One Third!

Mirajane was utterly dumbfounded.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Jiang Bai, unable to understand what he meant for a moment.

I already knew?

What did he know? About the seal? About the more terrifying magic power underneath? How could he have known?

Seeing Mirajane's cute, bewildered expression, as though her brain had stopped working, Jiang Bai felt inexplicably better.

The lazy smile on his face grew wider as he explained unhurriedly, "When I first arrived at the village, I used Mental Detection to scan the whole place. That was when I found two unusual sources of magic power."

Jiang Bai held up two fingers.

"One was you. The other was the seal beneath the church."

"I was originally planning to come and deal with your situation first. After all, a living person was more important than an inanimate seal. Once I'd gotten you all settled, I'd go back and deal with the church."

At that, the smile faded from Jiang Bai's face, and his tone became calm, though it carried a bone-deep chill.

"But you saw what happened afterward."

"When those villagers decided to tie your little brother and sister, who are only a few years old, to stakes and burn them alive, I decided I wasn't going to meddle in their affairs anymore."

Jiang Bai spoke casually, but Mirajane's heart clenched.

She instinctively glanced back at Elfman and Lisanna. The two children were looking up, listening quietly.

"But... that magic power..." Mirajane's voice trembled slightly. "If it escapes..."

"It won't kill them."

Jiang Bai cut her off, as though he had known what she was going to ask.

"The essence of that magic power is chaos and corrosion. Once it escapes, it will only influence their minds gradually, making their thoughts more muddled and leaving them more easily ruled by anger and prejudice. Of course, the price is that their lifespans will be shortened accordingly."

Mirajane's lips turned a little pale. "Shortened... by how much?"

"Hmm..." Jiang Bai thought for a moment, then answered casually, as though estimating the price of vegetables. "If nothing else interferes, probably by about a third."

One third!

The number made Mirajane gasp.

That meant everyone in the village would lose twenty or thirty years of their lives!

"Then... then you're not going to do anything about it?" Mirajane's voice was full of inner conflict and disbelief.

She had thought Jiang Bai was merely acting out of anger, but now it seemed he truly had no intention of intervening.

"No." Jiang Bai answered without hesitation, even stretching as he did so. "Everyone has their own fate. They sowed the cause themselves, so naturally they'll have to taste the fruit it bears."

Mirajane fell silent.

A fierce battle raged within her.

On one hand, she could not ignore the future of more than a hundred people; on the other, the vicious faces those people had worn when they tried to burn her brother and sister alive kept reappearing in her mind.

She raised her head and looked at Jiang Bai almost pleadingly. "Then don't you think I'm... cruel?" she asked in a faint voice.

She was asking not only Jiang Bai, but herself as well.

By allowing all this to happen, have I become a cruel monster just like those villagers?

All traces of laziness vanished from Jiang Bai's expression.

He turned and looked into Mirajane's eyes with a seriousness she had never seen before, her frightened, uneasy face reflected in his deep gaze.

"Cruel?"

Jiang Bai's voice was quiet, but its decisive weight struck Mirajane's heart.

"If I were you, and someone dared to touch a hair on my family's heads..."

"What I'd do would be far worse than anything you're thinking right now!"

His words exploded in Mirajane's mind like a thunderclap, shattering all her guilt, inner conflict, and self-doubt.

She stared at Jiang Bai, her eyes growing hot as tears blurred her vision once more.

At that moment, she felt the little hands on either side of her grip hers tightly.

Mirajane lowered her head.

She saw that even Lisanna, always the kindest and quickest to cry, showed no trace of fear or reluctance on her tear-streaked little face.

There was only a faintly uncomprehending but exceptionally firm agreement.

In the little girl's world, the logic was simple.

Those people wanted to hurt her brother and sister, so they were bad people.

And this big brother had said they didn't need to worry about those bad people.

Lisanna thought he must be right.

Jiang Bai's words were like a key, slipping precisely into the lock called "guilt" deep in Mirajane's heart and turning gently.

Click.

The shackles sprang open.

The pain and self-doubt she had suppressed for so long, along with her fear of the future, were all released at that moment.

The nerve stretched to its limit suddenly went slack, and, finally unable to bear the immense pressure, snapped.

Mirajane's vision went dark, and her body went limp as she fell backward.

"Big sister!"

"Big sister, what's wrong?"

The sudden turn of events terrified Elfman and Lisanna. The two children cried out and lunged forward to catch their sister, but they were nowhere near strong enough.

A figure moved faster than they did.

Jiang Bai stepped forward and caught Mirajane securely in his arms just before she hit the ground.

He gently touched a finger to Mirajane's forehead, sending his mental power into her at once to check her condition.

"Don't worry," Jiang Bai told the two little ones, who were nearly crying with anxiety. "She's fine. Her mind and body were just too exhausted, and now that she's finally relaxed, she's passed out. She'll be fine after some sleep."

Hearing that their sister was all right, Elfman and Lisanna breathed a sigh of relief, though they continued to watch the unconscious Mirajane with concern.

Jiang Bai looked at the pale but peaceful sleeping face in his arms, then at the two little ones gazing expectantly at him, and clicked his tongue helplessly.

What a hassle.

He crouched down and, with reasonably practiced movements, settled Mirajane onto his back, then beckoned to the two children.

"Let's go. Stay close."

As for why he didn't use Space Transfer to travel?

Jiang Bai said he had selectively forgotten the skill. With two tagalongs and an "injured person" in tow, he ought to experience the "pleasure" of a long trek.

And so, a young man carried a sleeping girl on his back, followed by two cautious little ones. The four figures gradually receded along the forest path, their lengthening shadows eventually merging completely into the deepening dusk.

The sky gradually darkened, and the temperature in the forest dropped considerably.

The night breeze brought a touch of chill.

Mirajane's eyelashes fluttered as she lay on Jiang Bai's back, and she slowly opened her eyes.

The first sense to return was touch.

She felt herself lying against a warm, solid back, rising and falling slightly in rhythm with his steady steps.

Then came her sense of smell, as a faint, pleasant scent reached her nose.

Who am I? Where am I?

Memories came flooding back.

The village, the stake, her brother and sister's cries, and the young man's decisive words...

Mirajane's cheeks instantly flushed, heat spreading from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears.

Has he... been carrying me all this time?

Even the slightest change in the rhythm of the girl's breathing could not escape Jiang Bai's notice when she woke.

He stopped and asked calmly, "Awake?"

Mirajane's body stiffened, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Without waiting for an answer, Jiang Bai carefully lowered her from his back and helped her stand against a large tree.

Mirajane kept her head down, clutching the hem of her clothes nervously with both hands. In a voice as faint as a mosquito's, she murmured, "Th-thank you..."

"It's getting late." Jiang Bai looked up at the night sky, where a few stars had already appeared. "Let's rest here tonight."

With that, he paid no attention to the three siblings' reactions.

Mental Detection instantly swept through the forest for several kilometers around him, soon locating a fat, sturdy wild boar snorting as it dug at a tree's roots.

"Wait here for a moment."

Jiang Bai left them with those words, and his figure flickered and vanished into thin air.

Elfman and Lisanna jumped in fright, while Mirajane's eyes widened in surprise.

But before they could react, less than five seconds later, Jiang Bai appeared in the same spot again.

This time, he had a large pile of thoroughly cleaned, neatly cut fresh meat in his hands.

He had simply transferred over, used Space Cutting on the boar before it could react, cleanly severing its head, then used his thoughts to break down the carcass, skin it, remove the bones, and cut it into pieces. The entire process had flowed smoothly from start to finish.

Jiang Bai skillfully built a campfire, quickly skewered the pieces of pork, each streaked with fat, on branches, and set them over the flames.

Soon, fat rendered out and dripped into the campfire with an enticing sizzle. The rich aroma of meat mingled with the faint scent of burning wood, spreading through the quiet forest.

Ever since the villagers had ostracized them, Mirajane and her siblings had gone a long time without a decent, filling meal, let alone meat.

Elfman's and Lisanna's stomachs rumbled despite themselves. Both pairs of eyes were fixed on the roasting meat as it turned golden and fragrant over the flames, and they were nearly drooling.

Even Mirajane couldn't help swallowing.

Before long, the meat was cooked.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, their tense bodies and minds relaxed considerably.

Elfman and Lisanna had already fallen fast asleep, leaning against each other.

Only Jiang Bai and Mirajane remained awake by the campfire.

The firelight flickered across Mirajane's beautiful face. She looked at her demonic arm, which appeared even more hideous in the firelight, and remained silent for a long time before finally gathering her courage to ask softly:

"When we get to... that guild of yours called Fairy Tail... can my arm really be restored to normal?"

Her voice was full of uncertainty about the future and a hint of humble hope.

"Don't worry." Jiang Bai added a piece of wood to the fire, his tone unwaveringly certain. "The old man at our guild is very powerful. A little problem like yours will be easy for him to solve."

Hearing his assured answer, Mirajane seemed to lay down the last great weight on her heart, and she relaxed considerably.

"Get some sleep." Jiang Bai yawned. "We have to get up early and travel tomorrow. We need to catch a train."

"A train?"

At the word, Mirajane's newly relaxed nerves immediately tensed again.

That meant going somewhere crowded.

She instinctively tucked her right arm behind her back.

"Don't... don't you know that transfer magic?" she asked hesitantly. "Can't you take us straight there?"

"I can." Jiang Bai explained lazily, "When I use Space Transfer by myself, my affinity for space means it barely consumes any magic power. But if I bring other people along, three of them at that, the magic power consumption isn't as simple as one plus one."

He pursed his lips, looking as though it was too much trouble.

"It's too tiring. I'd rather just take the train in comfort."

Of course, Jiang Bai knew what Mirajane was worried about.

He looked at the girl's anxious expression and thought for a moment, then casually brushed a hand through the air beside him. An invisible Space Pouch opened, and a black hooded cloak appeared in his hand.

"Here, put this on."

He handed the cloak to Mirajane.

"Put it on, pull up the hood, and hide your hand inside the cloak. Then no one will be able to tell."