The Crying Girl

Dead silence.

The entire street fell into a deathly stillness.

The villagers remained frozen in their throwing stances, standing stiffly in place. The pressure radiating from Lu Chongwei was like an invisible hand, gripping their throats so tightly that even breathing became a struggle.

The burly man who had just been clamoring to stone the girl to death was now trembling so violently that his knees knocked together, and the wooden club in his hand clattered to the ground.

"A... a Mage?"

Someone recognized the emblem on Lu Chongwei's chest and let out a terrified whisper.

Lu Chongwei ignored them.

He turned around, crouched down, and looked at the shivering little girl.

"It's okay now."

Lu Chongwei's voice turned instantly gentle as he reached out, intending to wipe the blood from her face.

The girl recoiled sharply, her eyes filled with fear and wariness.

But when she saw the clarity in Lu Chongwei's eyes—devoid of any malice—her body gradually began to relax.

"Big... big brother..."

The girl sobbed, clutching the medicine packet to her chest as if it were her last straw of hope.

"Are you... here to take us away?"

Hearing those words made Lu Chongwei's heart ache.

What on earth had this child endured to ask such a question of a stranger?

"No."

Lu Chongwei shook his head, pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, and pressed it gently against the wound on her forehead.

"I'm here to help you."

Just then.

"Mage! You mustn't let her fool you!"

The town mayor came panting over, pointing at the girl on the ground and shouting.

"She is that devil's sister! They are in league with each other!"

Hearing the mayor's words, the villagers, who had been intimidated, seemed to regain a bit of their courage.

"That's right! The mayor is right!"

"Her whole family are monsters!"

"The older one grew a demon's arm, so this little one can't be anything good either!"

Someone even picked up a stone from the ground, intending to throw it again.

"Shut up!!!"

Lu Chongwei whipped his head around and let out a furious roar.

BOOM!

A visible shockwave erupted from him, knocking several of the surrounding villagers flat onto the ground.

Lu Chongwei stood up, his cold, piercing gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"A group of adults, bullying a defenseless little girl—is this what you call justice?"

"Ignorant! Foolish! Cold-blooded!"

Every word from Lu Chongwei landed like a slap across their faces.

"To deny a person's entire existence just because of a physical mutation? To even want to exterminate her family?"

"You are more like demons than the demons themselves!"

The villagers were left red-faced and ashamed, yet no one dared to utter a single word of rebuttal.

Lu Chongwei crouched back down, looked at the girl, and asked softly:

"Tell me, what is your name? What exactly happened?"

The girl sniffled, her tears falling uncontrollably.

"I... my name is Lisanna... Lisanna Strauss."

As she cried, Lisanna recounted the sequence of events in broken sentences.

"My sister... Mirajane... she went to the church to save everyone..."

"Strange things were happening in town, and everyone said it was the work of a demon... Mirajane wanted to help solve the problem, so she went to the church alone..."

"But... but when she came back, her arm had... had turned into that..."

Lisanna looked up, her tear-filled eyes brimming with grievance and confusion.

"My sister was clearly trying to protect everyone... she's always been so kind..."

"But no one believes her... everyone says she's a demon... they even want to burn her at the stake..."

"My sister was badly hurt... we had no choice but to flee into the mountains..."

"Waaah... Big Brother, my sister really isn't a demon... She's Mirajane... she's my sister..."

Listening to Lisanna's tearful plea, Lu Chongwei already had a rough idea of the situation.

Mirajane.

He was, of course, familiar with that name.

The future poster girl of Fairy Tail, the S-Class Mage, "The Demon" Mirajane.

So, this was the catalyst for her obtaining "Take Over Magic"?

What they called "demonic possession" was actually just her unintentionally taking over a demon's power, resulting in a partial transformation because she couldn't control it.

Yet, these ignorant villagers mistook this power for the source of their calamity.

"Nonsense!"

The mayor jumped up and down, retorting from the side.

"Protecting everyone? It's clear she coveted the demon's power! The priest himself said it's proof she sold her soul to the devil!"

"Lord Mage, you must not believe this little liar! Your mission is to subjugate that demon, not to sympathize with its accomplice here!"

Lu Chongwei stood up and cast a cold glance at the mayor.

The chill in that gaze made the mayor snap his mouth shut instantly, feeling as though he were being stared down by a ferocious beast.

"I will naturally investigate the truth of the matter myself."

Lu Chongwei said indifferently.

"I don't need you to tell me how to do my job."

Having said that, he turned to look at Lisanna and extended his hand, palm upward.

"Lisanna, take me to your sister."

"I want to see what this so-called 'demon' actually looks like."

Lisanna froze.

She looked at the large, warm palm before her, then up at Lu Chongwei's resolute eyes.

In that moment, she felt as if a ray of sunlight had pierced through her frozen heart.

"Mm!"

Lisanna nodded vigorously, wiped away her tears, and placed her small, dirty hand into Lu Chongwei's palm.

Holding Lisanna's hand, Lu Chongwei ignored the villagers with their varied expressions and the mayor's look of utter resentment, striding toward the deep mountains outside the town.

The night was deep.

The two figures, one large and one small, gradually vanished into the darkness.

And from the direction of the ancient church, an unsettling aura began to quietly permeate the air.