Traveling Together

"Are you all right, little girl?"

Looking at Wendy, the little girl beside him who had been scared stiff, Chiba gave her a gentle smile.

"Huh?"

Startled at being addressed so suddenly, Wendy said timidly, "I-I'm fine..."

"That's good." Chiba gently rubbed the little girl's head, trying to keep her from getting too frightened.

He smiled and asked, "What's your name? Where's your companion?"

Still a little nervous, the girl said quietly, "I'm Wendy Marvell. Jellal... went to find food. He hasn't come back yet."

Chiba grumbled inwardly that Jellal was far too careless. If he hadn't happened to run into Wendy, someone else could have lured the little girl away.

In fact, after spending so long in this world, Chiba had begun to wonder whether his arrival had affected it at all. If it had... Mira had still awakened Take Over Magic because of the demon in the church. But if it hadn't, Mira and the others had left their village earlier than they otherwise would have.

He was afraid of affecting cause and effect. If something unexpected happened because of him, the blame would be on him.

For example, Mira and the others might never have joined Fairy Tail and might instead have run into people like those two mages on the way. Given Mira's looks, there was no guarantee no one would set their sights on her.

But if he couldn't affect cause and effect, what was the point of his coming here?

"Your appearance and mine affect the course of events in this world, not the outcome." At that moment, Feiyin's voice sounded in his ear.

"The course? The outcome?"

"You could also call it 'fate,'" Feiyin said. "From your memories, I've learned about this world's future just as you have. But even though we're both transmigrators, we're actually bound by something. We can change the course of certain events, but we can't affect their outcomes."

"For example, your arrival made Mira join Fairy Tail earlier, but the fact that she joins Fairy Tail won't change."

"Another example: you didn't want Mira to accept the demon in the church back then. But that controlled monster on the mountain made you mistake it for the demon. By the time you realized your mistake, Mira had gone to the church to pray because she was worried about your safety. No matter how much you used the Body Flicker Technique, you couldn't make it back to the church in time. That was because the 'cause and effect' had already come into being."

"The change was because of you, and what stayed the same was also because of you. She would always go to the church to pray. That's an outcome you can't change."

"Then what the hell was the point of the two of us showing up?"

"We have our own futures. We can't change theirs, but we can change our own."

"But..."

"Unless you can break cause and effect just once." Feiyin's tone was more serious than ever.

"What good would breaking it once do?"

"Didn't you notice? When you were using the Body Flicker Technique to get back, it took longer than it had taken you to get there. That was because of this world's causal restraints. If you'd learned Flying Thunder God at the time, you could have gone straight to the church. But how could you possibly have learned the Flying Thunder God Technique back then?"

"If you break cause and effect once, the world's restraints on you will disappear. But as the price, you'll have to shoulder that cause and effect."

"Shoulder what cause and effect?"

Feiyin fell silent for a moment, then said, "According to your memories, this world's ultimate ending was the defeat of the Dragon King, Acnologia. If you shoulder this world's cause and effect, that means... the future will be altered, and Acnologia might not be defeated. When that happens, this world will be destroyed, because he is the Dragon King who stands at the pinnacle of darkness."

Chiba fell silent.

"Actually, isn't this fine too? Isn't that a pretty wonderful ending? We just need to do our own thing and leave saving the world to the main cast," Feiyin said.

Chiba said nothing.

For the first time, he began to think about the meaning of his own existence.

"Wendy!"

At that moment, a boy's startled cry snapped Chiba out of his thoughts.

Chiba turned toward the source of the voice.

It was a handsome blue-haired boy with strange markings on his face and unfathomably deep eyes. Several magic staves of different shapes were strapped to his back, making him look rather peculiar.

"Jellal..." At the sight of the boy, delight filled Wendy's bright, wide eyes, and she ran straight into his arms.

"I sensed a fluctuation of magic nearby just now. Are you all right?" Jellal asked worriedly, patting Wendy's head.

Wendy shook her head. "Two men were trying to take me away, but luckily, this big brother and big sister came along."

As she spoke, she pointed at Chiba and Ultear.

"Thank you both." Jellal bowed slightly to them.

Ultear's eyes flickered, but she only nodded.

She was probably wondering about the exact reason.

Chiba smiled and said, "If there's nothing else, we'll be going."

But just then, the two mages Chiba had knocked into the tree trunks climbed to their feet. Malice and resentment filled one man's eyes as he gritted his teeth and said, "Brat, you'd better not run away from here. Otherwise, just wait for Frog in the Pond's judgment!"

Chiba narrowed his eyes and asked, seemingly addressing Ultear beside him, "Should we kill them?"

Although he was already strong enough, an entire mage guild really would be quite a hassle for him.

Ultear gave him a half-smile. "Since when did you become so bloodthirsty?"

Chiba curled his lip. "I was just asking what you thought. I wasn't actually planning to kill them."

"Forget it. Get lost. If you've got what it takes, go find someone to beat me up. If the people you bring aren't up to it, don't blame me for beating you up every time I see you," Chiba said with a wave of his hand.

The two men gritted their teeth and turned away unwillingly.

"Didn't you understand when I told you to get lost?!" Chiba's face darkened, his Sharingan appeared, and Chakra swirled around him.

The two were scared out of their wits and fled in a flash.

After they ran off, Jellal frowned and said, "I've heard of Frog in the Pond. Its reputation doesn't seem very good. It's a mage guild that throws its weight around and bullies the weak, but it has several A-Class mages, so it's able to do as it pleases in this area."

He looked at Chiba and smiled a little shyly. "Where are you two headed? If we're going the same way, why don't we travel together?"

Mystogan in the original story wasn't good at communicating with people. It really wasn't easy to get him to say so much of his own accord.

It seemed he was genuinely worried that the guild might pose some danger to Chiba and Ultear, so he had kindly offered to travel with them.

Chiba smiled and said, "Actually, I don't know where we should go either. My... uh... sister and I just left our hometown, and we were wondering where to go. Since you've invited us, Mr. Jellal, let's travel together."

He held out his hand. "I'm Chiba. Nice to meet you."

Jellal reached out and shook his hand with a slight smile. "Jellal."