Fairy Tail

Kingdom of Fiore!

It is a permanently neutral nation located on the Ishgar Continent, with a population of seventeen million.

This is a country where magic flourishes. In this world, those who possess Magic Power and can use magic are called "Mage," but generally, one must join a "Guild" to be formally recognized. As a result, many "Mage Guilds" have been established. These guilds operate by having Mages accept and complete "Quests" commissioned by clients.

There are many types of magic in this world, broadly divided into three categories: Ability-based, Holder-based, and Special-based.

Holder-based magic primarily refers to magic that requires magical tools combined with one's own Magic Power to use, such as Celestial Spirit Magic, Requip Magic, and so on.

Ability-based magic refers to magic that manifests and uses the caster's trained Magic Power itself, such as earth, water, fire, wind, and the like.

Special-based magic encompasses all magic outside the previous two categories, such as Take Over Magic, which takes in external power, Possession Magic, and so forth.

Beyond these three types, there are also some extremely unique magics that fall under these categories but are distinct, known as "Ancient Magic," "Primordial Magic," or "Lost Magic"······

And the protagonist of this world—the one right in front of Ul—uses exactly that: "Dragon Slayer Magic," a form of Ancient Magic.

It is magic that exists solely for the purpose of slaying dragons!

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In his past life, Ul had been something of a shut-in, so he had a certain degree of understanding of this anime, though due to the passage of time, some details had gradually slipped his mind.

He quickly recalled the general situation of this world in his mind.

Combined with Natsu's incessant chatter in his ear, the circumstances Ul currently found himself in gradually became clear in his thoughts······

"Erza just passed the S-Class Mage exam, which means Erza is fifteen this year, and Natsu is fourteen. The story begins when the protagonist is eighteen, so there are still four years until the plot starts."

Ul silently recalled in his heart. He had no memory of the year in this world, so he could only infer the timeline through the characters' ages!

Moreover, through his conversation with Natsu, Ul roughly deduced that the original owner of this body had likely been a withdrawn personality.

This was probably the only good news Ul had received so far!

Because such a withdrawn personality was easy to fake, and it also reduced the chance of him being exposed.

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Just as Ul was about to learn more from Natsu, a childish shout suddenly came from afar: "Hey~~~ Natsu, let's go eat! I heard there's fish for lunch today!"

"Really, Happy!"

Hearing this, Natsu jumped up excitedly and looked at Ul, saying, "Ul, let's go eat!"

"Uh······ sure!"

Ul replied.

But although he answered Natsu, Ul's gaze was actually fixed on the creature that had just let out that childish shout!

That's right!

The creature that had shouted wasn't human—it was a kitten.

But this cat had blue fur, black-and-white pupils, and a pair of tiny wings on its back. It looked utterly adorable.

This cat was Natsu's exclusive pet (partner), an Exceed from another world, named Happy.

Happy hadn't fully grown yet. Its two little wings fluttered unsteadily as it flew onto Natsu's shoulder, then it folded its wings, stood on its hind legs, raised one cat paw, and waved at Ul, saying, "Hai, long time no see, Ul."

"Hello there, Happy!" Ul replied with a smile.

He had to admit, this cat was even cuter than it had seemed in the anime.

"Ul, let's go eat! I heard there's fish for lunch today!" At the mention of fish, Happy, this little cat, couldn't help but drool at the corner of its mouth, looking utterly ravenous.

"Alright!" Ul nodded. His current body really did need to replenish some energy.

With that, Ul prepared to get up and follow Natsu and Happy to eat, but before he could take two steps, he suddenly felt a tremendous force lift him by the waist. With his strength, he couldn't resist at all.

"Wahahaha······ Ul, you're too slow walking like that. Let me carry you!"

Natsu grinned at Ul, and an extremely ominous premonition welled up in Ul's heart.

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Cafeteria!

Natsu and Happy wolfed down their food, the clatter of bowls and chopsticks sounding like a battlefield.

As for Ul, he lay weakly on the table, feeling like his whole body was about to fall apart.

Although when he watched the anime in the past, Ul had felt that Natsu, the protagonist, was a bit of a blockhead, he never expected that in reality, this guy was even more of a blockhead than a blockhead.

It took a full ten minutes to recover!

Only then did Ul feel like he had regained a bit of strength. He reached out, grabbed a bowl of congee from the table, and began to drink it slowly······

When the human body is hungry, it craves food intensely.

But if someone goes too long without eating, their stomach will contract, and they'll actually lose their appetite.

Right now, Ul was in exactly that state.

"Ul, you bastard... munch munch... you're still eating as little as before!" Natsu said with his mouth stuffed full of rice, looking just like a hamster.

"Aye... munch munch!" Happy chimed in, a fish clamped in his mouth.

Ul: "..."

"Hey, Natsu, let me ask you something..." Taking advantage of mealtime, Ul tried his best to learn more about this world.

He had to admit.

Natsu was a textbook protagonist template.

Dense, clueless, foolish, dimwitted.

The guy had practically cornered the market on all four traits.

Sometimes, watching the anime, Ul really wondered how this guy managed to survive until the end...

To put it bluntly, if he were a villain, having an enemy like this would be something he'd laugh about in his dreams.

Of course!

As a companion, the guy was pretty decent too. At least now, Ul barely had to fish for information—Natsu would just volunteer everything he wanted to know.

And as Natsu spoke, Ul gained a clearer picture of his own situation.

Just as Ul had guessed earlier, the place he was in now was an orphanage. It had been jointly established by several Mage Guilds, including "Fairy Tail," mainly to take in orphans rescued by those guilds.

The orphanage also taught the basics of magic. If someone could successfully learn magic, they could directly join one of the guilds.

When Natsu was first picked up by Makarov, the guild master of Fairy Tail, he had also stayed at this orphanage for a while. That was when he met Ul.

But since Natsu had been learning "Dragon Slayer Magic" from a dragon since childhood, he didn't stay here long before successfully joining "Fairy Tail."

As for why Ul's face never appeared in the original story...

The reason went without saying.