After returning to Magnolia from Tenrou Island, we celebrated my promotion to an S-class mage, which eventually turned into a guild fight, and by the morning, we had renovated the guild hall, though not in a good way; however, luckily for me, I managed to wake up before everyone else. 'I-I should leave before Gramps awakens… I don't want to be on the receiving end of his lecture.' Glancing at Gramps, who was lying on the ground while using a broken table as a blanket, I cautiously walked past him before leaping onto the second floor, where only S-class mages were allowed access. Approaching the fancy request board reserved solely for S-class missions and beyond, I stood before it and carefully scanned my options.
'A 100-year quest!? I didn't even know such a thing existed!' With wide eyes, I stared at the one-hundred-year quest at the very top of the request board, though just as I felt a grin creep its way onto my face, I quickly shook my head, ridding myself of whatever suicidal thoughts I had. "If even Gildarts hasn't taken it, I shouldn't even think about… For now." Deciding to save the one-hundred-year, ten-year, and SS-class quests for later, when I've grown a bit more as an S-class mage, I shifted my focus to the regular S-class quests, which were far more abundant. I wasn't looking for anything in-depth; I just wanted a simple, straightforward, and dangerous mission.
"Hmm, this one sounds good. Destroy the Dark Guild, Soly Mon." Grabbing the job off the board, I read the details, though I couldn't help but click my tongue in disgust. Soly Mon was known for human trafficking, which is something that not only I find disgusting, but I've noticed Erza has an incredible hatred for human trafficking, and considering she refuses to discuss her past, I couldn't help but think she was initially subjected to human trafficking, and that infuriated me. "Heh, it says destroy, which means I can kill everyone… Good." Grinning, I stuffed the paper into my pocket and silently landed on the ground floor before heaving a sigh of relief once I finally exited the guild, escaping the anger of Gramps that would inevitably come.
Performing my usual tradition of grabbing a few kebabs, I headed to the train station, intending to head towards Borwatt Town as that's apparently where the dark guild is the most active, though unfortunately, their guild's location is a mystery, so I must find it, which wasn't a big deal, but it slowed the process down. Though as if karma refused to leave me alone, when I arrived at the train station and looked through the schedule, there weren't any trains heading to Borwatt Town for at least two days; I had just missed the train a few hours ago. "Tsk, whose dumbass idea was it to schedule a train in the middle of the night?" Growling in annoyance, I approached the large map of Fiore and calculated the distance between Magnolia and Borwatt Town, determining whether running there would be quicker or waiting for the train.
"It's definitely quicker to run." Muttering profanities under my breath, I left the train station and jogged through Magnolia until I exited the city, only to break off into a full-on sprint as I speedily ran across the dirt road. Once I was warmed up, I used my magic, filling my body to about half its capacity with my magic power as my speed increased several fold while I transformed into a humanoid missile that shot through the roads of Fiore.
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It took a few hours to get to Borwatt Town, and currently, I was walking through the city, searching for any signs of Soly Mon, though as of yet, I've found nothing. 'Hmm, since they're into human trafficking, I should search places where people they target will congregate.' If I were the guild, I'd choose people with little to no power, people who would be unable to retaliate even if they found out what happened. "So, the poor?" Having found my group, I left the most populated parts of Borwatt Town and headed towards the slums where the poor live.
However, even after spending an hour or so of thoroughly searching, I still found nothing, causing me to click my tongue in annoyance as I leaned against a wall down an alley. 'Tsk, should I wait until night?' Rubbing my chin, I gazed out the alley, only for my eyes to widen with a faint grin. 'What if I make myself a target?' With a faint grin, I thought about getting the members of Soly Mon to kidnap me so they could take me to their base, though in the end, I had to shake my head; there was no way they'd choose me when I had a massive symbol of Fairy Tail on my back, and since I had no intention of ever hiding it, it wouldn't work.
Since I couldn't turn myself into a target, I did the next best thing, which was to wait until night and move from there. "Might as well get some food in the meantime." Leaping onto the building, I jumped between roofs and left the slums as I returned to the main parts of the city, where I spent the rest of the day walking around and eating. When night finally arrived, I stealthily returned to the slums, sticking to the roofs as I maneuvered about, searching for people who looked suspicious or people who were abnormally strong for the location, though whether it was because I was wasting my time or unlucky, nothing was happening. 'Or, maybe I'm lucky no one is being subjected to human trafficking?'
Just as I was contemplating my situation, I suddenly sensed a brief use of magic nearby, causing me to frown as I swiftly dashed in the direction where I sensed it, only to arrive just in time to see a mage stuffing five children into a large sack while the two others already had a sack hoisted over their shoulders. "15 should be good for this week… We should get out of here before we push our luck; I've heard from the Guild Master that the Magic Council has issued an S-class request involving us." "We know, rookie. The mission has been there for months, and nothing has happened, so stop worrying… Tsk, why did we have to deal with this?"
Glancing between the three mages, the one who mentioned the S-class mission seemed to be somewhat on edge, though the two others were entirely indifferent about the whole thing. "Hmph, c'mon, let's return; hopefully, these 15 will fetch a good price. I want to buy one of those slaves at the guild. I'm just a few thousand jewels short." With a grunt, the man hoisted the sack of children over his shoulder and led the group of three away from where they originally were, while I stealthily followed them. They didn't move with an ounce of urgency, which made the whole process of trialing them a pain, but eventually, they left the city and veered off the road into the forest.
"Alright, equip the magic items." Setting the sack onto the ground, the three reached into their pocket and grabbed a bracelet; once they wore it on their wrists, although nothing visually changed, I still narrowed my eyes. 'Hmm, their scent vanished, and I can no longer sense their magic power.' With furrowed brows, I watched as they continued deeper into the forest, quickly noticing their lack of footprints, which I attributed to their magic item.
For the next two hours, I followed the three mages into a valley deep in the forest, only for them to suddenly vanish, causing me to frown in confusion as I had sensed no magic whatsoever. 'Wait… I can't sense anything in front of me. Nothing.' Standing up on the branch, I stared deeper into the valley, where the forest continued, yet even so, I couldn't sense anything from the valley; it was as if I were staring at a painting. 'No, not a painting, but an illusion!' Widening my eyes with a grin at solving my confusion, I landed on the ground, took a few steps forward, and outstretched my hand, only to stop myself a few moments later.
'That bracelet of theirs… It might be some kind of card.' Furrowing my brows, I stopped myself and glanced at my wrist before clicking my tongue; I might've just been overcomplicating things, but I'd like to at least scout my enemies before charging straight in; after all, I'm facing an entire Guild, not just a group. 'Besides, not to mention the alarms and traps they may have for intruders.' Grunting, I leaped onto the tree and hid within the canopy, deciding to wait for someone to leave so I could steal their bracelet, and only then would I sneak past the illusion. 'Haa, so much freaking waiting… Annoying!'
Thankfully, today wasn't all bad, as it took about twenty minutes before someone exited from the illusion; tracking the man with a faint smirk, I waited until he was decently far away before landing on his shoulders and twisting his neck, causing him to lifelessly collapse onto the ground. Reaching for the mage's hand, I grabbed the bracelet off his wrist before kicking the corpse behind some bushes; wearing the bracelet, I glanced at it before entering the illusion, and the instant I stepped through, I was met with a large mansion surrounded by trees, causing me to grin. "Hehe, well, that was easy."