt on the ground and picked up the gold coins one by one.
"Here you go."
Taking all the gold coins the man had painfully retrieved, Phoenix grabbed the hand of the girl who had been looking at him with a strange expression from the start, placing the coins in her palm.
"It's better to rely on yourself than to beg others! Don't debase yourself again next time."
Phoenix's tone was much gentler, a stark contrast to his attitude towards the man.
"Big Brother, who are you, and why are you helping me?"
The girl blinked her big eyes, wondering why this strange Big Brother was so kind to her, even crushing that man's arm to get revenge for her and forcing him to pick up all the gold coins he had knocked down earlier.
"For no reason, except that I am a Mage of Fairy Tail!"
"Fairy Tail?"
"What!! Fairy Tail? You are a Mage of Fairy Tail?"
The man looked at Phoenix with a mix of anger and confusion.
"Why? Why would you, a Light Guild member, help a demon? Has your guild fallen?"
"Hmph!! Whether it has fallen or not is not for you to decide with a single word! How Fairy Tail conducts itself is none of your business!"
It wasn't Phoenix who retorted, but Mavis. Originally, Mavis thought Phoenix's actions were too ruthless and showed no mercy, and she was considering how to compensate him. But his thoughtless words instantly hit a nerve, and Mavis's anger exploded, her feelings of guilt towards the man completely forgotten.
"Hehe~"
Looking at the angry Mavis, Phoenix gave a wry smile and quickly stepped forward to calm her down. Finally, looking at the resentful man and the surrounding people who were staring at him with strange eyes, Phoenix held up one finger.
"First, I am a Mage of Fairy Tail, here to complete a mission. Whether someone is a demon is for me to judge, and whether someone is a demon is for me to defeat! All irrelevant people, shut up!"
Then, Phoenix held up a second finger.
"Second, although I'm using Fairy Tail's name, everything is my personal decision! If you want revenge out of resentment, then come at me! I am Phoenix the Undying, I imagine you will remember me."
With that, Phoenix ignored the stunned crowd and turned to the girl, saying, "Take me to your sister."
"Big Brother, are you really the legendary Phoenix? Will you hurt my sister?"
The girl asked, her face showing both surprise and worry.
"Is your sister a demon?" Phoenix asked back.
"Of course not." The girl denied it very decisively.
"If she's not, then why would I hurt her?"
"This..."
"If you don't want to continue being misunderstood by others, then take me there immediately."
Looking at Phoenix, who didn't seem to be joking and truly seemed to know something, especially remembering how he had offended the villagers for her sake, the girl nodded fiercely.
"Come with me, I'll take you there now."
The girl led the way, with Phoenix and Mavis following behind. It wasn't until the three of them disappeared that the surrounding crowd finally recovered from the explosive information they had just received.
"...Wow!! So he's Phoenix! I didn't expect him to be so young!"
"Yeah! I should have thought of it sooner. Blond hair, blue eyes, one boy and one girl, around thirteen years old. I completely forgot such obvious facts, I must be blind!"
"They say Phoenix has a very high mission completion rate. This demon incident will definitely be perfectly resolved."
"Yeah, yeah, it must be."
The crowd started discussing again after Phoenix left, and their topic of conversation naturally revolved around Phoenix. A person's reputation precedes them; no matter what Phoenix had done just now, they could only accept their fate. Especially the man who had been thoroughly taught a lesson by Phoenix, he kept his head down and remained silent. After all, Phoenix was a man even the army and the Council found troublesome to deal with; these villagers had no hope of seeking justice. Moreover, besides his numerous bad deeds of accumulating debts everywhere and destroying countless cultural relics and facilities, Phoenix had never really had any major conflicts with ordinary people.
Meanwhile, on Phoenix's side, on the way to the girl's house, the three exchanged names. Phoenix learned that the girl was Lisanna Strauss, eleven years old, and she lived with her thirteen-year-old sister Mirajane Strauss and twelve-year-old brother Elfman Strauss, relying on each other. Three days ago, Lisanna's sister Mirajane had bravely volunteered to deal with the church's demon incident. Lisanna and Elfman tried hard to dissuade her but to no avail. As a result, the church's demon disappeared, but Lisanna's sister became the embodiment of a demon. They were already having a hard time in the village as orphans, and now that Mirajane had become like this, they suffered even more bullying.
As Lisanna recounted her sister becoming a demon, she secretly glanced at Phoenix. When she saw that his eyes only showed a hint of surprise and no disgust or hatred, Lisanna finally truly relaxed. Along the way, she happily told Phoenix all the interesting things she knew. Phoenix listened attentively, interjecting a few words now and then, which made Lisanna even happier. Unbeknownst to her, her hands had somehow tightly gripped Phoenix's right hand. Although Phoenix noticed, he couldn't bear to say anything, seeing the bright smile on Lisanna's face. Mavis, on the other hand, glared at Phoenix with a dark expression, unconsciously muttering "lolicon," "lolicon," "lolicon" and so on.
"Who are you people? Let go of Lisanna!"
Just as the three were about to reach Lisanna's doorstep, a shadow "whoosh" flew in front of them. A girl with a very delicate face, wearing revealing purple clothes and white twin pigtails, instantly transformed into an angry demon.
"Ah, it's Sister!"
Seeing her sister arrive, Lisanna realized that she had been affectionately holding Phoenix's arm the whole time. Lisanna's face flushed, and she immediately let go of Phoenix and rushed towards her sister. Stopping Mirajane, who seemed about to take action, Lisanna quickly explained Phoenix's identity and emphasized how Phoenix had stood up for her.
While Lisanna and Mirajane were chattering incessantly, Mavis was also whispering to Phoenix.
"...There's no mistake, this must be Take Over Magic. To be able to subdue a demon without relying on others, her potential, no, her future achievements are limitless."
"So, you mean to 'kidnap' them all into the guild?"
"Don't put it so harshly, this isn't kidnapping at all!"
"Alright, alright, if you say so."
Phoenix quickly surrendered, but Mavis knew he hadn't changed his mind at all. It seemed that every time Mavis wanted to recruit someone, Phoenix saw it as 'kidnapping' their friends.
"Hey, you Turkey, Lisanna said you helped her, right? In that case, I won't teach you a lesson today. Go back where you came from!"
"..."
Phoenix and Mavis's attention was immediately drawn over. Lisanna's personality was as gentle as jade, so why was her sister's temper so explosive? It was fortunate that both of them valued inner qualities more than external appearances. Otherwise, if Laxus had been here, Mirajane's words would have been immediately followed by a Lightning Dragon's Roar landing on her head.
"Sister! That's so rude, how can you say that? I'm sorry, Big Brother, my sister is just like that, she doesn't mean any harm."
"Lisanna! I haven't even blamed you for going out to buy things on your own, and you're blaming me?"
"You can scold me later, but Big Brother really doesn't mean any harm."
"Hmph! You can know a person's face but not their heart, who knows what he's thinking? And when did you start calling him so intimately? You're not allowed to call him that!"
Mirajane still hadn't reverted from her demon form, standing in the middle of the road with her hands on her hips, blocking Phoenix and Mavis's path.
"Sister!"
Lisanna immediately became anxious. She never expected her sister to react so strongly.
"Elfman, come out here and take Lisanna back."
Mirajane yelled loudly. Then, from a simple house not far behind Mirajane, a sturdy young man with a standard student haircut, looking very honest and simple, walked out.
Elfman walked in front of Lisanna, his voice even weaker than Lisanna's, saying, "Come inside with me, Lisanna, or Sister will get angry again."
"Brother..."
It seemed Lisanna also knew her brother's temperament. The words she was about to say to refuse ultimately turned into a long sigh.