Ur was smiling.
The red-haired boy was terrified.
Especially when he saw Ur walking toward him, his expression stiffened instantly. He had originally approached Ur to chat out of boredom, but now he suddenly realized that he might have picked the wrong person.
A mage killing monsters was normal. Even killing lots of monsters was fine—just proof of strength. But… grinning like a maniac afterward? That was a whole different issue.
Is he… insane?
A homicidal maniac?
A parade of unsettling labels flashed through the redhead's mind, draining every bit of color from his face.
"Ur, are you okay?" Levy rushed over the moment Ur returned, worry written all over her face.
"I'm fine. Really, don't worry." Ur ruffled her hair lightly, the smile on his face surprisingly gentle.
He couldn't help it. He'd gained so much magic power in one go that even though he wanted to keep a straight face, the corners of his mouth refused to obey.
The gentler Ur's smile looked, the more the red-haired boy panicked.
He swallowed hard several times before finally mustering the courage to ask, "U-Ur… bro… do you, umm, have a grudge against those monsters?"
"Nope. Why do you ask?" Ur blinked in confusion.
"Ah, haha… nothing, nothing. I was just curious why you killed so many of them."
"They're monsters. You kill them. Why would I need a reason?" Ur replied matter-of-factly.
The redhead: "…"
He knew the logic was wrong, yet somehow he couldn't refute it.
"Right, Sia, you're a mage too, right? Which guild are you from?" Ur suddenly asked.
Sia froze for half a second, then nodded. "Yeah. I'm a mage from Blue Pegasus."
As he spoke, he pulled up his sleeve, revealing the horse-shaped emblem of his guild.
"Oh? Blue Pegasus?" Ur raised his brows, giving Sia a strange, assessing look. Then he clicked his tongue. "Figures. You really do have the perfect face for a male escort."
Sia: "…"
I have something to say, but I'm not sure whether I should say it.
Sure, Ur wasn't wrong, but hearing it said so openly made Sia want to punch him. If he had any chance of winning, that is.
"What about you? Judging from your magic earlier, you must be from a guild too," Sia asked.
Truthfully, Sia was extremely impressed.
Those were basic spells, yes, but firing them nonstop for so long required monstrous magic reserves. Even in his own guild, few could pull that off.
Ur nodded lightly. "Yes. Both of us are mages from Fairy Tail."
There was no reason to hide it. Guilds built their reputation through their members' actions, after all.
Sia froze. Then, suddenly. "Oh! So that's it. You're from Fairy Tail!"
Well, that explains everything.
Of course, a Fairy Tail mage would behave like a lunatic. It all made sense now.
Sia wasn't familiar with most guilds, but Fairy Tail was impossible to ignore. His own guild master was close friends with their master, and Fairy Tail was infamous across the continent.
Few guilds caused as much chaos as they did.
If the guy in front of him belonged to that guild, then his strange behavior was… perfectly normal. Fairy Tail members were unpredictable at the best of times.
Watching Sia's sudden "enlightened" expression, Ur's face grew increasingly strange.
Something about those repeated "Ah, I see" felt… off.
Ur remembered Blue Pegasus from the original story. They were famous too, just not for their strength; rather, their members were known for their beauty. Their recruitment standard wasn't magical ability, but appearance. In other words, a guild for the aesthetically gifted. Not only that, every member had to undergo systematic "social etiquette" training, meaning: learning how to use their appearance to serve others as effectively as possible.
Of course, that service was purely professional. Absolutely, not even remotely, anything censored.
"So did your guild only send you?" Ur asked curiously. Sia's magic wasn't strong, far too weak to hunt demons.
"This mission wasn't issued by the guild. I just came on my own to see the action." Sia scratched his cheek awkwardly, but then added: "But no, I'm not the only one who came."
"Who else?"
"Karen."
"Oh? The same Karen Lilica who appears in Sorcerer Weekly?" Ur paused, surprised.
"Yes, that's her!"
At her name, Sia's eyes lit up with admiration. She was one of Blue Pegasus's poster girls, beautiful, talented, and a rare Celestial Spirit mage. She even possessed two of the Zodiac keys. Her potential was immense.
Unfortunately, in the original story, she had very little presence. Not because she lacked screen time, but because by the time the timeline properly began, her grave marker had already grown knee-high weeds. Ur saw her photos in magazines in this world. She was, indeed, a rare beauty. Too bad her personality and her face were opposites. Which, sadly, led to her eventual fate.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
The shoreline was dyed a deep red, corpses floating like a gruesome carpet.
There hadn't been that many mages striking earlier, maybe fifty or sixty, but with that many people casting spells simultaneously, even a real monster wouldn't have survived, let alone incomplete ones.
Some creatures still tried to rush the shore from below the bloody surface, but they were sparse now, stragglers no one bothered paying attention to.
Occasionally, low-level mercenaries or monster hunters waded in to drag out corpses to sell. Incomplete monsters weren't worth much, but they had some value.
But before they collected much, a fully armed force of a hundred soldiers pushed through the crowd from behind.
"Everyone step back immediately. This site will now be taken over by the Council."
At their front stood a handsome young man with glasses and a high ponytail, voice sharp and commanding.
"I am Lahar, Captain of the Fourth Custody Enforcement Division. From here on, this matter will be handled by the Magic Council. All civilians are to evacuate immediately. Anyone who refuses will bear the consequences." His cold tone echoed across the shore.
Hearing this, the crowd instantly began retreating.
They had no choice.
On the continent, the Magic Council was the highest authority. Even if they hated giving up the ten-million reward, no one dared defy the Council.
Ur moved back with the others, but he kept glancing at Lahar. When he'd watched the original story, he hadn't had strong feelings about the Council or Lahar. But as a Fairy Tail member now?
He felt nothing but dislike.
The Council had always been hostile toward Fairy Tail. Lahar himself once boldly declared he would crush the guild, only to be scared witless by Grimoire Heart afterward.
Still, the hostility was clear enough.
"Ur, what do we do now?" Levy tugged his sleeve, her eyes full of worry.
She had only wanted revenge and to complete their mission, but things had spiraled far beyond expectation. Even the Magic Council was here now. The little girl couldn't help feeling anxious and a bit frightened.
Seeing this, Ur gently patted her head to reassure her.