Chapter 27

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『Fairy Tail』 is the top mage guild in the entire Fiore Kingdom.

In terms of scale and strength, there are no more than five guilds in the entire Fiore Kingdom that can match 『Fairy Tail』.

Naturally, 『Fairy Tail』 receives a considerable number of commissions from all over the Fiore Kingdom every day, and these commissions are of all kinds, ranging from the bizarre to the mundane.

Standing in front of the commission board, Noah saw simple commissions like searching for items, driving away bandits or thieves, more challenging ones that required the use of magic to lift curses, and even high-level commissions like eliminating illegal mage organizations and harmful monsters, and so on.

Generally speaking, the more difficult the commission, the higher the reward, and if there is a risk to life, the reward is usually set at an extremely high level.

However, these were not within the immediate consideration of Noah, who had just started working.

After discussing with Erza, both decided that the difficulty of their first mission should not be too high, and it should not be too far away, as various troubles could arise if one was alone, and even if the danger was not a concern, the efficiency could not be guaranteed.

Therefore, those that required traveling to distant places, were highly dangerous, or required specific magic to resolve were all excluded by Noah.

Erza had already torn off a commission form at some point and was heading to Makarov to receive the task, preparing to start working.

Noah, after wandering among the many commission forms on the board, finally fixed his gaze on one, reached out, and tore it off.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Makarov had been standing behind Noah and saw the content of the task Noah had chosen, nodding his head.

"This task seems a bit strange, but it shouldn't be too difficult. However, you still need to be careful. If you find it unsolvable or sense danger, don't be stubborn; just abandon the task. You're still young!"

Hearing Makarov's words, Noah nodded, but his hand tightly gripped the commission form, his heart slightly surging.

...

The sky was boundlessly blue.

The vibrant green fields stretched endlessly.

On that endless green field, at the end of a path, a boy of about eleven or twelve years old was walking with a long, bag-like object slung over one shoulder, like a long backpack reaching down to his ankles, one hand holding the strap, the other holding a piece of paper, moving forward.

Along the way, many people tending their herds in the green fields cast curious, puzzled, and scrutinizing glances at the boy walking on the path, perhaps wondering if he was a lost child from some household.

In fact, on his way, Noah had indeed encountered many kind people who asked if he was lost or if he had been molested by some human trafficker, which made Noah quite helpless.

However, such encounters ended here.

At a certain moment, Noah stopped, looking ahead.

A village.

A village not too far from Magnolia.

At least, even without taking a vehicle, Noah had walked to his destination, though it took quite some time.

Looking at the village not far ahead and then at the commission form in his hand, Noah confirmed once again that his destination was this village.

This commission was issued by the village chief of this village.

Generally, commissions issued by villages of this size are not about driving away wild beasts or bandits, but rather finding medicinal herbs or ingredients, and rarely have high difficulty or danger.

Therefore, Noah chose to take on this village's commission.

Of course, Noah had also confirmed the content of the commission.

How to put it?

It's hard to say if it's difficult, and it's hard to say if it's easy; it's just rather perplexing.

With this feeling, Noah, led by a villager, came to a house and met the village chief.

The village chief was an elderly man, possibly even older than Makarov, leaning on a cane, bent over, with a white beard that dragged on the ground.

"..." The old man first sized Noah up, then spoke in a long, drawn-out tone.

"Welcome to our village, guest from 『Fairy Tail』..."

Seeing this, Noah couldn't help but respect the old man a bit more.

Just now, Noah clearly saw a hint of doubt in the old man's eyes.

Clearly, the old man was puzzled that the mage who came to solve the village's problems was such a young child.

However, even so, the old man did not say anything, nor did he seem to want to confirm anything, first expressing his welcome without any dissatisfaction due to Noah's young age.

Noah didn't know if the old man believed in his ability to complete the task because he was from 『Fairy Tail』, or if he was planning to be polite first and then take action, but at least the old man's initial lack of confrontation made Noah feel much more relaxed.

The activation of the Lake of Rituals was a critical task, but the interactions with the client, negotiations, and discussions were mainly handled by Laxus.

Because of this, strictly speaking, this was Noah's first time working independently, and he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

The old man's actions, however, dispelled this nervousness, making Noah feel lighter, and he greeted the old man.

"Hello, Village Chief. I am a mage from 『Fairy Tail』, here to help you solve your problems!"

"Thank you very much for your help." The village chief nodded very slowly.

"Our village, though small, has one or two inns for travelers. If you need it, we will provide you with free accommodation. Would you like to rest first?"

"The sky is indeed getting late, and it's not suitable for work. I would be very grateful if I could rest for the night, but before that, I have some questions I would like to ask the Village Chief." Noah picked up the commission form, his tone uncertain.

"The commission form states that the task is to drive away a ghost. What is this about?"

Yes!

Drive away a ghost!

This was the perplexing part for Noah!

Although this was a world where magic was prevalent and even integrated into daily life, and there were indeed dangerous monsters that could harm people, Noah had even heard from Makarov that demons existed in this world.

But do ghosts really exist?

Perhaps they do, but Noah had never seen one, so he couldn't help but feel some doubt.

Not just Noah, but anyone else would probably have the same doubts.

After all, the knowledge of people in some old villages is not as broad as that of residents in towns and cities. Sometimes, they might mistake special phenomena, the activities of weak monsters, or the tricks of unscrupulous humans for ghosts, which is not impossible.

If that were the case, this task would not be too difficult to solve, but the fear is that there might be some hidden issues, something Noah cannot handle.

Therefore, Makarov's advice was just to come and see, and if anything seemed off, this type of commission could be abandoned.

After all, if it really was a ghost, Noah had no means to drive it away, right?

So, it was necessary to ask clearly.

Perhaps the village chief understood this as well. Seeing Noah directly ask about the work, he began to explain slowly.

"Actually, not long ago, the villagers who went into the forest to hunt often heard the sound of a ghost crying!"