On a desolate ice plain lay a ruined hamlet, buildings shattered, drifts burying what remained.
A man sat before a lone grave.
"Silver-sama, headquarters orders your return." A lizardman approached.
Silver growled, "Can't even mourn in peace?"
The lizardman trembled. "A… a summons for all Nine Demon Gates. Please comply, Ice-Devil Slayer Silver…"
"Quit shaking. I only consume the souls of demons, not lizards."
—
Succubus Eye guildhall.
Minerva returned to report her failure. Facing Takeshi, defeat was inevitable.
Yet the hall stood empty, scarred as if raided.
"W-what happened? Everyone's gone…"
She noticed paper-thin human silhouettes on the floor.
"What are—"
"People, of course." a voice said behind her.
"People?!" Minerva flinched.
"My magic strengthens the worthy. The weak become… that." The woman said.
"Who are you?!"
Minerva whirled.
Before her stood a demoness.
"I am Kyoka of the Nine Demon Gates, Tartaros."
"Tartaros?!"
Minerva paled, the most secretive Dark Guild stood before her.
"We're your subordinate guild, why attack us?!"
Kyoka smiled. "A grand campaign looms, the master told me to gather worthy troops. I cull the rest."
Minerva was confused. "Slaughtering potential soldiers? Foolish."
"Let's see if you're worth keeping." Kyoka's magic flared.
Minerva screamed, "Stop! Don't!"
—
Next noon, Takeshi's team reached Warrod's cottage and debriefed him.
"Hahaha! I knew I could count on you. Well done!" Warrod clapped.
"Of course. The job was a breeze." Natsu boasted, proud to have played a key role.
"Yep, way easier than our last S-Class Quest." Lucy agreed, though she knew without Takeshi, they'd have failed.
"Aye! Even if I didn't do much!" Happy raised a paw.
Takeshi ruffled his feathers. "Nothing this time, but maybe next time."
"Aye!" Happy beamed at Takeshi's encouragement.
"Finding out this involves Tartaros really gave me a scare. Let's hope they don't come after us."
Lucy had no wish to tangle with another Dark Guild. Two of the Balam Alliance had already been crushed by Fairy Tail, and now a third had appeared. Why did every terrifying Dark Guild cross Fairy Tail's path?
"Mm, we'll leave that matter to the Council. For now, it's time to pay you for the job."
"Payment!!!"
Natsu, Happy, and Lucy's eyes all lit up. The mission had been simple, but it was still an S-Class Quest, the reward ought to be at least ten million.
A few million each—enough to live like kings.
Takeshi was in good spirits too. Money no longer obsessed him. The Quest itself mattered most, yet who ever complained about a fuller purse?
"Here."
Warrod held out a potato to the group.
"You're… giving us this?"
"Grown in my own field, that is."
"…"
"Just kidding."
"Hey!"
"Actually bought it from the next village."
"I don't care where it's from! Pay up!"
Everyone bristled. After finishing a job, they expected cash.
"Doesn't matter if you're fourth of the Ten Wizard Saints, old man. Nobody cheats me." Takeshi growled the threat.
"Fine! Fine! Here!"
Warrod promptly complied. He'd watched the Grand Magic Games—Takeshi might be young, but he was a bona-fide monster. If it came to blows, his old bones wouldn't last a second.
Under pressure, Warrod paid up: one million Jewels, haggled down because of his age and the fact the job had helped strangers.
"Waaah… my dream of getting rich is ruined!"
Lucy had hoped to score big with Takeshi, only to receive this pittance—better than her usual jobs, yet far below her expectations.
—
In the evening, the group went to a hot spring.
Takeshi, Natsu, and Happy leapt straight in.
Lucy peeked from behind a boulder. "Don't you dare peek, any of you!"
Happy said, "I'm a cat."
Natsu casually said, "We've seen you naked plenty already."
Takeshi nodded. "Yeah, not on purpose, but there's no novelty left."
"Pervert!"
Lucy trembled with rage. Wardrobe malfunctions at guild banquets and beach trips were never her idea.
Splash!
A tree—no, a person, burst from the water.
"Eek!" Lucy shrieked.
Takeshi and Natsu thought she'd spotted a snake but they looked up to find Warrod.
Takeshi asked, "When did you get here?"
Warrod chuckled. "Ages ago. Youth is wonderful, hahaha!"
Lucy hugged herself and yelled, "Go over there!"
Warrod smiled. "Heh-heh, comrades are a fine thing."
Lucy shot back, "Don't change the subject and you're not our comrade!"
"Oh? Haven't I mentioned? I'm one of Fairy Tail's founding members, alongside Mavis, your senior of seniors."
Warrod raised his left arm, bearing the Fairy Tail crest.
"That's…"
"The Fairy Tail emblem?!"
"This joke-cracking geezer is in Fairy Tail?"
Natsu and the others stared, stunned.
Takeshi blinked, then remembered.
Right, that was a thing.
He asked, "So that's why you requested me for the job?"
Warrod nodded. "Partly. Mainly I believed you could do it and I wanted to meet you."
"Meet me?" Takeshi was puzzled.
What was so special about him?
"Don't sell yourself short. You're Fairy Tail's and Ishgar's future. I had to see how you've grown." Warrod turned serious.
Times had changed. The world looked calm yet teetered on the brink, its peace merely the quiet before the storm.
Most people, even national leaders, had no inkling of Ishgar's peril, but those at the pinnacle of Ishgar's Magic World knew.
Zeref, Tartaros, Alvarez Empire, Acnologia—any could bring catastrophe.
One misstep and the continent could be lost.
Ishgar needed mighty guardians and Takeshi was their hope.
"Ishgar's future?"
Natsu and the others looked at Warrod, baffled.
"Just kidding. Hahaha!" Warrod slapped the water.
Splash!
Talking with the old man was exhausting.
"Still, meeting you young fairies makes me happy."
"The 'harmony' Mavis preached, those soul-bonds thicker than blood, still lives in you. It's not measured by mission success. I feel it the moment I see you."
"Mavis said 'comrade' isn't just a word. It's a feeling, someone you trust without condition."
"Let me be your strength. One day I may need yours. In pain or sorrow, I'll stand by you, you're never alone. Count the stars that shine, each one is hope. Feel the breeze, it's tomorrow brushing your cheek. Come, step to the beat of the fairies' song…"
Listening, each of them felt the truth: Fairy Tail was exactly that, poetic or not.
Lucy gazed at the star-filled sky. "Words from Fairy Tail's founder… truly moving."
Takeshi felt this deeply. Having transmigrated alone to this world, despite his familiarity with it, he didn't know what he would be like now if he weren't in Fairy Tail but in a strange guild.
Whether a person is happy or not is not because of power, but comes from the heart. If the heart is in chaos, the person will also follow into disorder.
Good and evil are just a thought apart. Although everyone in the guild didn't give him much help in terms of power, as long as he returns to Fairy Tail, he has a feeling of coming home.