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Did she want to find Grandine?
Wasn't the answer to that question obvious?
Though Grandine was a dragon, she had raised Wendy and was like a mother to her. Aside from Noah, she was the most important person in Wendy's life.
Noah had indeed helped Wendy when she had been at her most helpless, occupying an extremely important place in her heart. She had even almost become unable to leave him.
But if one asked Wendy whether she wanted to find Grandine, then of course she did, didn't she?
However, Wendy also did not want to leave Noah.
Even though it had only been three short days, Noah had already become an extremely important presence to Wendy. If she had to choose, Wendy absolutely did not want to leave Noah. Otherwise, she would not have clung so tightly to him over the past three days.
"I... I want to find Grandine..." Wendy's delicate body trembled as she threw herself into Noah's arms. Even her voice shook, clearly showing just how turbulent her emotions were.
"But... but... I don't want to leave Brother Noah either..."
"Leaving is only temporary. I won't suddenly disappear like Grandine did. If Wendy wants to find me, it'll be very easy." Noah could clearly feel Wendy's hesitation. He gently patted her back as if comforting her and sighed. "I'm a mage of Fairy Tail, and I'm not old enough to stand on my own yet, so I can't accompany you all over the world in search of Grandine. Originally, I wanted to take you back to Fairy Tail and see if the guild's companions could help. But now, since Jellal wants to travel around the world to stop Anima from activating, while you need to search the world for Grandine, the two of you may have different goals, but the process is exactly the same."
Noah glanced at the silent Jellal beside him and smiled faintly.
"In that case, why not let Jellal help you search for Grandine? Wouldn't that be good?"
"..." Wendy buried her tiny face in Noah's chest without saying a word. Her delicate body continued trembling, clearly still wavering.
"Is that really alright?" Jellal finally spoke, sounding somewhat worried.
"Although what you said makes sense, if we truly encounter Anima during the journey, Wendy would be in far too much danger following me. So honestly, I don't really agree with this."
"I believe you can take good care of Wendy!" Noah met Jellal's gaze and stared straight at him.
"Can you promise me that, no matter what happens, you will ensure Wendy's safety?"
Looking into Noah's deep, star-like eyes, Jellal felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility rise in his heart. He took a deep breath and nodded firmly.
"I promise. No matter what, I will keep Wendy safe!"
Noah smiled freely, then pulled Wendy out of his arms. Looking at her lowered face, whose expression he could not see, he patted her head.
"If you truly don't want to, I won't force you. Come to Fairy Tail with me, and I will definitely help you find Grandine!"
Wendy bit her lip, her eyes still filled with deep hesitation.
To be honest, Wendy truly did not want to leave Noah, and she was deeply tempted by Noah's suggestion.
But Wendy asked herself, was that really alright?
Wendy believed that if she asked Noah, he would definitely do everything he could to help her find Grandine.
However, it was precisely because she trusted Noah so much and cared about him so deeply that Wendy did not want to cause him trouble.
Wendy raised her head. She first looked at Noah, who wore a gentle smile, then glanced at Jellal beside her. Finally, she fixed her eyes on the Fairy Tail guild emblem on the back of Noah's hand.
Reaching out, Wendy took Noah's hand bearing the Fairy Tail guild emblem. She stared at the mark for a long while before meeting Noah's eyes.
"Brother Noah, will we meet again?"
When she said this, Wendy's eyes were filled with both reluctance and determination. Noah, who had clearly seen all of it, smiled knowingly.
"Fairy Tail is one of the Kingdom of Fiore's foremost guilds, with a renowned reputation. I believe that even in the future, Fairy Tail's name will spread across the entire continent. There won't be anyone who doesn't know how to get to Fairy Tail!"
Noah caressed Wendy's smooth cheek and said this in a tone filled with incredible warmth.
"If you miss me, come to Fairy Tail and find me!"
This time, Wendy smiled. She smiled with exceptional happiness.
"I'll always think of you, Brother Noah. I believe Grandine will like you too. You're both the people I love most!"
Wendy threw herself heavily into Noah's arms and hugged him tightly once more.
Only this time, there was a little less sorrow in Wendy's embrace and a little more lingering attachment.
Holding Wendy's small body, Noah raised his head and solemnly said to Jellal.
"I'm leaving Wendy to you."
Jellal nodded, the emotion in his eyes utterly sincere.
"I will do my utmost!"
In the sunlit forest, the roars of wild beasts echoed everywhere, adding a touch of peril to the scorching air.
Noah, carrying a long cloth bag in one hand and slinging it over his left shoulder, ran through the forest at incredible speed. Like a cheetah charging through the woods, he was so fast that only an afterimage could be seen. He nimbly dodged the trees blocking his path, an astonishing sight.
Even under such circumstances, Noah remained focused on observing his surroundings, carefully listening to every sound and missing nothing.
According to the villagers who hunted in the forest, they had once seen Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna passing through this area while noisily arguing, seemingly searching for something.
In other words, the three Strauss siblings were very likely still wandering around this area.
That made Noah curse inwardly several times.
Noah had assumed that the three Strauss siblings would have learned over the past three days that he had completed the commission and given up before leaving.
He had not expected them to still be in the forest. From the looks of it, they apparently had not given up on taking this commission from Noah.
There was no need to think about it. The three Strauss siblings had not left the forest even once since entering it three days ago.
Otherwise, they could not possibly have failed to learn of the village chief's notice allowing villagers to resume hunting in the forest.
"Those three siblings are way too persistent, aren't they?"
Noah gritted his teeth slightly, but his running speed did not slow in the slightest.
Logically speaking, even if the three Strauss siblings were still wandering around this forest, Noah had no need to come looking for them himself, much less search for them so urgently.
But for some reason, Noah had a bad feeling in his heart.
"Could they have run into some danger?"
There should not have been any Magical Beasts in this forest, so naturally there should not have been any danger.
But that was not guaranteed.
Perhaps some foreign Magical Beast had happened to enter the forest—one that was not weak, yet was beyond the three Strauss siblings' ability to handle?
Noah had sensed rather powerful magic from Mira, but Elfman and Lisanna did not have even the slightest fluctuation of magic power. Clearly, they had not begun learning magic yet.
That made it difficult to guarantee that nothing would go wrong.
Most importantly, Noah believed in his instincts.
"If I find you, I'll make you regret it!"
With that determination, Noah increased his speed even further.
"Roar—!"
At that moment, an enormous roar rang out from not too far away.
"That sound..." Noah came to an abrupt halt, and his expression changed.
"Could I really be that unlucky?"
Even as he said that, Noah sprang toward the direction from which the sound had come.
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