"Oh yeah—yee!" The Star Spirit of the Scorpio Constellation shouted in a strange voice as soon as it appeared, sounding like a rapper.
"Star Spirit Mage!" The kidnappers, at least a little knowledgeable, knew what a Star Spirit was.
They also knew that the body of a Star Spirit Mage wasn't supposed to be strong, yet the Black Bear, who should be an ally, was guarding that woman...
"Since it's come to this, we have no choice but to fight! Ignore the Star Spirit and take down the Cloaked Lady!"
Wishful thinking.
The Black Bear didn't move an inch, and with just a lift of Scorpio's tail, a fierce sand tornado erupted, knocking all four remaining opponents into the air.
After landing, not one of them could get back up.
At this moment, the massive figure of the Black Bear disappeared, transforming into two round-faced blue little people: "Beep—boop! Mission accomplished!"
Gemini of the Gemini Constellation!
Rhode finally got a clear look at the mark on the key in the Cloaked Lady's hand, confirming the identity of these two blue little spirits.
Surprisingly, this person possessed two or more Golden Keys!
Rhode was somewhat shocked, and frankly speaking, the power shown by Scorpio was much stronger than Lucy's Taurus and Giant Crab!
Furthermore, this Sand Magic was also significantly more powerful than Marcus's.
As for Gemini's abilities, Rhode could only guess that it allowed transformation and the use of the magic of the transformed target.
There must be some kind of limitation; otherwise, wouldn't it be invincible by just casually transforming into one of the Ten Wizard Saints?
"There should only be these few people, let's go check on the children." The Cloaked Lady took a few steps forward but stopped at the door, staring at the blue-haired girl.
Though Mira tried to hide, at such a close distance, the Cloaked Lady noticed something was off: "How did those idiots manage to kidnap you here?"
"Have I been discovered?" The blue-haired girl stuck out her tongue, a burst of white smoke dissipated from her body, and she reverted to her form as Mira.
"You are... Demon Mira?" The Cloaked Lady instinctively took a small step back.
That's fame for you; as soon as Mira appeared, she was recognized.
"Yes, I'm Mirajane from Fairy Tail; I came here after receiving a commission to investigate the disappearance of girls. What about you?"
Mira was friendly toward the Cloaked Lady, as she seemed to be here to rescue the children as well.
However, she didn't say everything—since Rhode hadn't made himself known, she didn't mention him.
Mira thought Rhode might be considering that if this person had any hostility, he could suddenly jump out and take action.
The Cloaked Lady didn't seem keen on introducing herself, nor did she plan to reveal her identity: "I see, if I had known, I wouldn't have meddled."
Having said that, she turned to leave.
Gemini of the Gemini Constellation hopped after her, and Scorpio followed at her side.
Mira quickly asked, "Wait a minute, didn't you come here because you took a commission?"
The Cloaked Lady waved casually: "I just happened to be here, and I find it bothersome. Since you took the commission, I'll leave it to you to handle from here."
Mira further inquired, "Then can you at least tell me your name? Or your Guild, so I can thank you later."
"No need, we're just a small Guild with a few members. A big shot like you might scare my companions..."
The Cloaked Lady gradually walked away, her voice fading.
Mira felt she seemed a bit cautious of her... Was the name 'Demon' too intimidating? Or was it the Guild's notorious reputation?
In the straw hut, an older little girl bravely walked to the door and asked, "Big Sister, are you here to rescue us?"
Mira quickly turned around and gave the children a gentle smile: "Yes, it's all right now. I'll take you home soon."
"Wah...waaa!!"
"Waaah!"
Suddenly, the girls began to cry loudly. For the past two to three days, they hadn't even dared to cry out loud.
Mira comforted one child after another. With eight girls in the hut, she found herself quite busy.
She stood at the door with hands on her hips, calling out indignantly: "Aren't you coming out yet?"
"Coming, coming." Rhode emerged from the underground, explaining, "I just thought she was strange."
Mira looked at him: "You didn't send a Shadow Wolf or something to follow her, did you?"
"Uh..." Rhode looked up at the sky. Granted, it wasn't very polite to follow someone who had just helped them.
"I didn't mean to; that group of Shadow Wolves was originally going after the Black Bear, but midway through, they just kept following..."
Suddenly, Rhode appeared surprised and a bit embarrassed, "Now they're gone."
Mira could tell from his expression: "Did they get taken out?"
"Yeah." Rhode grew increasingly suspicious of her; her vigilance was too high.
When she first saw Mira, she instinctively stepped back, and when leaving, she had the Star Spirits accompany her instead of returning to the Star Spirit Realm.
She could even quickly discover the Shadow Wolves' tracking and eliminate them promptly...
Yet, she purposely came to deal with human traffickers and to save the children, which means she should be a good person.
Too little information; my brain is getting overwhelmed. Need to check which famous Star Spirit Mages there are when I get back.
In terms of Celestial Spirit Magic, someone this much stronger than Lucy can't possibly be an unknown person, right?
Mira said, "Let's think about that later; for now, let's take the children home."
"Okay." Rhode summoned Warm.
Taking care of people requires a special touch, and a furry, lovable creature like Warm should appeal to the girls.
Sure enough, despite its slightly large size, this round and furry adorable creature quickly caught the girls' attention.
Especially when Warm lay down and rolled over to reveal its pink, heart-shaped belly, begging for strokes, the girls' hearts melted.
They almost forgot their situation, gathering around Warm, petting and rubbing it.
Luckily, Warm had grown quite large; otherwise, eight kids would have had a hard time fitting around it.
Rhode felt gratified; Warm wasn't just lazing around anymore.
If given tasks involving children in the future, let Warm go first.
...
The Cloaked Lady, having eliminated a few Shadow Wolves, heaved a slight sigh of relief. She recalled those strange wolves should be the Summoned Beasts of the 'Beast Tamer,' oh, now it's apparently called the 'Fairy Tail Strategist.'
Indeed, a very troublesome character.
Within the Guild, she was in charge of intelligence gathering and operations planning, hence her familiarity with notable mages.
Yet, after taking out the wolves, she didn't let her guard down, outwardly returning the Star Spirits, but she kept her hand on the keys.
She didn't head directly back to the base, but instead took quite a detour.
Estimating the distance, she sent a special signal, requesting contact with the 'Leader' via telepathy.
Soon after, a young man with auburn hair descended from the sky on a flying purple giant snake: "Angel, you've been out for too long."
The Cloaked Lady said angrily, "Didn't I tell you to stop revealing my identity right off the bat!"
"Relax, I can hear everything." The young man said confidently, "There are no enemies nearby, nor any strange creatures."
Relieved, the woman known as Angel sighed.
Before she could speak, the young man nodded to himself: "Ah, I see, you encountered a formidable person. Didn't the leader persuade you not to meddle in such matters?"
Angel replied, "If I hadn't intervened, it would have attracted Legitimate Guild members, and if they noticed our actions, it could spell trouble... It's a shame, I arrived a moment too late and nearly exposed myself."
"Saying one thing, meaning another."
Angel glared: "What did you say?"
The young man pointed to his ear, smiling: "You know, I can hear everything."
Angel sighed: "...Sometimes, those ears of yours are really a nuisance."
"Oh really?" The young man stroked the giant snake's head with a gentler tone than before, "Yet sometimes they don't feel sensitive enough... They can't hear the voices of friends."
"What?" The second half was too quiet for Angel to hear clearly.
The young man laughed again: "See, that's the downside of insensitive ears."
Angel felt the urge to hit him.