Protecting My Family For You

(A huge thank you to '潘ysjd' for the 1888 reward! And also to '冰·月影', '亓官轩琦', '吢魂落魄', '在没有你的世界里徘徊', '超者安安', 'z白日梦', '龙天i', '蒂影', and '书友150310232036306' for their rewards!)

"The effect of the magic item?"

Noah nodded, looking at Mira.

"So, you have no way to control your magic?"

"Magic?" Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna were all stunned.

"Although I've never seen it before, I happened to read about it in a book." Noah continued to stroke Mira's grotesque arm, slowly explaining.

"In the magic world, there's a type of magic that involves taking on the power of animals, monsters, or even demons, transforming one's own constitution into that of the animal, monster, or demon, and being able to reproduce the received animal, monster, or demon's power on oneself. It's called 『Take Over Magic』!"

"You're not possessed by a demon!" Noah met Mira's gaze.

"You probably accidentally took on the power of the demon that was wreaking havoc in your village's church, and that's how you awakened 『Take Over Magic』!"

"Awa…ken?..." The Strauss siblings' faces were filled with confusion.

"If humans want to learn magic, there are two ways!" Noah nodded.

"One is through self-study, learning the magic they like and becoming a Mage who uses that magic. The other is through spontaneous awakening!"

"All things in heaven and earth are flowing with a type of 'energy' called 『Magic Power』, which is the foundation for determining whether a person can use magic!" Noah patiently explained.

"And within each person, there also lies dormant a magic that best reflects them, and there's a certain probability that it will spontaneously awaken under certain specific circumstances. Mira's situation should be that she spontaneously awakened 『Take Over Magic』 when she touched the demon in the church, obtained the demon's power, and that's why she's become like this!"

Hearing this, although Elfman and Lisanna only understood a little, they were overjoyed, though they didn't say it, knowing that their sister wasn't really possessed by a demon.

As for Mira, her eyes dimmed even further.

"Demon's… power…" Looking at her grotesque, demon-like arm, Mira spoke sarcastically.

"I don't need such power…"

The cave, which had just regained a little vitality, immediately returned to an eerie silence, and the atmosphere once again became oppressive.

Noah narrowed his eyes and smiled indifferently.

"Why? Isn't having power a good thing?"

"A good thing?" Mira gripped the hand she was holding with Noah tightly, a hint of hatred appearing in her eyes.

"Because of this power, I'm no longer human. How is that a good thing?"

"Mira…" Elfman and Lisanna revealed expressions of heartache.

Being driven out of the village with Mira, and wandering around with Mira without a fixed place to live, the hardships and pain were imaginable.

Elfman and Lisanna were very clear about how difficult it was for Mira.

After all, such difficult and painful memories were all thanks to the demon's power that Mira had obtained.

In such a situation, how could Mira not hate having such power?

Therefore, even if she knew that she wasn't possessed by a demon, Mira still couldn't let go.

Elfman and Lisanna didn't know what to say about this, and could only worry in their hearts.

"Not… human?..." Noah stared at Mira with a gaze that seemed to be able to see through all the thoughts in her heart. After a while, he released the hand that was stroking Mira's grotesque demon arm.

"According to you, are all people who can use magic not human?"

Mira didn't notice Noah's gaze that could see through people's hearts was on her. Her delicate face was filled with extreme sarcasm.

"That's not what I meant…"

"That's exactly what you meant!"

Before Mira could finish her sarcastic words, Noah's sudden words mercilessly blocked Mira's words.

"At least, in my opinion, you have no reason to hate having power, and no reason to resent the power you have. You're just deceiving yourself, throwing a tantrum, being willful!"

"You… what did you say?" Mira's expression changed as expected because of Noah's merciless words, and the negative emotions that had accumulated in her heart for a long time were all ignited by Noah's words.

"You don't understand anything at all, why are you saying that?!"

"Mira!" Seeing Mira's angry appearance, Elfman and Lisanna were shocked and seemed to want to step forward to comfort her, but Noah stopped them.

"The one who doesn't understand anything is you!" Noah looked at Mira with eyes containing a strong will.

"If I were you, I wouldn't hate this power, but instead, I would be grateful for it. Otherwise, in front of that huge monster just now, you wouldn't even have the qualifications to protect your family!"

The anger on Mira's pretty face froze at this moment.

"I don't understand what kind of cruel treatment you received in your village, and I don't know how difficult your life has been since you left the village." Noah said calmly.

"But, I understand the feeling of hating your own power!"

Speaking of this, Noah couldn't help but recall the time when he was first adopted by Makarov and joined 『Fairy Tail』.

"Although the experiences are different, I'm similar to you. I have a powerful force within me that I can't control. This force has almost brought unimaginable disasters to my family and friends more than once."

"So, one day I suddenly thought, why do I have such power? Wouldn't it be better if I didn't have this extra, hateful power?" Noah looked directly at the stunned Mira.

"But, just when I thought so, my grandfather said this: There's nothing wrong with having power itself, and people who have power have no reason to be hated. However, if you use this power in a hateful way, that's truly wrong!"

"From that day on, I never hated the fact that I had power, because I will never use my power in a hateful way!" Noah stood up, ignoring the gazes of the Strauss siblings behind him, and walked towards the cloth bag he had placed by the wall.

"Take Over Magic allows one to receive the power of animals, monsters, and demons for their own use, but I've never heard of anyone whose Take Over Magic can even receive the power of demons. This is enough to prove that you possess a special talent and will definitely have considerable power in the future. Consider carefully how to use this power, instead of simply denying it."

"Of course, you can also choose not to use this power. It's just magic, after all. You can learn it, and you can neglect it. But if you do that, I hope you won't regret it when you need power." Noah picked up the cloth bag resting against the wall, sat down, and closed his eyes.

"I just want to say, cherish this power. It can protect your family..."

Leaving those words behind, Noah didn't speak again, closing his eyes as if asleep, restoring silence to the inside of the cave once more.

Watching Noah lean against the wall, eyes closed in rest, Mira tightly gripped her demon arm, her eyes revealing the most intense wavering.

"Mira..." Elfman and Lisanna looked at their sister with great concern, coming to Mira's side.

Mira, however, was completely unaware, staring blankly at the resting Noah, her heart unable to calm down for a long time.

Even so, time continued to pass as it pleased, and the world's activity would not be halted in the slightest, even if extraordinary things happened in that small cave. Night still fell, announcing the impending end of the day.

However, for Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna, tonight was destined to be both extraordinary and particularly difficult to get through.