Fairy Tail

X776, Earth-land, Eastern Ishgar, Fiore Kingdom, Magnolia.

Today, Magnolia was especially lively.

"Alert! Alert! Gildarts is back!"

"Gildarts Mode! Activate!"

Gildarts Clive was the strongest wizard of Fairy Tail, Magnolia's only magic guild.

Famed throughout the magic world for his super-high-level destructive Crush Magic, Gildarts could be absentminded at times and would always intentionally or unintentionally wreck the buildings around him.

For that reason, Magnolia had specifically remodeled its main streets for him, allowing Gildarts to return directly to the guild and preventing him from wandering all over town and wrecking the city.

But this time, Gildarts had not "acted up." He had not even had time to destroy his own guild before walking straight through the front door and returning to Fairy Tail.

There was only one explanation: Gildarts was in serious mode and had no time to be scatterbrained.

Today, the lone wolf Gildarts had not returned alone.

He had brought back a little boy.

Fairy Tail Guild, second floor.

A short "little old man" sat atop the railing. He was Makarov Dreyar, the master of Fairy Tail and one of Eastern Ishgar's Ten Wizard Saints.

Makarov withdrew his gaze from the little boy downstairs and turned to the guild's current "pillar."

"Gildarts, if what you said is true, this is no small matter. Do you have solid proof?"

Gildarts nodded with a grave expression.

"I'm certain it was the Dark Magic Cult. They've been capturing civilians and secretly enslaving them to build something... I saw it with my own eyes. There's no mistake."

After hearing Gildarts's account, Makarov's expression darkened.

"...The R-System? That legendary resurrection magic? Hiss—this is serious. The Council must stop them immediately..."

Makarov jumped down from the railing and, with a touch of relief and emotion, patted Gildarts's knee.

"Well done, Gildarts. I knew I hadn't misjudged you. It seems the candidate for our guild's Fourth Master—"

"Ahem, old man, I'm still young. I want to enjoy myself for a few more years. You're only eighty; this is the prime of your life to keep striving."

Gildarts waved his hands repeatedly, politely declining the old master's goodwill.

"You brat... You're the only S-Class wizard this guild can still boast of. If you won't take over, who can? That bastard Ivan?!"

"I think Laxus would be pretty good."

"That kid is still far too green!"

Makarov was so irritated that he laughed. Shaking his head helplessly, he temporarily dropped the subject.

"What's with the child you brought back? Another one of your illegitimate sons?"

"Of course not! Wait, what do you mean, another?"

Gildarts loudly denied it. He instinctively glanced downstairs, scratched his head, and sighed.

"Aibo's family was brutally murdered while resisting the Dark Magic Cult. Then, under that intense shock, the boy awakened his magic. I only found the place by following his magic...

He wasn't doing well afterward, and he had nowhere to go, no one to rely on, so he said he wanted to follow me... I saw that he had talent, so I brought him back to the guild."

"I see... Another pitiful child..."

Makarov sighed.

"Then let him stay. From now on, the guild will be his home...

Oh, right. What magic did the child awaken? His magic power is incredible. It's already no weaker than that of some adult wizards."

"Telepathy Magic."

"Telepathy Magic? Ah, that's a bit of a shame, but his aptitude is excellent. And with that amount of magic power, he'll make something of himself no matter what magic he learns..."

"Um... that's true."

Gildarts nodded, his expression somewhat peculiar.

"The moment this kid awakened his magic, he sent me a distress call from over ten kilometers away."

"Oh, oh, that impressive..."

Makarov nodded at first, then his eyes abruptly widened in shock.

"Wait?! H-how many? How many kilometers did you say?"

Gildarts tilted back his head and thought about it.

"I didn't calculate it exactly, but it was definitely more than ten kilometers. It took me quite a while to get there. This kid is absolutely gifted in Telepathy Magic."

"Even ten kilometers is outrageous! Normal Telepathy Magic only has a range of around five kilometers. How old is he?"

"Uh, five or six, I guess? I didn't ask. Hahaha."

"Hiss—"

Makarov's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Not bad, not bad. He's a good prospect. He might even become a pillar of the guild in the future. All right, I need to visit the Council branch now. Gildarts, the guild is in your hands for the next few days!"

"Huh? Old man, I can't stay in the guild for long..."

"Enough chatter! It's decided!"

While a loud secret discussion was taking place on the guild's second floor...

Downstairs, the little boy Gildarts had brought back stood off to one side in a "daze."

Aibo had striking light cherry-pink hair cut short, delicate features, and an adorable appearance.

But at the moment, his pupils were unfocused and vacant, as though he had lost his soul.

He looked a little... dim-witted.

—Aibo was a transmigrator, and his current situation was far from pleasant.

A few days ago, Aibo had watched the old village chief who had raised him die before his eyes. The powerful mental shock awakened the "memories" of his previous life.

At the time, he had just been beaten up and captured by a group of strangely dressed cultists. His circumstances had been extremely dangerous.

Fortunately, in the depths of despair, his dormant power had awakened.

Using his newly awakened Telepathy Magic, Aibo sent a distress signal into the distance. Then his great benefactor Gildarts descended like a divine soldier and wiped out the cultists with his overwhelming strength.

Although he had luckily survived that life-and-death crisis rather than dying on the spot, Aibo had not been able to breathe a sigh of relief.

That was because the magic he had awakened seemed a little too powerful. He could not properly control this new ability.

Gildarts said that the magic he had awakened was called "Telepathy Magic," allowing him to communicate with others through his thoughts.

It was a useful ability. Aibo could send distress signals more than ten thousand meters away, but at the same time... this magic passively received information. It was ridiculously powerful, and he could not turn it off.

And so, Aibo suffered terribly.

People could control themselves from speaking, but it was difficult to control themselves from thinking. The moment someone thought of something, their inner voice would be sent out. Aibo could "hear" the inner voices of everyone within nearly a hundred meters around him.

Moreover, inner voices differed from actual sounds. The more intense the emotional fluctuations, the louder the "inner voice."

It had been manageable when he was camping in the wilderness with Gildarts. Listening to one lecherous uncle's dirty fantasies was still bearable.

But ever since entering town, especially after walking into this guild called Fairy Tail...

Aibo felt like his head was about to explode. He was dizzy and overwhelmed.

Countless "voices" flooded into his mind. He did not know how to shut down his brain, nor could he block those voices by doing something like "covering his ears."

The more he focused on them, the clearer the voices became.

At present, Aibo only had two ways to ease this pain—

1. Empty his mind and think about nothing.

2. Fill his mind and focus intently on one thing.

Either way, he looked utterly dazed on the outside.

Gildarts thought Aibo had been unable to move past the loss of his family and awkwardly expressed concern several times, leaving both of them embarrassed.

And now, while Aibo's mind had wandered elsewhere—while he was seriously spacing out—two small figures approached him.

Their inner voices gradually became clearer—

[This is the child Dad brought back... That hair color... C-could he be... my little brother?]

[Cana is seriously so annoying. Why drag me over here? I'm not interested in some brat.]

Aibo turned toward the "voices."

Standing before him were two children around ten years old, a boy and a girl.

The boy had black spiky hair and wore no shirt. The Fairy Tail emblem was stamped on his chest. He frowned slightly, his face full of impatience.

The girl had shoulder-length hair and wore a cool, midriff-baring top. The guild emblem was stamped on one side of her lower abdomen, and a complicated light flickered in her eyes.

"Hello, I'm Cana."

"...I'm Gray."

"Welcome to Fairy Tail."