Silently looking at the hopeful Cana, I felt slightly uncomfortable as, on the one hand, I didn't want to continue coming off as aggressive, not to a child, but on the other, I had little interest in being her friend. However, before I could give her a proper response, Makarov suddenly covered my mouth with his hand while extending his neck, leaning his head in between the two of us. "Of course, dear Cana! Cooper would gladly be your friend. While you're at it, give him a tour of the Guild." Once Makarov finished speaking, he retracted his hand, which was laced with my saliva, causing him to rub his shirt in disgust.
"Really!? Follow me, Cooper! I'll show you every room!" With an eager and happy expression, Cana grabbed my hand and leaped off the chair, dragging me with her. Staring at Makarov while Cana led me through the guild, I scoffed before shifting my focus to the little girl holding my hand, who began to explain every little room or area we came across. I personally didn't care much, but I find it hard to dampen the high spirits of an enthusiastic child; besides, her enthusiasm reminded me of Savannah.
"That's the interior pool, there's the stage, that room is the library, I don't really visit it much… That's the waiting room, the gift shop, oh! There is the request board, where jobs are posted for Mages to complete and earn some money." Hearing Cana, I suddenly came to a halt, causing her to nearly trip while my gaze shifted to the request board. "You said jobs? What do you mean by that? What kind of jobs?" Pulling Cana toward me, I approached the request board, curious about what it had to offer.
"Um, jobs? They're usually either scouting missions, Mages for hire, dealing with Dark mages or Dark guilds, or powerful beasts causing a ruckus. There are a lot of others, but that's the majority of jobs." The more I listened to her, the more excited I got; powerful beasts were always interesting, but after my fight with Macao and Wakaba, I learned that I seriously lacked fighting experience against Mages. If I were even half as good at fighting mages as I was at fighting beasts, I would've wiped the floor with those two.
Standing in front of the request board, I looked through them, reading several, and just as Cana had said, they were mostly about scouting, Mages for hire, etc… However, just as I was about to grab one, a smoke hand slapped my arm away, causing me to glance at Wakaba in annoyance. "Sorry, kid, but only Fairy Tail Mages can accept these requests; if you join, you can take as many as you want… With some supervision, of course." Wakaba flashed me a smirk, though what really pissed me off was the fact he dared to rub my head.
Watching him walk away, I growled before tossing a nearby chair at him, though he blocked it by creating a shield with his smoke, causing me to grunt in anger. Since I couldn't take a job from the request board, I let Cana continue to lead the way as she spent ten more minutes giving me a tour of the guild, which, by then, left her with a satisfied smile.
"Ah, that was fun! What should we do next? Oh! It's your first time in Magnolia, right? Let me give you a tour of the city!" Cana didn't give me a chance to respond as she quickly dragged us out of the guild, leaving behind a screaming Makarov, whom I ignored, as exploring Magnolia didn't sound too bad.
"Ah, dumb kids… Macao, watch them from a distance, will you?" "Haa, yep, got it, Master." We may have already exited the guild, but having lived in a forest for most of my life, my senses were rather potent, and that's even without using Indestructible Magic. Glancing behind me, I saw Macao exit the guild, giving me a wink as Cana and I vanished into the bustling city while he followed us from a distance.
'So, let's see what this city has… Hopefully, something interesting.' I thought with a slightly hopeful expression as I followed the excited Cana, who began to inform me of popular places.
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By the time Cana and I finished exploring the city of Magnolia, which was gigantic, it made my village seem like a large house from the city's sheer size. Right now, it was night, and Cana and I were sitting on a bench as she was exhausted from all the hours of walking she'd done; as for me, my injuries from the earlier guild fight had healed, though they weren't anything serious to begin with, so it's not surprising.
"Haa, t-that was fun! D-Did you enjoy it, Cooper?" With a yawn, Cana glanced at me with an enthusiastic smile that did little to hide her tiredness. "It wasn't bad." Replying with a nod, I brushed my hair behind my shoulder while looking at the night sky, only for Cana to hop off the bench before yawning while stretching. "W-Well, w-we should return to the guild… I-I'm tired."
Standing up with a nod, I followed Cana, who led us back to the guild and since it was night, the street wasn't nearly as packed as before, which made things a lot easier for the both of us; however, while following Cana, I furrowed my brows when we started walking down an alley, which she eventually noticed. "Huh? T-This isn't the way I remember." Seeing Cana stand there in confusion, I rolled my eyes and grabbed her hand; she probably just made a mistake because she was tired, though just as I turned around, a group of adults suddenly stepped in front of me, blocking our path.
"Well, well, well, look what we've got here, a pair of lost children." "Hehe, ain't that a shame; I hope their parents aren't worried." Eyeing the two men with obvious wicked intentions, I pulled Cana closer while glancing behind, where four more adults now stood, blocking any path to leave; not like I would've escaped.
"So, boss, shall we take care of them quickly?" Hearing one of their voices, I eyed him as he stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, only for him to suddenly stop as Cana stepped in front of me with a single glowing card that floated in front of her. "Hmph, we're mages of Fairy Tail." With a proud smile, Cana glared at the man, who nervously gulped, clearly afraid of her being a Mage, though just then, the one called the boss suddenly grabbed a wand from his belt before pointing it at Cana, who muttered a few words before suddenly collapsing, causing me to quickly catch her.
"Heh, I've come prepared… A magic wand that induces sleep. C'mon, get them, boys. Mage children will surely fetch a high price in the slave market." Gently setting Cana on the ground, I stood up with a faint smile while cracking my knuckles as I eyed the approaching men. "You should've kept her awake; now nothing is stopping me from breaking you all in two." The boss just laughed while pointing the magic wand at me, though I didn't feel anything, not even a brief bout of drowsiness. 'Heh, I must be too strong for that weak wand.'
Smirking at the confused boss, I lunged forward, making quick work of these punks, and I didn't bother to hold my punches either, resulting in lots of blood, pain, and broken bones. By the time I finished them, they were lying unconscious on the ground; I would've killed them, but I had a strong feeling doing so in the middle of a city wouldn't be smart, so instead, I simply settled with leaving them in a disfigured, bloody mess.
Dusting my bloody hands off with a content smile, I scooped Cana into my arms and made my way to the Guild, where I found Macao being scolded by Makrov for losing us. "We're back, Makarov. Also, where do I put her?" Kicking a table out of my way, I approached Makarov, who glanced at me and Cana while sighing in relief. "See, Master, they're fine; Cana was with Cooper." Macao's little remark wasn't well received by Makarov, who karate-chopped his head. "Tch, take Cana to a room; I can count on you to at least do that, right?"
While grumbling under his breath, Macao took the sleeping Cana from my arms before disappearing into the back of the guild while I sat beside Makarov, to whom I explained what Cana and I did.
"I appreciate you protecting Cana, but did you kill those punks?" Makarov took a sip of alcohol and gave me an appreciative nod. "Can I kill them?" All I got was a blank expression from the old man, causing me to grunt before shaking my head. "No, I didn't… But they might wish they were dead." "Haa, as long as you didn't kill them… It makes my life so much easier."
Slightly nodding, I glanced around at the empty guild before finally asking a question that's been on my mind since I awoke in that old woman's house. "Makarov… Why are you helping me?" Despite sincerely asking, I received a smack to the back of the head, causing my head to slam into the table.
"Bah! Such a stupid question, you foolish child… Why did you help Cana?" "Tch, who wouldn't help a child!?" The moment I finished yelling in anger, Makarov gave me a knowing smirk while I just grunted in annoyance before folding my arms. "I'm going to sleep." Leaping off the chair, I turned around and walked toward the resting room, hearing Makarov's faint laughter as I left him alone.