Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
The next morning, in Hargeon, a coastal city in the southwest of the Kingdom of Fiore.
A sailboat leisurely departed from the port, its destination an island called Galuna Island suspended overseas.
Not long after the ship set sail, the pink-haired youth slumped against the ship's rail, looking half-dead, seemingly seasick.
Watching the listless Natsu, Noah's mouth twitched. He had originally planned to go with Gray to handle the matter, as it would be convenient to travel by wind.
But thanks to Loke's big mouth, Lucy also learned about it.
If Lucy knew, Natsu would naturally know too.
Once this loudmouth spoke, the entire guild knew that Gray's master was a hero who sacrificed herself to seal a demon.
However, someone was secretly unsealing the demon, and for everyone in the guild, it was only right to help Gray and teach that clueless mastermind a lesson.
Suddenly, a group of people eagerly signed up, wanting to join Noah's temporary team.
In the end, it was Erza who stepped in to calm the excited crowd, but she also selected four individuals to join this mission, their strengths varying.
The strong ones could act as enforcers, and the weaker ones could consider it an experience, as Noah would be there to back them up anyway.
Erza was a master planner, but Noah found it hard to bear.
He could understand Mira and Lucy going to Galuna Island together; the former might have a chance to obtain the power of the demon Deliora, and the latter could be considered training.
But why did they also send two little kids with him?
Oh, it turned out to be Wendy and Minerva. Then it's fine.
Wendy is a good child and never acts like a mischievous kid that causes worry, and Minerva... although only twelve years old, she is much more capable in a fight than Lucy.
Jiemma, that trashy father, was indeed not good to Minerva, but his harsh training did give Minerva strength far exceeding her peers.
As for Lucy, before she reconciled with her father, Jude, she never had the opportunity to properly practice Magic, which led to her late start. It wasn't until she joined Fairy Tail that she truly embarked on the path of a Mage.
If you ignore the 'seasick Natsu' limited character, Lucy is the Mage with the lowest strength in the team, only slightly stronger than Wendy.
But Wendy has Sky Dragon Slayer Magic and supportive spells!
Now, even the support and utility roles are at the bottom... Although Natsu was terribly seasick, people's joys and sorrows are not interconnected, and everyone else had their own happiness.
Wendy and Minerva excitedly looked at the sea. One had lived in the deep mountains for a long time, and the other was forced into harsh training day after day; neither had ever seen the ocean before.
The slightly salty sea breeze and the beautiful seascape made the two girls incredibly excited.
Meanwhile, the two Exceeds who are always inseparable from Natsu and Wendy, and Cheese and Shirayuki who came with Noah, were having a great time playing on the ship.
As for Gray... if it were according to his usual temperament, Gray would surely take this opportunity to mock Natsu thoroughly, but today he seemed as if he hadn't seen his arch-rival, standing alone at the bow of the ship, staring blankly into the distant sky.
Gray's preoccupied look made Mira a little worried. She brushed a strand of hair aside and looked at Noah, who was floating with the wind, lying sideways in mid-air, and softly asked:
"Is that demon Deliora really on Galuna Island? Could the source of the information be wrong?"
"Of course not, don't worry."
Noah lowered himself and whispered the source of the information into Mira's ear.
To have secretly turned a Dark Guild executive into an informant... that Mage named Ultear was truly pitiful and tragic. After learning the whole story, Mira couldn't help but sigh softly.
Noah knew Mira was being emotional, and continued, "Don't tell anyone else that Ultear is our informant. Currently, besides you and me, only the old man, Erza, and my older brother know."
Mira nodded. She wasn't foolish; she naturally wouldn't expose such a secret. With Ultear, their guild would surely have a much easier time dealing with Grimoire Heart in the future.
Leisurely time always passes quickly, and as the sailboat docked, their destination, Galuna Island, was reached.
Ultear had only told Noah that another disciple of Ur was unsealing the demon Deliora on this island but had not provided any other details. So Noah also looked up information on this island.
Upon checking, he discovered that Galuna Island was also known as the Cursed Island.
The reason it was called the Cursed Island was because the island's residents were all demons, but these demon islanders neither possessed Magic nor strength beyond ordinary people, and their intelligence was no different from that of humans.
Their only ability was to transform into human form.
Because they were so harmless, when the Magic Council discovered them two hundred years ago, they did not eliminate Galuna Island. Instead, after observing them for a period, they stopped paying attention.
After landing on Galuna Island and traveling to the outskirts of the demon village, Noah finally understood why the Council had overlooked this place.
Wooden fences and watchtowers, village guards dressed in animal skin clothes and skirts, holding weapons that were sharpened stones tied to wooden sticks with rope... Primitive and crude, everything he saw and heard along the way indicated the backwardness of this island.
With such a primitive tribal living environment, let alone Noah not taking these demon islanders seriously, even the city armies under the Kingdom of Fiore could wipe them out.
Just as Noah was explaining to his companions, the guards of the demon village also noticed their approach. "Stop, who are you?"
Seeing the human-like guards, Noah curiously used his Magic to sense the other party. Apart from the pitifully small amount of Magic Power, they truly were no different from ordinary people.
Mira stepped forward and replied, "We are Mages from Fairy Tail, and we came to Galuna Island to deal with a big problem."
Hearing Mira's reply, the guard scratched his head and looked at the group of seven with suspicion. "A big problem... Could it be that you also came for Deliora?"
"Oh? You know the demon Deliora is on your island."
Noah raised an eyebrow, but then thought nothing of it. After all, the demon islanders were also demons, so perhaps the demon Deliora was even their relative.
Who knew that the guard's next words were completely unrelated to what Noah had thought. "Deliora, that bastard has caused us so much trouble. If it weren't for seven powerful Mages coming to the island a few days ago, we wouldn't know how long we would have been plagued."
Seven Mages came to Galuna Island before us? Noah turned to look at his own team; excluding the three Exceeds and one mouse, they also had seven people.
What a coincidence.
Noah was about to inquire about the Mages who had previously arrived on the island, but the guard directly opened the village gate and spoke casually, "Come into the village with me, I'll take you to see the chief."
The demon village was not large, and after only a few steps, the group saw the chief's house. The chief also used a human form; he was a short, long-eared old man, holding a staff with a moon-shaped top.
However, Noah's attention was not on the demon chief, but on the equally short and thin old man sitting beside him.
"Master Roubaul, why are you here?!"