Silence in the alley pressed heavier under an invisible weight.
Dust settled slowly, mingling with the thin stench of blood and scorched metal.
Erza's crimson hair fluttered in the night breeze. Her body felt no chill. Her gaze could not leave the figure standing calmly in the crater he had made. That boy, Hoshino Arashi, stood at the center of destruction as if nothing had happened.
The contrast between his serene posture, the webbed cracks in the earth, and the dark-guild members crushed into mud was grotesque.
Gildarts' usual laziness had washed clean away.
His half-closed eyes were fully open now. His sharp gaze cut through the scene like a blade as his vast store of magical knowledge churned for an explanation.
There was none.
It wasn't magic.
Gildarts reached an absurd conclusion to himself.
It was a prerogative reserved for gods. A word-made-law authority.
This boy was a monster wearing human skin.
In the frozen air, Gildarts moved. He leapt from the clock tower and landed without a sound, each step mighty but light. He strode toward Arashi to dispel the lingering shock.
"Kid, nicely done!" His voice boomed through the alley as his trademark hearty laugh returned. He donned the broad grin again as if the grave moment had been an illusion.
"Want to help us pull out Black Sails' hidden boss too? The reward'll be plenty!"
Arashi did not answer immediately. He barely glanced at Gildarts. His calm gaze slid past the big man's shoulder and settled on Erza, who approached steadily.
"What do you think?" he asked.
"Fairy Queen, Erza Scarlet." He said it plainly, without affect.
Erza paused. Her body tensed. Her fingers tightened on her sword hilt.
"Fairy Queen." The nickname, casually spoken by a stranger meeting her for the first time, made her pulse stutter for a beat.
He not only knew Gildarts was the guild's strongest. He knew her too.
Erza stared into Arashi's deep black eyes, searching for meaning. They were like the midnight sea—no ripple to read, only fathomless mystery.
The boy's riddles ran deeper than his power.
Erza was not one to dawdle.
She felt no hostility in him. Only a pure pursuit of strength. With goals aligned, cooperation was rational.
"I have no objection." She nodded decisively, voice cool and resolute. "Eradicating Black Sails is our top priority."
"Then it's settled!" Gildarts stamped his approval and laughed loudly.
He followed guild protocol and contacted the Magic Council via communication lacrima to request Hargeon forces to handle the broken Black Sails members.
While they waited, the alley regained a fragile quiet.
Gildarts rubbed his hands and returned to the matter of reward, eyes full of admiration for Arashi.
"Arashi, you did the lion's share. You brought the key evidence, so by rules you should take the biggest cut. Black Sails has siphoned a fortune these past years."
Arashi waved the idea away.
"I'm not interested in money." He said it simply. The depth in his gaze did not fit his years.
Gildarts and Erza exchanged a slight, surprised look.
In a world of mages, many fought for coin and fame. Wealth measured power and status. This boy treated it like dust.
Arashi's eyes drifted over Gildarts then paused briefly on Erza's equip-magic armor. No ripple.
There was value here. Funsai (Shatter Magic) that disintegrates things. Kansō (Swap Outfit Magic) that shifts gear in an instant. Systems worth analyzing.
But that was not enough.
He required stronger opponents. Unknown forces.
"Power matters more to me than money," he continued, calm and resolute. "My goal is to fight strong foes and analyze unknown magics."
Erza and Gildarts were moved. They had met countless mages driven by various motives, but never one so purely devoted to the essence of power—a seeker's posture.
Arashi raised his right hand. The antique compass from the auction lay in his palm.
"I didn't buy it for its market value," he said. He poured a trace of mana into the compass.
A faint hum. The rusted, brittle bronze seemed to shed centuries. Intricate golden sigils flared along the edge, weaving an arcane pattern like ancient law.
The frozen needle shuddered as if awakened. It spun, whipping up faint whorls of mana. With a clear ping the needle stopped, pointing steadily to a direction at the harbor docks.
"A tracker." Erza's brown eyes widened.
"The Black Sails think it finds submerged magical artifacts," Arashi said flatly. "But its core function is tracking homologous magical imprints. This compass' imprint is paired with their leader's mana."
A faint hunter's smile touched his lips.
"Now it will lead us to Black Sails' true nest. Rather than waste time with these minnows, let's go straight for the head. What do you think?"
Erza's estimation of him shifted again.
She had assumed the boy was a frighteningly strong combat genius—powerful, maybe reckless. She was wrong.
He was both supremely strong and strategic. From buying the compass onward, everything might have been in his calculation. Like a patient hunter, he ignored the grunts and fixed his sights on the fattest prey.
Gildarts' admiration spilled into raucous laughter.
"Haha! Interesting! Very interesting!" He slapped Arashi's shoulder with a heavy thud. "I like you already, kid!"
"Lead the way. We'll stir up a storm at their lair!"
(End of Chapter)
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