The Forgotten Promise

With the leverage Noah held over him, Laxus had been much more well-behaved lately. Though still rebellious, his attitude toward Makarov had improved significantly.

"You did well, kid."

On the third floor of the guild's master office, Makarov chuckled as he watched the magical projection Noah had sent him—the content, of course, being Laxus's plea for help.

Although Noah had promised Laxus that the footage wouldn't be leaked before he broke the rules, Makarov was his biological grandfather. How could letting family see it count as leaking?

Makarov was overjoyed. Ever since he personally expelled his son Ivan from the guild, it had been a long time since he'd seen any expression on Laxus's face besides "cold indifference."

The more Makarov looked at Noah, the more he liked him. He couldn't quite explain why, but he always felt a sense of kinship and inexplicable trust toward the young man.

"Noah, you're not actually planning to make a hundred copies of that footage, are you?"

"Hard to say."

Noah shrugged. In his view, Laxus's behavior had crossed a line.

Looking down on his comrades just because he was strong was one thing, but actually wanting to become guild master, expel the weak members, and recruit only the strong to make Fairy Tail more powerful—that was another.

Laxus and Makarov had argued about this many times. Aside from vetoing his rebellious grandson's unreasonable proposals, all Makarov could do was stew in his own frustration. He could no longer control the grown Laxus.

Noah believed that if Laxus were allowed to continue like this, he might one day seize the master's position by force and use extreme methods to "strengthen" the guild.

So making Laxus think twice with some leverage was the best course.

"He won't. Laxus loves the guild. He wouldn't do what you're suggesting." Though Laxus had always been arrogant, Makarov still believed he wouldn't harm the guild.

Noah shrugged again. What he'd said was just the worst-case scenario in his imagination. As Makarov said, Laxus was unlikely to do anything too extreme to the guild.

"Speaking of which, Noah, come help an old man with something..."

Seeing Makarov pull a stack of letter paper from his drawer, Noah knew exactly what he wanted and bolted.

Makarov stared in shock, his mouth twitching. "Honestly, every single one of them. Is helping me write a self-criticism really that terrifying? This time it's only a dozen or so letters."

Noah flew down from the third floor to the first-floor lobby. Only when he saw Makarov hadn't followed did he breathe a sigh of relief. Asking him, a slacker, to help write a self-criticism—the guild master really was getting senile.

"Noah, there you are!"

That enthusiastic voice could only belong to one person. Natsu raised his partner, the blue cat Happy. "I've been waiting forever! Let your Cheese and my Happy have a showdown!"

"The winner will earn the title of the guild's strongest cat!"

Mira, who had just finished delivering drinks, passed by Noah and stifled a laugh. "Looks like you've been targeted by a troublesome one."

Noah completely ignored Natsu's invitation for a cat duel. Exceed cats only needed to be cute. Fighting was best left untouched.

"So boring. I've been training Haki hard lately, but there's nowhere for me to use it."

Seeing that Noah didn't want the cats to compete, Natsu slumped boredly onto the table. His gaze caught the blonde girl chatting and laughing with Levy. "Got it! Lucy! Levy! Let me train you! That way you can learn Haki sooner."

The petite literary girl Levy gave an awkward smile. "Well, the city library just expanded recently, and there are a lot of new books, so... Haki training and all that... maybe some other time."

Lucy, meanwhile, flat-out refused. In the two months since joining Fairy Tail, she'd gotten familiar with the guild and learned it was best not to indulge Natsu's sudden strange ideas.

"What's the big deal... we're teammates in the same squad..."

Natsu stayed slumped on the table, staring at Lucy with a resentful look.

Lucy had something to say too. If it weren't for Happy's cute appearance, she wouldn't have teamed up with Natsu.

Since forming a team with Natsu, Lucy hadn't earned a single cent from their jobs—she'd even lost money. But the jobs themselves were thrilling, and the blonde girl loved that feeling.

Speaking of jobs, it seemed Natsu remembered something.

"Huh? Happy, did we forget a job?"

"Aye? Did we?"

The blue cat, sitting side by side with Cheese and munching on dried fish, looked puzzled. Lucy also double-checked that all the jobs their team had taken recently were completed—it was just that the rewards had all been paid back as compensation for damages.

Natsu shook his head. "No, I took that job before you joined the guild. It was a few years ago."

"A few years ago, Happy was still a newborn kitten. How could he remember?"

Mira glanced at Natsu and quietly explained to Lucy beside her. But judging by Natsu's serious expression, that job might have been important.

"It was... a bunch of invisible people... asking me to defeat an evil scientist?"

Frowning deeply, Natsu tried to recall.

Suddenly, a name surfaced in his mind. Natsu slammed the table. "Damn it! Silent Town! How could I forget about that!"

As Natsu's frustrated cry rang out, a chime echoed in Noah's mind.

[Local Prayer Quest]
[Due to the influence of "Concealment" magic, E.N.D. has forgotten his promise to the residents of "Silent Town." Please help him fulfill the vow he made years ago and rescue the invisible townspeople.]
[Reward: Fire Consumption]
[Time Limit: 24 hours]

Well, well. Finally, another order from Natsu had popped up. Noah had hoped to get "Fire Dragon Slayer" in one go, but it turned out to be just the ability of a Dragon Slayer to consume elements of the same attribute.

Flame Resistance, Fire Consumption... Maybe after a few more of Natsu's Prayer quests, Noah could piece together the complete Fire Dragon Slayer magic.

"Natsu, since you've remembered, stop beating yourself up. Go to Silent Town now and see if there's still a chance to make things right."

"Don't worry. I'll go with you."

Noah's voice snapped Natsu out of his self-blame. He nodded firmly. "Thanks, Noah. We need to hurry."