The next day, Felix went to the Fairy Tail guild and got the mission slip before heading out. After boarding the train, he began heading in the direction of the desert. This town of Newt is much like Perfection and is located in a very dry and hot place.
Still as travelers are going missing, Felix wonders if it is a Graboid. For it to only grab travelers and not residents, he didn't have high hopes for those things that eat everything that moves. So he marked it as a very low possibility and began thinking in the direction of a magical creature.
In such a place, Felix began to guess if it was a desert animal who, like the whale, gained magic. Still, he wondered if these animals gained or had the ability to fly? The residents of the town investigated but didn't find any tracks.
--
After arriving at the closest train station, Felix hitched a ride with a merchant that was heading in the direction of Newt. During the ride, he continued to ponder what kind of beast was behind the disappearance.
"What brings you all the way out here?"
While sitting on the carriage, the merchant asked.
This merchant was fairly old as he looked to be in his fifties at the least. Still, his robust figure made it seem like he could continue doing this work for another fifty.
"Investigating." Felix replied.
"Investigating? Must be about those travelers who have gone missing." The merchant said.
Felix just nodded.
"Rumor is that it is a monster, but I don't think it is. I will tell ya, it is a human doing. I went to help search a few times. Each time no track of any beast that I have seen that could have done this was there. Only footprints and cart tracks of humans are found each time."
Felix nodded as the merchant continued to ramble. He also thought of this possibility as well as the possibility of both human and magic animals working together.
"Are there any families out that way where they went missing?" Felix asked.
"From memory just that strange Sawyer Family. Their gramps used to be a butcher, but when magic tools began to become more common. He grew dissatisfied and quit and since then, there hasn't been much news about what they do to survive."
Felix just nodded as he decided to check out this family. Since the merchant could say they were strange, then either something up or they were really just strange. Either way, since they were in the area where all these travelers went missing, then it is worth investigating.
"What does this family do for a living then?"
"From Memory? Oh, I think one member owns a small shop called "Last Chance" or something along that line. It mainly sells drinks and barbecue. I am not sure about the rest." The merchant shrugged.
"Like I tell ya, that family is strange and mainly keeps to themselves."
Felix just let out a small nod as he shifted focus. He had begun asking about various animals and if there was any magic destruction around. Usually when an animal learns magic, they tend to use it to destroy an area around them as a way of marking its territory.
"Has there been any destruction in the area as if something marking its territory?"
This is also why wild magic animals are a bit dangerous. If they mark an area and a town or village is within it. They will wreck havoc within to show dominance and show it is the lord of the area. When this happens, the casualties aren't that small and there have been cases of the entire settlement dying.
"No, not that I heard at least." The merchant shook his head.
Felix began to think about what could be causing all the travelers to go missing. If it really were humans, he is beginning to wonder if it is similar to his first mission that involved the cannibal necromancer. He hasn't heard of skeletons moving about, so maybe there wasn't any necromancy involved, only cannibalism.
--
"We have arrived at Newt." The merchant said.
Upon seeing the small town before him, Felix noticed it seemed quite lively. There were a few children hopping on the side of the road. The adults were chatting or standing near stalls haggling. Overall, for a place where travelers have been going missing lately, it was quite lively.
"For a place that travelers go missing, it sure is carefree." Felix said.
"Travelers have been going missing for years. It's just been really bad lately that it has been abnormal compared to before." The merchant shrugged.
'Years?' Felix mentally sighed.
The thought of ruling out magic animals has been put on hold. If it has been years, then naturally there wouldn't be any recent destruction by the beast marking its territory. On the flipside, if it is cannibals, it made his sculpt tingle a bit at the potential numbers of those eaten. It was at least double digits if not triple digits.
"How long ago has there been some missing?" Felix asked.
"Since around the time I was born. Fifty six or seven years." The merchant shrugged.
"I remember back when I was a mere lad, the town was quite frightened. Then over time as many realized it was usually just travelers passing through that went missing. Their fear faded away and they just shrug it off since they don't know the person."
Felix felt this mission seemed both easy and difficult at the same time. Either it is caused by a family of cannibals or a magic beast who has been enraged by something lately. If it is cannibals, then that just means the children have grown up and gained a bit more freedom. In turn began to capture more travelers than needed then previously.
On the other hand, if it is a magical animal he wondered what could have enraged it. Maybe a traveler took one of its children or trespassed into its territory. Either way, both seemed determined to just pick travelers and not the town folk.
--
Once he said goodbye to the merchant, Felix tracked down the mayor who was watching the lively town before him. The mayor was a bit younger than the merchant, in his forties at most.
"Are you the mage from Fairy Tail?" The mayor asked.
"Yes." Felix nodded.
Lifting up his arm to show his guild mark, the mayor nodded. Then began repeating everything written on the mission request. Afterwards he dismissed Felix to go do his work as if the small summary on the mission explained everything.
Felix just rolled his eyes at this mayor and began asking around the bustling market before him. During which he learned from the older folk that there hasn't been a magical animal in the area for many years. Not since a mage came and dealt with it twenty years ago.
Upon learning this, Felix then began asking for the location where the previous travelers went missing. Once he got the spot, he headed out since there was no point in lingering around and there still plenty of daylight to work with.
--
When he left the city, Felix soon found the spot he was told about. There were many footprints around the ground as well as various carriage tracks. Thanks to the town folk who came out to search, this spot became near impossible to learn anything.
Still, he had a goal in mind and continued down the road. For this road passed by the Sawyer family he was told about. Much like most spots travelers vanished at, it revolved around this family.
'If I could put this together, why haven't the town guards put it together?' Felix frowned.
Then he recalled the dismissive mayor and thought of another possibility. The mayor at least is in on some of it as some travelers were a bit wealthy at the time of their disappearance. So is this mission more or less to get the family to tone down their recent spree?