Chapter 19. S-rank mission. Part 1. Shirotsumi.

*The next day.*

The guild doors opened abruptly and Gildarts and Cana entered the hall. The girl looked embarrassed at the floor, holding him by the hand, the magician himself, with a very serious face, was examining the hall.

- Listen to the people! - his firm tone made everyone pay attention to him, the next moment a painfully idiotic expression appeared on his face, - I'm Cana's daddy, - with a smile on the half of his face and a blush on his cheeks, exclaimed Gildarts, lifting the completely red girl in his arms.

- I'm so happy!

- Let me go, - Kana covered her face with her palms, embarrassed, - They still look ...

- Let everyone watch and know that I have such a beautiful daughter!

- Dad ...

The mages in the guild looked at this scene with smiles, others whinnied loudly and one of these was Makarov himself, who was sitting at the bar with a beer.

Eros himself, as usual, was in the library drawing runes. Trainings for the next week were also canceled. Gildarts was going to spend all this time with Cana and the titan was only happy for both of them.

A group of children were sitting at the next table, who were persistently learning to conjure, and Lily and Rick acted as teachers, talking about magic and showing everything by their example.

Roni also settled in the guild's kitchen, where he worked part-time in the evenings helping the guild cook, as well as studying with him. During the day, both Roni and Rick learned fire magic from Macao, and he could not help but rejoice in such good students. Especially, he was happy watching Rick, whose strength was growing by leaps and bounds. After all, he was already a rather strong magician of B-rank, and his flame, bright orange in color, stood out especially. It simply could not be extinguished, no matter what Macao tried to do, he could not extinguish the boy's flame, but on the contrary, Rick's flame quickly absorbed the flame of Macao and everything that was nearby. Only Makarov could repay it. He also demanded that they train away from the guild and from the city in general, so as not to accidentally set the city on fire.

***

At such a calm pace, another month passed, which Eros almost completely shone in the runes, trying to break through to the rank of "apprentice", and also continued training the body, already according to a new regime.

* Three weeks ago.*

- Teacher, I finished the first two stages, let's get down to the third! - Eros hungrily peered at the figure of Gildarts, he wanted to memorize all the spells that the senior mage would show. After all, the titan really lacks attacking skills both in melee and ranged.

- Hey, hey, quieter, - the magician exclaimed with a nervous smile, - I will teach you everything that I myself know, but most of them are very expensive in magic.

- But I have a lot of magic ...

- Yes, but for using my spells, a couple of times per battle, this is still not enough.

- Uh ...

Eros looked at the mage with slight disappointment.

- Don't look at me like that, - Gildarts drawled, grinning, - I'll show you how to use the magic of destruction to strengthen your body, as well as a couple of spells. And to be honest, I rarely try to use my magic in combat.

- Why? - Eros asked in surprise, - With the help of the magic of destruction, it will not be difficult for you to destroy any enemy.

- This is the whole point, - the magician drawled with annoyance, turning to a healthy cobblestone and touching it ... The glade was filled with white light and after a moment it went out, - Therefore, I use it only when I face a strong enough enemy, - on the spot, where the stone used to stand, there was only emptiness, - By my nature, I am a pacifist, I don't want to kill people if they don't deserve it, that's why I strengthened my body so much.

- I get it, then let's get started.

The elder mage nodded contentedly.

- Okay, but first, let's talk about the Magic of Destruction, - he sat down on the grass and made an invitation, Eros nodded and sat down next to, - You probably think that with the help of this magic, you can only destroy?

- Not only, you can defend yourself with it.

- Yes, but it has many more uses than you think ...

The first day was mainly devoted to only one theory, which greatly surprised Eros, because he always considered Gildarts a man of action, most of all he did not like such a thing. But the titan was very wrong, the lecture given by the magician was very interesting, Eros himself did not notice how quickly the day passed.

The second day, like the next week, was devoted to the concentration of magic. That is, to learn in a timely manner, to concentrate magic in one of the limbs, for a powerful blow and quickly move to the other limb, for protection or for a second blow. The force of this blow was terrifying, because if Eros had hit an ordinary person, without the use of force, he could have died inadvertently, and with the help of magic, there would be no wet place left of that.

During the other two weeks, he managed to learn only one spell. This "Separation", with the help of it, you can block attacking spells, as well as simultaneously attack, dividing the enemy literally into parts.

Eros himself was very surprised, thinking that Gildarts was going to teach him such a spell with which you can easily dismember a person. But after the elder mage's explanation, the titan realized his mistake. Yes, the spell could split a person into parts, while creating smaller copies of the enemy, inferior in strength to the original by as much as it was divided.

Mostly Eros trained alone, as Gildarts tried to spend as much time with his daughter as possible before going on a mission, because he still has a debt hanging on him, and taking a child with him on an S-rank mission is dangerous. Therefore, the senior magician spent only a couple of hours with Eros, pointing out mistakes, giving advice and answering questions. So before lunch, and after that he left and the titan went hunting to earn money, and in the evening to the guild.

***

A week later, in the evening, as Eros walked in the direction of the guild building, on the way he met Gildarts, who was holding a sleeping Kana in his arms.

- Oh, Eros, I was looking for you, - beckoning to him, the senior magician pulled out a simple-looking leaflet from under his cloak and handed it to him, - Tomorrow morning I am waiting for you at the gate of Magnolia, do not be late, - and went on, and Eros looked at the leaflet as if spellbound.

"At last!" - exclaimed the titan in his mind and at full speed ran home, to prepare for an imminent journey ...

***

Makarov puffed, Makarov shouted, Makarov was furious at Gildarts' decision to take a child on such a task, even though he was comparable to an A-rank magician. The rest tried to sit quieter than water, below the grass, so that the old man's anger would not spread to them, and Eros and Gildarts, while Makarov turned away, quietly slipped through the gate, saying goodbye to the others in advance. After all, they both knew that the old man would be too worried and would not give the go-ahead.

After half an hour, they were already far away from Magnolia and could breathe a sigh of relief. Looking at each other, and realizing the comic nature of the situation, they laughed out loud.

- Teacher.

- M?

- I have a question about the assignment, - Eros took out a leaflet and handed it to Gildarts, - "Investigate the cases of missing people" does not sound like an S-rank assignment.

- I thought so too and contacted the customer, - folding the leaflet in half, he tucked it in his bosom, - But there is no mistake.

- You chose this task on purpose, right? - Narrowing his gaze, he looked into the eyes of Gildarts.

He shrugged his shoulders, not even embarrassed.

- Did I promise to take you on an S-rank mission? - without waiting for an answer, he continued, - Here it is, the S-rank mission, - the magician drawled with a mockery.

- Okay, it's my mistake that I didn't specify what task, - Eros said with a sigh, examining the beauty of nature.

- Do not be offended kid, - patting the titan on the head, Gildarts laughed, - In a couple of years you yourself will go to them alone or in the company of some beautiful lady, - he winked at Eros, making him smile.

- It would be better if he stayed in Magnolia, at least he would spend the time with benefit.

- I think it won't be boring.

- Why do you think so?

- Intuition, - Gildarts said with a grin, quickening his pace slightly.

***

After half a day, they reached their destination.

Shirotsumi is a small town located north of Magnolia, in the highlands. It could hardly be called a city, rather a large village compared to Magnolia. The buildings were at most two-story, looking rather gray.

Eros and Gildarts sat in a small tavern, waiting for the customer.

- And where is he? - sipping the juice, the titan stretched out unhappily, - He appointed the time and is late himself.

At that moment, a delegation of five elderly people entered the tavern. They wore similar clothes in gray tones with an S-shaped emblem.

- Here he is, - the old men approached their table, the eldest of them, looking 55-60 years old, pushed back a chair, sat down opposite the magicians, - Hello elder.

- And you gentlemen magicians, - the waitress came up to the table and put a cup of tea in front of the old man.

- We are Fairy Tail Mages, - Gildarts pulled back his cloak slightly and showed a black mark on the left side of his chest, as well as pulled out a leaflet.

- We have already received the notification, and we are glad that such a powerful magician decided to take on this task.

- Do not tell me in more detail what the point is, - Gildarts pointed a finger at the leaflet, - There is almost no information about the mission there.

The old men looked at each other and with a heavy sigh, the elder took out a thick stack of leaflets and handed them over to the magicians. The senior magician began to quickly sort them out and at the fifteenth he stopped, putting them back. His gaze was very hard.

- These are all children, from 12 to 17 years old and all disappeared during these five months, - all the visitors of the tavern, looked at Gildarts and Eros without taking their eyes off, trying to listen to every word, - Please, you! Find them, find our children, - the old man cried, like the others behind him, - We will give any money, just find it.

- Five months, - an oppressive silence descended on the entire tavern, - Why are you just now dealing with this? - Eros knew at once, by the calm voice of Gildarts, that he was furious, - This assignment is only two months old! Why didn't you contact him before ?! - the table at which they were sitting from the blow of the senior magician, shattered to shreds.

The old men trembled, not from fear, but from shame.

- We could not, - the old man looked down at the floor, - the Duke forbade, fearing that if it comes up, then he may be deprived of his title and land.

- And you obeyed him so easily? - A voice gave, before that Eros was silent, - Some pompous turkey ?!

- We could not disobey, because he took our families hostage, and only three months later, the Duke of Everly allowed us to ask for help, but only from the guilds, - the old man quickly took a breath and continued, - Before you, magicians from other guilds have already come, but ... They disappeared the next day.

- I see, - having calmed down, Gildarts looked at the old men again, - Did anyone see this kidnapper, it would help us a lot to understand who it is or what?

At that moment, a glass fell from one of the tables, breaking into dozens of fragments. Turning to the sound, both magicians saw an aged woman, in mourning clothes, hiding everything except her face and hands.

- Demon ... - the woman whispered, animal horror burned in her eyes, - It was a demon ...!