Chapter 30

(Listen! (Great thanks to 'Ice·Moon Shadow', 'Panda Ah!', 'Soul Lost', '2D Our Dream', 'Little H House', 'Long Tian i', 'Sing Zai' for the donations!))

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Night quietly descended...

In this world completely enveloped by darkness, all signs of life seemed to be erased, even the vast forest that exuded vitality could not escape the engulfing darkness.

As night fully fell, Noah arrived at the entrance of the forest swallowed by darkness, looking at the boundless forest before him, he sighed in his heart.

If possible, Noah really didn't want to carry out a ghost dispersal mission at night.

Although Noah wasn't afraid of ghosts, that didn't mean he liked them.

Therefore, when facing the existence of ghosts, which might not even be considered living beings, Noah hoped to carry out this mission during the day, at least it would be more relaxed mentally.

Unfortunately, the appearance of the Strauss siblings disrupted Noah's plan.

To be honest, although the Strauss siblings' request seemed unreasonable, Mira was right. For Noah, a mage of 'Fairy Tail', giving up this mission wasn't a big deal; he could just return to the guild and take another one.

Didn't Makarov also say that if a mission couldn't be completed, there was no need to force it, and it was fine to give up?

The Strauss siblings seemed to have a reason for needing this mission. If the situation were different, regardless of Mira's arrogance and Elfman's timidness, Noah wouldn't mind giving the mission to them for Lisa's sake, the sensible and adorable little girl.

However, this was Noah's first real job.

If his first job encountered setbacks and he had to give up the mission, Noah would inevitably feel disappointed, and might even lose confidence in himself. Besides, there was no real reason to give up the mission; it was just a few people trying to take his job.

Moreover, with that attitude.

Looking back, he confirmed that Mira, Elfman, and Lisa hadn't caught up, Noah picked up his striped bag and walked into the forest.

...

The forest at night is very dangerous.

During the year and a half in Magnolia, Noah almost went to the forest every day to practice his magic control and sword skills.

Therefore, Noah was well aware of how dangerous the forest at night could be.

Without mentioning other factors, many truly dangerous magical creatures only become active at night, coming out to hunt.

Additionally, the terrain and visibility limitations often make the forest at night very advantageous for these creatures, while very disadvantageous for humans.

Fortunately, this forest wasn't like the one in Magnolia, where magical creatures roamed everywhere. At most, there were some fierce beasts.

The chance of encountering magical creatures wasn't zero.

But in this type of forest, the magical creatures were usually outsiders, few in number, and varied in strength.

After all, powerful magical creatures generally have a place in their living area, and some even control entire territories.

Only weak magical creatures would be driven out or escape from their habitats, seeking other places.

In this case, this forest wasn't particularly dangerous. Even the villagers of a small village often came to hunt here. Noah believed he had the ability to handle the forest at night.

Currently, the Kingdom of Fiore was in summer.

However, the temperature in the forest was quite cool, making it hard to believe it was the hot summer.

At night, the atmosphere of the forest was different from the day, as if an eerie chill had appeared out of nowhere, making one's hair stand on end.

As Noah walked deeper into the forest, breathing in the cold air, a sense of nostalgia spontaneously arose.

No, it wasn't at all mysterious.

Because Noah used to frequently visit the forest at night in Magnolia.

The scenery of the forest before him seemed to connect with the scenes in his memory, which is why Noah felt nostalgic.

However, compared to the forest in Magnolia, which was full of magical creatures, this forest was much more reassuring.

For example, there was no smell of magical creatures that was abnormally pungent.

For example, there were no bugs larger than a person falling from the trees.

For example, there were no strange bird calls.

For example, there were no spiders the size of fists running around everywhere.

At most, he might encounter a snake crawling on the path, or an owl with glowing eyes hiding in the trees.

Thinking about these strange things and comparing the forest in Magnolia with this one, Noah began to wander aimlessly without realizing it.

There was no way around it. The village chief said the ghost would occasionally cry, but didn't specify where the crying could be heard.

This wasn't surprising. After all, Noah had told the village chief he would start the mission the next day, so the chief should have given detailed instructions before he set out.

Thinking about this, Noah felt a bit regretful, wishing he had gone to the village chief's house first.

"Whimper..."

Just as Noah was immersed in his regret, planning to sigh, a sound that was both a cry and a sob came from around him, making Noah freeze in place.

"Whimper..."

Before Noah could fully react, the crying sound became clearer, startling him out of his stupor.

At this moment, Noah noticed two details.

First, the crying voice was very young, and the owner was definitely no more than ten years old, and it was a girl's voice.

Second, besides the crying sound gradually approaching Noah, there was a faint sound of footsteps coming from deeper in the forest, which should be the footsteps of the voice's owner, indicating she was walking and crying.

"Footsteps?" Noah tilted his head in confusion.

"Is it not a ghost? Do ghosts need to walk? And make walking sounds?"

With this doubt, Noah, holding his striped bag, leaped silently into the trees nearby, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the crying and footsteps were coming.

After an unknown amount of time, a very small figure slowly walked out from the depths of the forest, coming into Noah's view.

It was a little girl.

About seven or eight years old, four or five years younger than Noah.

The little girl had strikingly deep blue short hair, even in the dark, and was wearing a very thin shirt, which would be very cold in the night forest.

But the little girl seemed unaware of the cold, and her body didn't shiver. She was walking this way, head down, rubbing her eyes, and crying continuously.

"Whimper... Grandine... where are you... it's so dark here... I'm so scared..."

Hearing the heart-wrenching cries and seeing the small child walking and crying, Noah was truly puzzled.

Is this a ghost?

It doesn't look like one at all, does it?

Could it be that the truth behind the crying in the forest is this child, not a ghost?

Does that mean this child has been crying in this forest all this time?

Noah fell silent, and after a while, he walked out.

The little girl seemed to notice the sudden strange sound around her. Her crying stopped abruptly, and she wiped the tears from her face, looking around in panic, then quickly hid in the nearby grass.

Seeing this, Noah was almost certain.

Regardless of whether this little girl was the so-called ghost, she had definitely been in this forest for a considerable amount of time.

Otherwise, how could a normal child hide at the sound of something strange?

This child must know that the forest is full of various fierce beasts and that encountering them would be very dangerous, which is why she immediately found a place to hide at the first sound of something strange.