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Guild Hall.
A long table was placed horizontally in front of the bar, with two signs standing upright on it. One read "Parallel World Direct Sightseeing," and the other said, "Round Trip 100,000 Jewels, No Deception."
A crowd of people, attracted by the signs, surrounded the long table three layers deep, their gazes all fixed on the white-haired young man in the middle.
"Noah's actually from another world!"
"I can't believe he's related to Mystogan and Porlyusica. I really didn't see that coming."
"I always knew there was something off about weird guys like them."
"Don't be such a know-it-all. Noah and Porlyusica, no matter how strange, are still normal people. Are we any less weird than them?"
"Hey, hey, why are you insulting yourself too?"
"..."
After revealing his origins to Laxus and Gajeel, Noah no longer intended to keep it a secret. After his commotion with Makarov, he went straight downstairs to reveal his identity to the guild members.
Since Makarov, Laxus, and Gajeel were also going to Edolas, Noah simply set up a stall to see how many others were interested in traveling to a parallel world, so they could all go together.
And make a fortune in the process.
100,000 Jewels per person—that's a million for ten people.
Based on Noah's understanding of the people in the guild, at least ten to twenty people would be willing to pay immediately upon learning they could travel to a fascinating new world.
However, Noah underestimated Fairy Tail's enthusiasm for new things. Even without knowing the details, just hearing about a new adventure, everyone in the hall was already in a frenzy.
In the end, it was Natsu, who usually abandoned all common sense, who asked a surprisingly reasonable question. "Hey, do you guys even know what a parallel world is? You're just throwing money at Noah without thinking."
At these words, everyone, including Noah, was stunned, then looked at Natsu with incredulous eyes.
"Oh my god! Did Natsu just say that?!"
"He can actually think! Could this Natsu be the Black Wizard in disguise, a spy trying to steal our guild's secrets?"
"Gray makes a lot of sense! Everyone, grab him!"
"Charge!"
Natsu never imagined that simply speaking one casual sentence would lead to him being indiscriminately dog-piled by a group of people, ending up at the very bottom of the human pyramid.
Gray kneaded and pinched Natsu's face with both hands for several minutes before stopping, bewildered. "That's weird. It's actually a real face. Could you really be Natsu himself?"
"You bastard! Who else would I be?!"
Natsu finally understood that Gray had deliberately set him up. He definitely had to get him back next time.
His little scheme exposed, Gray chuckled. "I can't help it, Natsu. You actually used your brain for once. That doesn't fit your usual character."
Natsu's face darkened. When did my character become 'idiot'?
The reason Natsu brought up the question about the parallel world, instead of getting caught up in the fervor of going to another world like everyone else, was entirely due to one reason:
Poverty makes people rational.
Simply put, he had no money.
Natsu took on many jobs, but the damage he caused during missions also incurred significant compensation. The remaining reward money after all the smashing and breaking barely covered his and Happy's food expenses, and that was even with him occasionally mooching meals from Lucy.
In short, expecting Natsu to save money was as ridiculous as expecting Cana to quit drinking.
After a lively commotion, Noah calmed everyone down and began to educate them about parallel worlds. "Everyone knows that the world we currently live in is called Earth Land, and beyond Earth Land, there exist various other worlds—some fantastical, some mundane."
"For example, a world everyone's heard of, and the most well-known alternate world from Earth Land's perspective, is the world where Celestial Spirits live—the Celestial Spirit World."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Loke, who had once again opened a Gate and come to the human world to enjoy himself. No one present understood the Celestial Spirit World better than him, the Leo of the Zodiac.
With two beauties in his arms, Loke nodded. "That's right, the Celestial Spirit World is an independent world. And theoretically speaking, even if a Celestial Spirit Mage goes to another world, they can still use their keys to open a Gate and summon us."
Lucy in the crowd was a little surprised, not expecting that even if she went to another world, her connection with her Celestial Spirit partners wouldn't weaken in the slightest.
Noah cleared his throat. "Getting back to the main topic—a parallel world is basically two similar worlds. My hometown, Edolas, and Earth Land are parallel worlds to each other."
"That means almost every living being in Earth Land can find a similar 'counterpart' in Edolas."
"For instance, my brother Mystogan, whose real name is Jellal, is the same person from a different world as the Jellal who was recently stripped of his Ten Wizard Saints title."
Good heavens, so that's why Mystogan never took off his mask.
Everyone finally understood why Mystogan was so mysterious. If they knew their counterpart was a big shot, they might do the same to avoid trouble.
"Hey, hey, Noah."
Happy jumped onto the table, leaning his face closer. "What will I be like in Edolas? Do you have talking cats there too?"
Noah patted the blue cat's fluffy head. "Yep, and there are tons of them. They even built a cat kingdom."
"Whoa! Really?!"
Happy's eyes lit up, eager to see how his counterpart in the other world was doing.
However, Happy didn't know that, like Noah, he didn't originally belong to this world.
Noah didn't reveal the news about the Exceeds. Cheese and Happy were trustworthy companions, unlike those annoying, pompous Exceeds.
If it hadn't been for his old father Faust and the commander of the First Magic War Division stopping him back then, Noah would have already attacked the Exceed kingdom.
If he were to go back this time, it would also be time to deal with those Exceeds who called themselves "gods" and "angels" and acted so superior.
After saying so much, Noah tapped the table. It was time for business. "Those who want to go sightseeing in the parallel world, please line up here."
"Only 100,000 Jewels for a round trip—a fair price with no deception, you know~"
As soon as he spoke, the crowd, who had previously been interrupted by Natsu, eagerly signed up again. Many wanted to see their parallel world selves, especially after hearing there was also a Fairy Tail there, which made everyone even more enthusiastic.
No matter what, taking so many people to another world would definitely cost a fortune. For only 100,000 Jewels for a round trip, whether Noah made a profit or not, they definitely wouldn't lose out!
Yes, yes, yes, you made a profit, I'm losing money.
The existence of the Anima made Noah's world-hopping almost a no-cost venture. He could easily accomplish it by expending only a portion of his Magic Power.
Noah collected money, his heart blooming with joy, and couldn't help but give himself a mental thumbs-up for his business acumen.
Indeed, compared to diligently taking on jobs and missions, a no-cost business was much faster for making money.
But speaking of which, these people usually just drank, chatted, and talked nonsense in the guild, and he didn't see them going out on missions often. How was it that now, except for Cana and Natsu, every single one of them could casually pull out 100,000 Jewels?
These guys... could they have been secretly grinding behind everyone's backs all this time?
Truly, people are full of surprises.