"When the Upper Beam is Crooked"

In the end, it was Erza who compensated the vendors on Natsu's behalf.

From the way she decisively pulled out money and the practiced motion of pressing Natsu's head down to apologize, it wasn't hard to see how familiar Erza was with the process of cleaning up after this kid.

Though her actions toward Natsu were firm, Erza also cared about him deeply, like a strict older sister.

The compensated vendors left satisfied. Erza tilted her head slightly, catching a glimpse of the cherry-haired boy trying to sneak away in her peripheral vision.

"Natsu, get over here!"

With his ear caught, Natsu sensed trouble and could only cast pleading looks at Noah and Happy, hoping they'd put in a good word for him.

But the one person and one cat he'd pinned his hopes on—one stared at the sky, the other at the ground, neither casting a single eye toward Natsu's desperate plea.

Natsu was dragged into the alley by Erza with a look of utter despair, left to wonder whether a verbal scolding or a swift beating to teach him a lesson awaited.

Taking advantage of the time, Noah and Happy headed to the neighboring street where the client was located, returned the two dogs to their owner, and smoothly collected the 30,000 jewel reward.

Taking his own share, Noah put the remaining money into a small pouch and handed it to the cat on his shoulder. "Happy, this is yours and Natsu's share. Hold onto it tight."

"Aye! Time for big fish again!"

Clutching the pouch tightly, as if delicious fish dishes were already in sight, Happy's drool was practically dripping.

What a little glutton.

Noah lifted Happy off his shoulder. "I have something to do, so I'm heading back to the guild first. Can you find Natsu on your own?"

"Aye, no problem."

Happy immediately spread his little wings and flew toward the central street—if nothing unexpected happened, Erza and Natsu were still there.

Noah looked at the completed pet-finding request in his hand. The reward for this job was already high for its type, yet it wasn't even one percent of the total reward for "Subdue the Beast King."

S-class missions were terrifying indeed.

Of course, Noah was just lamenting. Even Mira, an S-class wizard, had nearly fallen to the Beast King. He, a little rookie who had only just awakened his magic, wouldn't dare to hope for such a thing.

He stepped forward, heading toward the guild.

Due to his unfamiliarity with this world, Noah urgently wanted to learn some "common knowledge" about magic to avoid drawing unnecessary suspicion from ignorance.

Caught between Magnolia's city library and Fairy Tail's guild library, Noah unhesitatingly chose the latter.

In his view, when it came to books on magical knowledge, the city library open to the public surely couldn't compare to the collection housed in a magic guild.

Ten minutes later, at the guild hall bar.

An old man and a young man stared at each other, the atmosphere unbearably awkward.

Noah stared at Makarov with a face full of black lines, his expression quite telling. "President, what do you mean by 'there isn't one'?"

"'There isn't one' means... well..."

Scratching his bald, hairless head, Makarov's old face flushed red as he spoke with some embarrassment. "The guild doesn't have a library right now."

"Not now, but it did before? The books couldn't have been sold, could they?"

"Of course not—our guild isn't so broke that we'd sell off all the books. A few cents a pound would be too much of a loss..."

He even knew the scrap paper recycling price that clearly. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it... Noah felt that since joining this guild, his ability to internally roast had improved significantly, but out of politeness, he only kept his complaints to himself.

At this rate, he'd end up a passive-aggressive introvert...

Subtly changing a person—this "Fairy Tail" really did have a dark side...

Back to the point, from Makarov's tone, Noah gathered that the guild library had been replaced for some reason, but as long as the books still existed, he'd be fine as long as he could read them.

When Noah asked where the guild's book collection was, Makarov grew awkward again.

Seeing this, Noah forcibly suppressed his urge to roast and sighed helplessly. "Just say it straight, President. I can handle it."

"Those books are in the warehouse."

That's it?

Noah had thought the books might be propping up table legs somewhere. So they were just stored in the warehouse—what was so hard to say about that?

Makarov then revealed the truth. "The library's books are all in the deepest part of the warehouse, and the warehouse... hasn't been cleaned in a long time."

"But don't worry too much, Noah. If four or five people clean it out together, it should be done in about a day or two."

As if afraid of dampening Noah's enthusiasm for reading, Makarov quickly tried to cover for himself. The guild had finally gotten a second kid willing to read—he couldn't let him down.

"I'll call a few lads to clean it up later. I guarantee you'll be able to read normally by tomorrow."

Then I really have to thank you on behalf of those unlucky sods...

Noah was speechless. He finally understood why the guild had a simpleton like Natsu—the pillar of the place wasn't exactly upright himself.

"President, I have one more question. What was the original library turned into?" Noah was now quite suspicious that some corner of the tavern hall had once been the library.

"Haha... well... I seem to have forgotten."

Makarov hemmed and hawed, trying to brush it off. He really couldn't bring himself to say it, but if he wouldn't, someone else would.

"The library? Isn't that the first floor of the wine cellar now? President, with a memory that bad, you really are getting old."

A stunning figure suddenly popped up from behind the bar—it was Mira, wearing her sweet smile, but her words stabbed straight into Makarov's heart.

Makarov felt that all the thick skin he had cultivated over the past few years had been completely thrown away today—and right in front of a new guild member!

It turned out that as the guild's membership grew day by day, the demand for drinks also increased, causing the underground wine cellar to run out of space.

So three years ago, Makarov converted the library into a room for storing alcohol.

As for why he chose the library, it was naturally because, aside from one girl who had long since finished reading all the books there, no one else in the guild was willing to swim in the ocean of knowledge.

After listening to Mira's explanation and learning the absurd chain of events, Noah showed no expression.

He suddenly realized he had already gotten used to it.

Speaking of which, didn't that "no one willing to read" include Makarov himself?

To spare the esteemed guild master from further embarrassment, Noah tactfully changed the subject, looking at the drinks Mira was arranging on a tray.

"Mira, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm working part-time as a receptionist—taking on client requests and serving guild members on a daily basis."

Mira's smile was very gentle, but Noah wasn't entirely reassured. After all, when he arrived here yesterday, he had personally witnessed Mira single-handedly beating up over a dozen people.

That so-called "receptionist" role—was it the kind of reception done with fists...?