It took the bridge keeper a while to confirm that the leader really wouldn't get up again.
He walked around the rocky platform three times, then poked the giant bird's claws with a long pole. Seeing that it didn't react, he called over the bridge-building team hiding outside the canyon.
The loose anchor piles needed to be refilled with mortar, and the overturned bridge planks had to be nailed back in piece by piece. Lin Yuan stayed behind to help, while Mira flew up to the top of the cliff to inspect the vulture nest.
When she returned, she had three fledglings in her arms that had not yet grown iron feathers.
"The leader's?" Lin Yuan asked.
"I don't know. There are five empty nests up there, and only these three are alive."
The fledgling nestled in her arms, its call thin and hoarse, completely unlike the adult Iron-Feathered Vulture that had just torn through the rocks.
The bridge keeper scratched his head. "There's a training ground nearby. I can have someone send animals there, but they can't be kept by the bridge."
Mira handed him the fledgling along with a single ordinary iron feather. "Wait until it can fly. If it learns to dismantle bridges, use the feather to write a letter to Fairy Tail."
"Write a letter?"
Put the feather in the envelope.
The bridge keeper looked down at the feather that was enough to tear the envelope and decided to replace it with a thicker wooden box later.
In the evening, the first empty vehicle safely crossed the suspension bridge. The letter of authorization was stamped with an acceptance seal, and the 350,000 yuan reward was paid in full.
On the return train, Mira carefully calculated the results of their battle and announced that she had won with the advantage of three Iron-Feathered Vulture.
"How do we calculate the leader's half?" Lin Yuan asked.
"I first stepped on it, then covered its mouth."
"I landed the last punch."
"So we'll split it in half. You get six plus half a leader, and I get nine plus half a leader."
"You counted all five that were shot down as your own."
Who lured them down?
Lin Yuan looked at her self-righteous face and finally put away the ledger.
Back at the guild, Natsu snatched the leader's feather, which was longer than a person, to use as a sword. Gray picked up another feather and slashed at it, and the two of them sliced through three chair backs in less than a minute.
Makarov looked at the newly filled-out riverbank bill, then at the newly damaged tables and chairs, his face gradually darkening.
Before the old man could speak, Lin Yuan walked towards the task board on the first floor.
" Mira brought that feather back."
" Lin Yuan!" Mira called from downstairs.
The next morning, he took another commission from the task board on the first floor.
The herb-gathering area in the Black Mud Swamp has been repeatedly attacked by Crystal-Armored Crocodile. The adult monster's carapace disperses the frontal impact across its entire body, leaving only white marks on ordinary swords. Three extermination teams have failed, and the largest one remains entrenched in the herb-gathering waterways.
The reward is 320,000 J.
"Aren't you taking me this time?" Mira asked.
She also carried a bag on her back and held a regular mission sheet in her hand. The barn in the southern town had been attacked by demon rats, and she planned to guard the two exits with Erza, while Macao would be responsible for smoking out the beasts hiding underground.
"Don't you have a mission too?" Lin Yuan asked.
"I was just asking."
" Iron-Feathered Vulture taught me how to deal with flying enemies. This time, I want to see something that fists can't penetrate."
Mira glanced at the Crystal-Armored Crocodile portrait on the commission.
"The teeth should be good; I can bring them back to make a necklace for Elfman."
He might not want it.
"Then let Natsu grind his teeth."
The two parted ways at the station. Mira headed south, while Lin Yuan changed trains twice before heading east, arriving at the Black Mud Swamp at noon on the third day.
The medicine shop was built on a platform supported by wooden piles. Dozens of narrow waterways ran beneath the platform, with thick black mud floating on the surface, making it almost impossible to tell their depth.
The herb farmer who received him Kaben, and his left arm was wrapped in bandages.
"They usually hide in the mud and only come ashore when the sun is hottest. The smaller ones can be chased away, but the big one..."
Kaben pointed to the end of the platform.
A shattered iron cage lay stuck in the mud, its thumb-thick bars bent outwards. Scattered nearby were several transparent scales, each one like a polished crystal.
Lin Yuan picked up a piece and tapped it with his finger.
The sound traveled from the center of the scales to the edges, then circled back to the fingertips. It wasn't just hard; it distributed the force it received to different locations.
Suddenly, a string of bubbles rose to the surface of the water.
Kaben's expression changed. "Step back!"
The Black Mud exploded with a loud bang.
A gigantic maw, large enough to swallow an entire table, burst out of the waterway and snapped shut in front of Lin Yuan. He erased the distance between himself and the wooden stake beside him, dodged the fangs to the side, and simultaneously brought his right fist down on the monster's head.
Zero-Distance Crushing Fist!
The black silver magic exploded head-on.
The Crystal-Armored Crocodile's limbs and long tail sank into the mud simultaneously, causing the surrounding platforms to rise one after another. The transparent plates covering its head only dipped downwards for a moment before dispersing the force of the punch along its spine.
The giant crocodile shook its head and opened its mouth again.
Lin Yuan looked at his fist.
There was only a light red mark left by the edge of the scales.
Not a single crystal armor plate on the opposite side was broken.