Noah’s platinum-white cloak whipped wildly in the gale, snapping behind him with every surge of wind.
He kept his eyes fixed on the card high above, looking equally pleased with his Magic Item and the name he had finally come up with for its attack.
Magic power scattered throughout the atmosphere was being drawn toward the brilliant white light surrounding the card.
It gathered continuously, compressed tighter and tighter beyond what the naked eye could perceive, as though an enormous cannon were slowly being loaded with ammunition.
“What’s with this violent magic power?” Gray shouted over the wind.
“And that concentration…” Loke stared upward.
“It’s incredibly dense!”
Cana’s eyes remained locked on the glowing card.
“A single card can produce this much pressure?”
Gray swallowed.
“So this is what an S-Class Mage’s equipment can do…”
If the three Fairy Tail Mages were impressed, the villagers were practically beside themselves with excitement.
“Incredible! That Mage might actually be able to destroy the moon!”
“We’re counting on you! Please lift the curse from our island!”
Then, without warning, the wind stopped.
The magic power flowing through the surroundings became completely still, and the energy compressed inside the white light ceased contracting.
For one brief moment, everything was silent.
Then all of that accumulated power found an outlet.
Like a raging river finally bursting through a dam, the compressed magic converged into a single beam.
White light erupted from the card in the form of a massive cannon blast, nearly as thick as a barrel, and shot straight toward the purple moon overhead.
Judging from the sheer force behind it, the attack genuinely looked powerful enough to shatter the moon.
BOOM!
The beam struck the violet sky dead center.
Crack!
Crack!
The heavens fractured.
Spiderweb cracks spread across the purple surface before entire sections shattered apart, revealing the true sky hidden beyond the magical membrane—and with it, the beautiful silver-white moon.
Except for Noah and the three who already understood what was happening, everyone in the village stood frozen in disbelief.
“What… happened?”
Then the villagers’ memories began flooding back.
Oh.
Right.
They really were demons.
What kind of ridiculous misunderstanding had they been living under all these years?
Well, whatever.
Their memories were back, and that was what mattered.
Then another realization struck them.
If they had never actually been transformed into demons by a curse…
Didn’t that mean Bobo might still be alive too?
Bobo was the village chief’s son, the man the villagers had believed had completely succumbed to the “curse” before they supposedly killed him.
Their memories were still somewhat jumbled, but the important part was clear.
Everything had worked out.
Naturally, there was only one appropriate response.
A feast.
The villagers of Galuna Island were wonderfully straightforward people.
The celebration lasted an entire day and two nights.
Halfway through, Bobo himself returned to the island after having stayed away all this time, making the villagers even more ecstatic.
After eating, drinking, celebrating, and finally getting some proper rest, the exhaustion, hunger, and injuries accumulated during their clash with Lyon’s group had all but disappeared.
Loke and Cana had suffered only minor injuries.
Noah had come through completely untouched.
Gray had taken the worst beating by far, but he was young, healthy, and irritatingly resilient; by the next morning, he was already bouncing around as though nothing had happened.
So in truth, none of them had been particularly exhausted or badly injured.
Hungry, however?
That was another matter entirely.
The following day, the villagers handed over the promised reward, and Noah’s group departed Galuna Island amid enthusiastic farewells from their remarkably hospitable demonic clients.
Once their sailboat was well underway, Loke leaned against the railing and looked back toward the shrinking island.
“Exactly.”
Noah nodded solemnly while counting the money.
“Seven million Jewels, not a coin missing, plus the Gold Celestial Spirit Key. Truly wonderful clients. If every job came with people this generous, life would be so much easier.”
Cana immediately leaned over.
“Hey. Seventy thousand of that is mine, right?”
Noah looked up.
“Huh? Didn’t I tell you yesterday that none of you were getting paid?”
“You damn scam artist! What are you talking about? Gray, say something!”
Gray hesitated.
“Noah, actually, about the money…”
Noah looked at him.
“Hmm?”
Gray immediately wilted.
“…Never mind.”
Cana pointed accusingly at him.
“Gray’s different! He actually agreed to give up his reward. We never agreed to anything!”
“Exactly!” Loke added.
Noah stuck out his tongue.
“Bleh.”
Cana’s eyebrow twitched.
“You want to fight, is that it?”
In the end, the kindhearted and benevolent Noah still gave each of them seventy thousand Jewels, including Gray.
After all, they had been the ones actually risking their necks against Lyon and his people.
Noah sighed inwardly.
‘They’re my own little crops.
I should take good care of them.’
He would still need them to keep bringing him—
No.
Helping him earn money in the future.
With that settled, Noah began mentally reviewing everything he had gained from the trip.
Mission reward: seven million Jewels and one Gold Celestial Spirit Key.
Acquired.
Moon Drip incident: Gray and Lyon reconciled and finally moved past their old resentment.
Completed.
Entertainment: terrified everyone with an illusion of Deliora coming back to life.
Successful.
Material collection: secured a small quantity of lunar energy and successfully collected demon factor samples.
Excellent.
Card sales…
Noah’s expression darkened.
Still unsuccessful.
‘Damn it!’
This should have been a perfect mission, but Cana had somehow ruined the final step.
Noah glanced toward her.
‘No.
Absolutely not.’
He had come this close to perfection.
There was no way he was giving up before selling those cards.
Cana took another drink from her bottle, then suddenly shivered.
For some reason, she had the uncomfortable feeling that something was watching her.
…
While Noah and the others were finishing their business on Galuna Island and beginning their journey back to Fairy Tail, Erza had stopped to rest in a tavern in Onibus after completing her own job.
She had brought an enormous cart piled with luggage and planned to take only a short break before continuing on her way.
The tavern was noisy enough to make her uncomfortable, and before long, a particularly coarse voice rang across the room.
Erza turned.
Several rough-looking men were gathered around a table.
The one shouting had three long whisker-like markings on either side of his face and carried himself with the swagger of someone who badly wanted everyone around him to know he was trouble.
He shook his empty glass angrily at the waiter.
“What’s taking so damn long?!”
The waiter had clearly realized these men were dangerous and immediately bowed.
“I-I’m sorry…”
A thinner man beside the loud one sighed.
“Kageyama, calm down.”
“How am I supposed to calm down?!”
As he shouted, the drink the waiter was carrying suddenly rose from its glass by itself and flew through the air, pouring neatly into Kageyama’s cup.
The waiter jumped in fright.
Erza’s eyes narrowed.
Magic.
And anyone who used magic merely to intimidate ordinary people was unlikely to be decent company.
Kageyama took a drink before loudly continuing.
“We already found where Lullaby is hidden, but there’s still that damn seal! What the hell is with that thing?! We still haven’t managed to break it!”
The other men immediately snapped at him.
“Idiot! Keep your voice down!”
“You’re too loud…”
Kageyama could only grumble into his drink.
“Damn it…”
One of the men, whose hair was tied into a small bun and whose face carried a faint, artificial smile, finally spoke.
“Adding more people won’t help break the magical seal. I can handle the rest myself.”
He looked toward his companions.
“You two return to the guild. Give Mr. Erigor a message for me.”
His smile widened slightly.
“Tell him I’ll bring Lullaby back within three days.”
“Seriously? You found a way to break the seal?”
“Oh! As expected of Kageyama!”
Erza remained seated, but her attention had completely shifted toward their table.
‘Lullaby… Erigor…’
Those names sounded strangely familiar.
The men finished their drinks soon afterward and hurried out of the tavern.
…
BANG!
Fairy Tail’s front doors flew open beneath Noah’s kick.
“We’re back!”
Naturally, the first thing that greeted them was the familiar uproar of the guild hall.
“Oh! They’re back!”
“So? How was the S-Class job?”
“Was it tough?”
“Come on, how could it be? Those four are strong!”
Voices immediately rose from every direction as guild members crowded around the returning group, pretending to ask casual questions while making it painfully obvious that they wanted every detail of the mission.
Gray, Cana, and Loke exchanged subtle, pleased looks.
‘How childish.’
That was what all three of them thought about everyone else.
Outwardly, however, they immediately put on expressions that clearly said, An S-Class job?
Please.
It was nothing worth mentioning.
The performance worked perfectly.
Admiring voices rose all around them.
And just like that, their first S-Class adventure together came to an end.
End of Chapter 22