Landing beside Noah, Cana put away the card she'd used to fly and circled him several times, eyeing him in bewilderment.
"How come you're fine again?"
Noah's expression shifted as he looked at her with dead-fish eyes.
Realizing she'd said the wrong thing, Cana awkwardly raised her bottle. "Listen to me, running my mouth like that. I'll punish myself with a bottle. Don't be mad, okay?"
Punish herself with a bottle?
More like reward herself!
Noah stared at Cana for a long moment. Even after the booze-loving girl started getting goosebumps under his gaze, he still couldn't figure out where she'd pulled such a huge bottle from.
Cana looked around. The valley was secluded; without Doran telling her where it was, she couldn't have gotten here so quickly.
A broken sword that was better described as scrap metal lay on the ground, faint wisps of sinister darkness flowing along its blade. A dozen or so Dark Magic Cult soldiers were sprawled nearby, unconscious.
The ground directly ahead had been blasted open by some terrifying magic, leaving a gigantic crater.
Cana could still feel the magic particles trembling in the air. Only magic with overwhelming destructive power could sweep up magic particles like that.
"Noah, what happened here? What about those two Dark Magic priests?"
Noah froze. "Dark Magic priests? Weren't they both from a branch of the Dark Magic Cult?"
Their eyes met. Looking into the girl's eyes, Noah understood.
So those two idiots who'd been blasted to smithereens by the Dragoon had been Dark Magic priests capable of matching an S-Class Mage!
Jerome and Haomen had given Noah the impression that they had some strength, but not much. If he'd had a suitable magic weapon, he could've beaten them himself without activating the Dragoon.
Cana noticed Noah's expression change. He hadn't said anything, but for some reason, she felt certain this new guild member had seen the two Dark Magic priests.
"Noah, where are those two?"
Faced with Cana's question, Noah wasn't sure how to explain. In the end, he looked up at the sky and summed it up in one sentence.
"They're everywhere."
Cana jumped, drew a card, and warily scanned the surroundings. It sounded like they had magic that let them blend into their environment. If so, those two Dark Priests would be a real pain to deal with.
Not understanding why Cana was getting nervous, Noah let out a breath and slowly finished what he'd been about to say.
"Don't worry. They've already been reduced to ashes."
"Huh?"
Cana's mouth fell open, her face full of disbelief.
They'd been S-Class combatants—dangerous criminals wanted by the Magic Council and various countries—and not even a speck of ash remained.
Just what kind of powerhouse had taken them down?
It never crossed her mind that Noah might've done it. He was a new member who couldn't fight with magic and had to rely on magic tools. There was no way he could've fought two Dark Priests and reduced them to dust.
"Some powerful mage passing by must've saved you! You're so lucky, Noah." Cana guessed that some reclusive master had rescued him, then left after taking care of the villains.
The booze-loving girl's guess was close to the truth. The only thing she'd gotten wrong was that there hadn't been any reclusive master, because the Dragoon wasn't human.
But with Cana seemingly hypnotizing herself with her own speculation, Noah could take advantage of it. All he needed to do was make up someone who didn't exist, and he could get away with it.
"Exactly. Someone in a black robe saved me. His face was covered, so I couldn't see what he looked like. He used a magic wand and one spell to blast those two Dark Priests away."
Mysterious, black robes, a magic wand.
Those three elements were the classic package for a powerful mage in the popular novels of Edolas. Noah had borrowed the template without a second thought.
And Cana believed him without the slightest suspicion.
As Noah secretly rejoiced, he had no idea that his description had brought someone to Cana's mind. That person also wore a black robe, was just as mysterious, and also fought with a magic wand.
Most importantly, that person was a member of Fairy Tail—and had beaten her in this year's S-Class Exam, becoming the guild's fifth S-Class Mage.
If he'd been the one to act, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to take out two Dark Magic priests in an instant.
Cana gazed at the huge crater on the ground, her feelings complicated.
You took me down with nothing but sleep magic during the exam. You really are terrifyingly strong... Mystogan.
Noah had no idea what Cana was thinking. He simply invited her to explore the exposed cave with him.
"Cana, I heard those two Dark Priests say this cave was the lair of an Iron Dragon that died a long time ago. Let's go see if there's anything good inside."
Noah rubbed his hands together like a fly. From the Dragoon's appearance, it was clear that when his ancestor had created it four hundred years ago, he'd modeled it on a terrifying being—a dragon.
Now that he'd found a dragon's lair, Noah was thrilled, even if there was a good chance it hadn't belonged to that "terrifying dragon."
Cana also wanted to know what a dragon's lair might hold, but she stopped Noah. "We should wait for Old Man Doran and the others. Those Magic Blacksmiths gathered at the foot of Iron Furnace Ridge because of the Iron Dragon."
Noah raised an eyebrow, surprised, but decided to wait.
Half an hour later, two groups made their way toward the valley from the slope of an ore mountain.
One group consisted of the soldiers stationed at the market. The other was a much more varied bunch.
Rough-looking blacksmiths carrying hammers, tailors with needles and thread, equipment maintenance specialists wearing monocles... They all shared one name: Magic Blacksmiths.
The Magic Blacksmiths moved quickly, leaving the soldiers far behind. Doran, at their head, strode along briskly, soon outpacing his fellow clan members.
"Hey! Old Man Doran! Over here!"
Even without Cana calling out, Doran had already spotted them. Seeing that both Noah and Cana were safe, the weight on his heart lifted.
As long as they were all right.
Watching Doran stop without even breathing hard, Noah realized the blacksmith was no ordinary man. How many old men could run around at will in an ore mountain sweltering with heat?
Cana retold what she thought had happened in the valley, embellishing the story in her own way.
"Old man, tell me, how are you planning to compensate us?"
"Just so you know, the compensation for the emotional distress Noah and I suffered had better be at least... no, make that 100,000. Don't even talk to me otherwise."
After getting another earful from Cana, who was acting all high and mighty, Doran knew he was in the wrong and readily agreed. He even promised to give Noah a magic weapon.
Once Cana had finished bargaining, Noah spoke up. "Sir, Cana told me you had some connection to the dragon that used to live here?"
Doran gazed at the enormous cave, exposed by the Black Sword looming over it, and nodded solemnly.
"Son, do you know about the human-dragon war four hundred years ago?"
It was obvious Noah didn't. And he wasn't the only one; Cana only knew that the war had ended with the dragons' extinction. Its events had never been made public.
Doran sighed and continued, "It's all right if you don't. More than four hundred years ago, the dragons split into two factions over how they should treat humans."
One faction hated humans, while the smaller faction believed they should live in peace with them.
The dragons who hated humans started a war. At the time, humans could barely resist, and the conflict was almost entirely one-sided.
Fortunately, the friendly dragons came to their aid. They were a minority among the dragons, but their leader was Igneel, the Fire Dragon King, one of the Three Dragon Kings.
Although the dragons' leader was the Dragon King of Flight, another of the Three Dragon Kings, he feared the Fire Dragon King's strength and slowed the war, giving humanity a chance to catch its breath.
The friendly dragons went around protecting humans. Doran's ancestor had been rescued from the clutches of the evil dragons by Metalicana, the Iron Dragon. His people later settled near Iron Furnace Ridge under the Iron Dragon's protection.
Nearly eight years later, Dragon Slayer Magic appeared out of nowhere, and humanity sounded the call to counterattack. Yet two years after that, the Iron Dragon suddenly forced Doran's ancestors' tribe to leave.
According to what Doran's ancestors had passed down, a terrifying Black Dragon had sought out the Iron Dragon. From then on, the Iron Dragon never appeared in the world again.
Doran's ancestors refused to believe that the benefactor of their people had simply vanished. So they passed down the order that their descendants must return to Iron Furnace Ridge and wait for Lord Iron Dragon to come back.
More than a hundred years ago, Doran's father had followed their ancestors' wishes. After enduring countless hardships, he finally gathered the scattered members of their people and brought them back to Iron Furnace Ridge in several groups, where they made a living crafting magic items.
No one would ever have guessed that the skilled Magic Blacksmiths in the market had gathered at the foot of Iron Furnace Ridge to await a dragon's return.
They'd been saved once, and so for the next four hundred years, they'd kept watch, waiting for the Iron Dragon to return. Noah couldn't help but admire Doran's people.
"Sir, may I know the name of your people?"
Doran laughed heartily. "Who still calls themselves a tribe these days?"
After Doran's ancestors left Iron Furnace Ridge, their excellent skills at making magic items dragged them into the war. They were forced to scatter and live under assumed names.
A hundred years ago, Doran's father had been able to gather most of their people again because of their family name.
Redfox.
Before you continue