Jellal's Departure

Two days later.

"Wood Release! Four-Pillar House Jutsu!"

Somewhere in the forest, someone clapped his hands together. The earth shook, and countless trees sprang up from the ground, forming an exquisite, luxurious two-story wooden house in the blink of an eye.

The Four-Pillar House was now vastly different from the one five months ago. Before, it had been little more than a large square wooden box with a door. Now, it was a Wood Release: Four Pillars House Technique in the truest sense.

"Wow~ Another big house! Big Brother Chiba, you're amazing..."

Wendy, a little girl of only five or six, beamed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Although they had already spent two days together, Jellal's gaze still held a trace of surprise. He wondered whether Chiba was using tree-attribute magic or life magic, but he hadn't sensed any magic power from him. Perhaps... it was a kind of magic he had never heard of.

Could it be Lost Magic?

It had never occurred to him that Chiba might not be a mage. After all, he wasn't Hodrian, nor was he as knowledgeable.

Chiba smiled faintly. "After we spend tonight here, let's stay in town tomorrow. If I remember right, there seems to be a small town up ahead."

"Okay! ≧▽≦"

Ultear quickly led the little girl into the house. If nothing unexpected happened, the two of them would probably share a room.

Jellal took a few steps but stopped in front of Chiba instead of going inside.

"Why aren't you going in?" Chiba asked, a little surprised.

Jellal raised his handsome face and fixed his eyes on Chiba. "Actually, there's something I'd like to ask of you."

Chiba's heart stirred. He had a vague idea of what Jellal was going to ask.

"I'll do what I can."

Jellal smiled. "You're a kind person. I can tell from your eyes. I've always believed that."

Chiba said nothing.

Thanks for not calling me a good person.

Jellal paused and hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Wendy... I'm counting on you to take care of her."

Although Chiba knew the reason, he still asked, "Why? Are you leaving?"

Jellal nodded.

Chiba didn't ask why. Instead, he said, "But Wendy depends on you so much. Do you really have to leave so urgently?"

Jellal said, "'Souls' are running increasingly rampant in this world. I have to destroy them. But because of Wendy, I haven't gone after the 'souls.' It's too dangerous."

"And now that you're here, I can rest assured Wendy will be safe," Jellal said.

Chiba fell silent for a moment, then said, "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

Jellal smiled, then started walking toward the depths of the forest. "I don't dare say goodbye to her..."

Chiba watched the boy disappear into the forest and smiled faintly.

"Someday... we'll have another chance to meet."

The boy's figure vanished into the forest, seeming a little lonely.

The next day.

"Waaah!!!!!"

A young child's voice rang through the forest that morning, startling the birds on the branches.

In the main room of the house, Chiba clapped his hands over his ears. Little Wendy's crying had nearly sent him to hell.

"That's a lie! A lie! How could Jellal... how could he leave?"

The little girl's eyes were blurred with tears as she sobbed.

Chiba had expected her to cry like this, so he said helplessly, "But he really did leave. He said he had to deal with the 'souls.' He didn't dare say goodbye to you, so he left quietly."

"But... but Jellal said... he'd take me to a mage guild... Waaah!!"

Wendy cried even harder.

Chiba nearly died. He hurriedly said, "Jellal also asked me to take you to a mage guild."

The little girl suddenly stopped crying and wiped her tears, half believing him. "Really?"

"Of course it's true!" Chiba patted his chest in assurance.

"Then... you're not allowed to lie to me!" Wendy said.

Chiba smiled and held out his hand. "Then let's make a pinky promise!"

"Okay!"

They reached out and linked pinkies, then smiled at each other at the same time.

Ultear, who was standing nearby, pursed her lips, as though thinking about something.

Then... evening came.

They left the forest and arrived at a nearby town.

The town was neither large nor small. From the people on the street, they learned it was called Deli Town.

"How much for a whole blue frost wolf pelt?"

At a shop, Chiba took a whole white pelt from Ultear's storage space and spoke in a calm voice.

The frost wolf was a B-Class monster Chiba had hunted while training, and he still had more than ten pelts like this one. He was selling them now simply because he didn't have the money to stay at an inn.

The shop assistant behind the counter narrowed his eyes slightly. His years of experience appraising goods allowed him to recognize it at once, and he said with some pleasant surprise, "A blue frost wolf pelt goes for 100,000 J. How many... do you have?"

Chiba took out all fifteen pelts. Finding more than a dozen B-Class creatures in a forest that wasn't all that dangerous had been quite difficult. After all, these were the results of several months' work.

Even so, he couldn't help reflecting that he had sold a few ordinary wild beasts for over 400,000 before, while more than a dozen B-Class monsters fetched just over a million.

What a difference...

Still, in terms of rarity, wild beasts that had never been steeped in magic power, or had only been exposed to a little, were rarer.

After exchanging the pelts for 1.5 million J, he strode out with Ultear and Wendy.

But inside the shop, several burly men slowly approached, coming up beside them as if by chance.

"What? Is this how your shop treats its customers? You won't let them leave after they've sold something?"

Chiba stopped and gave them a mocking smile.

"Not at all." A man with a long scar on his body walked up to Chiba and smiled. "Do you remember what you did two days ago?"

"What did I do?"

Chiba grinned. "I beat up two sleazebags and gave them a warning."

"Are you mages from that... Frog in the Pond?"

"If you know that, why don't you get down on the ground and beg for mercy?!" he demanded, raising his voice as his eyes widened in anger.

"What's your relationship with those two?" Chiba asked.

"Relationship? They don't really have anything to do with me. One of them is just the guild master's younger brother." He grinned viciously. "We're only following orders."

"Aren't you afraid the Magic Council will come looking for trouble?" Chiba asked, still calm.

"Heh, the Magic Council?" The man chuckled. "The towns around here are all Frog in the Pond's territory. However far the Magic Council's reach extends, it can't control this place. We're not killing anyone, so we can still teach a little brat like you a lesson."

"Well, that's good..."

A smile curled at the corners of Chiba's mouth, and his eyes turned scarlet.

"Then... let's stretch our muscles a little..."