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Led by Minerva, Noah and Erza found the burial place of Sabertooth's former Guild Master—a desolate wilderness outside the town.
A year ago, Jiemma had backstabbed and killed the former Guild Master here, then forcibly seized Sabertooth.
No matter what, the former Guild Master, Kohler, was a good person. Without him taking in homeless children like Yukino and Sting, they'd still be wandering somewhere.
Now that Jiemma had fallen, and the children who'd benefited from the former Guild Master's kindness decided to join Fairy Tail, Sabertooth was effectively finished.
By all accounts, the former Guild Master Kohler's remains shouldn't stay in the wilderness.
Erza watched as Noah summoned his Shadow Eater Legion, dragging the former Guild Master Kohler's remains into the shadows. "Where'd you even learn that Magic? Looks like Summoning Magic, but it's also got this weird Magic space thing going on, and it can move so fast..."
"Hehe, what if I told you it was a reward someone gave me for completing a Job? Would you believe me?" Noah chuckled, picking up a fist-sized Shadow Eater soldier and tossing it into the shadows like a basketball.
"I'd believe a ghost before I'd believe you!" Erza pouted. "I know you too well, you slacker! If you ever actually go out and do a Job on your own, I'll eat... eat... a whole dessert right then and there!"
"I think you just want to trick me into buying you food and drinks, Erza."
Noah's lips curled slightly. How could a Wish commission from Wish Magic not count as a commission?
It was just that this Magic was too incredible. Even for his older brother Mystogan, and close people like Erza and Mira, Noah didn't know how to tell them.
Returning to town, Kohler's remains were buried in the cemetery. Not only the children he'd taken in came to pay their respects to the former Guild Master, but also many town residents.
This scene made Noah sigh with emotion.
Such a well-regarded Guild Master innocently lost his life simply because the Black Magic Cult targeted his Guild.
Such a tragedy, besides Sabertooth being a small Guild with little strength, was more due to the incompetence of the Magic Council's high-ranking officials, who approved Jiemma as the new Guild Master of Sabertooth without any investigation.
Wait... the Council!
A light bulb went off in Noah's head. He understood instantly.
Conglomerates, Royal Counts, Dark Guilds, Legal Guilds... the Black Magic Cult's hidden influence was truly pervasive.
If Jellal's Thought Projection could become a Magic Councilor, there was no reason the deeply entrenched Black Magic Cult couldn't do the same. If there were Black Magic Cult members among the ten high-ranking Magic Councilors, then everything made sense.
Moreover, if the Black Magic Cult could do it, then the strongest Dark Guild, Grimoire Heart, and the most mysterious Dark Guild, Tartaros, should also be capable of infiltrating the Magic Council's upper echelons.
Oh, right.
Ultear was a member of Grimoire Heart. If Jellal hadn't exposed them, according to her and Jellal's plan, she would've been nominated as a Magic Councilor next year.
Among the current high-ranking Magic Councilors, aside from Lahar, who'd just become a Magic Councilor and was a chosen employee, Makarov's close friend Yajima, and an old woman who had a past with Gajeel, the positions of everyone else were highly suspicious.
Thinking of some of the Magic Council's "idiotic" operations in recent years, Noah couldn't help but wonder.
Among the current high-ranking Magic Councilors, were there more people from the Dark forces, or more from the side of order?
"Noah, we should go."
Mira poked the white-haired young man who was lost in thought. "Everyone's packed. There's only one train back to Magnolia a day."
Noah snapped back to reality. In truth, they didn't have much to pack themselves—it was mainly the children's luggage. Besides Minerva and Rogue, the other four children had lived in the town for five or six years, so they'd accumulated some belongings.
Seeing Yukino struggling with her large bags, and the other children in similar predicaments, Noah waved his hand. "Let me help you carry them. Put your luggage on your respective shadows."
Though curious, the children complied. Then they witnessed a magical scene—their luggage sank into the shadows beneath their feet.
"Wow! Brother Noah, you're amazing!"
Sting was naturally outgoing and made no secret of his admiration for Noah. After all, his idol Natsu had just gotten beaten up in the previous chapter, and his idol filter had shattered a bit.
Noah smiled without saying anything.
Aside from the drawback of assimilating living creatures, the Shadow Kingdom was truly an excellent spatial ability.
Forget storing mere luggage—if it weren't for the children being too young and their bodies unable to withstand it, Noah would've directly taken everyone through the shadow passage to quickly return to Magnolia.
After Erza finished the last few trivial matters concerning Sabertooth, the group boarded the Magic Train for their return journey.
However, as soon as they got on the train and sat down, Natsu and Gajeel visibly weakened, looking half-dead, which immediately drew the concern of their two young admirers.
"Brother Natsu (Boss Gajeel), are you feeling unwell? Should we go see a doctor first?"
"Rogue, Sting, don't worry about them. Motion sickness is a side effect of Dragon Slayer Magic. They'll be back to normal once we get off the train."
Sting's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly. "I'm a Dragon Slayer too, but I don't get motion sickness like Brother Natsu! Doesn't that mean..."
"It means your Dragon Slayer Magic's currently really weak—too weak to even trigger the side effects."
It wasn't that Noah wanted to discourage Sting and Rogue, but the fact was, this was evident from Wendy.
However, Sting wasn't entirely convinced by Noah's explanation. "Hehe, no way, Brother Noah! Rogue and I—our Dragon Slayer Magic's just as good as Brother Natsu's. We even killed Dragons..."
"Dragons? Where are the Dragons?!"
Hearing the word "Dragon," even in his motion-sick state, Natsu mustered the strength to bounce up, searching around. Finding his foster father Igneel had always been a knot in his heart.
Unlike Natsu's startled reaction, Gajeel, despite his dizziness and nausea, still forced himself to stay alert. "You said you killed Dragons... What happened?!"
Sting's expression shifted, but in the end, he couldn't say a word. Instead, Rogue, who'd remained silent since getting on the train, spoke up. "Sting and I... killed the Dragons who raised us and taught us Dragon Slayer Magic..."
At these words, Natsu and Gajeel were furious, but due to their motion sickness, they couldn't do anything. Everyone else was also startled by Rogue's statement.
Only Erza and Mira remained unmoved. With their strength, how could they not see through Sting and Rogue's abilities?
Forget killing a Dragon—these two kids probably didn't even have the strength to tickle one.
But if they could see it, wouldn't Noah?
Erza and Mira simultaneously looked at the white-haired young man sitting between them, but to their surprise, a symptom that shouldn't appear on Noah had appeared.
Noah was actually motion sick?!