Chapter 108: The person who shouldn't exist, a crimson figure passing by

【Time in the screen flies by.】

【Soon, nearly a year has passed since Black Natsu joined the guild.】

【During this period, Black Natsu has become thoroughly accustomed to life within Fairy Tail.】

【First, regarding the issue of accommodation, Black Natsu showed all the members of Fairy Tail what it means to be a tycoon!】

【He bought a villa worth tens of millions of J without a second thought, as if money meant nothing to him.】

【The entire villa's decoration is even countless times better than the Fairy Tail guild hall.】

【Even the grounds are not a bit inferior.】

【Makarov drooled just looking at it, unable to help but sigh that this kid is simply a spendthrift who doesn't understand the hardship of earning money.】

【However, strictly speaking, this guy doesn't seem to have a hard time earning money.】

【Although Black Natsu has not yet become an S-Class Black Mage, tasks of the highest difficulty below S-Class are as simple as eating a meal in his hands.】

【Usually, you can often see that the tasks this guy accepts in the morning are declared complete by the afternoon.】

【If it weren't for the time spent on the road, I'm afraid completing a high-difficulty task would take less than an hour.】

【What kind of concept is this?】

【Simply put, every task Black Natsu performs belongs to the high-difficulty category below S-Class.】

【The rewards are almost all one million J and up.】

【In other words, this guy can earn one million J in an hour. Terrifying!】

【Of course, such strength has also led Makarov to start preparing for the S-Class Black Mage promotion exam.】

【Gildarts, far away in another country, has already received Makarov's message and is preparing to return to the guild to serve as an examiner for the S-Class Black Mage exam.】

Outside the sky screen.

What puzzles everyone in the Fairy Tail guild the most.

Is still the issue regarding Erza.

In the year shown on the sky screen, indeed, Erza's figure has never appeared.

As the Queen of the Fairies.

Someone with super high popularity and credibility in the guild, everyone in the guild is naturally very concerned.

Yet, she hasn't appeared at all on the sky screen.

Even...

She hasn't even been mentioned.

In other words, the possibility that Erza of the Black World is away on a mission and hasn't returned does not exist.

The time on the sky screen has already reached the year X778.

Logically, Erza should have joined the Fairy Tail guild back in X776.

Yet now, there is absolutely no sign of her.

This forces one to ponder.

Lucy: "Could it be... that Erza of that world didn't join Fairy Tail?"

Gray: "Maybe Erza of the Black World didn't escape the Tower of Heaven?"

Mirajane: "That possibility isn't non-existent, the key is... everyone else has appeared, there's no reason for Erza not to appear, right?"

Makarov: "Could it be because the worlds are different? Look, isn't Black Natsu completely different from the Natsu of our world?"

"Maybe the life trajectory of Erza in that world is also completely different?"

Mavis: "That possibility cannot be ruled out, but if that's the case, it's a bit of a pity. Not being able to recruit a talent like Erza into the guild is truly a loss."

Irene: "Erza..."

Irene, far away in the Alvarez Empire on the Western Continent, also couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

In fact, as early as the moment the sky screen appeared.

Seeing Erza's remarks, Irene felt something was wrong.

That sense of closeness originating from the bottom of her heart could not be faked.

However, because of the great distance, Irene could not verify her thoughts.

Thus, she had secretly sent people to the Eastern Continent to investigate this person named Erza.

And the results were placed on Irene's desk some time ago.

Erza Scarlet.

An orphan since childhood, raised by the village of Rosemary.

Midway, the village was attacked by a dark magic cult.

No one in the village was spared.

All the adults were killed, leaving only a group of children to be sent as slaves to the Tower of Heaven for construction work.

Living in dire, hellish conditions since childhood.

Once identified as the mastermind behind a collective escape attempt, which resulted in the loss of her right eye.

Later, she awakened magic during a rebellion and successfully gained freedom.

But she was tragically betrayed by Jellal, and in the end, she was the only one who escaped.

And she joined Fairy Tail, having an artificial eye installed.

Up until today.

Looking at the series of documents placed before her.

Irene already understood everything.

Erza...

Is her child!

Yes, this is a past that makes even Irene feel incomparably sorrowful.

More than four hundred years ago, the Irene of this world was forced to accept an arranged marriage.

Eventually, after the war was won, she became pregnant with a child.

But, because of her own Dragon Slayer Black Mage dragonification.

She was loathed by the general of the neighboring country, who deemed her a monster like Acnologia.

She was imprisoned for three years.

And tortured for three years.

During these three years, Irene applied magic to the child in her womb, forcibly preventing her from being born in the prison.

And it was this very act that even led the general of the neighboring country to believe.

That it wasn't a child at all, but a monster.

He wanted to forcibly cut open Irene's abdomen to execute this monster.

Irene could no longer endure such despair.

Thus, she stopped suppressing her dragonification, completely transformed into a dragon, and wiped out that general.

She destroyed the palace and flew into a forest where few people ventured.

This flight lasted four hundred years.

For four hundred years, the dragonified Irene could no longer return to a normal human form.

Until four hundred years later, she met Zeref.

Zeref, a magic genius, easily restored Irene to a human appearance.

But this was only a restoration of form and appearance; in essence, Irene was still a dragon.

This result was unacceptable to Irene.

She wanted to become human again, and on the verge of madness, she pinned her hopes on the child in her womb.

She wanted to use Enchantment magic to completely attach her personality to the newborn child; wouldn't Irene then successfully become human?

Thus, the child was born.

But, perhaps due to maternal instinct, in the end, Irene could not bring herself to harm the newborn child.

To prevent herself from constantly having such thoughts.

Irene finally decided to abandon the child.

And the place of abandonment... was the village of Rosemary.

And that child's name was Erza.

Clearly, Erza Scarlet is her child.

Upon learning all this, Irene fell into silence on the spot.

Her own child?

Irene didn't know how to face Erza.

Looking at the various hardships on the resume, Irene felt it was her own fault.

If she hadn't abandoned her... would Erza have had a wonderful childhood?

If it weren't for her, could Erza have been like a normal child?

There are no "ifs" in the world.

Without a doubt, Irene has failed Erza.

Now, she has truly become human, and all worries have been completely resolved.

But, because of this, the guilt toward Erza has become even more intense.

Irene doesn't even know how to face Erza at this moment.

Therefore, until now, Irene hasn't had the courage to take the initiative to say all of this.

"Sigh... what is this all about?" Irene sat alone in the room.

Her gaze fixed on the sky screen, lost in thought.

Of course, Erza would no longer appear on the sky screen.

Because, in the Black World, Erza wasn't even born.

If it were like the Black World, maybe she wouldn't be so conflicted right now.

However, sometimes, the development of events is always so dramatic.

The moment Irene inadvertently glanced at the sky screen!

Her pupils suddenly contracted!

Her mouth opened involuntarily.

She saw... a crimson figure flashing by on the sky screen.

"That is..."

【On the sky screen.】

【Black Natsu is walking alone on the bustling street.】

【The noise around him seems to have had no effect on him at all.】

【He just looks at the map in his hand, constantly weaving through the crowd.】

【Suddenly, a girl wearing armor with crimson hair brushes past Black Natsu.】

Lucy: "Wait! Look! That back!"

Mirajane: "Crimson long hair, and that armor that never leaves her side? Is that... Erza??"

Erza: "Eh? Have I finally appeared?"

Gray: "Doesn't that prove that Erza has already escaped from the Tower of Heaven by now? Then why not join Fairy Tail?"

Gajeel: "Who knows, maybe the Erza over there joined the Kingdom Army, just like in Edolas."

Edolas.

Yes, in another parallel world, Erza's counterpart, Erza Knightwalker, did not join Fairy Tail.

On the contrary, she joined the Kingdom Army and became an enemy of Fairy Tail.

Hunting fairies all over the world.

Gajeel's conjecture made everyone present nod involuntarily.

But, Irene on the other side couldn't sit still.

"Erza??!!"

Irene, who was just thinking about Erza, couldn't help but exclaim.

She had already stood up from her seat.

Her gaze was fixed on the sky screen.

An expression of disbelief filled her eyes.

"This... how is this possible?!!"

Inside the screen.

【Black Natsu clearly didn't notice the figure that had just brushed past him.】

【Looking at the map, he soon left the small town.】

【He boarded a carriage and began heading toward his destination, a dark guild hidden in the desert not far from the town.】

【Task target: Dark Guild Black Shark Vortex】