Noel's backpack was filled with various magical tools he had bought, or potions he had made himself. Compared to the Ice Spirit Fruit, the contents of his bag were of little value.
"Are you sure I can?" Elizabeth's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"You can. Think of it as an exchange," Noel replied.
Elizabeth's eyes were practically glued to the items, her gaze darting between a badge, a glass vial, and something shaped like wings. Finally, she settled her gaze on a crystal orb.
"I'll take this one."
Though it was called a crystal orb, it was actually a failed alchemical product Noel had made, though it had an unexpected function: it could store some magical energy.
"Be careful when using it. Don't pour in too much energy at once, or it will definitely explode," Noel explained the orb's flaw.
"It could explode? Isn't that really dangerous?" Elizabeth was visibly shocked.
"Will it cause any accidents if I just keep it for display?" she asked.
Noel hadn't expected that Elizabeth wanted the crystal orb just for decoration. Perhaps ice spirits simply liked shiny things.
"Right." After everything that had happened, Noel finally remembered the reason he came to Hakobe Mountain.
"You've lived in these mountains for a long time. Have you seen a man with purple hair?" Noel asked, thinking Elizabeth might know something.
"A man with purple hair?" Elizabeth thought for a moment, as if she had a faint memory, but wasn't certain.
"Can you give me more details?" she asked.
"More details... He wears white clothes and has a small mustache. Oh, and he uses purple fire magic." The man Noel was referring to was Macao, which was another reason for his trip here.
"Recently, there was someone who kept challenging Vulcans. Maybe it was him," Elizabeth replied after thinking over the description.
"Vulcans, huh? Macao accepted a quest to subjugate the Vulcans, so it must be him." Noel nodded confidently.
"Did that information help you?" Elizabeth asked with genuine concern.
"It helped a lot. Now I have a clear lead." Noel felt a surge of excitement at how quickly he had learned of Macao's whereabouts.
"By the way, where is he now?" Noel asked, curious.
"He hasn't appeared in the mountains recently. Didn't he leave the mountains?" Elizabeth tilted her head in curiosity.
"If he had returned to the guild, I wouldn't be here searching for him." Noel explained why he was here.
"Then, there's a possibility he's been possessed by a Vulcan," Elizabeth speculated.
Possessed by a Vulcan? That seemed unlikely. Macao was an experienced mage, and subjugating a Vulcan wasn't particularly difficult for him.
Still, unlikely as it was, it was the only lead they had.
"I understand. Please tell me where the Vulcan's lair is."
If Macao had indeed been possessed, he would return to normal as long as the Vulcan was defeated. With his own power, Noel was confident he could handle it.
"It should be on that mountain over there, if I remember correctly," Elizabeth said, pointing to a tall peak in the distance.
"On that mountain? Got it." Noel prepared to set off immediately.
"Wait a moment…" Elizabeth called out to him.
"You can ride on Little White," she said, pointing at the silver wolf.
Little White let out a howl, "Awooo—"
The entire mountain seemed to tremble. Was it really okay for him to ride the silver wolf? It seemed that Little White had a surprisingly favorable impression of him.
"Are you sure it's okay?" Noel looked at Elizabeth.
"You should ask Little White about that. If he says it's okay, then it's okay." Elizabeth patted Little White affectionately.
Little White lowered his head, as if to say, "Hurry up and get on, I'll take you."
There was no way Noel's speed could match that of the silver wolf. With a quick leap, he mounted Little White's back, feeling like an ancient dragon rider—though in this case, it was more like a wolf rider.
Little White dashed swiftly toward the mountain, the surrounding snow and wind swirling as they moved, faster than when Noel had fought him before.
However, it was dangerously fast, giving Noel the constant fear that he might fall off at any moment, a deeply unpleasant sensation.
Before long, they arrived at the mountain Elizabeth had pointed out. It seemed they had reached their destination.
"You should probably head back now," Noel said to Little White.
Little White shook his head, or rather, he shook the snow from his body, splattering Noel's face with it.
Was this Little White's way of getting back at him? Luckily, Noel's clothes had an automatic cleaning function. Pouring a bit of magic into them, his clothes instantly became clean and fresh again.
"So you want to come with me to find that Vulcan?" Noel asked.
Little White nodded, looking very docile. Noel wondered why he had found the silver wolf so terrifying before.
It was probably due to Little White's enormous size, which naturally inspired fear.
Not far ahead, Noel spotted a cave. As he stepped inside, it felt like he was walking into a world of ice, with solid sheets of ice everywhere, glistening in the light.
It was quite beautiful, and Noel hadn't expected to find such a stunning place in the mountains.
Recalling Elizabeth's earlier words, he realized that this beautiful cave was most likely the Vulcan's den.
Little White wanted to follow him in, but his size was simply too large to fit through the entrance, no matter how hard he tried.
Still, Little White kept his eyes on Noel, making it clear that he would not allow anything to happen to him while he was in sight.
"You should probably head back. I can protect myself," Noel said, patting his chest.
But Little White refused to leave, determined to wait at the entrance. This was his task from Elizabeth, after all.
Seeing Little White's resolve, Noel had no choice but to let him wait outside while he ventured in, facing a network of tunnels inside.
He had no idea which of these tunnels led to the Vulcan's lair. It was troublesome.
Then, he heard the sound of a human calling for help. The voice was familiar, sounding just like Lucy's.
But wasn't Lucy with Natsu? How could she be in the Vulcan's cave?
Following the voice, Noel made his way down the tunnel until he spotted what looked like a large, gorilla-like monkey, similar to the Vulcan he had encountered earlier in the mountains.
However, it was clearly not the same one, as the previous Vulcan had visible injuries, while this one did not.
"Woman, I like!" the giant ape was shouting, waving its limbs around.
Noel recalled the description in his alchemical notebook: Vulcans were extremely lecherous monkeys.
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