Ur and Ultear

The sky grew brighter...

When the blazing sun rose above everyone's heads and its warm rays fell upon Ywen, Makarov, Ur, and the others, a series of rumbling sounds accompanied armored soldiers running toward the town...

"Ywen, this is bad!"

Makarov frowned as he looked at the flags held high by the soldiers, bearing the emblem of the Magic Council.

"The Magic Council? Looks like we need to retreat...!"

Ywen also noticed the Magic Council soldiers and furrowed his brow.

In fact, during his journey across the ice fields, he had been warned by the Magic Council many times. Although he had explained that he was throwing meteors toward the edge of the town to stop the beast tide, those people simply refused to listen...

"Since it's come to this, we can only use that move, right?"

Makarov winked at Ywen.

"I see. I understand..."

Ywen nodded lightly, then used the power of the Gravity Fruit to bring everyone onto Big White's back.

"Enhance: Speed!"

"It's time to show your true speed!"

After enhancing the giant bear beneath him with speed, Ywen gently patted its head.

"Roar!!"

The giant bear let out a roar and shot forward with a sonic boom.

"We can only run now!"

On the giant bear's back, Ywen spread out a barrier to block the biting wind and rushing air currents as he spoke softly.

As long as the Magic Council soldiers couldn't catch up, it was the same as Fairy Tail never having done anything wrong...

In fact, even Ywen himself hadn't noticed that his way of doing things was becoming more and more like Fairy Tail's...

"Now, let me teach you Fairy Tail Guild's first rule!"

"When you run into those bastards from the Magic Council, remember to run immediately! As long as you don't get caught, it's the same as us never having done anything! And if those bastards come knocking afterward, remember to keep your stories straight: if we didn't do it, then we didn't do it."

Sitting on the giant bear's back, Makarov spoke softly to Ur and the others.

Simply put, Fairy Tail's rule was this: even if you did it, you could never admit it!

"Ur, Ur..."

"Is the Magic Council a very bad organization?"

Gray was somewhat confused. He had no idea what the Magic Council was, so he asked his teacher, Ur.

"No! The Magic Council is an organization that restricts mages from abusing magic and protects ordinary civilians who can't use magic!"

"Simply put, the Magic Council is an organization of justice!"

Ur explained to Gray what the Magic Council was.

"Then why are we running away?"

Gray looked at Ur in confusion. If the Magic Council was an organization of justice, then they should have no reason to run away.

"Uh, well..."

Ur opened her mouth slightly, but honestly, it was a little inappropriate for her to answer that question, so she could only look toward Makarov.

"That question is very profound..."

Makarov's face reddened. Even he couldn't answer Gray's question.

Of course, it wasn't that Makarov didn't know the answer. He simply couldn't bring himself to say it. Was he supposed to tell a seven- or eight-year-old child—

Yes, Fairy Tail was the guild that abused magic more than any other on the continent. Every year, the docks they tore down and the towns they destroyed outnumbered those destroyed by all the Dark Guilds on the continent combined...

One guild alone kept half the continent's construction crews employed...

"I see..."

Gray looked thoughtful. It seemed like he understood something, yet at the same time, he understood nothing at all.

"Phew..."

Seeing that Gray didn't press further, Makarov slowly let out a sigh of relief, then looked at Ywen, who was sitting atop the giant bear's head.

"Ywen, what are you planning to do next?"

Makarov intended to get a clear answer about Ywen's plans. If Ywen pulled another stunt like going off alone to complete a Ten-Year Mission, he felt like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Nothing much. Come to think of it, it's almost harvest season!"

Ywen casually put away the mission sheet in his hand and spoke to Makarov.

"Yes, yes, harvest season is about to begin..." Makarov wore an exceptionally kind smile, but then his expression quickly darkened as he coldly asked Ywen, "So what was that mission sheet you were looking at just now, boy?!"

"It was nothing!"

Ywen answered without changing his expression.

"Quit lying! I saw it all..."

As he spoke, Makarov lunged at Ywen, trying to snatch the job request away.

"Give me a break, you didn't see anything at all..."

Ywen tucked the job request beneath his butt, locking hands with Makarov in a contest of strength.

"The Guild Master is fighting with a guild member? What kind of guild is this?"

Watching Ywen fight their Guild Master, Gray and Lyon couldn't help but comment.

At the same time, they found themselves growing a little curious about the guild known as Fairy Tail.

In the end, the job request in Ywen's hands was still snatched away by Makarov.

"Ywen, where did you get this job request?"

Makarov frowned as he studied the request in his hand. Its rank was not particularly high, but the job itself was rather complicated.

"I got it from a mage from another guild. I happened to be somewhat interested in it, so I took it."

Ywen sat atop the giant bear's head, his expression calm and composed.

"..."

As for Ur, Lyon, and Gray, they remained silent as they watched Makarov and Ywen speak in riddles.

"This won't be an easy job!"

Makarov sighed. Ywen's assignment was to investigate the recent wave of child kidnappings across the continent. Clearly, the people behind these kidnappings were organized and disciplined. An organization like that was almost impossible to track down, because every time they acted, they did so cleanly and efficiently. Even when some of their people were caught, they stubbornly refused to talk, making it nearly impossible to get anything useful out of them. As a result, the organization that had been abducting children throughout the continent remained active to this day.

"It certainly won't be easy..." Ywen nodded lightly, then seemed to recall something and looked at Ur. "Come to think of it, Senior Ur, how much do you know about someone named Brain?"

"Brain?" Ur had not expected Ywen to suddenly address her. She was briefly taken aback before answering thoughtfully, "You mean Brain, the director of the Magic Development Bureau?"

"Mm..."

"Brain may appear to be the director of the Magic Development Bureau, but he has actually been involved in child trafficking all along. I heard that you had dealings with him before, Ur. I wonder how much you know about him?"

Ywen narrowed his eyes, deliberately steering Ur in that direction.

"That man has been doing such things all along?"

"Could it be... my child was taken by him too..."

Ur's face darkened. After hearing Ywen's words and recalling what Brain had once told her, rage immediately surged within her, and astonishing magic power burst from her body!

"So you really do know him."

Ywen asked as he watched the terrifying magic power erupt from Ur.

"Yes! I... I once placed my hopes in the Magic Development Bureau in order to save my child. But later, Brain told me that they had failed—that my child had died..."

"Now that I think about it, how foolish was I? What stupid things did I do? I actually pushed my own child into a pit of fire with my own hands. I truly am an unfit mother..."

Ur's face was full of pain. The thought that she had personally handed her child over to human traffickers tore at her heart, filling her with unbearable anguish. She thought her child must hate her—hate her for being such a negligent mother.

"If that is the case, Senior Ur, then there is a good chance that your child is not dead."

Feeling that the moment was right, Ywen told Ur that Ultear was still alive, though in another form.

"Right, if it was human trafficking! Then she should still be alive! Yes! There's a very good chance she's still alive! I have to find her..."

"Thank you, Ywen. Thank you for telling me this!"

Ur grabbed Ywen's hands and thanked him repeatedly.

"No, I happen to be investigating Brain and the human trafficking situation as well. Once the Magic Council reaches a conclusion regarding the Deliora incident, we can investigate Brain and the human trafficking case together. Perhaps you might even find information about your daughter, Ur!" Ywen comforted her. "As for now, Senior Ur, there is no need to worry too much. I believe that child who inherited such immense magic power from you should not encounter too much danger."

"Alright!"

Ur nodded, fighting spirit reigniting in her eyes. She had to find her daughter—that was her tear, her name was Ultear.

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