The light ball trembled slightly, then the voice sounded again: "I'm just feeling a little emotional. That child Wendy actually met Vitarnus's child, and even encountered Natsu so quickly."
A trace of complex light flashed in Igneel's vertical pupils, and his low dragon roar carried a certain reminiscence: "Vitarnus's child..."
"Yes, back then Vitarnus always came to us excitedly with his precious dragon eggs, proudly showing off the crystallization of him and his beloved dragon."
"Enough!"
Seemingly recalling something, Igneel turned his head away somewhat uncomfortably, his voice becoming rough and stiff.
"Don't mention these things in front of me! Scram back to where you should be! Before the real 'Dragon King Festival' arrives, neither you nor I should get involved in their affairs!"
---
Another year passed. On this day, Tike received a letter from Uncle Chill.
He had a good impression of this elder, so the two had maintained correspondence.
In the letter, Uncle Chill not only shared recent developments but also brought the good news of Siegrain's safe return home.
Just as the future Tike said, Siegrain was rescued by a passing wizard and was able to return home smoothly.
Tike wrote back to congratulate him and, at the end, asked Chill to inquire if Siegrain had seen any other children.
After putting down the pen, he clenched his fist, his dissatisfaction with his future self increasing a bit more.
(When I go back to the past, I must give myself at that time a precise deadline! No, I should rely on the power to teleport by sensing others' magic power at that time and rescue the person directly in advance!)
As for that key book Memory of Days Past, Tike found it in the guild library the day after returning to the guild.
After greeting Master Makarov, Tike successfully brought the book home.
As a result, the book quietly returned to its original place in the guild library the next day.
It happened like this for several consecutive days. After trying repeatedly without success, Tike had to give up, no longer obsessing over keeping it privately.
Since it would return to the library no matter what, there was no need to worry about losing it.
Tike stuffed the written reply into the canister on the ankle of the "Letter-Delivery Pigeon," watched it disappear into the sky, then lay back on the small bed, hands behind his head, gazing at the ceiling, thinking about what to do today.
Should he go bully Lucia, or find Kagura to play (crossed out) train together?
Just as he was racking his brains over this, someone knocked on the door.
"Brother Tike, it's me, Wendy. Can I come in?" Wendy's slightly tender voice came from outside the door.
"Come in, the door isn't locked," Tike responded.
While he sat up leisurely, the door was pushed open gently, and the blue-haired little girl's figure appeared at the doorway.
She hid her hands behind her back and asked somewhat nervously: "Brother Tike, are you free today?"
"Um, nothing arranged yet." Tike tilted his head slightly, sizing her up. "What's wrong? Want me to train with you?"
"I took a request to subjugate a magical beast..."
Wendy brought her hands hidden behind her back to the front—holding a guild request form.
"Grandpa Master asked me to find you, hoping you could take me along. He also said, although Brother Tike isn't old, he is already a capable wizard who can stand on his own."
"No problem."
Tike naturally wouldn't refuse. He reached out to take the request form from Wendy and quickly scanned the content.
"Oh? Subjugation type mission. Go to Sunflower Village to subjugate the Green Pepper Beast, reward 200,000 Jewels."
Among subjugation requests, those with rewards under one million and without rare magical items as additional rewards could only be considered the lowest tier, namely D-rank requests.
Above this were C-rank requests, with fees ranging from one million to two million. Further up, B-rank ranged from two million to five million.
Starting from A-rank, the difficulty multiplied, with fees up to ten million. As for those above ten million, they were S-rank requests only allowed for S-class wizards.
Tike could now complete B-rank requests alone, and when teamed up with Erza, he could also complete relatively simpler A-rank requests.
So in his view, Wendy alone was enough to handle this request, which was considered the lowest even among the D-rank tier.
However, since this was her first time taking a request requiring combat, it was safer for him to tag along.
"Go prepare outside first; I also need to change clothes."
"Mm!"
Wendy nodded vigorously, turned, and ran out briskly, even closing the door carefully.
Tike took off his indoor casual clothes and changed into his favorite set: solid-colored long-sleeved shirt and trousers inside, a waist wrap printed with the Fairy Tail guild emblem on the lower body, black boots on his feet, and finally a dashing black trench coat draped over.
After tidying up a bit in front of the mirror, the boy who covered himself somewhat tightly pushed the door open satisfied.
Arriving in the living room, Wendy carrying a small bag was already waiting there. She looked at Tike's outfit from head to toe, then at herself—short sleeves plus a short skirt, shoes also ordinary sandals—a question mark popping up in her small head.
(It's clearly summer now?)
Muttering in her heart, Wendy couldn't help asking with concern: "Brother Tike, aren't you hot wearing like this?"
"Not hot!"
---
"So hot... so dizzy..."
On the carriage to Sunflower Village, Tike's face was pale. Half his body leaned out the window, retching sounds coming from his throat, but he couldn't vomit anything, completely listless.
Wendy sat beside him, patting his back gently with her small hand, trying to help relieve his discomfort.
There was a magic in Sky Dragon Magic called "Troia" capable of regulating balance, which could alleviate Tike's motion sickness.
Initially, this magic was significantly effective on Tike, so much so that he dragged Wendy along every time he took transportation later, asking her to cast "Troia" on him.
Then finally one day, Troia became ineffective on him too.
Tike truly didn't expect that even Sky Dragon Magic would develop "drug resistance" similar to motion sickness medicine on him.
"No good... Alice, fly me for a while again..."
Tike reached out wanting to pick up the pink mechanical cat beside him and jump off the speeding carriage, but she refused with a troubled face.
"Just sustained flight for a long time just now, my energy hasn't recovered yet. Wait a bit longer."
"I can't take it anymore... how much longer..." Tike wailed, his voice carrying a crying tone.
The coachman in front answered loudly without looking back: "Soon, soon! At this speed, at most another half hour to Sunflower Village!"
"Ha... half an hour..."
Tike's vision went black, feeling the whole world spinning and collapsing.
"Stop the car!!" He used his last bit of strength to roar. "I want to get off! I'll run there myself!"
After shouting this sentence, the boy completely lost strength and slumped back onto the windowsill limply.
But the coachman had no intention of stopping. Instead, he cracked the whip fiercely, and the carriage accelerated abruptly.
"Looks like this little passenger's situation is quite urgent!" The coachman's voice revealed an inexplicable excitement. "Leave it to me! My unique driving method guarantees to cut the time in half!"
The coachman yanked the reins. The carriage cut into the curve at an inconceivable angle, the wheels almost speeding past the edge of the roadside drainage ditch!
His precious horses ate No. 86 pasture grass usually, possessing incredibly powerful braking performance!
Anyway, he was having a blast driving!
Poor Tike in the carriage. Under the increasingly violent shaking and centrifugal force, his head spun, and finally, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Before completely losing consciousness, only one last thought remained in his mind.
(Even if beaten to death next time, I won't hire this coachman!)