An Unexpected Visit

''..'' Is for Speech.

'..' Is for Thoughts.

[...] is for Notepad.

\\ is for Scene Change | POV Change.

*

Ten years after Marie was transmigrated as Eucliwood, in a village, a few kilometers from where she had settled, an old man with a cane was face to face with a middle-aged man.

The old man was the village mayor. He was bald, had a long beard, and had several wrinkles on his face.

''I'm telling you! On top of that mountain, among the trees, lives a witch! Please, Sr.Mage, you need to help us!'' The old man prostrated himself, pleading with the man sitting opposite him.

The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable with the old man's actions. ''Listen, old man. I just want to spend the night here so I can leave the next day. I'm too busy for that...''

The old man tapped his cane on the floor in frustration, ''What the hell are you saying?! Aren't you Gildarts, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail? Just go out there and finish off the witch once and for all! I'll even reward you!''

Yes, the middle-aged man who sat opposite the old man was Gildarts, considered the strongest mage not only in his guild, Fairy Tail but also in all the kingdom of Fiore.

Gildarts is a tall, muscular man with shoulder-length orange hair slicked back, and a stubbly beard. He was wearing a long, black, high-collared, and tattered cloak with shoulder plates; around his waist is a simple belt. On his lower body, he was wearing loose-fitting dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard bearing plate similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple gray boots.

With a sigh, Gildarts gave in to the mayor's plea. ''All right. Even if it's not a formal mission, I'll go check it out. But I want my stay here to be free, along with meals and baths. And of course, I also want the reward you mentioned. Do you agree?''

''Yes yes! Of course, I agree! Just get rid of the witch!'' The mayor replied while nodding his head desperately.

Gildarts once more sighed.

He doubted the witch the mayor said existed. First of all, calling a woman a witch is a derogatory term. And there would hardly be a dark mage nearby because if there was, the village would have been annihilated a long time ago.

''I'll be heading there to investigate. I'll be back in a few hours.'' Gildarts said. He then gets up and leaves the house, leaving the old man alone in the house.

\\

Walking for a little over an hour, Gildarts finally reached the small and only mountain in the plains near the village he came from.

''So, that 'witch' lives right up there? Doesn't look like something a dark mage would do. But I have to admit, the scenery here is beautiful.'' Gildarts muttered lazily. He spent a few minutes admiring the beautiful landscape that seemed completely untouched by man. He could feel various magical signatures around him, probably belonging to animals and magical creatures that lived on these forest plains.

''Alright, time to climb!'' He said, trying to cheer up.

He quickly starts climbing, wanting to end the mission given by the village chief. He couldn't wait to get back, eat a hot meal, shower and sleep, and it would be even better if some lady was willing to sleep with him.

The mountain was not very high, and with great vigor and energy, he quickly managed to reach the top, but once at the top, he was confused by what was there.

''Is that... A wooden house?''

A few meters in front of him, connected to two large trees, was a medium-sized wooden house. Around the house, there were some vegetable and vegetable plantations, it was clear that someone was living there.

He didn't think anyone would be living there. His eyes narrowed and he immediately became more cautious.

Gildarts walked towards the house and knocked lightly on the door. ''Hello? Is anyone there?''

A few seconds later the door is opened, and Guildarts is surprised to see who...or what opened the door.

The one who opened the door was a dog. Explaining more clearly, it was a humanoid dog that dressed like a butler.

''Welcome, dear guest. My lady was waiting for your arrival.'' The butler-dog says with a bow. Gildarts was frozen in place, and after a few seconds, he snapped.

''A talking dog dressed as a butler?!'' He yelled with bulging eyes. He had already seen a talking cat with wings, but he had never seen a humanoid dog dressed as a butler.

The butler-dog glared at Gildarts with fury, ''I'm not a dog! I am a Megalo of the prestigious Inugami family of the underworld, you brainless monkey!'' He shouted.

The two stares at each other for a few seconds, then pull themselves together at the same time with a fake cough.

''Ehem. As I said before, my lady awaits you. Follow me'' The butler-dog said, and without waiting for an answer from Gildarts, he went inside the house.

Gildarts shrugged and followed close behind. He looked calm on the outside, but he was high alert on the inside. The butler-dog said that he came from the underworld, and that fact could easily be linked to demons.

Not to mention that he said his lady was waiting for him, implying that she already knew of his existence even before he arrived on the mountain. A person who has such a magical perception is far from ordinary.

Walking for a few seconds around the house following the butler-dog, Gildarts observed the house. Everything was made of wood, and the decor of the house was quite simple, there were rugs, some paintings that were painted, potted plants, and some wooden furniture. Ultimately, it was a very comfortable and simple house.

The butler-dog stopped in front of a big wooden door, ''My lady, I've brought the guest.''

There was no answer, but even so, the butler-dog opened the door and motioned for Gildarts to enter.

Entering the room, Gildarts is once again surprised. The room was big; the floor was tatami, and there was a large table in the center, but the table legs were too short to fit chairs in. Around the room, there were some simple decorations and in the background, there was an open garden.

But what surprised him was not the room itself, but the girl present in the room. She has straight silver hair that goes well past her waist and blue eyes, and she clads herself in silver armor and wears a purple dress underneath. She also wears a piece of armor on her forehead, and her expression was completely neutral, without an ounce of emotion.

She was sitting in front of the table in seiza and was sipping a cup of tea in a handmade clay cup.

Seeing her guest arrive, the girl takes a notepad out of nowhere and starts writing. After finishing, she shows it to Gildarts.

[Hello. Please sit down.]

Gildarts tried to probe the girl, but amazingly he found nothing, she looked like an ordinary person without magic, but that didn't make sense. He was hesitant, but he did as he was told and sat down on the other side of the table opposite the girl. For some reason, he felt that she was not a threat.

Seeing that he sat down, she started writing again. [My name is Eucliwood. What's your name?]

Gildarts scratches his cheek, feeling a little awkward with the girl using a notepad to chat. ''My name is Gildarts. I am a mage.''

[What are you doing here?]

He hesitates to answer for a moment, ''Hmm. Well, since it wasn't an official request, I guess I can say. The village chief of the village which is a few kilometers from here asked me to eliminate a witch who lived here. And you, young lady, what are you doing here?''

[I live here. The witch they are referring to is me.] Eucliwood replied.

He scratches his beard in thought, ''May I know why they call you a witch? You must have done something to piss them off, right?''

The butler-dog who was behind Eucliwood growls at Gildarts.

''How dare you insinuate that my lady did something to those monkeys! All she did was protect the forest!'' He says furiously. He wanted to say more, but Eucliwood held up her hand, signaling him to stop, and he complied.

''Protecting the forest? What do you mean by that?'' Gildarts asked curiously. His intuition told him there was something the mayor had kept from him.

Eucliwood looked at her butler-dog, and the butler-dog nodded in understanding.

''A few years ago, those people came and built that village. At first, everything was fine, but at some point, they started wanting to go into this forest to capture the magical animals to sell them. All my lady did was scare away the monkeys that were trying to capture the animals. Nothing more, nothing less.'' He explained.

''I see.'' Gildarts closed his eyes.'' Magical animal trafficking is a serious crime. They probably thought I would do what they asked without investigate. Idiots.'' He said with a snort.

Gildarts gets up, ''I'm sorry for insinuating that you did something to them. I will go back and teach those villagers who tried to trick me a lesson.'' He said with obvious anger in his tone of voice.

He didn't know who or what this girl called Eucliwood was, but she didn't present any sort of threat from what he could see. There was no reason for him to antagonize her. The villagers on the other hand...

''I'm going now. Thanks for your hospita-Shit! Watch out!'' He offered his hand to Eucliwood, but unexpectedly, his magical energy came out of his hand and went directly towards Eucliwood.

Gildarts was a master of magic control, but still, he couldn't fully control his magic. Sometimes his magic would go slightly out of control because of his emotions, letting some destructive energy out of his body.

Gildarts looked with extreme concern toward Eucliwood, but he couldn't do anything. He isn't quick enough to save her. As he was desperately trying to stop the destructive energy, he hadn't noticed that neither Eucliwood nor the butler-dog seemed bothered by the destructive energy coming their way.

The energy was going to hit Eucliwood and he expected the worst, but betraying his expectations, something that shocked him happened. Before the destructive energy made contact with Eucliwood, it hit an invisible barrier and disappeared without a trace.

Gildarts eyes widened.

''Did you just...cancel my magic?'' He asked in shock. He'd never seen anyone able to defend themselves from his magic, which was pure destruction. That was the first time.

Eucliwood just replied, [Yes, I did.]