A Strange Group

"Ha ha ha, Mom, come catch me!"

"Slow down."

Behind him came a child's cheerful laughter and his mother's worried voice.

Thump.

Ifrit felt someone bump into him.

He turned around and saw a little boy sitting on the ground behind him, still holding an ice cream cone. The ice cream had fallen to the ground.

"Ah, sir, I'm sorry!" The woman who had been chasing after the boy hurriedly apologized in alarm.

"Waaah! My ice cream!" the child burst into tears.

Seeing Ifrit's clothes, the woman assumed he was no ordinary person—either wealthy or noble!

She did not want to cause trouble, so she quickly picked up the child and said, "Sir, I'm truly sorry for getting your clothes dirty. This is all the money I have on me."

As she spoke, she began taking out money.

"No need." Ifrit smiled. "This is a mage's cloak. It doesn't get dirty easily."

He showed the back of his cloak to the woman. Seeing that it truly was not dirty, and that Ifrit's smile looked friendly, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

But the child was still crying. "My ice cream... sob..."

"Stop crying! Have I taught you to be this rude?" The woman quickly smacked the child's bottom and sternly lectured him.

The child stopped crying and merely sniffled softly.

The woman said, "Hurry up and apologize to this gentleman!"

Rubbing away his tears, the child bowed respectfully. "I'm sorry, sir."

"It's all right. You're a good child who knows how to correct his mistakes." Ifrit smiled and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Tom."

Ifrit said gently, "Little Tom, I'm a magician. Would you like to see me perform a trick and make an ice cream appear?"

"Really?" Tom asked in surprise.

"No, sir, that would be too much trouble for you," the woman hurriedly said.

"Don't worry about it," Ifrit said with a smile.

Young, handsome, friendly, and cheerful when he smiled—the woman's face immediately reddened.

"Watch closely."

Ifrit took out a card, and both of them stared at it without blinking.

With a flick of his wrist, a beautiful ice cream replaced the card in his hand.

"Wow!"

Tom cried out in amazement.

"Look, a magician! That's amazing! Big brother, can you do that too?" Another child's excitable voice came from nearby.

Ifrit looked over and saw a particularly strange-looking group, one that did not seem to include a single decent person.

The leader had an extra eye on his forehead. All three of the man's eyes were fixed on him.

Those three eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything. His gaze was proud and disdainful, as though he were a higher life-form looking down upon Ifrit as some inferior creature.

The noisy one was a little boy at his side. The child was clearly unusual, with skin so pale it seemed utterly devoid of pigment.

He wore a prisoner's uniform, though the sleeves and pant legs had been torn short, turning it into a prison-style shirt and shorts.

Circular bite marks covered every inch of exposed skin.

Iron collars encircled his neck, wrists, and ankles. His eyes were blood-red, and he grinned with shark-like pointed teeth.

"He isn't a magician." The three-eyed man said flatly, "He's a fraud."

"Huh? But he turned a card into ice cream!" the little boy said.

"That wasn't magic—" The three-eyed man was about to expose the trick.

Ifrit looked at him with icy eyes.

"Don't cause trouble with Fairy Tail members." A hunchbacked old man tugged at his sleeve.

"Fairy Tail?" The little boy became excited. "I know, I know! A big guild! Tasty!"

"Hey, big fraud, can I eat you—mmph!"

Before the little boy could finish, the burly man behind him covered his mouth.

The hunchbacked old man forced a smile. "Children say the most thoughtless things, sir. Please don't take it to heart."

After saying that,

the group slowly "wriggled" away.

Ifrit stopped paying attention to them. His smile returned as he handed the ice cream in his hand to the long-awaiting Tom.

"Here you go."

"Mom." Tom looked pleadingly at his mother.

"No, sir, we can't accept it." The woman hurriedly refused. "It was the child's fault to begin with."

"It's all right." Ifrit gave the ice cream to the child, then looked at the woman and said, "But don't let children run around in the street. It's very dangerous. If he ran into strange people like that group just now, it would be troublesome."

"Yes, it was my fault." The woman lowered her head, reflecting on it inwardly.

"All right, I still have things to do. Farewell."

Ifrit's voice came from nearby.

"Thank you, kind sir."

The woman quickly looked up, but Ifrit had already vanished.

"Mom, that gentleman disappeared all of a sudden! He's amazing! I want to become a magician someday too!" Tom said excitedly.

"Then you need to study hard and learn more," the woman said, stroking the child's head. To disappear instantly, he probably wasn't a magician, but a Mage!

She wondered which guild's Mage he was. He was so approachable.

At an ice cream stall not far away,

the busy shop owner did not notice the cash drawer quietly slide open. Three hundred J was placed inside, and then the drawer was pushed shut and locked again.

After receiving his new camera, Ifrit was extremely satisfied.

He even hung its strap around his neck.

But less than an hour later, he disdainfully took it off.

It was too heavy around his neck, and it made everything inconvenient.

Without further delay,

he took a train on another line back to Magnolia Town, then rode a carriage back to the guild.

"Ifrit, you came back at just the right time." Gray said, "Natsu and Erza are going to duel."

"What's so interesting about those two fighting?" Ifrit showed no interest.

"But is it really okay for two members of the guild's strongest team to fight?" Lucy asked with some concern.

"Huh? What strongest team?" Gray asked in confusion.

"Isn't it Erza, Ifrit, Natsu, and you? Fairy Tail's top four strongest members."

"Who said that?" Gray's expression turned strange, confused and a little dumbfounded. "Erza and Ifrit are one thing. I don't want to admit it, but at the very least, you need to become an S-Class Mage in the guild before you can be called strong enough."

"Huh?" Lucy froze.

At that moment, the blue-haired legal loli Levy stepped forward and said, "That's right, Lucy. There are currently five S-Class Mages in the guild. Natsu and Gray are both very strong, but compared to them, they're still a little lacking."

"Five?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Gildarts, Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, and Mirajane. Those five are unquestionably among the strongest. As for that guy Ifrit..."

At the mention of Ifrit, Levy had a headache.

Gray added, "This guy withdraws every year, even though he clearly has the strength."

"No, no, no." Ifrit took out a glasses cloth and wiped his glasses as he spoke. "My magic is fine for pranks, but it has no offensive power at all. If I use a gun, I might hurt my companions. Besides, the S-Class title attracts attention. I don't want lots of bad people targeting me and using me as a stepping stone to fame."

"See? That's just the kind of person Ifrit is," Gray said. "But Lucy, if you really think Ifrit only has Deception Magic, you're going to suffer for it!"