Kapitel 27: 27. Magic Beast Hunt
Using his hunting experience, Alex tracks the Leopard's traces. He uses his hunting experience to find the Leopard's traces.
Alex even transforms into a normal tiger-sized Matatabi to track the Leopard's smell. He carries Cana on his back and asks her to watch over their surroundings in case they suddenly get attacked by wild beasts.
They follow the traces slowly because a lot of them have been erased by rain or get covered by other creatures' traces and smells. It's been 2 days since the last attack, so a lot of the traces have gone.
But with Alex's sharp senses that he gets from transforming into Matatabi, they can find the Leopard's traces even with much difficulties and it takes a lot of time.
Then, there is a big problem. Alex finds out that the one they are looking for is not a leopard. It makes him pissed, so he grabs Cana back to the village to confirm something.
The villagers see them return and ask them about the hunt which makes Alex more annoyed. He ignores them who follow him to find the Chief. When he finds the Chief, Alex immediately grabs his collar.
"Oi, old man. Why are you lying to us?" Alex asks with a low calm angry voice.
"W-what do you mean lying to you? I-I don't understand."
"A-Alex, please calm down."
"I am calm, Cana. Old man, this is a very serious matter, so answer truthfully. Why is the target not a leopard but a Wereleopard?"
The village chief throws his face away, showing that he really knows that it's a Wereleopard, not a normal leopard. He truly lied about the job.
"I-I'm really sorry. We can only do this because we are desperate. The subjugation fee is too high for our current financial situation."
The chief then explains that they have just lost most of their money because a Dark Guild robbed them, leaving them very little money that is barely enough for their daily lives.
They actually posted a job for the Wereleopard subjugation correctly before. A Guild took it and they were happy, thinking the problem would be solved soon.
Turned out, the Guild is actually a Dark Guild that instead of subjugating the beast, decided to rob the villagers instead. Unable to fight back, the villagers could only give their money to the Dark Mages.
Luckily, the Dark Mages only took money and jewelry. They didn't take the livestock and harvest, so the villagers still can eat even though there isn't much supply.
But the Wereleopard is still a big problem for their safety and daily lives because it keeps eating their livestock. They don't even dare to sell their livestock because they are afraid the Wereleopard would eat them instead.
"Dark Guild, huh? You didn't report them to the authorities?"
"We already did. But they said there was nothing they could do without clear information because they couldn't find the Dark Guild's hideout. I'm really sorry for lying. But this is the only thing we can think of to get help. We have scraped every penny we have and could only gather this much, that's why we posted it for a normal Leopard subjugation job."
"Sigh, I know you are desperate, but this is not right either. You know that the danger of a normal Leopard and a Wereleopard is different, right? As you can see, to subjugate a normal Leopard, newbies like us would be enough. But we might get killed if we fight an adult Wereleopard. You should have asked the authorities or maybe asked our Guild to find the best solution."
"I-I have asked the authorities and some Magic Guilds, but they won't help without proper rewards."
"Have you come to Fairy Tail?"
"N-no, I didn't dare to because it's a big Magic Guild. Even small Magic Guilds refused without proper reward, not to mention a big Magic Guild like Fairy Tail."
"..... You should have just asked. Big Magic Guilds are more responsible than small Magic Guilds about the safety of the areas around them because the Magic Council and the Kingdom give them tasks to protect their areas. If you ask, we might find a better solution like you can pay it in the future or use other kinds of payments. It would be much better than lying about this."
The villagers look down in shame and sadness. Alex knows it's not a good time to lecture them about this because they are just desperate. But it's necessary to say it because this kind of negligence is dangerous.
"U-um, do you say that we can use a different form of payment?" A middle-aged woman asks.
"Well, it's just an example. But I heard that sometimes there are jobs that pay with valuables instead of money. Though it depends on the Guild Master to accept it or not. For now, I will still help you subjugate the Wereleopard because it's urgent. But you need to talk with our Guild Master about this later. Luckily we are strong enough to fight Wereleopard even though we are young. So we will still do it because we've taken this job."
Alex takes Cana to continue their hunt. He has told them everything they need to know, so now he needs to do his job. Even if the reward is not proper, Alex will still help them because this is a very dangerous situation for the villagers.
When Alex and Cana leave, the villagers look at them worriedly. Only now did they realize that the job is too dangerous for 2 kids. Even if Alex and Cana are Mages, they are still just kids.
"V-village chief, what should we do?"
"W-we.... Q-QUICK! THEO! GO TO MAGNOLIA! USE OUR FASTEST HORSE AND INFORM FAIRY TAIL! WE CAN'T LET THOSE CHILDREN BE IN DANGER."
The village chief orders a young man to go to Fairy Tail. They are not Mages, so they can't help Alex and Cana. That's why they need to quickly ask for help and the only one they can ask is Fairy Tail, Alex's and Cana's Guild.
It's quite far, but it's the only thing they can do now because they don't have a magical communication device. They can only rush there by horse.
Meanwhile, Alex and Cana are tracking the Wereleopard. Cana is worried whether they can defeat a Wereleopard or not. But she still follows Alex because she believes in him.
Alex is using his humanoid Matatabi form to track the Wereleopard. It actually lives quite far from the village, so it takes a while before they can find it.
When they find it, the Wereleopard is sleeping on a big tree. There's also a cow's butt and hind legs hanging on the tree which must be the last cow this Wereleopard took from the village.
It already ate most of the cow, only its back side is left. Once it finishes those remaining parts, it will surely come back to the village to take another livestock, most likely another cow.
There is also a pile of bones below the tree which must be from the beast's previous meals.
Alex doesn't smell or sense other creatures nearby. There are no other traces either except for this Wereleopard's, so this Wereleopard must've lived alone here.
"It must be a young male Wereleopard, a juvenile. Maybe it has just left its mother not too long ago and claimed this area as its territory, that's why it lives alone here."
"What should we do now, Alex?"
"We will subjugate it, of course. I will attack it because I have experience fighting similar magical beasts. You stay behind to support me. But be careful because it might suddenly charge toward you. Be careful of your surroundings too just in case there are other beasts that get attracted here by the sound of the battle."
"Will you be alright?"
"Don't worry, I won't fight if I'm unsure of my win."
Both of them prepare for the battle. Then Alex suddenly jumps out of the bush with a fireball in his hands. He is obviously still in his humanoid Matatabi form because he thinks it's the most suitable form to fight the Wereleopard.
Alex throws the fireball in his left hand at the sleeping Wereleopard. But it truly is a beast. It senses danger coming towards it and doesn't hesitate to jump down from the tree. The fireball hits the big branch it used to sleep and breaks it.
The surprised Wereleopard turns its head to look at where the fireball came from as it lands on the ground. But when it turns around, another fireball appears right on its face.
This one is already too close, so it can't dodge and gets hit by the fireball. It explodes on the Wereleopard's face. The beast jumps away, but the explosion still burns its face.
It's not a serious injury though as it only burns some parts of its fur. A magical creature like this beast is tough and durable, so it won't get injured so easily.
The Wereleopard looks at Alex angrily while Alex just plays with the fireball in his right hand as if it's a real ball. "This should be fun."
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Ch. 77: Cait Shelter
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein