Noah searched the sea for several more days but still found nothing. In the end, he had no choice but to return to the guild.
The mont he walked in, he was spotted by Yukino, who was chatting with Ultear and the others at a table. She waved at him, and he walked over. Yukino looked at him with a hopeful expression. "Big Brother Noah, did you find my sister?"
Noah shook his head and said apologetically, "I couldn't find your sister. I searched the sea for several days and still found nothing."
Yukino's face fell with disappointnt, but she had already prepared herself for this outco. "It's okay. I was already prepared for this. When the Master told you had been searching for days with no results, I already knew this might happen."
Noah looked at Yukino. She was probably only two or three years old, but after going through such an ordeal, it was as if she had grown up in an instant, becoming much more mature.
Ultear gently hugged her and comforted her. "Don't worry, we'll find your sister. You have to think positively. Your sister was taken, so they must need her for sothing. That ans you'll definitely see her again."
Yukino hugged Ultear's waist back, buried her head in her chest, and a muffled voice ca out. "But I'm still so worried. I'm worried about what kind of harm my sister might be suffering right now."
"I will continue to look for your sister, and I'll ask others to help search as well," Noah said. "What you need to do now is take care of yourself, so you'll be in the best possible state to welco your sister back. I'm going to go and look for so dark guilds now, to see if they have any information."
"Won't you be too tired, Big Brother Noah? You haven't rested at all." Yukino looked up at him with concern. Although she desperately wanted to find her sister, she didn't want Noah to collapse from exhaustion because of it.
"It's fine. I've pulled all-nighters researching for several nights in a row and still had plenty of energy. This was just a few days of searching with breaks in between. It's no problem at all."
"You have the nerve to say that!" Ultear interjected, exasperated. "That ti we were all out on requests, if Erza hadn't noticed you'd been in your lab for days and rushed in to knock you out and drag you out, you would have stayed in there even longer!" After they had dragged him out, they had been terrified, even though he seed fine. They had even called Porlyusica to check on him. Her diagnosis was that Noah was as strong as an ox and completely unlike soone who hadn't slept for days, and that they didn't need to worry about him. But Ultear, Erza, and the others still made him promise that even when he was doing research, he had to sleep at night and not damage his own body.
Although Noah had wanted to tell them he was fine, seeing the serious looks in their eyes, he had agreed.
"This ti, I made sure to get proper sleep during the search. At night, my Thought Projection was the one standing guard and searching while I slept."
A smile appeared on Ultear's face when she heard this. Erza, at her side, nodded in approval. "That's the way. You have to take care of your body like that, Noah."
Noah glanced at Erza, thinking that ever since she had started taking on requests, she had beco much more confident.
"Well then, I'll go and let Gramps know, and then I'm off to find so dark guilds."
"Be careful, Big Brother Noah. And thank you," Yukino said, looking at him with worried eyes.
Noah just smiled at her and waved as he turned to leave. "I will."
He went to Makarov, who was taking a sip of his drink. Noah saw it was the dicinal wine he had prepared and didn't say anything, just asked, "Gramps, do you have any news on dark guilds?"
"You just swept through a bunch of them not long ago. There probably isn't much news about them right now."
"I doubt that. Dark guilds are like weeds; they'll grow back if you don't pay attention. I want to see if I can find any information about the dark magic cult from them. I'll also ask so people I know in the Magic Council."
"Then let's both ask around."
Noah and Makarov began to contact their respective acquaintances. Noah contacted the captain of the Magic Council's Enforcent Unit, with whom he had collaborated several tis before. They had worked together during the subjugation of the dark magic cult, and the captain had also led the cleanup operations for several of the dark guilds Noah had destroyed, so they had exchanged contact information. He had learned that the captain's na was Harris, and that he had a son nad Lahar, whom he was extrely proud of and would talk about endlessly.
Noah asked him if there was any recent news on dark guilds. Harris, hearing it was Noah, quietly told him a few locations. "These are all spots the Council has just gathered intel on, but they haven't been confird yet. Don't say you heard it from ."
"Thanks. If they turn out to be dark guilds, I'll call you for the cleanup."
A small smile played on Harris's lips. This was exactly why he had given Noah the information, wasn't it?
After Noah disconnected, Makarov also had so news. They compared their information and identified several high-probability locations.
Noah said his goodbyes to Makarov and the girls, then used his teleportation magic to go to one of the likely spots. The information was correct. From a distance, he could already feel a disgusting magical aura. It was clear that the people who possessed such magic were not good people.
"Fairy Law!"
After confirming with a scan that it was indeed a dark guild, Noah opened with his Grand Magic, instantly taking down everyone inside. To make sure he had soone to question, he had specifically controlled the power, only injuring them severely. He then went inside, moved everyone out—a quick task with the help of Gravity Magic—and, of course, cleaned out all their valuables.
Noah quickly looked through the docunts he had collected but found no ntion of the dark magic cult. He then interrogated the mbers, but none of them knew anything. Based on the information from the docunts and the interrogations, he finished off the most heinous criminals and knocked out the petty thieves. He then contacted Harris to co and take custody of them. Harris, receiving the call, excitedly rushed over with his subordinates. He had expected Noah to call him for cleanup, but he hadn't expected it to be so soon. When he saw Noah, the smile never left his face. He quickly ordered his n to arrest who needed arresting and treat who needed treating.
As for the missing valuables, Harris simply turned a blind eye. What was the problem? There was no problem at all. It wasn't his money, anyway. The important thing was the dark guild mbers on the ground. These were all achievents. His future promotions and raises depended on them.
Seeing that the handover was complete, Noah said his goodbyes to Harris and went to the next location. He searched several more spots in a row, destroying two more dark guilds. Harris almost didn't have enough n to handle the cleanup.
Finally, Noah found a clue. A mber of the dark magic cult was selling the captured children, and a dark guild was responsible for the transportation.
One thing that particularly caught his attention was the na of the recipient: Brain.
~~~
Get early access to 40 advanced chapters on Patreon!
spat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
User Comments
0 comments from readers