The Mysterious Woman

Sordil made his way down the street, and before long, a broad plaza came into view. The women gathered there stood in small groups, their eyes fixed straight ahead. Just as Sordil hesitated over whether to step forward, the long-silent system prompt finally sounded.

"Ding! Congratulations, Mage Sordil, for triggering the main quest: The True and False Fire Dragon! Please complete the main quest. The system will issue rewards based on how perfectly the situation is resolved!"

Just as Sordil prepared to listen for further details about the quest and its rewards, the system responsibly vanished.

This game really is absurdly free-form. But what counts as the perfect solution? Sordil wondered.

The system's disappearance gave Sordil a headache, but after carefully recalling the plot, he found a clue. In the original story, Natsu rescued Lucy and taught Bora a lesson, but used too much force and ended up destroying more than half of Hajirulon. So, as long as he kept Lucy and those girls safe and prevented Hajirulon from being destroyed, that should do it.

After surveying his surroundings, Sordil headed for a nearby house in an excellent position. Taking advantage of a mage's exceptional physique, he easily climbed onto its roof. Looking around, he took in the scene in the plaza below. Then, a blonde girl with a high ponytail appeared. A long whip and a ring of keys hung from her waist. There was no need to say more—one look at her outfit was enough for Sordil to identify her as Lucy, the Queen of Complaints. His gaze locked tightly onto her. As Lucy drew closer to Bora, the fake Fire Dragon, her face grew increasingly red. Both hands clutched her chest tightly, and two red hearts flickered in her eyes.

Just as Lucy was about to fall completely under his spell, Natsu, wearing a green backpack, barged into the crowd with a blue cat at his side. He looks way worse than Natsu in the original, Sordil groused inwardly, but his eyes never left the three of them. What followed was just like the original plot. Once Natsu saw that it was not Igneel, he turned around and left. To save face, Bora gave him an autograph, only for Natsu to disdainfully reject it. Then Natsu was knocked to the ground by the enraged girls, while Bora departed by magic. Afterward, Lucy took Natsu and Happy to a restaurant. Sordil followed closely behind them. Although nothing should happen during this part according to the plot, he did not dare let down his guard and could only become an honorable stalker.

The three entered a café-like restaurant, while Sordil lay atop a house across the street, carefully watching the activity below. About half an hour later, Lucy was the first to leave the restaurant, with Natsu and Happy following right behind her. After hesitating for several minutes, Sordil chose to follow Natsu. Yet Natsu seemed to have noticed him. Rather than taking the main streets, he deliberately picked alleys with few people. Finally, after confirming there was no one else nearby, Natsu slowly turned around and stared in Sordil's direction before suddenly speaking.

"Hey! You over there, come out! You've been following us since the plaza. What do you want?"

"You're Natsu from Fairy Tail, right? My name is Sordil. Like you, I'm a Dragon Slayer Mage. I wanted to ask—"

Before Sordil could finish, Natsu hurried over and circled him, looking him over from left to right. In the end, he nodded. Then, without waiting for Sordil to speak, Natsu beat him to it. "You're a Dragon Slayer Mage? Then where's the dragon who taught you?"

Fuck me. How would I know who taught me? And how would I know where it is? Still, Sordil forced himself to answer, "It disappeared on July 7th, seven years ago!"

Natsu was stunned by Sordil's explanation. He stopped paying attention to Sordil and fell into grave thought. After a moment, unable to think of anything, Natsu said, "You wanted to ask where the dragon who taught me is?"

"Yes! But that's not all. Aside from the dragon's whereabouts, I also want to join Fairy Tail. That way, we can search for clues about the dragons together!" Sordil replied.

"Sure! No problem. Let's head back to Fairy Tail right now." Overjoyed by Sordil's answer, Natsu grabbed him and started toward the train station.

"Natsu, don't be in such a hurry. That guy who called himself the Fire Dragon was Bora. He plans to use Sleep Magic to knock out girls and take them to the Bosco Kingdom to sell them. He's also been ruining Fairy Tail's reputation everywhere. We can't let him get away!" Sordil grabbed Natsu's hand and said urgently.

"Bora? Bora of the Red Sky? Wasn't he expelled by Giant's Nose?" Before Natsu could react, Happy blurted out Bora's background.

"Yes! That's him!" Sordil answered.

"Aye! So there are smart Dragon Slayer Mages like Sordil too! I thought they were all like Natsu!" Natsu was still lost in thought, while Sordil was celebrating the fact that he had successfully explained his identity and joined Fairy Tail. Then Happy suddenly made his jab, sending Natsu into a furious fit.

After leaving the alley, Sordil and the other two came to the railing along the embankment and stared at the Green Giant Ship in the distance. Because of the time spent explaining Sordil's identity and choosing their route, the ship had already left the harbor by the time they reached the docks. Watching the vessel in the distance, Sordil and Natsu turned around and squatted down, vomiting together. Happy looked helpless, while Sordil and Natsu exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter. In the end, the three discussed a plan: Natsu and Happy would intercept the giant ship and drive it back to the harbor, while Sordil would stop it from damaging the port. Watching Natsu depart, Sordil silently prayed that everything would go smoothly.

Thanks to Sordil's warning, Natsu did not jump onto the ship. Instead, he used magic in midair to push the vessel back toward the shore. Though the people on board resisted desperately, they could not change the outcome. Staring at the approaching ship and waves, Sordil activated his only active skill—Earth Dragon's Barrier. A yellow city wall six or seven zhang high suddenly appeared before the docks, blocking both the ship and the waves. Under Sordil's magic, the giant ship instantly shattered, throwing everyone inside onto the beach, where they fell unconscious. Among them were Lucy, who had only recently parted ways with Natsu, and Bora, who had been impersonating Natsu.

"Ding! Detected that Sordil has completed the main quest: The True and False Fire Dragon. Reward issued: one Novice Gift Pack. Level increased by one!"

As Sordil seized the unconscious Bora, the system prompt sounded beside his ear. Immediately afterward, he felt warmth spread through his body, as though he had become much lighter. A unique force flowed in from the air. At the same time, a new skill appeared in his skill slot. When Sordil saw it, he was overjoyed. The slightly overdue skill had finally arrived.

While Sordil—Xiao Rang—was immersed in the Fairy Tail fan game, a woman walked slowly through an unknown, pitch-black space. She was tall and slender, with a slim figure, but her face was concealed. Ahead of her, an irregular mass fled at high speed. Yet no matter how much it accelerated, the woman followed closely behind it, calm and unhurried, like an elegant lady strolling through a garden.