Noah picked up Yukino, put away the bed on the ground, but didn't leave right away. Instead, carrying her, he went through her house. Following Yukino's directions, he collected everything that was still usable or had sentintal value, with a special focus on photos and records. Noah also collected the remains of Yukino's parents, planning to find a good place to bury them later. Seeing the bodies of her parents, tears stread down Yukino's face. She couldn't believe that her happy life had so suddenly been turned into this.
After checking several tis to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Noah carried Yukino out of her house. Knowing that she was now saying goodbye to the ruin that was once her ho, Yukino wrapped her arms around Noah's neck and began to cry. Noah gently patted her head, then took out his magic cara and took a picture of the wreckage. It was, after all, Yukino's ho, and it was good to have a photo to rember it by, even if it wasn't a happy mory.
He put away the cara, got his bearings, and used his teleportation magic to return to the entrance of the guild. He pushed open the door and walked towards Makarov.
"What a cute little girl! Where did you bring her back from, Noah?"
"Noah's started kidnapping children now! The Master has been a bad influence on him!"
The guild mbers started to heckle him.
"Get lost! When have I ever taught him to do that?!" Makarov's mustache bristled as he glared, clearly not accepting their accusations.
"Where did you bring that little girl from?" Ultear's voice ca from the side. She was talking with Erza and Kagura at a nearby table.
"You're all here. Perfect. Help take care of her." Noah tried to hand the girl in his arms to Ultear, but Yukino clung tightly to his clothes, her face full of panic.
"My mistake. Yukino, don't be afraid. They're good people, my comrades. Hmm, Ultear, you all should co over too. It's best you hear this as well."
The girls followed Noah curiously to where Makarov was. Makarov looked at Yukino. "This little girl is...?"
Noah answered in a low voice, "She told she saw people from the dark magic cult."
Makarov's expression imdiately turned grim. "Then her family is—"
Noah's voice beca even softer. "When I arrived, the village had likely been attacked for over a day. I searched many tis but only found Yukino. I couldn't find any other signs of life."
Hearing this, Ultear and the other girls all instinctively covered their mouths. They had never imagined that the little girl before them had gone through such a terrible thing. They didn't dare to speak.
Yukino, hearing Noah's words, gripped his clothes tighter and tried to shrink into his arms, pressing her face against his neck so no one could see her.
Makarov's expression was extrely grave. "What do you plan to do now?"
"I plan to let Yukino stay at my house for now. Ultear and the others can keep her company and help calm her down. I'm going to go back and search again to see if I can find any clues, but I'm afraid most of them are gone after so much ti has passed. Right, I also need to notify the Magic Council and have them handle the more detailed follow-up."
"Your judgnt is sound. Do as you've said."
Noah patted Yukino's back and said softly, "This is Fairy Tail, the guild I joined. This grandpa is the Guild Master, Makarov, and he's my grandpa too. These big sisters are my comrades: Ultear, Erza, and Kagura. You're very safe here. For now, go and sit with the big sisters for a while. I have to go out."
"Where are you going?" Yukino asked, clutching his clothes and looking up at him.
"I'm going to see if I can find the people who attacked you. And if possible, see if I can find your sister."
"You can find my sister?" Yukino's eyes lit up, but Noah had to pour a bucket of cold water on her hopes.
"I can't guarantee it. I don't know if I can find her, because too much ti has passed and many clues have disappeared. The worst-case scenario is that they've already set out to sea, like last ti. Then it will be impossible to find them."
"Then you should go quickly, Big Brother Noah!" Yukino urged him.
Noah instructed her, "You have to listen to Grandpa and the big sisters, okay?"
"Mhm! Go quickly!"
Noah turned to Ultear and the others. "I'm leaving her in your care."
"Go on," Ultear said with a wave. Erza had already started to talk to Yukino, while Kagura watched from the side.
Finally, Noah said to his grandfather, "I'll leave contacting the Council to you, Gramps. I'll contact you as soon as I have any results, or even if I don't."
"Leave it to . You go."
Noah didn't even walk out the door. He used his teleportation magic right there in the guild and returned to Yukino's village, where he began to search for clues. He eventually determined that a large group of people had left the village in one direction and followed it. However, as he pursued, the clues beca scarcer, not because of the passage of ti, but because soone had intentionally erased the tracks.
It seed that after Noah had captured so many of their mbers last ti, leading to the discovery of several of their strongholds, the dark cult had beco much more cautious. This made Noah's tracking work much more difficult.
After spending a great deal of ti, he followed the trail to a coastline, where the clues stopped completely. The water here was deep enough to moor ships; the cult must have left by sea. Noah checked along the coastline several tis but found nothing out of the ordinary.
He took a small boat from his storage and began to rapidly search the sea, his detection magic constantly active. After several hours, he had found nothing. He had even landed on the small islands he found, but there were no traces of the dark guild.
Seeing that it was getting late, Noah reported his situation to Makarov. Makarov told him that the Magic Council had begun to process the situation at Yukino's village, but the results were not optimistic; they had also found nothing. All they could do was clean up, bury the remains, and handle the destroyed village.
"What about Yukino's condition, Gramps?"
"She's doing much better under the care of Ultear and the others. She's asleep now. But she still calls out for her parents and sister from ti to ti in her sleep."
"Gramps, I want to search for a few more days, to see if I can find them."
"You can. But you must be careful."
"I know."
~~~
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