Chapter 358: Speculation
"Up early, Gramps?"
Noah didn't panic at all when he caught sight of Makarov. Calmly capping his paintbrush, he stood up and greeted the Master.
"I'm heading out to see Yajima and the others off," Makarov replied, casting a fleeting glance toward Ultear and the girls. He completely ignored their little prank. Mischief of this scale was an everyday occurrence inside Fairy Tail.
"I see. I'll tag along to see them off with you, Gramps," Noah said after a brief thought. He squatted back down, tucked the paintbrush neatly back into Reedus's sleeping hand, and stood up to join Makarov.
Yajima, Master Bob, and Master Goldmine had provided him with a massive amount of help and guidance over the years. It was only right that he show them the proper courtesy and see them off.
"Alright, let's head out together then," Makarov nodded.
Carefully stepping around the sleeping guild members who were draped across the floor in a variety of gravity-defying postures, Noah cleared the guild entrance to catch up with Makarov. Together, they walked over to the inn where Yajima and the other Masters were staying.
After sharing a hearty breakfast with the group, the older Masters, each having pressing guild business to attend to, bid their farewells to Makarov and officially departed from Magnolia.
As Noah walked back to the guildhall alongside Makarov, he noticed that the streets were still bustling with energy. The festive atmosphere showed absolutely no signs of winding down. Tourists dressed in garments from all across the continent filtered through the market stalls, their voices blending into a continuous hum of bartering and laughter.
Noah raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a minor barrier manifested around himself and Makarov, moving seamlessly with their steps and completely tuning out the ambient noise of the outside world.
"Hm? What's on your mind, Noah?" Makarov asked, noticing the sudden deployment of the barrier.
"Earlier, you and Master Yajima were discussing Oración Seis. Have their movements really become that blatant lately?"
"Yes. From what I've gathered, their activity has spiked significantly. Quite a few Guild Masters brought it up during our chats over the last couple of days." Makarov's expression turned solemn as he spoke.
Whenever an incredibly powerful Dark Guild began mobilizing, a legal guild like Fairy Tail naturally had to monitor their movements closely.
Noah nodded silently. In his memories of the original timeline, they were known as the Oración Seis. Their leader was Brain, the former director of the Magic Development Bureau. However, given Noah's intervention, his memories could only serve as a general reference now. One of the original members of that guild had been rescued by him years ago and had eventually become his girlfriend.
He couldn't be entirely sure if the current Oración Seis was made up of the exact same lineup. Because they operated from the shadows, their primary leadership rarely showed their faces, choosing instead to let their subordinates handle the legwork. Those subordinates were incredibly discreet, leaving very little information behind.
But looking at the timeline, the sudden spike in Oración Seis's activity lined up perfectly with when Noah had covertly leaked information regarding Nirvana. There was a massive probability that it was them.
If that was the case, he definitely needed to pay this guild a visit.
"Gramps, if you get any intelligence regarding Oración Seis, make sure to let me know," Noah said, looking at Makarov.
"Oh? Do you know something about them?" Makarov asked, picking up on Noah's pensive expression.
"Yeah, I have a suspicion, though I don't have concrete proof just yet."
"Let's hear it," Makarov prompted. Coming from a Mage of Noah's caliber, even a simple hunch was worth taking seriously.
"Gramps, do you still remember Brain, the former director of the Magic Development Bureau?"
"Brain? The former director?" Makarov pondered for a moment. Suddenly, he struck his palm with his fist. "You mean the bastard responsible for tearing Ur and Ultear apart, the one who caused so much trauma to Ultear?"
"Exactly him. Even though a high-level bounty was issued for his arrest, he has managed to completely evade capture all this time, right?"
"Are you suggesting..." Makarov stared at Noah, wide-eyed with shock.
"Yes. I suspect that he might be the true mastermind behind Oración Seis."
"Walk me through your reasoning," Makarov instructed.
"While Brain was with the Bureau, he developed an incredible number of spells, but he was also secretly conducting horrific human experimentation behind closed doors. Given his track record, do you really think a man like that would just wash his hands clean and retire after leaving the Bureau? Absolutely not. He would only go underground and continue his twisted work. Do you remember when Oración Seis first appeared?"
"They only surfaced within the last few years, rapidly climbing the ranks to become one of the top Dark Guilds in the underworld," Makarov murmured, connecting the dots as he thought aloud. "If their leader is indeed Brain, everything clicks into place. I recall his individual strength being nothing to scoff at."
To hold the position of director at the Magic Development Bureau required immense power. The fact that the man had personally cataloged and engineered hundreds of distinct spells meant his magical prowess was bound to be exceptionally formidable. If a man like that plunged into the dark sector, he could easily elevate a rogue guild to the absolute apex of the underworld.
"This is a highly valuable deduction. I'll discreetly pass this theory along to the other legal Guild Masters. If we decide to launch a coordinated strike in the future, we will factor this into our strategy," Makarov said, his tone dead serious.
"I'm just glad I could help, Gramps," Noah replied with a smile.
"I'll make sure to update you the moment any concrete news about them drops," Makarov promised.
Noah nodded in appreciation. By then, they had arrived right back at the guildhall entrance. Stopping their hushed conversation, the two stepped through the front doors.
The second they crossed the threshold, Natsu and Gray's booming laughter echoed through the hall.
"Hahaha! What in the world is that on your face?! That's hilarious!"
"Look in the mirror, ice-princess! Why do you have a little turtle drawn on your cheek?! Hahaha!"
As they kept laughing, they suddenly noticed something off. It dawned on both of them simultaneously that their own faces were littered with the exact same kind of graffiti.
"You flame-brained idiot, did you draw this?!"
"You drooping-eyed popsicle, this was definitely your doing!"
The two immediately crashed into each other, exchanging a flurry of blows. As the rest of the guild members gradually woke up and suffered the exact same realization, they didn't care who the actual culprit was—anyone who laughed at them got an immediate beating.
In an instant, the entire guildhall descended into a chaotic free-for-all, with wooden mugs, tables, and chairs flying wildly across the room.
Meanwhile, the actual masterminds behind the graffiti—Ultear and the girls—had long since joined a fully rested Wendy and her friends on the sidelines, happily eating snacks while watching the entertainment unfold.
Seeing his children starting their morning with such explosive vitality, Makarov shot a playful glare at Noah and the girls. Completely ignoring the brawling idiots, he marched straight up the stairs to his office. He needed to contact the other legal Guild Masters right away to relay Noah's speculation.
Noah chuckled. Once Makarov cleared the stairs, he made his way over to Ultear and the girls. Sorano watched the ongoing brawl in the center of the hall, covering her mouth as she snickered quietly at Noah's approach.
"You girls are awake? How did you sleep? If you're still tired, grab some breakfast and head back to bed for a bit," Noah said with a smile to Sorano before turning to Wendy and the younger girls.
"No need, big brother Noah! We slept wonderfully last night, it was super quiet," Wendy replied, shaking her head with a bright smile. Yukino and Meredy nodded vigorously, backing up her statement.
"Glad to hear it. Have you had breakfast yet?"
"We just finished!"
"Excellent. Let's head over to the training grounds for our daily routine then."
"Should we really just leave them like that?" Wendy asked, pointing a worried finger toward the massive brawl tearing through the guild hall.
"Don't worry about them. This won't settle down anytime soon. Let's get our training out of the way first," Noah said, shaking his head.
"Alright then." Wendy thought about it and realized he was right. The guild members behaved like this on a regular basis, though she still instinctively fretted over them out of habit.
Leaving a Thought Projection inside the guildhall to keep an eye on things, Noah accompanied Ultear, Wendy, and the rest of the girls to the training grounds to begin their daily workout.
By the time they finished their training and returned to the guildhall, the brawl had finally concluded, and the members were busy cleaning up the structural debris. Once the interior was sorted out, the vast majority of the members headed out into the streets to tackle the lingering aftermath of the Fantasia Parade.
Dismantling the parade floats, returning the rented costumes and props, and reclaiming the magical items deployed along the streets took a collective effort that kept everyone busy for several days before everything was finally restored to order.
"Whew... it's finally over. I didn't expect it to be this exhausting," Lucy groaned, slumping completely flat across a table.
"Of course. The scale of the Fantasia Parade is massive, so the logistical cleanup is always an undertaking. It's like this every single year," Mirajane explained with a gentle smile as she wiped down the adjacent table. "Since this is your first time participating, it's only natural that you aren't used to it. After a few more years, it'll feel like second nature."
"Mmm, I'll hang in there!" Lucy said, pushing herself back up with a renewed spark. While the cleanup was tiring, the parade itself had been pure magic. Being an active part of such a grand celebration brought her an incomparable sense of pride. Plus, it provided excellent material for her novel.
"By the way, Lucy, have your parents headed back home?" Mirajane recalled that Lucy's parents had come down to watch the parade, staying at her rented apartment for the duration of the festival.
"Yeah, they left this morning. My dad had some pressing corporate matters to settle at the company, so my mom accompanied him back. Oh, right! Aunt Ur actually went back with my mom too. Apparently, she wants to help train her to boost her magical power." Lucy sat up straight as she remembered the conversation.
"Ah, yes, my mother mentioned that to me as well," Ultear chimed in, joining their conversation from a nearby seat. "She said that since Aunt Layla had stepped away from the path of a Mage for so many years and lacked a proper sparring partner, she wanted to step in personally to help her reclaim her peak strength as quickly as possible."
Turning her gaze toward Lucy, Ultear asked curiously, "Aunt Layla used to be incredibly powerful, wasn't she? I remember my mother mentioning that her magic was exceptionally refined. She always felt it was a massive shame that Aunt Layla retired from the magical world so early. She genuinely believed that if she had kept pursuing the arcane path, her strength today would have easily earned her a seat among the Wizard Saints."
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn