A Girl's Heart That Men Can't Understand

(A huge thank you to 'Unable to Get My Wish' for the 1888 reward! And to 'Ice Moon Shadow', 'Book Friend 150313094047194', 'Shadow of Tea', 'Mi Night Remaining Shadow?', 'Cloud Fork Green Valley', 'ha$Light', 'Little H Otaku', 'Fleeting Years Become Sorrow Love', 'Our Dream of the Second Dimension' for their rewards!)

"..."

In the enormous library, an indescribable atmosphere of silence permeated the air.

Noah held a thick book in his hands, but his attention was mostly elsewhere. His gaze was directed forward, filled with subtle emotions.

Opposite Noah, Mira and Lisanna sat side by side, but they weren't as boisterous as usual. Upon closer inspection, one could see that their reactions were somewhat abnormal.

First, there was Mira.

Mira, who usually acted like a violent delinquent, sat there looking somewhat embarrassed. Her cheeks were flushed pink. Though she looked very cute, this was not the Mira that Noah knew.

Lisanna was the complete opposite.

Although Lisanna was the youngest of the group, she was also the most precocious and mature. Today, however, she was acting like a child, looking sullen and seemingly angry.

This scene had been playing out ever since Noah was woken up by an inexplicably angry Lisanna.

Looking at the pair of adorable sisters, who were acting more strangely than usual in every way, Noah felt quite frustrated. As a result, he couldn't concentrate on the book in his hands.

So, Noah simply raised his head from the book, his gaze first falling on Lisanna.

"Hmph!" Lisanna snorted lightly, turning her head away, still looking angry.

Noah blinked and turned his gaze to Mira.

"----!" Mira shuddered dramatically. Her already pink cheeks turned crimson. She glared at Noah and exclaimed in embarrassment, "What? You wanna fight?!"

"..." Noah was understandably puzzled.

Mira wanting to fight wasn't strange in itself.

What was strange was that Mira usually shouted "You wanna fight?" with a domineering and fierce tone. What was with this blushing, delicate version of "You wanna fight?" today?

Noah really didn't know what had happened to these sisters, so he simply stopped thinking about it and asked, "Hey, are you two hiding something from me?"

Upon hearing this, the white-haired sisters reacted differently.

Mira shuddered and turned her head away guiltily.

Lisanna, on the other hand, seemed even angrier and even shouted at Noah in a clear voice, "Noah is a big dummy!"

"?????" The questions in Noah's mind were about to burst through the sky.

Could this be the legendary maiden's heart that men can't understand?

"Th-then, instead of chatting, why don't you hurry up and find a Magic that you like!" Mira awkwardly changed the subject.

"Don't you want to learn Magic?"

"Of course, I want to learn..." Noah felt that he wouldn't get any answers even if he continued to pursue the matter, so he could only sigh and heft the magic book in his hand.

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

Seeing that the topic had finally returned to normal, Lisanna gradually returned to her usual self and tilted her head, asking, "You've been looking all night, and you still haven't found anything suitable?"

"Basically, all the magic books in the Guild library are here!" Noah patted the pile of books on the table next to him, which had formed a small mountain, looking at a loss.

"But I've been looking all night, and I still don't think I've found anything suitable."

"Is it that difficult?" Mira muttered, grabbing a book and flipping through it.

"It's just choosing Magic. It's not like choosing clothes. Just pick out the most powerful, the strongest, and the most useful Magic, right?"

"It's not always the case that the more powerful the Magic, the better. Like, your Take Over Magic is considered quite ordinary, while Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic is an ancient and precious lost Magic, but you're still much stronger than Natsu, aren't you?" Noah rested his cheek on his hand, his tone slightly weary.

"So, I chose to take my time and pick carefully. Otherwise, I would have just gone straight to Grandpa. He definitely knows a lot of precious, rare, and powerful Magic."

In fact, Noah had also considered using spontaneous awakening to learn Magic.

After all, although spontaneously awakened Magic isn't necessarily the most powerful, it's the Magic that best expresses the abilities of the person who awakened it and is most suitable for them.

However, it wasn't so easy to do this. There was one crucial problem.

That was, Noah had no idea how to awaken the Magic hidden within him.

Everyone awakens their own Magic in a different way.

Like Mira, she awakened her Take Over Magic after coming into contact with demons.

Erza also learned her type of Magic through spontaneous awakening.

And according to Erza herself, the way she awakened her Magic was by strengthening her resolve in a moment of crisis, which awakened her Requip Magic.

Noah didn't know how his Magic should be awakened.

Ninety percent of the Mages in this world choose to learn Magic on their own for this reason, so Noah was naturally no exception.

Besides, what if, after awakening, the Magic that's most suitable for him turns out to be unsuitable for combat?

The method of awakening Magic is unknown, and the type of Magic awakened is also unknown. This has resulted in ninety-nine percent of the Mages in this world using Magic that they have learned through their own study.

Noah has been delayed for a full two years because of his Magic Power issues. Now that he can finally learn Magic, he doesn't want to place his hopes on some vague, self-initiated awakening.

"How about you learn Take Over Magic like us, Noah?" Lisanna suggested, her eyes shining.

"That way, we can use the same Magic!"

Hearing this, Noah looked at Mira, but inadvertently saw a hint of anticipation in her eyes as well, and scratched his cheek.

"It's not that I haven't considered Take Over Magic, but I'm not as special as Mira, able to take over the power of demons, so I've been thinking about it."

Hearing Noah's words, Mira and Lisanna both opened their mouths, just about to say something, when a huge noise interrupted them.

"Ding-dong—Ding-dong—Ding-dong—Ding-dong—!"

It was a sound as loud as the bells in a church.

As if it were some kind of festival, a huge bell suddenly rang throughout the entire Fairy Tail Guild, and even throughout Magnolia. The sound was so loud that almost everyone in Magnolia could hear it.

Before Noah, Mira, and Lisanna could make any move, a huge uproar echoed from the Fairy Tail Guild outside the library.

"Gildarts!"

"It's Gildarts!"

"Gildarts is back!"

At the same time as this uproar sounded, Noah, Mira, and Lisanna also heard an alarm sounding in the sky above Magnolia.

"Magnolia is changing to Gildarts Mode, all townspeople please proceed to the designated location as soon as possible!"

As the alarm fell silent, Noah, Mira, and Lisanna felt the ground begin to shake.

"Wha... what's going on?"

Watching the books around them tremble back and forth on the shelves as if shivering from the ground's vibrations, Noah stood up. Mira quickly grabbed Lisanna, reflexively shielding her behind her.

"Gildarts————!"

The Guild was still in an uproar.

"Gildarts?" Mira and Lisanna looked at each other.

"Who's Gildarts?"

Noah also frowned, and without another word, walked towards the door. Mira and Lisanna quickly followed, exiting the library.

When Noah, Mira, and Lisanna came out of the library and arrived at the bar on the first floor of the Guild, they saw this scene.

All the Mages in the entire Guild had fallen silent, as if the uproar just now had all been fake, their eyes all focused on the direction of the front door.

And at the entrance of the Guild, a figure was slowly approaching.