Undercurrents

"Squeak squeak squeak~"

"Hey~ what are you doing~"

Cheese put his hands on his hips and proudly translated Snowy's rodent speech. Even magical creatures had language barriers, but this cat, raised by a hamster since kittenhood, could understand it just fine.

Noah rubbed the little Snow Cat's fluffy head, then said to Snowy, "Snowy, quick, spit out a Winter Snow Grass to save a life."

As a magical beast even stronger than the "Beast King," Snowy had more than just the overpowered "Life-Magic Symbiosis" growth ability.

Ordinary hamsters had cheek pouches on each side of their mouths. After eating their fill, they'd store food in these pouches, making their cheeks bulge out.

As a fellow rodent, Snowy naturally had cheek pouches too, but they were a bit different from ordinary hamsters'. Inside those pouches lay a hidden world, connected to two magical spaces.

As for how big they were, Noah had no idea. It wasn't like he could just climb in and look around.

Mount Hakobe's specialty, the rare magical herb Winter Snow Grass, wasn't actually scarce in yield—it was just that Snowy had been "eating" it as a staple food.

To save someone, Noah needed Snowy to cough up a Winter Snow Grass.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Little paws rubbed both cheeks, and Snowy immediately gave an answer, with Cheese's translation following right after.

"Snowy says yes, but you have to trade with food."

Then Cheese rattled off a menu: a hundred jin of sunflower seeds, a hundred jin of peanuts, a hundred jin of walnuts, a hundred jin of corn, a hundred jin of oats, a hundred jin of potatoes, a hundred jin of cucumbers...

Are you stocking up a store here or what?!

Noah immediately pressed the greedy hamster into a flat cake and kneaded it thoroughly.

After his fun was done, Noah still agreed to Snowy's demands. After all, this hamster could eat, so he'd just treat it to some snacks.

Taking the Winter Snow Grass Snowy spat out, Noah found the herb was actually dry. He'd thought it would be covered in hamster drool.

Snowy: This mouse here, I'm clean too, you know.

Gray made an ice mortar and quickly crushed the Winter Snow Grass. Then Natsu smeared it onto bandages Lucy had prepared, wrapping them around the unconscious man.

By the time the medicine was applied, Mira had just returned.

Empty-handed. She hadn't managed to catch up to that priest named "Dartz." Mira's face clearly showed her irritation. "That guy got away. Can't fight worth a damn, but he's fast at running. The Dark Magic priests are nothing special—not even as tough as Elfman."

Noah deeply agreed. The puppet-controlling Dark Priest he'd encountered on the Black Bird had a trick of turning into threads to escape. If he hadn't exploited an information gap and stacked Explosion Marks all over the guy beforehand, he might have actually let him slip away.

"Mira, don't take it to heart. The Dark Magic Cult is just rats in the gutter. They don't have the guts to retaliate against the guild."

With Makarov, a veteran Saint-level mage, holding down Fairy Tail, unless it was a mage of the same caliber, no one would dare cause trouble for the guild.

Of course, people coming to demand compensation from the guild were a different story...

Mira lightly bit her lip and puffed out her cheeks. She snatched Snowy from Noah's hands and gave the hamster a good rub before noticing the guy wrapped up like a "mummy" in bandages.

"Who's this?"

"No idea, but he asked us to pass on a message."

Noah repeated what had happened earlier to Mira.

Laharl? That name sounded familiar somehow. Mira thought about it but found she really couldn't remember, so she dropped it.

Silently mourning another second for Laharl's obscure reputation, Noah tore a blank page from Daphne's notebook.

He borrowed a pen from a town resident, wrote a letter, signed it with the name "Nexus," and asked the town postman to send it to the Magic Council's Action Forces.

After that, Noah and his group boarded the returning Magical Train.

As for the reward for the "defeat the evil scientist" request in Silent Town, Natsu refused to take it—he'd been years late, after all—but the residents insisted on giving it.

Since it wasn't a wealthy town, the total reward was only 150,000, but no one complained. Everyone had come to help Natsu in the first place.

Conveniently, five people each got 30,000.

In the luxury carriage of the Magical Train, Lucy excitedly counted the bills over and over.

Though a mere 30,000 was nothing to the princess of Heartfilia, this was the first time since teaming up with Natsu that she'd received the full reward!

No destruction!

No deductions for compensation—the full bounty!

To celebrate this day, Lucy generously treated her companions to the luxury carriage, even though the price of a single luxury ticket exceeded the reward she'd received.

Watching the heiress whose joy was beyond words, Noah, Mira, and Gray all couldn't help but sigh for her in their hearts.

Returning safely to the guild, Noah told Makarov what had happened in Silent Town. Since Natsu had forgotten the request due to the "Concealment" magic, Makarov didn't punish him.

Not being scolded was the best reward. Natsu immediately went off happily to brag to his companions about how he'd used a combination of magic and Haki to take down the artificial dragon with one punch.

Taking the opportunity, Noah followed Makarov's advice and arranged for the rescued man to stay at an inn close to the guild. He was sure that with Laharl's speed, someone would come to pick him up within two days.

As for whether trouble would come knocking, in Makarov's words, "Fairy Tail doesn't start trouble, but we're not afraid of it either."

Noah had no idea how the old man could say that without even a hint of a blush...

Laharl opened the crude envelope signed "Nexus."

After a moment's thought, he called for his friend Doranbalt and sent him to Magnolia to retrieve the comrade they had thought lost.

At the same time, the communication Magic Crystal of our new councilor rang.

"Teacher, you actually initiated contact with me. What major problem has arisen?" Before the floor-to-ceiling window, Jellal sat on the genuine leather sofa, basking in the warmth of the sunlight.

"Jellal, the rat we handed over to the Dark Magic Cult has been rescued. He knows there are our people among the high-ranking council members, but he doesn't yet know that person is you."

Hearing the steady voice from the Magic Crystal, the smile on Jellal Fernandes's lips deepened. "What does it matter? He's just a member of an action squad. Among those old fossils, only two would listen to his words."

"The one who rescued that rat was Fairy Tail. Makarov is a troublesome existence, and his words carry enough weight."

The steady voice came again, and Jellal's smile vanished.

Erza, I didn't expect to meet you ahead of time. Will you still remember me?

Just then, a cloud drifted across the sky, blocking the sunlight.

A dark shadow enveloped the young man's entire body, like countless invisible chains binding him within—yet Jellal Fernandes remained utterly unaware.