"I'm here for revenge! I will represent Phantom Lord and challenge that Moen!"
After thinking it through, Gajeel immediately became arrogant. He shouted loudly, as if he wanted everyone to hear him.
"…"
The two station staff looked at each other and both saw surprise in the other's eyes.
"Just you?"
One of them, being more straightforward, directly voiced what he was thinking.
"You're looking down on me?!"
The staff member's attitude instantly set Gajeel off. He glared angrily, struggling to suppress his temper. Right now, he really wanted to punch the guy in front of him and send him flying.
"Ahem, kid, can you beat your guild master?"
Gajeel's furious stare made the staff member subconsciously take a step back, but he still decided to offer a well-intentioned reminder.
"I can't."
Gajeel froze for a moment, then answered honestly.
That answer wasn't surprising. Both staff members were from Magnolia and naturally stood on Moen's side. They didn't think anyone could be as powerful as Moen at least, the strangely dressed kid in front of them didn't look like it.
"Then how… do you even dare to come here?"
The two staff members asked what they truly wanted to know.
"That's none of your business! Tell me where he went! After I defeat him, all of you will understand just how strong I am!"
Gajeel was close to losing it. He roared angrily, clearly about to lash out. His patience was never very good.
"He just left on that train. We don't know where he went. Maybe you can go ask at Fairy Tail."
Knowing better than to provoke him further, the two staff members immediately backed down.
Even though the guy in front of them was just a kid barely over ten years old, if he really went berserk, they wouldn't be able to deal with him. It was better to hand this troublesome person over to Fairy Tail.
"…"
Gajeel felt extremely irritated. This was not how he expected things to turn out. Just thinking about having to get back on a train to chase Moen made his whole body start feeling uncomfortable again.
He couldn't help but wonder, after sitting on trains this whole way, even if he did catch up to Moen, would he really have the strength left to fight him?
Unlike the utterly miserable Gajeel, Moen rode comfortably all the way to his destination and then hired a horse-drawn carriage.
Although transportation in this world wasn't very advanced, it still provided some convenience for travel. Dragon Slayers getting motion sickness was a serious problem, going on long-distance missions was extremely inconvenient for them.
Sitting in the carriage, Moen couldn't help thinking of Laxus. His older brother really had endurance, he had managed not to let anyone discover it.
"Young sir, we're here."
Before long, the carriage brought Moen to the entrance of the target village. Hearing the driver's words, Moen opened the door and stepped down.
"It's raining."
Moen stretched out his hand as fine drizzle fell into his palm.
"You didn't know, young sir? The weather here has been gloomy and rainy for several years now. They say there's a Rain Woman here. No one's seen her, but it feels kind of real."
The driver, already turning the carriage around, spoke of the rumor with a smile. Clearly, he treated it as a folk tale. What kind of Rain Girl could make the weather stay like this all the time?
"A Rain Girl?"
Moen frowned slightly. His first thought was magic, but it still felt absurd. What kind of talent would it take to influence the weather in an area for several years straight?
But aside from magic, it was hard to find any other explanation for such a natural phenomenon.
Moen stepped into the village. No matter the reason, this only confirmed his earlier thought, if this village could continue to exist in such a location, then it truly had something going on.
"Where did this kid come from? Why did he run all the way here?"
As soon as Moen entered the village, he immediately drew the villagers' attention. A stranger entering the village was bound to be noticed.
"Is the village chief here? I'm a mage from Fairy Tail. I accepted your commission. Please have the village chief come over to confirm the procedures."
Looking at the wary villagers gathering together around him, Moen spoke directly. These villagers didn't look like they were living very well. He had a feeling that collecting the reward this time would be difficult—mainly because he'd feel bad taking it.
Of course, whether he accepted it or not depended on their attitude. If the villagers scraped together money no matter what to pay him, Moen usually wouldn't take it. But if they tried to stiff him outright, then sorry, he would absolutely take it.
He only responded to kindness, not toughness.
"A mage from Fairy Tail? Fairy Tail actually accepted the commission?! But why did they send a child?!"
After hearing Moen's words, the villagers erupted into chatter. The looks they gave him were filled with suspicion. It was a gaze he hadn't seen in a long time, Moen hadn't experienced it for quite a while recently.
For some reason, he instead felt a bit of familiarity. Sure enough, people living in these remote backwater corners still didn't recognize him!
But looking at it from another angle, the fact that even people from such remote places knew to submit a request to Fairy Tail for help was proof of Fairy Tail's fame within the Kingdom of Fiore.
Because of this reputation, although the villagers were puzzled as to why a child had been sent, they still sent someone to call the village chief over.
Moen waited quietly and didn't bother explaining anything. He silently sensed the drizzling rain, it indeed felt strange, yet it didn't seem to be caused entirely by magic.
'Feels like I walked into the Hidden Rain Village.'
Moen complained inwardly. However, the village chief didn't keep him waiting long and soon arrived. He was a middle-aged man who looked rather honest, already somewhat aged, with doubt written on his face.
"Young man, you are… a Fairy Tail mage?"
Looking at Moen, the village chief hesitantly asked.
'Yes! This is exactly the feeling!'
Moen laughed inwardly, then introduced himself.
"That's right. Moen Drayer, grandson of Fairy Tail's guild master."
Once the title "the guild master's grandson" was brought out, it immediately produced an effect, boosting trust at least a little.
"The guild master's grandson? Then you must have some ability!"
Sure enough, the surrounding villagers began discussing among themselves, and the village chief's expression improved slightly.
They had submitted this request to quite a few guilds. Logically speaking, Phantom Lord should have been closer, yet he hadn't expected someone from Fairy Tail to accept it.
"You submitted it to multiple guilds? Sounds pretty urgent."
Moen was somewhat surprised. Submitting to multiple guilds was, of course, allowed. After all, no matter which guild received the request, the handling fee had to be paid, so the guilds wouldn't lose out. If a mage ended up making a wasted trip, the guild would also provide appropriate compensation.
In short, under a highly improved system, all of this was trivial.
"It is urgent indeed. As you can see, our location is really bad—wolves in front, tigers behind, and in the middle there's also a…"
The village chief sighed. He looked rather haggard, and so did everyone in the village, as if they were being tormented by something.
"Don't worry. Fairy Tail is here, this will be resolved."
Moen reached out and patted the village chief's shoulder, looking confident. The chief was hunched over and shorter than him.
"Then we'll be counting on you, young man."
Although the village chief still harbored doubts and worries, he was influenced by Moen's confidence and "title" and accepted the fact that Moen would be handling the request.
"By the way, village chief, you said wolves in front and tigers behind—what's in the middle? Is it related to this strange rain? I heard someone mention a Rain Girl legend. Does it really… exist?"
After settling the request matters, Moen asked curiously. He wasn't stupid—judging from the chief's reaction alone, this village definitely had issues. That Rain Girl legend didn't seem groundless at all. It might actually be real!
"The Rain Girl… it really is the Rain Girl…"
Hearing Moen's question, the village chief sighed. From that alone, Moen knew there had to be a story behind it.
Looking again at the surrounding villagers, every single one of them wore expressions of disgust.
"Fairy Tail mage! You should deal with that Rain Girl too!"
Someone even shouted this out, though not many echoed him. The village chief sternly scolded the shouting villager.
"If not, just take her away! You mages definitely have a way, right?!"
After one was scolded, another shouted instead.
This time, more people agreed, and the villagers expressed their support one after another.
Moen remained silent. From his observation, it was clear that the villagers had accumulated a lot of resentment toward the "Rain Girl," but not to the point of wanting her dead. They simply wanted to drive her away, they had clearly had enough.
To be honest, Moen didn't think this was excessive. He even sympathized with the villagers somewhat. Being able to endure this long before deciding to drive someone out meant their patience was far greater than that of Mira's village.
Of course, it was also possible that the "Rain Girl" had never caused any deaths, whereas the demon Mira took in might have killed people. Whether someone had died or not was a very important dividing line.
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