Chapter 517 - 517: Nothing Left! We Have Nothing Left!
"Happy! Quick, we have to go back to my house and check if my stash is still there!" Natsu yelled the moment he heard the girls talking about replacing expired groceries.
"Aye!" Happy agreed frantically, and the two immediately sprinted out of the guildhall in a cloud of dust.
"I guess we should go buy some daily necessities too. Everything in the fridge is definitely rotten by now," Gray remarked to Lyon.
"Agreed," Lyon nodded. The two Ice-Make mages grabbed Bickslow and headed out together.
The rest of the mages who had been on Tenrou Island followed suit. They all needed to check on their homes, toss out months-old spoiled food, and restock their pantries.
"You're telling me the First Master of your guild was standing right there, and I couldn't see her because I don't have a guild mark? Magic truly is miraculous," Jude Heartfilia marveled, pointing at the empty space beside the bar where Mavis had been standing before leaving to go shopping.
He had personally watched his daughter, his wife, and the rest of the guild interact with an invisible entity. It was a stark reminder of how vast and incomprehensible the magical world was to a civilian, even a highly educated one.
Shaking his head in amusement, Jude turned his attention back to Noah, Makarov, and Laxus behind the bar.
"I had already gathered from my intelligence networks that you all had survived a horrific ordeal, but hearing the full, uncensored story directly from your mouths is staggering. It is a miracle you all returned safely.
"With your return, the volume of high-end commissions flowing into Fairy Tail is going to skyrocket. Especially for you, Noah. Expect a massive influx of 'Nominative Requests.' During my recent business negotiations across the continent, I've heard your name and Fairy Tail's name mentioned constantly."
Makarov nodded in agreement. Jude Heartfilia's business empire now spanned multiple countries, meaning his intelligence network was vast, rapid, and highly accurate. The Guild Master's earlier prediction was spot-on: their reputation had already exploded. The moment word got out that they were back in business, the requests would flood in.
"Nominative Requests?" Noah asked, looking mildly unimpressed.
Because Noah had historically kept a relatively low profile—focusing more on magical research and internal guild management—he had rarely received requests that specifically demanded his personal involvement. Laxus, Ultear, and Erza, however, had highly public, terrifying reputations and frequently received Nominative Requests.
Having processed those requests for them in the past, Noah knew exactly what they entailed. They were usually highly convoluted, incredibly tedious, and obnoxiously specific missions requested by wealthy nobles or eccentric aristocrats. Worse, despite the massive headache they caused, the actual financial payout rarely matched the effort required. The cost-to-benefit ratio was usually terrible.
Since Noah already possessed immense, passive wealth from his technological partnerships with Jude's empire, he had absolutely zero financial incentive to waste his time babysitting eccentric nobles.
"Allow me to keep the specifics a secret for now. You'll understand once you see the actual requests," Jude chuckled, easily reading the complete lack of interest on Noah's face.
"If you're keeping it a secret, Uncle Jude, I suppose I'll look forward to seeing what they are," Noah replied, his curiosity genuinely piqued. Jude was a shrewd businessman; if he thought the requests were noteworthy, they probably weren't just standard escort missions.
"They won't disappoint," Jude smiled warmly.
He continued chatting with Makarov and Laxus for a while longer, discussing trade routes, magical economics, and the political fallout of the Acnologia incident. Eventually, having confirmed his daughter was safe and having caught up with his old friends, Jude decided it was time to return to his empire. He had already postponed numerous critical board meetings just to visit Magnolia today.
Layla left the guildhall with him, though she informed Makarov that she had already scheduled a private dinner with Ur at Ur's house later that evening.
That night, Ultear, Sorano, and the girls returned to their respective homes burdened with massive bags of groceries and daily necessities. After an arduous cleaning session to purge their kitchens of four-month-old, biohazardous mold, they cooked a massive, celebratory dinner and enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep in their own beds.
The next morning, the Tenrou group returned to the guildhall.
Shortly after arriving, Noah noticed Lucy, Levy, Juvia, and Bisca marching straight past the bar and directly to the Request Board. They began aggressively tearing down high-paying job flyers.
"What's with them? They just got back from a life-or-death crisis and they're already scrambling to take jobs?" Noah asked Mirajane, who was happily wiping down the counter beside him.
"Levy, Juvia, Bisca, and a few others rent rooms at Fairy Hills. Lucy also rents her own apartment. Because they were technically 'missing' for four months, their rent immediately piled up. They all had to empty their savings to pay the backlog this morning. They're broke, so they have to work," Mirajane giggled softly.
Noah's eyes widened in realization. Fairy Hills, the premier female dormitory owned by the guild, cost 100,000 Jewels a month. Missing four months meant a backlog of nearly half a million Jewels. For young mages who relied on a steady income, losing 500,000 Jewels overnight was a massive financial blow. It was completely understandable that they were desperate for work.
"NOTHING LEFT! WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT!"
Suddenly, Natsu and Happy burst through the guild doors, tears streaming down their faces. They dragged their feet across the floor, looking utterly defeated, and dramatically collapsed onto the bar counter in front of Noah.
"What's wrong?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My secret stash is gone! We're broke! We're totally broke!" Natsu sobbed, banging his fists weakly against the wood.
"Our entire food budget is gone! What are we going to eat?!" Happy wailed, burying his face in his paws.
"Oh dear. That is quite tragic," Mirajane smiled sweetly, offering absolutely no sympathy.
"Yeah, that sucks," Noah nodded in agreement.
Because Natsu notoriously destroyed towns, bridges, and priceless historical landmarks during his missions, his reward money was almost entirely confiscated to pay for the collateral damage. He barely managed to scrounge together enough money to eat. To return home and find his meager, hidden savings missing was genuinely tragic.
"It sounds like you two haven't had breakfast yet. I'll treat you," Noah sighed, shaking his head in amusement. He turned to the kitchen and ordered a massive breakfast platter for Natsu and a large plate of premium raw fish for Happy.
"Noah, you're the best!"
Natsu and Happy immediately stopped crying. Their eyes sparkled with sheer gratitude, and they attempted to leap over the counter to hug him, only for Noah to casually press his hand against Natsu's face, pushing him back down.
When the food arrived, the two instantly inhaled it, eating with terrifying, animalistic speed.
"Once you're done eating, go take a job and earn some money. Oh, and drag Lucy along with you. She had to empty her savings to pay her backlog rent; she's definitely broke too," Noah instructed as he watched them eat.
He distinctly remembered that Lucy took immense pride in paying her own way. She had initially refused to live in Fairy Hills because 100,000 Jewels a month was too expensive, opting instead to rent a smaller apartment for 70,000 Jewels. She had spent her early months constantly scrounging for jobs just to make rent. While winning the Miss Fairy Tail contest had temporarily stabilized her finances, coughing up four months of backlog rent had undoubtedly drained her accounts completely.
"Mmph! Mm-hmm!" Natsu nodded vigorously, his cheeks bulging comically with food.
"Don't try to talk while you're chewing. You're going to choke, or worse, spray food everywhere," Noah ordered, holding up a hand.
Natsu quickly swallowed, aggressively shoved the last piece of meat into his mouth, and sprinted away from the bar. He found Lucy, grabbed her by the wrist, and dragged her toward the Request Board. Lucy didn't resist in the slightest; she desperately needed the money.
Within minutes, the newly reformed Team Natsu grabbed a high-paying request, sprinted to the bar to have Noah stamp it, and shot out of the guildhall.
"What's the rush with those guys?" Gray asked, walking up to the bar with Lyon. He had just seen Natsu and Lucy blur past him.
"Natsu lost his secret stash, and Lucy spent all her money on backlog rent. They're broke, so they rushed out to take a job," Noah explained.
"Ah. Makes sense," Gray nodded.
Since Ur had purchased a large house in Magnolia years ago, Gray and Lyon lived with her rent-free. However, his personal savings were still running low. He needed spending money.
Gray walked over to the Request Board, grabbed a decent-paying subjugation mission, and headed out.
Seeing the others take the initiative, the rest of the Tenrou group began casually selecting missions of their own.
While they all wanted to earn some spending money, taking routine missions was primarily a psychological coping mechanism. The apocalyptic encounter with Acnologia had been incredibly traumatic. Immersing themselves back into the mundane, familiar rhythm of their daily guild lives was the healthiest way to decompress and process the stress.
Ultear and Sorano teamed up with Meredy and Wendy to handle a joint mission. Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna took a mission together, happily functioning as a complete sibling unit for the first time in years.
Erza didn't take a mission. Instead, she headed straight for the magical blacksmithing district in Magnolia. Having witnessed the absolute uselessness of her current armors against Acnologia's physical durability, she needed to consult with the master smiths to conceptualize entirely new, highly specialized physical-assault and absolute-defense armors. The Black Dragon had taught her a brutal lesson, and she intended to learn from it.
Simon and Kagura naturally teamed up.
Juvia snatched a mission off the board and sprinted out the door, a terrifying, obsessive smile on her face as she yelled, "Gray-sama! Juvia is coming to help you!"
Noah glanced at the location of Juvia's mission and noticed it was located in the exact same town as Gray's. He shook his head with a chuckle, offering a silent prayer for Gray's sanity, and let her go.
Gajeel and Panther Lily teamed up for an investigation job. Levy naturally reformed Shadow Gear with Jet and Droy.
Gildarts and Cana officially teamed up for the first time in their lives, grabbing a simple monster-hunting request. They wanted to spend some quality father-daughter time traveling together.
Ur also left the guildhall, heading to the Heartfilia estate to enjoy a quiet afternoon of tea and gossip with Layla.
Laxus had tried to sneak out to take a mission, but Noah immediately caught him, dragging him back behind the bar to manage the paperwork. Forced into administrative duty, Laxus could only sigh and order the Thunder God Tribe to take a mission without him.
By mid-morning, the only Tenrou group members left in the guildhall were Noah, Makarov, Mavis, and the captive Laxus.
Since Makarov didn't need to take missions for money, and Noah possessed functionally infinite wealth, they remained to manage the guild.
After processing the morning rush of paperwork and leaving Laxus in charge of the desk, Noah gathered the high-quality gifts, magical potions, and rare medicinal liquors he had prepared. He then spent the rest of the day systematically visiting every individual and guild who had offered their support to Fairy Tail during the crisis.
He visited Yajima at his restaurant, Guild Master Bob at Blue Pegasus, Guild Master Goldmine at Quatro Cerberus, and Jura at Lamia Scale, presenting them with gifts and expressing Fairy Tail's sincere gratitude.
Naturally, all of them were incredibly curious about what had actually transpired on Tenrou Island and begged Noah for details regarding Acnologia.
Noah obliged, providing them with a highly detailed, clinical breakdown of the events.
When they heard that Fairy Tail had completely crushed and arrested the entirety of Grimoire Heart, they weren't overly surprised; they had already heard rumors of the Dark Guild's fall. However, hearing the brutal specifics of Grimoire Heart's strength from Noah's perspective reinforced exactly how terrifying the Balam Alliance truly was. Any normal Legal Guild would have been annihilated instantly.
But when Noah shifted the topic to Acnologia, their expressions instantly hardened.
As Noah clinically listed the Black Dragon's observed capabilities, the Guild Masters and Wizard Saints fell into a horrified, suffocating silence.
Absolute immunity to all magic except Dragon Slayer Magic. A physical constitution so indestructible that Noah's ultimate, limit-breaking strike only caused a superficial flesh wound. A casual cruising speed exceeding Mach 20. God-like sensory perception capable of tracking targets across hundreds of miles. And a casual, uncharged breath attack capable of instantly vaporizing a small city.
Furthermore, Noah shared his terrifying hypothesis: Acnologia could likely consume any magical element or physical substance to refuel itself.
These were just the capabilities Noah had observed during a brief, holding-action skirmish. God only knew what the Dragon was capable of if it actually went all out.
The sheer, apocalyptic absurdity of the beast's stats left the veteran mages completely paralyzed. It was a monster that defied the fundamental laws of reality. The fact that it possessed absolute magical immunity meant that 99.9% of the world's mages were functionally useless against it. And since Dragon Slayer Magic was a Lost Magic, the number of mages even theoretically capable of scratching it could be counted on one hand.
Upon hearing the detailed report, Yajima broke out in a cold sweat, thanking every god in existence that the Magic Council had abandoned their plan to fire Etherion.
If Noah's ultimate strike barely scratched it, Etherion likely wouldn't have killed it either. Worse, if Noah's hypothesis was correct and the Dragon could consume any magic... firing Etherion wouldn't be an attack; it would be serving the Dragon King an apocalyptic buffet.
They would have merely fed the beast and enraged it, dooming the entire continent to immediate annihilation.
Yajima immediately requested permission to forward Noah's combat data to the Magic Council. Noah naturally agreed. He had compiled the data specifically for this purpose; he wanted the Council to fully comprehend the existential threat they were facing so they wouldn't do anything stupid.
After Yajima reviewed the dossier to ensure it didn't contain any sensitive guild secrets, he formally submitted the terrifying intelligence report to Era.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn