42. Trying to Make Changes Again

Alex meets Makarov by coincidence. The old man is in Hargeon to meet his friend, Yajima, the owner of this restaurant and a member of the Magic Council.

"What are you doing here, Alex?"

"Work. I'm currently working as a personal Mage of the Heartfilia Family. Thanks to your letter, everything went really well."

"Oh, that's good then. So this little girl is the one whose magic power sometimes goes berserk? I don't feel anything though." Makarov looks at Lucy who's the same height as him.

"No, it's not her. This is Lucy, the daughter of the Heartfilia Family."

"Hello." Lucy greets Makarov politely while looking at him curiously. Most likely because of how short he is.

"Anyway, Master, will you be here long?" Alex quickly asks.

"No, I'll go back today."

"Ah, can you return tomorrow or tonight? I have something to tell you."

Alex looks serious, so Makarov agrees to meet him in this restaurant tonight. Yajima suddenly comes out when Alex and Lucy are about to leave. So he offers them to eat something which they refuse because they've eaten too much.

But the old man doesn't like being refused, so he forces them to bring the food back to their inn. Alex doesn't remember Yajima being this kind of character, but maybe it's just because Makarov is here.

In the end, they return to their inn with some boxes of food. It's not every day they can enjoy food made by a Magic Council Member. Furthermore, it's cooked with magic, which is unusual, though they can't watch it.

That night, Alex leaves the inn to meet with Makarov in Yajima's restaurant. Old man Yajima has prepared a room for them to talk on the 2nd floor so no one will disturb them.

"So, what is it that you want to tell me. I hope it's something serious."

"Ur told me that she saw a strange tower far south of Fiore, on Caelum Kingdom's North Coast when she passed by. She couldn't inspect it because it was too far and she didn't have time because of Ultear's condition. But it reminded her of the Tower of Heaven."

"What?!" Makarov is very surprised by what he has just heard.

Surely, it surprises him because the Magic Council has banned the construction of the Tower of Heaven. They have even destroyed 7 Towers in the past, but now Alex tells him that there might be another Tower.

Alex also doesn't lie. Ur really saw that tower. It's really helpful that she found it because Alex couldn't remember where the Tower of Heaven that enslave Erza was located.

Even if he doesn't do anything, Erza would escape that tower if everything goes like in the story. But he has changed a lot of things, so he is worried that it will also affect Erza's escape even though he shouldn't have done anything related to that.

In the story, Ultear should have manipulated Jellal already. But that was because she misunderstood Ur and chose to continue being experimented on so she could control her magic power well. Most likely, she has also been found by Hades because that Tower of Heaven was planned to be used to resurrect Zeref, which is Hades's plan.

Alex even guesses that Hades was involved in the Tower of Heaven's construction considering how he worships Zeref. But maybe it's just his side plan, that's why he left it on Ultear's hand in the story.

But now, Ultear has returned to her mother, so no one will manipulate Jellal and control the construction of that tower. So it might affect Erza's escape which will ruin a lot of things in the future.

That's why Alex was in dilemma. He doesn't know what to do because he doesn't know its location and he couldn't tell anyone without any proof. Searching it was also difficult, especially when he was busy with Ultear's case.

But by a big stroke of luck, Ur actually saw that tower by coincidence. She was traveling to many places in Ishgar to find advanced magic for Ultear and they were in Caelum Kingdom when finding out about the trick to send Ultear to Spirit World while she look for cure.

They crossed the sea with a ship and because of bad weather, their ship was carried away by the storm. That was when Ur saw the silhouette of that tower which gave her a bad feeling because it reminds her of the Tower of Heaven.

"Is she sure it's the Tower of Heaven?"

"She wasn't sure because she saw it from afar, but it looks really similar to the one she helped to destroy years ago."

Ur was participating in the destruction of a Tower of Heaven years ago. There was one built in the Land of Isvan and as one of the strongest Mages there, she was asked to help with the demolition of that tower because it's very sturdy and a finished Tower of Heaven contains lots of magic items that might be dangerous if not handled properly by Mages.

"Though she is sure that is not a normal tower. She felt ominous magic coming from the tower. It was far from towns, so people won't see it. If it's not for the storm that washed away their ship, I doubt it will be found anytime soon."

Ur didn't in fact sense any ominous magic from the tower. She only saw the strange tower far from afar and it gave her a bad feeling because it reminds her of the Tower of Heaven. There's nothing else she saw there, so the other things are just Alex's improvisation.

But he's sure that it is the Tower of Heaven because he remembers it being on an island and located near Fiore. This might be a chance to save Erza a bit earlier and also a chance to save the other slaves.

"Even if it's not true, don't you think it's worth checking upon, Master? After all, I doubt that Zeref worshippers would build something like that with their own hands. I'm sure they would force people to build it for them. Not to mention, they need human sacrifices to use the Tower of Heaven to resurrect someone which is most likely Zeref."

Makarov seems to think very deeply about it because if what Alex says is true, then this is a very big problem. If the Tower of Heaven is finished being constructed, then it will bring a disaster for Ishgar.

But if this turns out to be wrong, then they will waste too much energy and the Magic Council will be angry at them. The Council's wrath is something that's too troublesome to handle.

"Hmm, alright, don't tell anyone about this. I will check this out myself and confirm it before reporting to the Magic Council. If it's true, then we will destroy that tower and if there are prisoners there, then we will save them. We need to handle this carefully."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you, Master."

Alex knows he can't handle everything himself. He is but one person. No matter how strong he will be, he will still need other people's help, and he never has any intention to live alone and does everything by himself.

It's especially so for now when he is still weak and inexperienced. Sure he can transform into the Tailed Beasts' full forms. But he can't control it and after using it, he won't be able to do anything for days because his body is basically broken, so it's kind of useless.

He can't attack the Tower of Heaven and free everyone before destroying it all by himself. So he needs help and Makarov is the best help he can ask for. Makarov has the power and connections that Alex doesn't have yet.

Alex really wants to do something about that tower. After all, he was in the same situation as those slaves in the Tower of Heaven. He was treated inhumanely as an experiment subject for years while they are being enslaved to work with many of them being children too.

"Thanks, Master. But I'm sorry I can't help. You know my situation."

"Your information is enough. If that thing is really the Tower of Heaven, then the current you won't be able to do anything about it anyway. That's why you need to get stronger so you can do many things and protect those who are dear to you."

"Absolutely."

This is the most that Alex can do now. After this, he can only leave it to Makarov to handle. He believes this old man will be able to do something about that Tower of Heaven and save everyone there.

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Thank you for reading this story. Please support by clicking like or vote if you like this story. It is much appreciated.

Read ahead up to +50 chapters in my patreon page, patreon.com/GrimFairy

Ch. 92: Finishing His Task