Cheese and Snowy

Back in Magnolia.

Nobu had completed the first official commission of his wizard career, and the "big news" immediately spread to every corner of the guild.

"Everyone, I have a proposal!"

"Let's raise a glass to Nobu finally landing a job!"

Fairy Tail could always find a reason to celebrate, no matter how small, but this time Makarov's toast to Nobu didn't get much of a response.

The guild members were gathered around Noah—or, more accurately, the two little animals he'd brought back to the guild—and they had captured almost everyone's attention.

A cute little cat with snow-leopard markings had a round, white hamster perched on its head. Neither of them seemed nervous about being in an unfamiliar place. They looked around the table curiously.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Cheese, and this is Snowy. Noah and we are good friends."

Cheese the little snow cat had an adorable appearance and a childish voice that instantly melted the hearts of the female guild members. They all competed to feed the little pair.

"Wow! What a cute little cat!"

"It can talk, just like Happy!"

"Cheese looks so fluffy. I bet that thick fur feels wonderful to touch."

"Snowy doesn't eat meat? Aren't hamsters omnivores?"

"Noah, you're so lucky. You went out once and came back with two adorable pets."

"..."

His companions' envious voices went on and on, but Noah just pursed his lips. Pets? Once you find out that hamster can take on half the guild, you'll know who's really in charge.

On the way back, Noah had found Cheese and Snowy inside a gift package from the villagers of Mount Hakobe.

They had come to make friends with him.

Noah had dealt with the bad guys who'd tried to capture Snowy, and the two little animals had sincerely wanted to be his friends. Their wish had even earned him a commission: "Make Friends" with them.

Looking at the rewards, "Malice Perception" and "Life-Magic Symbiosis," Noah was more than happy to have two animal friends. It definitely wasn't because he coveted those two powerful abilities.

"Malice Perception" came from Cheese, the little snow cat. Whether or not the malice was directed at him, Cheese could clearly sense any "malice" within ten meters.

"Life-Magic Symbiosis" was Snowy the hamster's ability. The stronger its life force, the more its magic power increased; likewise, the stronger its magic power, the more resilient its life force became.

No one would ever guess that this adorable, food-loving herbivore of a hamster had a growth talent like climbing to heaven by stepping on its own feet.

And even fewer would know that the legendary Snow Beast, said to be twice as powerful as the Beast King, was just a hamster monster.

No wonder no one had ever seen the Snow Beast's true form. Finding a white hamster on a snowy mountain was impossible unless Snowy chose to show itself.

With Cheese translating the hamster language, Noah understood why the two little animals were grateful to him.

Although Snowy was a powerful monster, it was a vegetarian and didn't like fighting. Cheese, meanwhile, was only a few months old and an Exceed with no fighting ability.

A squad from the Dark Magic Cult had brought twenty Vulcans to Mount Hakobe to capture Snowy. Thanks to Cheese's Malice Perception, the little pair had easily avoided them.

But the villains were throwing their weight around on Mount Hakobe, acting as though they could do whatever they wanted because Snowy was a monster. Even the kind hamster, who had never killed a living thing, could hardly stand to watch.

It was just that Noah's arrival had kept the kind-hearted little rodent from showing what it could do.

To thank Noah, the pair had decided to befriend him. But halfway there, the greedy Cheese had been lured by the smell of meat and burrowed straight into the package to feast. Once it was full, it promptly fell asleep.

By the time Noah found them, the carriage had already traveled far from Mount Hakobe. After getting their consent, he brought them back to Magnolia.

Nobu was dumbfounded. The ten-page speech and two pages of thank-you notes he'd carefully prepared had gone unused, and two animals had stolen his spotlight.

When I don't do jobs, everyone spends all day teasing me. Now I've finally finished one, and I'm still less interesting than two animals.

Did I do all that work for nothing?!

Am I not a person?!

Am I even a person or not?!

Nobu sank into despair and habitually started pacing in front of the request board.

Noah saw that Cheese and Snowy were getting along well with everyone, so he left them in the guild hall for the time being and went to the bar to tell Makarov Snowy's identity.

Makarov showed little reaction. With his wide experience, he'd recognized at a glance that the white hamster was no ordinary animal. Still, he hadn't expected the mysterious Snow Beast to be a vegetarian hamster.

As for whether Snowy might pose a danger to the guild, Makarov wasn't worried in the slightest.

A powerful monster? It was just something Giant Magic could flatten with one punch. As a veteran of the Ten Wizard Saints, the only people on the continent who could threaten Makarov were a handful of wizards.

Once Makarov agreed to let Snowy and Cheese stay in Noah's dorm, Noah moved on to the next topic.

A dark sheen quickly covered Noah's right arm, glimmering with a hard, steel-like luster.

"What is this...?"

Makarov narrowed his eyes. Since he used Life Magic: Giant, he'd also been a close-combat wizard with powerful physical skills in his youth. He immediately noticed the change in the strength of Noah's right arm.

That dark sheen had appeared and spread in an instant, raising the defense of Noah's right arm by several levels. It was as if his flesh had turned to steel.

"Hadn't seen this before, had you, Guild Master? It's called Armament Haki, a power that comes from the will."

"Will, you say? Interesting."

Noah had suddenly revealed a power Makarov had never seen before, and the old man was intrigued. He stared intently at Noah, as if he could see through the boy's intentions.

"You're not about to tell this old man you want to teach Armament Haki to those kids, are you?"

Noah smiled faintly and released his Haki. "As expected of the Guild Master. You saw right through my little plan."

If Haki spread, Fairy Tail's strength would surely increase by a great deal. But Makarov had always put the safety of the guild members first.

The old man approved of this power, but he wanted to know whether learning Haki could be dangerous.

"It has to do with will, so I'm not sure."

Noah shook his head. He didn't know either. After all, he'd gained Armament Haki as a reward for completing an Otherworld Commission.

He could teach them the principles behind Armament Haki, but he couldn't guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

Makarov hummed thoughtfully.

"All right, but we have to make sure learning this power isn't dangerous."

"So the old man will be the first to learn it."

Noah was taken aback, then smiled.

Fairy Tail really was the luckiest guild in the world, to have a Guild Master willing to be a guinea pig for the sake of his kids.