Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
Though the fun of teasing a cat was good, Noah knew not to overdo it.
After all, this tsundere kitten was very concerned about its image, especially with its cat mother present...
Thinking of this, Noah returned Carla to Wendy.
Back in the little girl's arms, her clever intellect quickly took over, and Carla immediately reverted to her cool and aloof persona, as if the cat Noah had just teased wasn't her.
The little white cat looked up at the Exceed Queen, whom she had seen many times in dreams and future fragments since birth; she had never imagined before today that this noble great white cat would be her mother.
Carla saw the guilt and longing in Shagotte's eyes, and her heart was complex, but she still feigned composure and said, "I still have one question. You said you sent all the unborn Exceed eggs to Earth Land. Logically, they wouldn't have known about your lie deceiving the Exceed at that time."
"But why do I remember the 'mission to capture the Dragon Slayer' so clearly? And why do I always see your image?"
Carla's question was also what Noah wanted to ask. Neither Cheese nor Happy knew anything about their origins, let alone any mission.
Why was it that only Carla knew?
Shagotte paused, unsure how to answer.
After all, at the end of the day, she was just an ordinary Exceed, and her ability to foresee the future was only half-baked and uncontrollable; otherwise, she wouldn't have had Nichiya wait for Noah's arrival a month in advance.
"Perhaps I can answer that question."
The Exceed Grand Elder walked over, leaning on his staff, and looked kindly at the little white cat held by Wendy. "You've grown up so healthy, Carla."
Carla pouted. "Old man, stop trying to get cozy. Get to the point. Why do I know about Mom... the Exceed Queen, and the mission to capture the Dragon Slayer?"
"Because you are Her Majesty the Queen's daughter."
"Stop messing around!"
Carla turned her head away, somewhat annoyed, and looked at Noah. "How about we bring Warren up to read their minds? I think this old geezer is very bad."
Noah felt the same way; riddlers were truly annoying, and it would be better to be direct.
Sure enough, under the threat of Noah's fist, the Exceed Grand Elder immediately abandoned his elderly sentimentality. "I didn't lie. The reason you know these things, Carla, is precisely because you are Her Majesty the Queen's child."
"Our Exceed race is different from ordinary cats; we are oviparous, not viviparous, so when you were born, you were still an egg and needed time to hatch."
"And your situation, Carla, was special. When you were laid, your life force was very weak, and without enough Magic Power to replenish it, you wouldn't have had a chance to hatch."
"To save your life, your mother injected her already limited Magic Power into the egg, and the cost was that she could no longer fly normally."
So that's how it was.
Noah sighed inwardly. No wonder when he met Shagotte, he found her Magic Power pitifully weak, only about a third of Pantherlily's. It turned out she had lost a portion of her Magic Power to save Carla's life.
Magic Power could be said to be the mark of a magical creature, and each mark was different. Carla 'seeing' the Exceed Queen was actually influenced by Shagotte's Magic Power and her strong love for her daughter...
Carla fell silent. The truth of the matter she had been agonizing over for so long was actually this. The cat who had just been so aggressive suddenly wilted, somewhat afraid to look at Shagotte.
Wendy tried to soothe Carla's emotions, happy for her but also a little envious. Her best friend had found her family, but when would she herself get to see Grandeeney...
Noah ruffled the girl's little head and brought the conversation back to the beginning. "Our doubts have been resolved. Now, Your Majesty, you can tell us about the future you saw concerning me."
Shagotte was a little embarrassed. "Well... actually, I didn't see it very clearly. I can't control my ability."
Oh~ So it was another half-baked precognitive.
Noah looked down at Carla meaningfully. As the saying goes, if the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked. Even your birth mother is half-baked, no wonder you are too.
Understanding the sarcasm in Noah's eyes, Carla rolled her eyes at Noah and ignored him.
The future Shagotte saw concerning Noah was very blurry. These blurry future fragments depicted a grand celebratory banquet involving both humans and the Exceed Kingdom.
And the content of the celebration was only one thing—Noah, the Savior.
What the hell? Me? A Savior??
This time it was Noah who was dumbfounded. His dream was a life of freedom and leisure, so how could he be associated with a troublesome title like "Savior"?
Both the Exceed and humans were celebrating, so the future Shagotte saw must have been happening in Edolas.
And in this world, there was only one feat that could be called "salvation": the revival of the nearly depleted Magic Power.
Although Noah had previously transported the Lacrima tower containing Etherion and the automatic Magic Power generation device within Nirvana to Edolas, temporarily slowing down the depletion of Magic Power.
But this was actually only treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
Edolas's ailment was that the world itself no longer produced Magic Power. No matter how powerful external things were, they could not fill an entire world.
Unless it was for the reason Noah was created in the first place.
To obtain the Fairy Heart from another world.
Having spent almost a year with Makarov, Noah felt that with their current relationship, if he revealed his hand, he might be able to borrow Fairy Heart.
Rubbing his chin, Noah still rejected this idea.
Makarov had kicked his own son, Ivan, out of the guild just because Ivan peeked at Fairy Heart.
Such an action now seemed utterly nonsensical. Driving away Ivan, who knew so much about the guild, showed no consideration for intelligence leaks... And indeed, that was what happened.
A muddled operation, but it also showed that Makarov was truly fuming at the time to give Ivan such a severe punishment.
But if not through Fairy Heart, how would he re-activate the world's Magic Power?
Just as Noah fell into thought, the Cat Elder tapped the ground with his staff. "Prince Noah, according to Her Majesty the Queen's precognition, the Exceed may have a deep cooperation with humans in the future, casting aside past grievances."
"So we speculate that perhaps we contributed to your actions in saving the world."
"The Exceed race is weak, and after much thought, the only thing we can help you with is one item, and I've brought it with me."
After speaking, the Cat Elder took out a fingernail-sized, emerald Lacrima that resembled a seed from his clothes.
Noah took the Lacrima. Before he could examine it closely, he saw the Lacrima emit a faint, imperceptible glow, and at the same time, a subtle voice appeared in Noah's mind.
"Help me..."
"Help me..."
Before he could fully comprehend it, Noah's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar series of notification sounds.
[Ding ~ You have a new local Wish commission]
[Edolas sends you a plea for help. Born under the protection of the world's will, will you, as a child of the world in some sense, bring hope?]
[Reward: The magic 'Wish' will no longer be restricted, and you can receive commissions to undertake tasks in other worlds]
[Deadline: Before the will of Edolas completely dissipates (Current status: a flickering candle in the wind)]