The village that was described in the quest was quite far from Magnolia, so even though Akira mostly travelled by train, it still took a whole day to arrive at his destination. So when Akira finally saw the entrance to the village, it was already nearing dark.
'Hmm, should I enter this village silently and investigate this place first? ' Akira thought to himself as he looked at the gloomy village. Even though he isn't one to judge based on appearance, but even he could tell that this village has a big problem. village,
After thinking for more than 10 seconds, he stepped forward towards the village, wrapping himself in his illusion magic. And so Akira walked through the village in a brazen manner, like he owned this whole village.
Since it was already getting dark, the villagers were starting to pack up and head home to get a good night's sleep. So, without much traffic, Akira walked all around this village, observing it carefully.
After a round of observation, he found that this village didn't seem to suffer much, even though this whole place has that gloomy vibe. There is no demonic or dark magic used to harvest negative emotions or any other tricks that demons usually use to torment their prey. In fact, other than the fact that this village is just a bit gloomy, there is basically nothing special here.
'Should I just go to the church and see the situation there? 'Akira thought about it and decided to go take a check.
If the villagers don't have any anomalies, then the church should be the main cause of the gloomy atmosphere. Akira refused to believe this village was simply gloomy when it was established.
The church of this village is situated west of the village near the woods. On the way, Akira saw many tombstones placed on both sides of the road. This should be the cemetery where the villagers bury their deceased family members.
As Akira walked by, his steps suddenly paused. His eyes looked at a certain tombstone that seemed to be newly placed. He then walked towards the tombstone and knelt down and touched it.
"Here lie two people, forever in our hearts,
Valerie Strauss and Augustus Strauss," Akira muttered as his fingertips traced through the words.
Although he didn't recognize the two people who were buried underneath, he still recognized the familiar family name.
"Strauss, huh? This should be the parents of Strauss's siblings. " Akira muttered as he cleaned the dust on the tombstone.
Akira then took a bouquet of flowers from his storage ring and placed it on the ground. He then made a small prayer and stood up. Then, without any other moves, he began to walk back towards the church.
When he finally came near the church, his feet once again paused. 'Wasn't this church supposed to be deserted? 'Akira thought as he narrowed his eyes. With his dragonic senses, he could smell the scent of people inside the church. But wasn't it said that this church is haunted by a devil?
Curious, Akira opened the church door without making much noise and stuck his head inside to see what was going on.
….
Inside the church, there are three children with white hair huddling together. These three children all wore standard village attire, which meant that these three children were from the village. And with the similar hair color and faces, one could tell that these three were either siblings or close family.
And Akira, seeing these three children, was stunned. As a fan of Fairy Tail, he naturally recognizes them. Hey, these three children. Especially the tsundere eldest sister, who is like a cat that is fierce on the outside but soft on the inside.
"Hey, you guys don't need to get so worked up; I'm not a bad guy." Akira said as he smiled gently. Unfortunately, a boy with a devil mask and wearing a black cloak didn't have a positive effect.
"You devil, don't come near us. I will have you know that I'm super strong," Mirajane said as she protected her two siblings.
And hearing Mirajane's words, Akira's expression froze. His smile began to become forced. For a moment, he really wanted to turn around and run away from this embarrassment.
But remembering the mission and knowing how amazing Mirajane would be in the future, Akira decided to ignore this shame and stay here.
'Hehe, Mirajane, just you wait; when you finally join Fairy Tail, I will definitely treat you well,' Akira thought as he let out a villainous laugh in his head.
Jokes aside, Akira finally understood who the devil he needed to subdue. Looking at Mirajane and her left hand, she is desperately trying to hide. Akira pieced together all the clues needed.
Mirajane must have activated her innate magic and devoured the demon Satan. And due to her inability to completely master her new power, her arm must have transformed into a devil's claw. And the ignorant villagers must have misinterpreted it as a devil possessing Mirajane.
And after everyone began to ostracize them, the Strauss siblings, who had long lost their parents, had no choice but to take refuge in this newly abandoned church. With the forest near, the siblings' food intake is temporarily secured.
But obviously, these three can't stay in the church forever. The villagers who were afraid for their lives will never let these siblings stay in this village. Thankfully, it was Fairy Tail who took over this quest; if it were any other guilds like those dark guilds, then Miss Mirajane would never be able to live a good life.
'So how should I solve this? 'Akira thought as he looked at the Strauss siblings. Although he can just take these siblings away, just like in the original timeline, but such an approach would not be suitable now since Akira is already a mage who accepted the quest. Even though he didn't meet with the client, his acceptance of this quest is already recorded in the guild. If he just took away the Strauss siblings without reporting to the client, his quest will be recorded as dropped by the mage. And this would undoubtedly leave a bad mark on the guild's reputation.
If possible, Akira really didn't want to go with this method. Although he and Laxus often argue on how to build the guild, both of them agree on the fact that no one is allowed to tarnish the Fairy Tail reputation.
'Sigh, so troublesome,' Akira thought as he let out a tired sigh.
…
Mirajane looked at the boy in front of her with a wary expression. Although this guy seems to be lost in thought, Mirajane didn't dare to be careless. With the way he is dressed, he must be someone from those dark guilds.
She heard from the villagers that those dark guilds are used to slaughter and chaos and are like harbingers of destruction. Such people are definitely not good guys. And Miraje would absolutely not let people like them hurt her siblings. Even if she had to use that hateful power, she would not hesitate. Mirajane thought as her eyes filled with determination.
"Hey, little girl, stop overthinking things. I really have no ill intent towards you," Akira, who could more or less guess what Mirajane was thinking, said with a helpless smile. And to make sure he isn't lying, he even lifted his hands to show his surrender.
Mirajane, seeing this, also began to relax her guard slightly. Though the wariness in her eyes didn't diminish much.
Seeing this, Akira didn't say much, but he just sat on the ground. "Come on, have a seat, so we can talk this out," he said as he patted the ground.
Seeing how easy-going Akira was, Lissanna and Elfman, who were hiding behind Mirajane, peeked behind their big sister's back. Their eyes were now filled with curiosity.
Seeing this, Akira secretly smiled. He knew the children had taken the bait.
****
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