A New Life in Fairy Tail

Noah and Harris had maintained an excellent working relationship in the past. Seeing that his son had also joined the Custody Enforcement Unit, Noah naturally intended to build a similar rapport with him, provided the other party was willing.

”By the way, the councilors want a more detailed understanding of the situation, so they sent me to gather intelligence regarding the Tower of Heaven from you all and record it,” Lahar said to Noah’s group.

”Mhm. Noah, just give them the relevant intelligence to record,” Yajima, who was sitting nearby, chimed in. He had already gotten the general gist of the situation from Noah earlier.

”And another thing, never do that again, understand?” Yajima added, looking at Noah with utmost seriousness.

”I know. It won’t happen again,” Noah replied earnestly.

He knew perfectly well that Yajima was referring to his stunt of waiting inside the Tower of Heaven for the Etherion blast to hit. As one of the Magic Council’s ultimate weapons, Yajima was intimately aware of Etherion’s destructive power. When Noah casually mentioned what he had done, Yajima’s expression had shifted from deep concern to outright anger. He was worried for Noah’s safety and furious at his reckless disregard for his own life.

As a result, Yajima had pulled Noah aside to give him a stern lecture about prioritizing his safety. Noah, knowing Yajima was only looking out for him, listened obediently without complaint.

It was only after Yajima had finished his piece that Noah revealed the truth: he had tested Etherion’s power and found that he could successfully block it.

Yajima was utterly shocked by this revelation. However, he trusted Noah completely and didn’t doubt his words for a second. If Noah could block Etherion, his strength was far beyond what Yajima had estimated. Following this shock, Yajima strictly warned Noah not to breathe a word of this to anyone else, except Makarov.

The existence of someone capable of blocking Etherion was terrible news for the Council. If the public found out, it would severely diminish the Council’s authority and deterrence, inevitably leading to worsened security across the magical world. Noah promised seriously, having no intention of bragging about his strength anyway.

”Since you understand, I won’t say any more. Go get your statements recorded,” Yajima said, preparing to leave. With such a massive incident rocking the Council, he had a mountain of work waiting for him. Had this not involved Noah and his friends, Yajima wouldn’t have dropped everything to come understand the situation first.

”Goodbye, Grandpa Yajima!” Noah and the others called out in unison. Yajima smiled, waved at them, and departed.

”Please follow me,” Lahar said, leading Noah and the group to officially record their experiences inside the Tower of Heaven.

There was no need for absolute secrecy. Aside from Noah, everyone else simply recounted exactly what they had seen and done. When asked how he knew about the eighth Tower of Heaven, Noah provided a half-truth: he claimed that ever since helping the Council destroy the first seven towers, he had been keeping a close eye on related matters to prevent a resurgence. He had only recently discovered the eighth tower, immediately gathered his guildmates to investigate, and notified the Council.

Aside from hiding Jellal’s involvement and concealing the full extent of his own strength, Noah provided the Council with all the other factual details.

It took quite a bit of time for Noah and the group to get everything fully documented. Once they reconvened, Lahar bid them farewell, needing to urgently deliver the compiled reports to the councilors so they could assess the situation.

Just as Lahar turned around, a man walked up to them.

”Lahar, what are you doing here?”

”Doranbolt. I’m just about to deliver these freshly recorded documents to the councilors.” Lahar gestured to the files in his hand. Remembering his manners, he turned to Noah’s group. ”This is Doranbolt. Like me, he works in the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit.”

”Mhm, we’ve crossed paths a few times before,” Noah said with a smile.

”That’s perfect, then. You don’t have anything urgent to attend to right now, do you?” Lahar asked Doranbolt.

”Not at the moment. Why?”

”Could you look after them for a bit? I need to hand these files in. I’ll be right back.”

”Alright,” Doranbolt agreed.

With that settled, Lahar hurried off.

”Doranbolt, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you in private. Wait here for me for a moment,” Noah said to Ultear and the rest of his team.

”Go ahead. We’ll head over to the archives and take a look around. Just come find us when you’re done,” Ultear replied. She knew Lucy loved reading and had never visited the Council before, so she planned to give her a quick tour of the archives.

Mirajane and the others had no objections. The S-Class mages had all accompanied Makarov to the Council before and were familiar with the layout, so the plan was easily settled.

”Sounds good. I’ll come find you soon,” Noah nodded.

As Ultear led the group toward the archives, Noah and Doranbolt found a secluded, quiet corner.

”What do you need to discuss in private?” Doranbolt asked, looking at Noah with confusion once they stopped.

”You’ll know in a second.”

Noah formed a sword sign with his fingers and rapidly drew several strokes in the empty air, activating his magic.

”You—”

Doranbolt had barely begun to gasp in surprise when he felt as if a floodgate had opened inside his brain. A massive influx of memories came rushing in.

”Remember now?” Noah asked, watching the man clutch his head in discomfort.

”Ah... yeah. I remember,” Doranbolt replied after taking a few heavy breaths, still massaging his temples. ”Even though I’ve gone through this several times, the feeling never gets any better. Having a huge chunk of memories suddenly flood your mind is awful.”

Doranbolt—or rather, Mest—was a Fairy Tail mage. Under Makarov’s orders and with the help of Noah’s memory-sealing magic, he had infiltrated the Magic Council to gather intelligence on the Alvarez Empire of the Western Continent.

”I’ll refine the spell when we get back so the restoration process is more comfortable for you next time,” Noah offered.

”Thanks. But make sure the sealing effect remains flawless,” Mest added anxiously.

”Of course. I will guarantee its effectiveness. I would never put you in danger,” Noah nodded.

”You guys really stirred up a massive incident this time. The Council is practically paralyzed,” Mest said with a heavy sigh. As a member of the Council, he knew better than anyone just how severe the fallout was.

Because the Council had suddenly fired Etherion, they were currently scrambling to answer frantic inquiries from nations all over the continent. On top of that, the destruction of numerous internal facilities had brought the Council’s daily operations to a grinding halt, leaving everyone running around in chaotic panic. Mest himself was caught up in the frenzy and had only paused because he bumped into Lahar and Noah.

”It was just a coincidence that we ran into it,” Noah shook his head. ”You don’t look like you have much time to spare. Let’s exchange intel quickly.”

”Alright.”

Mest and Noah rapidly traded the information they had gathered.

”There’s still not much news regarding the Western Continent,” Mest reported.

”Take your time. I’ll seal your memories again for now,” Noah said.

Mest nodded in agreement. Noah formed the sword sign again and made a few quick motions in the air. In an instant, Mest’s memories concerning Fairy Tail were locked away once more.

”What... what just happened?” Mest—now fully Doranbolt again—shook his head, feeling a strange sensation as if he had just forgotten something important.

”Nothing. You just spaced out for a second,” Noah said smoothly.

”Sorry about that. Where were we?” Doranbolt asked with an apologetic smile.

”I was just asking you about the current situation within the Council.”

”Ah, right. Well, things aren’t looking too good right now...”

Picking up the fabricated thread, Doranbolt began to chat with Noah, sharing whatever general Council information wasn’t strictly classified. As they talked, they walked toward the archives to locate Ultear and the rest of the group.

”What’s wrong with Natsu and Gray?” Noah asked when they arrived.

He saw Natsu and Gray slumped over a nearby table, looking incredibly stiff and uncomfortable, with Happy keeping Natsu company.

”They have zero interest in the documents here. Plus, this is the Magic Council. You know how it is,” Mirajane explained with an amused smile.

Noah suddenly understood. Those two had received far too many reprimands and warnings from the Council in the past. Naturally, they harbored a deep-seated phobia of the place. Being inside the headquarters made their skin crawl. Knowing the root of their misery, Noah decided to just leave them be.

Having safely escorted Noah to his friends, Doranbolt took his leave. He had a mountain of tasks waiting for him as well.

Noah first checked the shelves to see if any new reference materials had been added. Finding a few, he then walked over to where Wendy-kun and the other younger girls were gathered. Sorano was currently keeping them company.

Since it was the first time Wendy-kun, Yukino-kun, and Meredy-kun had been to the Council, they were curious about everything. Sorano, having been here a few times before, was patiently explaining things to them.

Further away, Mirajane was guiding Lucy through the records. Lucy’s eyes were practically sparkling; she had found numerous rare texts she had never seen before and was utterly thrilled. Ultear and Erza were sitting quietly to the side, reading materials that caught their personal interest.

Noah took a seat next to Wendy-kun and her friends, helping answer their barrage of questions while casually reading through the new documents he had just picked up.

After some time passed, Lahar returned.

”The councilors would like to ask you a few questions regarding the incident. Please follow me,” he said to Noah.

Noah nodded and stood up. Ultear and the others looked over with slight concern.

”Don’t worry, I’ll be back shortly,” Noah said, waving to them reassuringly.

Ultear and the team nodded in understanding. Noah then followed Lahar out of the archives and into an official meeting room, where nine high-ranking councilors were already seated and waiting for him.

~~~

Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!

https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn