"Is the food not to your liking?"
"No... It's just that I didn't think people eat pigeons, too." Kazu looked at the grilled chicken-like dish.
"Hahaha. That's actually the first reaction people give when they see this. Lusia's speciality. You will change your mind when you taste it." Dave smiled.
Kazu mimicked his smile. "Is that so?"
'I am more worried about whether the food is poisoned or not. Though my instincts are saying no, one thing that I have learned from this whole mission is not to blindly trust my instinct magic.'
Kazu lifted his chopsticks and took a bite of the food.
"That's... unique taste." Kazu nodded.
"Told you." Dave had a smug expression on his face.
'I need to make sure that the food won't be ingested. Neither through the salivary glands nor go to the stomach.' Kazu had put a barrier inside his body to achieve that.
"So... Which guild do you belong to, mister?"
Kazu turned towards the third member at the dining table.
It was Mayor's daughter Vanessa, who was around Kazu's age.
"Fairy Tail," Kazu replied calmly.
"Wait, are you part of that Fairy Tail? The one in Magnolia?" Dave looked at Kazu in shock.
Kazu nodded. "Yeah, that one. The one and only."
"I see." Something shifted in Dave's gaze. Kazu could see some admiration in his gaze.
"Wow. My dad is a big fan of Fairy Tail. Somebody from there saved him once." Vanessa said, glancing at her dad.
Kazu turned to Dave. "Really? Who saved you?"
"Ahem." Dave cleared his throat, seemingly embarrassed for some reason.
"It was a pretty lady."
"Oh..." 'Hold up. Do we have pretty ladies in the guild? Why did somebody not tell me?' Kazu felt a bit confused.
"She called herself Anne Roadwalker" Dave looked Kazu right in the eye.
The latter stared at him for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow.
"Guess, you could call her pretty." 'What's even the probability of this happening? Something is definitely wrong with this man.'
Dave sheepishly rubbed his head. "I know, right. How is she doing lately?"
"She seemed pretty good last time I saw her." 'Even saying the happiest moment of life just before I killed her.' Kazu internally chuckled at that. He found the situation amusing.
"That's good to hear."
"Well, when did she save you?" Kazu glanced at Vanessa. 'She doesn't seem to have green hair. Though it doesn't eliminate the possibility.' Kazu was having some wild hypotheses, which felt pretty plausible when he looked at the situation.
"Around 10 years ago." A nostalgic smile appeared on Dave's face.
Kazu nodded.
Soon, he finished the dinner and looked at Dave.
"Vanessa, why don't you go and play. I need to have a serious talk with the young man here."
Vanessa seemingly wanted to protest, but one serious look from Dave was enough to render her silent. She promptly left the room.
"So, given that you are attempting this mission, you must know what happened to my daughter and the mage after her."
Kazu nodded. "Indeed."
Dave looked at him for a few seconds. "I will be straight up honest with you. I think you might suffer the same fate as those two."
"And?" Kazu didn't even blink.
"Are you not scared of death? You are just a kid around my daughter's age, with so much life left ahead of you. Don't be reckless and take this risk."
Kazu looked at the man for a few seconds. "Don't worry, sir. I will do my best to find your older daughter and her killer. This mission is completely under my capabilities, so I am not under any mortal danger."
Dave's eyebrows twitched. "Not under mortal danger?... You might not have noticed, but I am a mage myself. My daughter was much stronger than me, yet she failed."
Kazu's eyes widened. "You are a mage?... I didn't really notice. Your magic capacity is pretty low, so it missed my radar."
For a second, Dave thought that Kazu was being genuine with his comment. But when he saw the boy's indifferent expression, he realised that the taunt was intentional.
Veins popped on Dave's forehead as he felt his face heat up.
"Boy, you—" Dave completely paused. His breath hitched at what he saw.
One second he was looking at the boy sitting across him, and the next second he found the boy standing on the table with a fork pointed a few centimetres away from his right eye.
Before Dave could say anything, Kazu disappeared from his position and appeared back where he was sitting, opposite Dave.
"Sir, I think gauging whether I am fit for this job or not is above your capabilities. So, please tell me the information regarding your daughter so that I can find her." Kazu calmly smiled.
Dave looked at him for a few seconds with a complicated expression. "...Right."
---
Kazu was soon escorted to a room in the mayor's house.
"Guess, I will just eat what I had brought in stock." Kazu sighed as he lay on the bed.
Coo Coo Coo
He glanced at the window and found a pigeon on the windowsill.
"Why are there so many pigeons around?" He muttered.
Kazu then looked at the ceiling for a few seconds.
"Let's start by going around the town and exploring it." He jumped off the bed and headed towards the window.
The pigeon dropped off the widow, flying in the sky.
"Maybe one day, I will also fly. Fly Highhhhh~" He started singing as he jumped off the window.
---
Kazu slowed his steps as he walked through the town.
At first, he thought it was nothing—just a pigeon fluttering off a rooftop, wings clapping the air. But then another. And another.
He tilted his head. The street lamps were crowded with them, every wire sagging under their weight. Rows of glassy eyes tracked him in unison. Not cooing. Not rustling. Just… waiting.
His throat felt dry. He passed by a bakery window—two pigeons pressed against the glass, necks twitching like broken compasses.
When he turned the next corner, the cobblestones were littered with grey feathers, so thick that it looked like ash from a fire. And above, black wings folded neatly across the sky.
Everywhere he looked—eyes.
Watching.
"Why is nobody reacting? Is this normal?" He said out loud as he looked around to find somebody to ask.
"Excuse me." He called out to a lady standing nearby.
"Yes?"
"Umm, I am new to the city. So, it's weird to see so many pigeons." Kazu awkwardly started.
The woman smiled. "Yeah, it's kind of weird in the start, but you will soon get used to it." She patted his shoulder.
"Oh... One more thing. Is that normal?" He pointed his finger at the bakery glass, where he had seen some pigeons.
The lady raised a brow. "What about it? Those are just cakes."
The pigeons had disappeared from the bakery shelf.
"I think I am seeing things due to so many pigeons. Sorry about that." Kazu sheepishly rubbed his head.
The lady smiled. "No worries. Take care."
"Yeah. Thank you for that. Also, good luck on your date." Before the lady could say anything, Kazu turned to the next corner.
"How did he know...?" The woman muttered as she continued at the corner from where Kazu had left.
---
"What the fuck is happening? Why are there so many pigeons?" Kazu opened the door of the mayor's house.
He walked for a few seconds before notching a door below the stairs.
"What's this room for?"
"This goes to the basement." Kazu turned towards the new voice.
It was Vanessa. "Oh? So like a storage room?"
Vanessa shrugged. "I don't know. This room is always closed."
"I see." Kazu hummed.
"So, can you tell me what a mage is like? Can I also become a mage?"
Kazu looked at the girl. "Sure."
---
"Something's definitely wrong with this place," Kazu muttered.
One month had already passed since he had entered Lusia.
Initially, he explored the city several times to look for some additional clues, but all those led to failure.
Moreover, the sight of so many pigeons at every possible place had been taxing on his mental health, so he had shut off all the doors and windows and had reduced going out.
"The only clue I have is the basement." He frowned as he got up from the bed.
He went downstairs and reached the door to the basement.
"Sir, how may I help you?" A maid came near him.
Kazu looked at her for a few seconds. "I want some orange juice. Can you bring it?"
"Sure."
Kazu continued looking at her till she disappeared from view.
He then looked left and right, making sure nobody was present.
CRACK
The locked doorknob fell on the floor as the door opened.
It revealed a staircase.
Kazu descended through it and came face to face with pitch blackness.
He created a magic sphere to illuminate the room as he looked around.
"I should have guessed it with just the smell." He sighed as his gaze paused on something.
It was a body.
Cecilia's body.
***
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