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Of Aura and Ethernano (Fairy Tail/ Jaune Arc SI): Chapter 9
🕑 Added 2025-06-10 07:20:49 +0000 UTCX775, December, Crocus, Kingdom of Fiore.
“NO!”
Dawn looked like he swallowed a lemon at my words before he tried again.
“Come on! I’ll pay you more this time-“
“Nope.”
“…Is this because of that Wyvern thing from a few months ago? I told you that was just bad luck! And it was one time-“
“One time too many, Knight Captain Dawn. There is no way I am letting you ruin my sense of wonder with your stupid quest again.”
Little Junipe growled from my shoulder, sensing my distaste, which made the old knight slump in defeat.
After that stupid quest that was a complete let down, I about turned and returned to Crocus without a second thought, even forgetting about delivering those documents to the newly formed guild on the other side of the mountain range.
Which turned out to have been a good thing since I learned from Dawn later on that the guild in question had dissolved by the time I had ‘defeated’ the Wyvern.
Truthfully, it was not all that surprising.
All it takes for someone to establish a Guild is to gather at least a handful of Mages and register with the Magic Council and the respective Kingdom’s law enforcement unit.
With how easy the process is, it was no surprise that guilds rose and fell all the time for various reasons, with only major guilds lasting longer than a few days or months.
Of course, I did not let the old man hear the end of it for sending me on such a shitty quest, something that he apologized for.
At least I got Juniper and a lot of money out of it, so I let it be. But I refuse to go through that kind of mental ordeal again for this old man. Never again!
As the old man slumped further into his drink, I heard a chuckle before Owen settled down on my other side.
“I take it the old man failed to rope you into another errand?”
“Yup. Like I said, I am not letting his quests ruin my sense of adventure.”
“Haha! I heard about it on my way back. When I heard that the Wyvern attacks had stopped, I knew that you had succeeded in your quest. But I only heard the full details once I got back.”
“….How much do you know?”
Owen grinned like a cat.
“I know that you somehow caused the old Wyvern to have a heart attack of all things and then made off with the little one over there. When I joked about a knight in shoddy armor taking out a discount dragon, I did not think that you really would act like a shoddy knight!”
I groaned and held my head in my palms while glaring at Dawn, who looked amused.
It's all this old man’s fault! Because of him I am now the butt of the joke.
People have killed Wyverns and other beasts in all kinds of ways in the past, but killing one via a fucking stroke is definitely a first. It is why I am catching so much flak for it.
Juniper cooed gently and looked up from her cup of milk before jumping onto my shoulder and rubbing her head on my cheek.
I smiled softly and petted her head, making her warble happily.
If there was one positive thing about that whole debacle, it was Juniper.
When I first informed Dawn of what happened and how I found a Hatchling, he wanted me to hand it over to a tamer belonging to the Knights so that it could be raised as a mount for the Knights in exchange for doubling the quest reward.
But I did not want to do that. For some reason, I felt a strange connection to the little thing that loved to snuggle into my chest and refused to be away from me.
Maybe it was my memories from the Ever After where I raised the Jackalope that shared this little one’s name, or maybe it was my memories of that little orange kitten that I loved so much. But I did not want to let go of the hatchling. Something that Dawn understood and helped me arrange for by writing a personal letter to the correct authorities.
Even if she is a hatchling, little Juniper is still a Wyvern. As such, I still need proper permits to have her as my pet and must train her properly.
Fortunately, Dawn came in clutch and helped me settle things quite easily. Although I did have to pay a rather hefty amount of jewels in fees for the permits, especially because of her lineage.
Turns out, Juniper is not a pure Forest Wyvern. She is a mixed breed with Blizzardvern blood along with her Forest Wyvern parentage.
It explains why she was so intelligent compared to other Wyverns of her age, since it is common knowledge that Blizzardverns are far more intelligent than their Forest counterparts.
“So, since you are not interested in taking a quest from me, what are you doing here this time of the year?”
I glared at Dawn.
“Why? Am I not welcome here anymore?’
Dawn immediately raised his hands in appeasement as Owen chuckled at our exchange.
“Hey! I am just curious. Most mages don’t move around during the winter months all that much. Especially in Crocus since the winds and snowstorms are particularly fierce in this place.”
I sighed at his words.
“I know. I was planning on heading north after a quick stop to see how you two were doing. But the damned storm rolled in quicker than I anticipated. Given its intensity, it might take at least two weeks, maybe more, before the train lines heading north are operational again.”
Owen gave me a surprised look.
“Northward? Why? There are not many towns over there, and neither are there any things up there that might catch your interest.”
“I know. Aside from the Sun Village that is home to the dragons, there really is not much for me to do. But recently, I’ve heard a few concerning rumors that I wanted to check out.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“I hear that there are demons roaming the area.”
““WHAT!?””
At Owen and Dawn’s combined shout, the tavern fell silent, making me glare at them, to which they sheepishly apologized to the other patrons and moved closer to me.
Seriously, how did these two become such high-ranking Knights of Fiore despite their lack of tact?
“Details. Now.”
“I don’t know much since I only heard rumors. But I heard from someone in Hargeon that there has been demon activity in the north for the past few months. Fortunately, nothing untoward has happened to any of the frontier villages, and these demons are keeping to themselves. At least, according to what I’ve heard so far.”
“Huh, maybe they are like the ones from Galuna?”
“Possible. But I am not sure. That is why I wanted to go north, to see what all the fuss was about and to also scope out, just in case they prove to be hostile.”
This time, Dawn glared at me from behind his mug.
“And what were you hoping to accomplish with your strength? Jaune, did taking on that old Wyvern inflate your ego or something? Because let me tell you, you don’t stand a chance against a Demon as you are right now.”
I gave him a wry look at those words.
“You think I don’t know that? If anything, that Wyvern fight has only done more to undermine my ego instead of inflating it.”
“I was planning on taking a stealthy approach, scope out the nature of the rumors, and run to you guys as fast as I can if things turned out as I feared.”
At those words, Dawn finally let go of his tight expression and nodded contemplatively.
In this world, there exist many humanoid and non-humanoid races that have their own civilizations.
Dragons were one such species in the past, although no one has seen one in many years for now. The God race is also considered one, but these guys are so mysterious that only a handful of people have ever seen one in person.
The only races that frequently come in contact with humans are the Demons, the Giants, which are a rare breed, with the Sun village being the only example. The Celestial Spirits, a race of spiritual creatures from another dimension that are contracted by Celestial Spirit Mages, and the Machias, a race of magical machines.
However, most of these races live in seclusion and don’t like to interact with Humans unless it is out of some kind of necessity.
And just as you would expect from a fantasy world, these races are usually born more powerful than a regular human, but fall short of a truly powerful mage. This is also the reason why they hide from humans most of the time.
“So you will leave for the Northern lads once the storm subsides?”
“That was the idea. But I might change the plan a little bit.”
“Why?”
“I will turn 15 in February. I intend to gain an official identity from the Kingdom before I start traveling again.”
Dawn and Owen brightened up at my words.
“Hahaha! So you will finally become a proper citizen of the kingdom then? When is the birthday?”
“26th of February.”
I smiled in amusement as Owen and Dawn started to make plans for a small celebration that only these two and Owen’s unit would attend.
Officially, I don’t really have a birthday of my own since I am an amalgamation of Jaune Arc and David Thornton. If anything, I should consider March 21st, the day I was found in that fishing village, to be my birthday.
However, I still use February 26th as the day of my birth. Mostly because both David and Jaune had it as their birthdays. But mainly because it just sits well with me. Like it truly belongs to me.
Looking at the two men, I was reminded of my time on Remnant, where my parents and sisters would secretly plan out my birthday, not knowing that I was secretly watching them plan all the time, just like with my brother on Earth when we were kids.
With a chuckle, I downed the juice in my jug.
Once I reach 15 years of age, I will become an official citizen of the Kingdom and recognized as a proper adult. Which meant that I could finally buy a place of my own with the money I’ve saved up until now.
And who knows? Maybe even see about joining a guild, if only for the sake of accessing more training and better quests than what I can take right now.
We passed the night drinking as the storm battered the city outside.
With the warmth of friends and the beauty of civilization, I passed out in there while Juniper slept soundly with me.
It was only on the next day that I learned that Dawn and Owen had carried me to my room at the local Inn and paid for all our drinks last night.
Comments
Aeden Emrys
Hmm 🤔 these 'demons' ... I wonder, could it be a certain three siblings? I'm a little unsure of the timeline for when Mira did her first Take Over of a Demon, but I kinda hope it is them because I want Jaune and Mira to meet! Thanks for the chapter! I'm looking forward to reading much more of this interesting story!
