Giant Mole

"That damned old man set me up!!!"

On a small road leading to a village, a black-haired young man stared at a mission request in frustration. He wanted to tear it apart, but he was afraid the old man would later say that tearing it up did not count!

The request depicted a huge mole poking its head out of a hole. It wore a metal drill bit on its head, and its claws were extremely sharp. However, its face had an utterly punchable expression. Qian Guang felt like the mole would fire a yellow energy wave in the next second.

"Mission—Exterminate the moles. These moles have plagued the village for ten years. They are extremely cunning, highly resistant to magic, capable of earth magic, and exist in enormous numbers. Members of several guilds have failed!"

Qian Guang really wanted to tear it up. His first mission had been to exterminate boars, and his first S-Class mission was to exterminate moles?

So it was supposed to echo that, huh? At least give him a demon extermination mission or something. And why was this an S-Class mission? Had the threshold for missions become this low now?

The first time he exterminated boars, he had run into Laxus. So this time, while exterminating moles, would he run into someone too? Gildarts?

After agonizing over it for a long time, he helplessly put the request down and stuffed it into his backpack, out of sight and out of mind. The main reason was that the more he looked at it, the more he felt that mole was mocking him!

Village entrance

A frail old man with a beard reaching his waist leaned on a cane as he explained something to a burly man carrying a pack.

"Hans, when you go to the guild this time, raise the reward a little. Sigh, these days... Our losses were not too severe before, and there was enough for the villagers to eat."

"But things are different now. The harvests have not been good these past two years. If those beasts keep eating like this, we will have no food left."

The village chief was deeply troubled. He had posted this mission long ago, but unfortunately, many mages had failed. They had only driven the moles away.

Once time passed, the moles would return and become even more outrageous.

He was prepared to spend a fortune to get rid of these moles once and for all!

"No problem, Village Chief. This time, I'll definitely persuade them to send a powerful mage!"

Hans was cheerful and forthright. He was the captain of the village security team. There had not been such a position before, but one had been created after the moles appeared.

It was also thanks to Hans. Otherwise, the vegetable fields would probably have suffered even greater losses.

"Hey, hello there! Are you people from Moto Village?"

A voice called out to the village chief and Hans from afar.

The two looked up and saw a young man before them.

!!!

Hans immediately assumed a fighting stance.

Qian Guang had felt a little lost. After finally spotting someone, he had teleported over directly, only to discover there was a village here.

"Sorry, sorry. I got too excited. I'm a mage from Fairy Tail, here to deal with the mole problem."

Afraid they would not believe him, Qian Guang took out the mission request and pointed to the guild mark beneath his eye.

Hans lowered his guard, scratched his head, and looked toward the old man.

The village chief accepted the request and examined it carefully. It was indeed the mission he had posted. Then he stared at Qian Guang for a long while.

He did not look away until Qian Guang's scalp started to tingle and he began to wonder whether the old man had some unusual fetish.

"Ah, welcome, welcome! I'm the chief of Moto Village. Please come in! Hans, come in and entertain our guest!"

The old village chief completely shed his earlier wariness, becoming extremely welcoming. He did not underestimate Qian Guang in the slightest just because he looked young.

What a joke. He had seen people far stranger than children. Judging by his manner of speaking, this one counted as normal.

The short, fat, orange-haired young man who had come some time ago had been the abnormal one. He had kept sniffing the village chief's perfume, and in the end, he had not even driven the moles away.

The old village chief gave Hans a look, signaling him to follow. He was afraid this honest fellow would reveal that they planned to increase the reward. Saving where they could was still saving.

Hans scratched his head, having no idea what that look meant. I just need to play dumb, right? I'm good at that.

"Ababa ababa."

"Uh, sorry to intrude."

Seeing the village chief's warm welcome, Qian Guang followed him inside without asking what they had been doing at the village entrance.

After all, it was not appropriate to pry into other people's affairs, and he was in a hurry! He wanted to return for the New Year!!!

"Come, come, young friend. Let's go to my house and have something to eat first."

Remembering the lesson from his first mission, Qian Guang did not refuse. He could not exactly barbecue in the wilderness again.

"Then I'll trouble you."

"Hahaha, not at all, not at all. We're the ones troubling you."

Village chief's house

Qian Guang felt a little embarrassed as he looked at the table full of delicious food. He did not think a village harassed by moles could afford to treat every guest like this.

"Eat, young friend. We'll be relying on you this time."

"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. Just call me Qian Guang. I'll definitely exterminate the moles."

The village chief did not prepare so much good food every time a mage came. His village was poor, after all. But since he had not increased the reward, he could not shortchange someone on food as well.

After a ravenous meal, the village chief was stunned. He even began wondering whether he had prepared enough. Hans stared blankly while holding a chicken leg; he had finally met someone who could eat more than he could.

Fortunately, Qian Guang did not eat too much. Once he had eaten enough, he took a cup of tea and finished his meal.

"Village Chief, please tell me about these moles."

"Sigh, Qian Guang, you don't know this, but the mole problem started several years ago. We asked the Mage Guild for help back then."

"Unfortunately, they only drove them away. Less than a month later, they came back."

"After that, we kept posting missions, but the results were never satisfactory. We could only keep raising the reward, until eventually we simply could not raise it any further and had no choice but to let the moles run wild."

"Fortunately, these moles have not destroyed the vegetable gardens, and the defense team Hans formed can still hold them off. We were able to endure, but the harvest has been poor lately. We really can't hold on anymore."

The village chief sighed. If the moles had taken a little less each time, he could have accepted it, but they were always insatiable. There was nothing he could do.

"Alright, I understand, Village Chief. Could you—"

"This is bad! Village Chief! Those damned moles are here again!"

Before Qian Guang could finish, a villager rushed in.

Hans immediately grabbed his weapon, a spear. The village chief's expression changed, and he looked at Qian Guang with pleading eyes.

Qian Guang stopped speaking. He had just been thinking of going to take a look at the moles, but now they had come right to his doorstep.

"Let's go, Village Chief. We'll take a look together."

Qian Guang saw the village chief's expression and gave him a reassuring look as he stood up.

"Let's go, let's go!"

Qian Guang saw several colossal creatures, each five meters tall, wreaking havoc in the vegetable garden.

"Village Chief... are you sure these are moles?"

Qian Guang felt like he had quite a connection with things this size. First the Boar King, then the insects last time, and now moles.

Hans had already charged forward with his weapon. As a security officer, he was quite capable. Even without magic, he could restrain a mole through skill alone.

Unfortunately, he had no magic power enhancing him. Otherwise, he could easily kill this mole.

"Sigh, they really are moles. This is troublesome."

"It's fine."

Qian Guang held a seed and activated it. A massive vine appeared, instantly binding and crushing several moles before dropping them in front of the village chief.

This vine was a new result of Qian Guang's research this year. It was not only tough but also thick and sturdy.

"That was pretty easy."

When the remaining moles saw their companions die instantly, they screamed and immediately burrowed underground to flee.

Qian Guang was dumbfounded, because in his perception, the moles had already gone hundreds of meters away in an instant.

"Th-That..."

"Sigh, young friend, that's the hardest part. They run too fast, and we can't find their nest. Also, there are probably dozens more moles."

"Dozens!!!"

Qian Guang felt that getting back in time for the New Year would not be easy!!!