An Unexpected Letter

The celebration banquet for the "Cursed Mine" incident lasted a full two days and two nights. The entire guild was immersed in the joy of victory and amazement at the strength of its new companions.

When life finally returned to normal and the guild resumed its familiar daily routine, both noisy and warm, an unexpected letter shattered that peace.

It was a translucent blue carrier pigeon formed from magical energy. Ignoring the guild's front doors, it flew straight through the wall and circled above the noisy hall as though precisely locking onto its target.

In the end, it slowly and accurately landed in a corner of the guild.

There, a cute little girl with long dark-blue hair was quietly talking to a white, winged cat.

She was Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer who had only recently joined Fairy Tail. The cat was her companion, the Exceed Charle.

"A letter for Wendy?"

"What a beautiful magical carrier pigeon. What kind of communication magic is that?"

The surrounding guild members all looked over curiously.

Wendy was surprised as well. She held out her little hand, and the magical pigeon transformed into a gentle blue glow, condensing into a letter sealed with special waterproof paper that fell into her palm.

There was no sender's name on the envelope, only a special emblem she knew all too well, made up of a cat paw and a four-leaf clover.

"It's... it's Guild Master Rob!" Wendy's eyes instantly filled with surprise and longing.

Rob was the old guild master of Cait Shelter, the false mage guild she had belonged to before, a guild with only her as its member. Though the guild had been fake, the care that kind old man had shown her was real.

Full of anticipation, she opened the envelope. But when her gaze swept over the hurried, messy handwriting on the paper, the smile on her face gradually froze, eventually replaced by deep worry and fear.

The letter did not contain greetings, but... a plea for help!

"Dear Wendy:

Please forgive me for contacting you in such a hurried manner. I heard that you joined Fairy Tail, and I am sincerely happy for you.

However, a tremendous danger may be drawing near you!

Recently, I discovered that a group of unidentified people had been asking around about the old events concerning Nirvana.

Their target seemed to be everyone connected to that incident. I accidentally overheard their conversation, and they... they mentioned you, the 'Sky Priestess'!

Wendy, I suspect they are a dark guild seeking the remnants of Nirvana's power! They may want to use the faint magic that might still remain within you, or your special constitution as a Dragon Slayer, to do something terrible!

I am only a feeble old man in the twilight of my life, and I no longer have the strength to protect you.

Fairy Tail is a powerful guild. You must tell your new companions about this and seek their protection!

Never, never act alone!

Your forever family, Rob."

The letter slipped from Wendy's trembling little hand and drifted to the floor.

Her little face turned deathly pale, without a trace of color. Her large eyes instantly brimmed with tears, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"How could this... Why... why are they coming after me..."

What she felt was not fear for her own safety, but something deeper—a fear that she would bring enormous trouble to the warm new home that had only just accepted her.

"Wendy, what's wrong?" Charle, who had noticed something was amiss, asked anxiously.

Wendy did not answer. She merely bit her lip hard, tears swirling in her eyes, stubbornly refusing to let them fall. She did not want everyone to see her weakness, and she did not want to become a burden to them.

Instinctively, she wanted to keep this a secret. If she quietly left on her own, she would not drag anyone else into it.

Just then, a warm, large hand picked up the letter from the floor.

"Little girl, what happened?"