In X776, in the world of Earthland, on Ishgar’s eastern continent, in the Kingdom of Fiore, in Magnolia Town.
Today, Magnolia Town was especially lively.
“Alert! Alert! Gildarts is back!”
“Gildarts Mode! Activate!”
Gildarts Clive was the strongest mage in Magnolia Town’s only magic guild, Fairy Tail.
Known throughout the magical world for his mastery of the super-high-tier destructive magic known as Crush Magic, Gildarts was occasionally absent-minded by nature and would always, intentionally or not, destroy the buildings around him.
Because of this, Magnolia Town had specially remodeled the town’s main street for him, so that when Gildarts returned, he could head straight to the guild, preventing him from wandering through the streets and laying waste to the city.
But this time, Gildarts returned without “having an episode.” He did not even get around to wrecking his own guild; he went straight through the front door and back into Fairy Tail.
This could only mean one thing: Gildarts was in serious mode—he had no time to be absent-minded.
Today, the lone ranger Gildarts had not come back alone.
He had also brought back a little boy.
Fairy Tail Guild, second floor.
A short “little old man” was sitting on the railing.
He was none other than Makarov Dreyar, the guild master of Fairy Tail and one of Ishgar’s Ten Wizard Saints.
Makarov pulled his gaze back from the little boy downstairs and turned to look at the guild’s current “pillar of support”:
“Gildarts, if what you’ve said is true, this is no small matter. Do you have conclusive evidence?”
Gildarts nodded, his expression serious:
“I’m certain they were the Dark Mage Cult. They’re rounding up civilians everywhere and secretly enslaving them to work on construction projects… I saw it with my own eyes. There’s no mistake.”
After hearing Gildarts’s description, Makarov’s face turned gloomy:
“…The R System? That legendary resurrection magic? Hiss—this is very serious. We must have the Council stop them immediately…”
Makarov jumped down from the railing and, with a hint of relief and considerable emotion, patted Gildarts on the knee:
“You did well, Gildarts. I knew I hadn’t misjudged you. It looks as though our candidate for the guild’s fourth master—”
“Cough, cough, old man, I’m still young. I want to live free and easy for a few more years. You’re only eighty—you’re at the perfect age to keep striving!”
Gildarts waved his hands repeatedly, politely declining the old guild master’s kindness.
“You brat… The only S-Class mage our guild can still put forward is you. If you won’t do it, who else can succeed me? That bastard Ivan?!”
“I think Laxus would do nicely.”
“That boy still has a long way to go!”
Makarov was so exasperated that he laughed.
He shook his head helplessly and temporarily set the matter aside:
“What’s the story with that child you brought back? Yet another one of your illegitimate sons?”
“Of course not! Wait, what do you mean, ‘another’?”
Gildarts denied it loudly, instinctively glanced downstairs, scratched his head, and sighed:
“Aibo’s family was brutally killed while resisting the Dark Mage Cult, and then the child awakened his magic under intense trauma.
I followed the trail of the child’s magic to find him, and that’s how I discovered this whole matter…
“The child hasn’t been doing well since then, and he had no one to rely on and nowhere to go, so he said he wanted to come with me… I saw that he had good talent, so I simply brought him back to the guild.”
“I see… Another pitiful child…”
Makarov sighed:
“Then let him stay.
From now on, the guild will be his home…
“Ah, right, what magic did this child awaken? His magic power is extraordinary—it already rivals that of some adult mages.”
“Telepathy Magic.”
“Telepathy Magic? Uh, that’s a little unfortunate, but his aptitude is excellent, and with that much magic power, he’ll make something of himself no matter what magic he learns…”
“Emmmm…that’s true,”
Gildarts nodded with a complicated expression:
“This child had only just awakened his magic and already sent me a distress call from more than ten kilometers away.”
“Oh, oh, how impressive…”
Makarov nodded at first, then suddenly widened his eyes in shock:
“Wait?! H-how many? How many kilometers did you say?”
Gildarts tilted his head back and thought:
“I didn’t calculate it precisely, but it definitely exceeded ten kilometers. It took me quite a while to get there. This child is extraordinarily gifted at Telepathy Magic.”
“Even ten kilometers would be outrageous! Normally, Telepathy Magic only works over a range of about five kilometers. How old is he?”
“Uh, five or six, maybe? I didn’t ask, hahaha.”
“Hiss—”
Makarov’s eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face:
“Good, good. He’s a fine seedling. He might become a pillar of the guild in the future. All right, I need to make a trip to a Council branch office. Gildarts, I’ll leave the guild in your hands for the next few days!”
“Huh? Old man, I won’t be at the guild for long…”
“Enough! It’s decided!”
At the same time, a loud, private discussion was taking place on the guild’s second floor…
Downstairs, the little boy Gildarts had brought back to the guild stood off to one side, looking “blank.”
Aibo had striking pale cherry-pink hair cropped short.
His features were delicate, and he was exceptionally cute.
But now his eyes were vacant and unfocused, and he looked utterly dazed.
He seemed a little…
blank.
—Aibo was a transmigrator, and his current circumstances were less than ideal.
A few days ago, Aibo had watched the old village chief who had adopted him die right before his eyes, and the intense mental shock awakened the “memories” of his previous life.
At the time, he had just been beaten up and captured by a group of strangely dressed cultists, and his circumstances were extremely perilous.
Fortunately, at the edge of despair, his dormant power awakened.
Using the Telepathy Magic he had awakened, Aibo sent a distress call into the distance.
Then his great benefactor, Gildarts, descended from the heavens like a god and, with his overwhelming strength, wiped out all the cultists in one sweep.
Although luck had carried him through this life-or-death crisis without him ending up in a box, Aibo still couldn’t relax.
The magic he had awakened seemed a little too powerful, and he could not properly control this newly acquired ability.
Gildarts told him that the magic he had awakened was called Telepathy Magic, which allowed him to communicate with people through thought.
It was a useful ability.
Aibo could transmit a distress signal more than ten thousand meters away, but at the same time…
the magic also passively received information.
Its effect was astonishing, and it could not be switched off.
And that was how Aibo came to suffer.
People can keep themselves from speaking, but it is very difficult to keep themselves from thinking.
The moment they think, their thoughts become inner voices, and Aibo could hear the inner voices within a radius of nearly a hundred meters.
Moreover, inner voices were unlike ordinary sounds: the more intense the emotional fluctuation, the louder the inner voice.
When he had been camping in the wilderness with Gildarts before, it had been tolerable—he could endure listening to one lecherous old man’s fantasies.
But ever since he entered the town, especially after walking into this guild called Fairy Tail…
Aibo felt as though his head were about to explode, and his head was swimming.
Countless “voices” flooded into his mind.
He did not know how to shut off his own mind, nor could he block them by doing something like covering his ears.
The more attention he paid to them, the clearer the voices became.
At present, Aibo had only two ways to ease this torment—
1.
Empty his mind and think about nothing.
2.
Fill his mind and concentrate intently on one thing.
Whichever method he used, outwardly it made him look completely blank.
Gildarts assumed that Aibo had yet to emerge from the grief of losing his family and made several awkward attempts to show his concern, leaving both of them embarrassed.
And now, just as Aibo’s mind was wandering (as he seriously spaced out), two small figures approached and gathered around him.
The inner voices gradually grew clearer—
[That’s the child Dad brought back… That hair color… C-could he be… my little brother?]
[Cana’s such a pain. Why did she drag me over here? I’m not interested in little brats.]
Aibo turned toward the source of the “voices.”
Coming up to him were two children, a boy and a girl, both about ten years old.
The boy had black hair sticking up like a hedgehog, was bare-chested, and had the Fairy Tail emblem emblazoned across his chest.
He frowned slightly, an air of impatience on his face.
The girl’s hair fell to her shoulders, and she wore a light, midriff-baring top.
The guild emblem was stamped on one side of her lower abdomen, and a complicated gleam flickered in her eyes.
“Hello. I’m Cana.”
“…I’m Gray.”
“Welcome to Fairy Tail.”