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Taking advantage of his height, the young man looked down at Noah as though surveying him from above. His gaze grew increasingly fierce, making the air feel heavier and heavier, even creating a sense of drawn swords and strung bows.
"Long time no see..."
"It had been a full year since I moved into the Fairy Tail guild, and we hadn't seen each other once, had we?" Noah nodded calmly.
"Laxus, you were still the same as ever."
"Don't give me that crap! I'm so much stronger than I was before!" Lacasus lowered his folded arms, stepped forward, bent down, and brought his head right next to Noah's ear as he laughed in a low voice.
"But you're still the same as you were a year ago. You clearly have magic power that even that old man was amazed by, yet because of one sentence from him, you've never dared to learn magic. This is all you'll ever amount to, coward!"
"Oh?" Rather than getting angry, Noah smiled faintly.
"You really want me to learn magic?"
The moment Noah finished speaking, Laxus abruptly reached out, hooked an arm around Noah's neck, and pulled him tightly against himself.
Seeing this, even Erza could not help frowning.
Erza did not want anything to do with anyone, even companions from the same guild. However, that did not mean she could remain indifferent when people from the same guild turned against one another.
Still, being unable to remain indifferent was one thing. Erza had no intention of interfering and simply stood quietly to one side.
Although Laxus radiated danger from head to toe, as if he might attack at any moment, Erza did not sense any genuine hostility from him.
More importantly, Noah, whose neck had been caught and tightly restrained by Laxus, still looked completely calm. He did not seem worried that Laxus would attack him at all. Compared with the frowning Erza, he truly seemed indifferent.
"What I hate most is that look on your face, like you can handle anything with ease!" Laxus's smile faded as he continued expressionlessly.
"I'm just telling you this: even if that old man picked you up from who knows where, since you became my little brother, I won't allow you to be weak. Got that?"
Picked up from who knows where?
After Laxus said that, Erza finally fixed her gaze on Noah for the first time, her eyes revealing a complicated emotion.
So he was an orphan too, just like me...
Unaware that Erza's state of mind had changed, Noah gave a soft, almost mocking laugh at Laxus's words for the first time.
"You make it sound like you're strong. Compared to Grandpa, you're still far behind!"
A shadow crossed Laxus's face before it was replaced by an unruly smile.
"That's only temporary. Sooner or later, I'll trample that old man beneath my feet!"
"And besides..." Laxus laughed wildly.
"Even now, I could crush you to death with one hand, my little brother..."
After leaving those words behind, Laxus seemed to lose interest in continuing the conversation. He released Noah, glanced at Erza beside them, and snorted coldly.
"That old man actually made me babysit two brats who don't even know how to walk yet. Weaklings like this should just be tossed somewhere and left alone. Fairy Tail isn't a daycare center!"
Such nearly cruel words had clearly been directed at the wrong people. Of the two youths present, one still wore the same calm expression as always, while the other did not even raise an eyelid, remaining exceptionally cold. Laxus found it all terribly boring and turned to leave.
"Hurry up and finish this boring mission!"
Noah and Erza still ignored Laxus. In silent understanding, they both started walking and followed behind him toward the exit of Magnolia Town.
Traveling from Magnolia Town to Lake of Rituals required passing through at least four towns even by train, and it took an entire day to get there.
Ever since Noah had met Makarov, been adopted by him, and joined Fairy Tail, he had only wandered around Magnolia Town. This was his first long journey. Even though Noah had thoroughly studied the route to Lake of Rituals and even examined the map, it was uncertain whether station staff would allow an eleven-year-old child to board the train.
Therefore, Noah and Erza simply followed Laxus along the way. Under Laxus's lead, they boarded the train and rode it for an entire day before arriving at Lake of Rituals.
It was worth mentioning that throughout the journey, Noah, Erza, and Laxus did not exchange a single word. Yet whether it was the train tickets or the cost of their three meals, Laxus paid for everything.
Of course, Laxus did not care about such small amounts of money, nor would he quibble over them just because he had two irritating teammates.
The three only got off the train after night had fallen.
"Sorry..."
The moment they got off the train, a middle-aged man dressed in somewhat formal attire approached them from the crowd. His gaze swept over the Fairy Tail guild emblems on Noah's right hand and Erza's armor before he asked in a neither servile nor overbearing manner.
"I was sent by the Council of Magi to accompany those carrying out the mission to inject magic power into Lake of Rituals. Are you three the mages from Fairy Tail?"
"The Council of Magi?" Laxus sized up the middle-aged man, then withdrew his gaze a second later.
"Then lead the way!"
At those words, the middle-aged man frowned.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others from your guild?"
"The others?" Laxus understood what the man meant and immediately grinned.
"There are no others. Just the three of us!"
"Three people?" The middle-aged man looked stunned.
Although the middle-aged man was not a mage, since the Council of Magi had sent him to accompany those coming to inject magic power into Lake of Rituals, he naturally could not be unfamiliar with Lake of Rituals.
Naturally, he also knew that every year, the guild assigned to carry out the mission had to send a large team of at least several dozen mages to inject magic power into Lake of Rituals in order to activate it and make it shine.
And now, they were saying only three people had come?
The middle-aged man's first reaction was disbelief, but then he remembered the rumors surrounding Fairy Tail.
Although Fairy Tail was one of the Kingdom of Fiore's most powerful mage guilds, the Council of Magi did not think highly of them.
The reason was simple. Makarov, Fairy Tail's Guild Master, advocated that guild members follow the path in their hearts and forge their own paths of magic. To that end, he had even openly declared to the guild members that they did not need to heed even the Council of Magi's words.
Fairy Tail saw such conduct as freedom and individuality, but the Council of Magi saw it as indulgence. Naturally, they did not think much of such a guild.
Could it be that they had not taken the Council of Magi's commission seriously this time either?
The middle-aged man's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"Everyone, I think it would be better to ask your Guild Master to send more people..."
"Hah?" Laxus immediately laughed, his laughter brimming with arrogance.
"Did this commission require that more people had to come?"
"No, it didn't..."
"Then stop talking so much nonsense. As long as we can complete the mission, that's enough!" Laxus said impatiently.
"Since you're here to lead the way, then obediently lead the way!"
The middle-aged man was left speechless and could only lead them out of the station.
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