A New Life in Fairy Tail

Chapter 356: Double Agent

As Noah downed more and more liquor, the expressions of those watching shifted from worry, to wonder, to outright astonishment, and finally settled into pure numbness.Noah had consumed a massive amount of alcohol, yet he showed absolutely no reaction. His face wasn't even flushed, let alone showing any signs of intoxication.

"What's wrong? Is no one going to keep drinking with me?"

Out of habit, Noah refilled his mug, only to realize that there was no longer anyone standing in front of him to clink cups.

"Big brother Noah, they're all over there," Wendy pointed toward the floor.

Noah looked down and saw a tangled mess of bodies sprawled across the floor in front of him. The air around them reeked of alcohol, and their faces were bright red, completely dead to the world.

"Where are the others? Surely there weren't this few people drinking just now?"

"The rest are over there," Sorano said, covering her mouth as she giggled and pointed toward a corner of the guildhall.

Noah followed her gaze and spotted a group of male members huddled together. The moment they noticed Noah looking their way, they took several hasty steps back, sheer terror written all over their faces.

"Am I really that scary?"

Seeing that no one was going to challenge him further, Noah set down his liquor mug, grabbed a clean cup, poured himself a glass of milk, and took a sip.

"You call that not scary?" Carla couldn't help but chime in from the side.

Pausing for a moment, she added in an exasperated tone, "You've downed over a thousand cups of alcohol, yet your face hasn't even turned pink, and you look completely unfazed. Plus, with so many people literally passed out at your feet, of course they're terrified of you."

Finished with her lecture, Carla stared at Noah with genuine amazement.

She knew very well that most of the adult men in the guild were heavy drinkers who could easily handle dozens of cups, with some able to go far beyond that. Yet, Noah had single-handedly drunk more than half of them under the table. The remaining men had only escaped the exact same fate by recognizing a losing battle and fleeing the field early.

"Noah, are you really sure you're okay?" Ultear and the other girls asked, their eyes full of lingering concern.

This was the first time they had ever seen Noah drink this heavily, and a thousand cups was an absurd amount. If it weren't for the fact that Noah exhibited no symptoms whatsoever, combined with his reassurances, they would have stepped in to stop him long ago.

"I'm fine. My medical skills are decent enough to know my own body is perfectly healthy," Noah comforted them, meeting their worried gazes with a reassuring smile.

"But big brother Noah, how can you drink that much and be completely fine?" Wendy asked, still fretting.

"It should be because my physical constitution has grown stronger, so the alcohol doesn't really affect me anymore," Noah explained, lightly clenching his fist to feel the immense power coursing through his veins.

He had been steadily growing stronger in every aspect, and his physical body was certainly keeping pace with his magical power. Since he hadn't faced a proper opponent to test his limits lately, Noah didn't know exactly how strong his physique had become. But judging by this, alcohol simply couldn't touch him anymore.

"I see... but still, no more drinking tonight, okay? You've had way too much," Erza said, her tone dead serious.

"Understood. They're already passed out on the floor, and the others don't dare step up, so there's no reason to keep going anyway," Noah smiled and nodded, readily agreeing to her request.

"Good." Ultear and the girls let out a collective sigh of relief.

"A thousand cups... I've never seen anyone actually pull that off," Gray remarked, deeply impressed.

"Juvia hasn't seen anyone do it either," Juvia added, sitting close to Gray's side.

"Haha, guess it just proves I'm pretty tough. But I still don't care much for alcohol; milk and juice suit me a lot better." Noah took another sip of his milk and glanced over toward Cana.

Cana was currently eating and chatting with the other girls. Noah pulled his gaze back, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

He remembered that in the original timeline, Cana was practically inseparable from a barrel of booze. Yet, after all these years, he hadn't seen her develop an alcohol dependency. She drank normally like everyone else, showing no signs of alcoholism. This was undoubtedly a change brought about by his presence—a very good change.

"Noah, after drinking that much, don't you need to use the restroom?" Happy asked curiously from the side.

"You know, I didn't think about it until you brought it up, but now that you mention it, it's getting a bit uncomfortable. Excuse me for a minute." Noah quickly stood up and rushed off toward the restroom.

After taking care of business, Noah made his way back to the main hall, only to catch the faint sound of hushed voices coming from the second floor.

His sharp hearing allowed him to clearly pick up the details of the conversation. Stopping in his tracks before reaching Ultear and the others, he turned around and quieted his steps as he headed up to the second floor.

Gajeel leaned against the second-floor railing, watching the rowdy celebration downstairs for a quiet moment before turning around to leave.

"Gajeel."

Makarov's voice sounded from behind him. Gajeel turned his head to look at the Master.

"Aren't you going to join the afterparty?" Makarov asked.

"Not my style," Gajeel replied, shaking his head in refusal.

"Is that so?" Makarov looked down at the brawling and laughing guild members below. Letting out a long breath, he murmured, "Whew... the Harvest Festival has finally concluded peacefully! Starting tomorrow, we'll have to help clean up the aftermath of the parade. We're going to be busy for a while."

With the parade over, Fairy Tail naturally had to help dismantle the street decorations, strip down and return the parade floats, and send back borrowed costumes and props. It was a massive undertaking that always took a few days to fully wrap up.

"Master," Gajeel called out.

Makarov looked up at Gajeel, a questioning look in his eyes.

"This is for you." Gajeel pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket and handed it over. "I've located the whereabouts of Master Ivan—your son."

Makarov's expression grew incredibly stern. He accepted the paper, noted the address written on it, and carefully tucked it away.

"I'm sorry... for putting you through such dangerous work," Makarov said, his voice laced with genuine apology.

"Don't sweat it. No mistakes were made, and my cover as a double agent hasn't been blown," Gajeel said, flashing a confident grin.

"You've done an excellent job," Makarov praised warmly.

"Master, there's one more thing you need to watch out for," Gajeel said, stopping Makarov as the elder was about to turn away.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Ivan has his sights set on Laxus. Specifically, the Dragon Lacrima inside him," Gajeel revealed, his tone turning very serious.

"A Lacrima? The Dragon Slayer Lacrima? What could he possibly want with that?" Makarov asked, caught off guard.

"He wants to extract it and sell it. According to him, that Lacrima can fetch an unbelievable fortune on the market."

"That bastard!"

Fury instantly flared across Makarov's face. Extracting a Dragon Slayer Lacrima would cause severe physical trauma to Laxus. Furthermore, that Lacrima had been implanted in the first place to stabilize Laxus's naturally overwhelming magic reserves as a child. Removing it now could trigger unknown, disastrous side effects.

Ivan had truly lost his mind. Did he even consider himself Laxus's father anymore?

"Whew..."

Forcing down the burning rage in his chest, Makarov looked at Gajeel and said, "As long as we know where he is, we can handle it. I won't let him do as he pleases!"

"Gramps, do you want me to just go and drag Ivan back right now?"

Noah walked up the stairs to the second floor, speaking casually as he joined them.

"You heard all of that? Let me think..." Makarov pondered the option for a long moment before shaking his head. "No, let's hold off. We still don't know if Ivan has any other contingencies in place. If we capture him and it triggers a failsafe that leaks sensitive information harmful to Fairy Tail, things will get incredibly messy."

After careful deliberation, Makarov decided it was best not to alert the enemy.

He knew exactly how vital the information Ivan likely possessed was to the survival of Fairy Tail. Ivan had kept quiet so far only because he wanted to claim the item mentioned in those secrets for himself. If Noah captured him and drove him into a corner, a desperate Ivan might leak everything to the world, potentially turning the entire globe against Fairy Tail.

Makarov absolutely did not want to face such a catastrophe. Since the situation hadn't reached an absolute emergency yet, he rejected the proposal.

"I'll have to keep relying on you to keep tabs on Ivan. If anything happens, report it to me—or to Noah. And remember, if things get dangerous, pull out immediately. Your life comes first, understood?" Makarov instructed Gajeel with utmost seriousness.

Though a leak regarding the guild's secrets would ruin Fairy Tail, Makarov still prioritized the lives of his children above all else. He didn't want Gajeel throwing his life away for an espionage mission.

"Got it. I'll keep myself safe," Gajeel said with a chuckle.

"Just remember to let me know if anything comes up. My strength is decent enough to bail you out of most trouble," Noah added, turning to Gajeel since he didn't object to Makarov's final decision.

"Are you kidding me? 'Decent enough'? How can a monster like you say that with a straight face?" Gajeel rolled his eyes, instantly retorting.

If the strength to brutally beat a Wizard Saint was considered just "decent," what did that make his own strength? Subpar?

Even so, hearing the deep concern from both Makarov and Noah warmed Gajeel's heart, and a genuine smile finally made its way to his face.

~~~

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