An Unusual Job Request

A few hours later,

Zach was being scolded by Makarov for going too far in the earlier sparring session against Erza. Hanging his head down while hugging Eevee in his arms, Zach was pouting; he was embarrassed as he was berated in front of everyone. Natsu was laughing so hard, that he clutched his stomach; reveling in Zach's misfortune. While Gray just chuckled a little.

Erza then arrived moments later, wrapped in bandages underneath her armor. She just came back from East Forest, where Porlyusica, the mysterious healer of Fairy Tail resides. When she saw Zach being admonished, she smirked but quickly hid it, changing her face to a stern one.

Erza then approached the group, helping Zach by telling Makarov that she was fine. With that fight, she realized that there was more room for improvement.

…

After all the commotion went down, everything relatively went back to normal. Well… except for the destroyed lobby and everything else in the first floor.

Now standing on the surprisingly undamaged request board, Zach was browsing through the new job offers.

-Explore: The exploration team(army) found a new mining place. Help pioneer the place and exterminate all threats. 350,000 Jewels.

-Research: Tost Research Association excavated an old and tattered Magic Circle. Help us figure out the Magic Circle for 90,000 J

-Defence: Willow Village is being besieged by monsters on all sides. Help defend Willow Village for 999,000 J.

-Duel: Fight me for 5,000 J.

Standing behind Zach, the group of adults huddled over, looking for suitable job requests. When Nab saw a certain job request, he exclaimed as he eyed the job request, "This is unusual. Willow Village is a relatively peaceful village. How are they besieged from all sides when there are barely any monsters who live in their surroundings?"

Wakaba, who also found the job request unusual, added, "That's right. I accepted a job request before to deliver certain things to the Willow Village and the journey was mostly safe aside from the bandits."

"Now that you mention it, that's really bizarre."

"And such a huge commission fee too. It must be really bad out there."

"Isn't that the meaning of bad news? A peaceful village is suddenly attacked by monsters out of nowhere and is commissioning a huge compensation fee. I'd pass!"

"I'd pass too."

…

While the adults were talking about the unusual job, Zach was staring hard at the request board with glittering eyes. Particularly at one request… explore.

Having always loved walking instead of teleporting to his destination, Zach was amazingly captivated by the word 'explore'. Hurriedly snatching up the poster, Zach squeezed through the sea of people behind him while clutching hard on the poster.

After passing through, Zach arrived in front of Makarov. Holding up the job request he just took, Zach showed it to his Guild Master and said with an excited expression, "Jii, I'll be taking this request."

Raising an eyebrow after looking over the job request, Makarov asked, "You're taking this job? I thought you'd take the unusual one…"

Zach tilted his head in confusion after hearing what Makarov said. Zach answered, "Huh? Why would I take that one?"

Hearing Zach's answer, Makarov just shook his head and said, "Nevermind. Anyway, what are you gonna do about those pelts over there? I saw you bring them in, you tryna sell them or something? Those must be from your previous job right?"

Having remembered something, Zach perked up and reached for his [Bag]. Taking out the blood wolf fangs in there, he handed it out to Makarov, "Jii, here, the job item."

Receiving the wolf fangs, Makarov asked, "Why are you giving these to me? Shouldn't you turn these in to the job requester?"

As expected on the ignorant Zacharius, he just tilted his head without saying anything.

Seeing Zach's reaction, Makarov sighed and said, "Sigh, I'll do this once for you and next time, you need to do it yourself. Understood?"

Zach nodded as he understood. He then walked away and sat on a table where his wolf pelts were laying down. Ordering a mug of pomegranate juice, Zach read the poster again while waiting for his order.

[Explore: The exploration team(army) found a new mining place. Help pioneer the place and exterminate all threats. 350,000 Jewels. Gather on the Magnolia station on day XX. Additional rewards are awarded depending on the contribution of the Mage.]

Having finished reading, Zach commented in a low voice, "So, it's three days later."

A couple of seconds later, Zach's order arrived. Chugging down the pomegranate juice, Zach let out a refreshing sound. Zach then stood up as he left money on the table. Picking up the wolf pelts, Zach called out to Eevee who was roaming around the guild.

Hearing her master's call, Eevee trod towards Zach. Jumping towards her usual resting place (the head), Eevee plopped down comfortably and asked using telepathy, 『Where are we going, Master?』

Replying using the same Magic, Zach answered, 『Why don't we go shopping? We now have a lot of money anyway.』

Having around 200,000 J in his [Bag], Zach felt freedom...

Without waiting for his companion's answer, Zach dashed through the doors.

-30 minutes later-

Being Zach himself, a 5-minute walk became a 30-minute one; finally arriving at the shopping district where a lot of varied shops could be found. Ranging from toys to weapons, underwear to dresses, and a lot of other stuff, including magic.

Even though he arrived a little bit later, Zach's enthusiasm never went down. Looking left and right… even up and down. Zach excitedly strolled through the walkway, sometimes stopped to look at the things that interested him. When he arrived at a male clothing shop, he looked at his own tattered cloak, shirt, pants, and sandals. Zach then again looked at the nice-looking clothes inside.

Having made a decision, Zach walked in. Once inside, Zach's expression brightened as he looked at all the displayed clothing.

A female employee then saw Zach scanning the display. She approached him and asked, "Hello, is there anything I can do to help?"

Without being shy, Zach answered, "I want new clothes!" While raising both his arms sideways to let her see his tattered clothing.

The female employee smiled and politely gestured to Zach to follow. Arriving at what seemed like a 'teen' section, the female employee said while bowing slightly, "You can mostly find clothes of your size here. Please enjoy yourself."

Zach said his thanks as the female employee backed away to let her customer take his time.

Fascinated by the apparels on display, Zach picked a black sleeveless hoodie of his size, a red shirt, a white cloak, dark blue pants, black shorts, etc…

Trying them on one by one in the fitting room, Zach liked them all… and bought them all.

30 minutes later, Zach finished shopping for clothes and was now garbed in a white shirt with an open dark blue windbreaker and black pants. Satisfied with his purchase, Zach went outside and continued to walk while holding a bag of shopped clothing.

A couple minutes later, Zach found himself in a shop called Foot Locker. And from the obvious name of it, the shop was selling footwear. Heading inside, the same process when he bought clothes happened. This time, Zach bought only one item; a pair of simple black sandals.

Finally finished completing his outfit, Zach went to a nearby garbage bin to throw out his old sandals. But when he was about to throw it away, he saw an emaciated little boy walking on the sidewalk, barefoot. Opting to give it instead of throwing it away, Zach approached the little guy and handed out his old brown leather sandals wordlessly.

Seeing a pair of sandals in front of him, the little guy looked up just to see Zach's smiling face; and Eevee's curious face atop Zach's head. The little kid accepted it hesitantly but with gratitude. Hugging the sandals in his embrace, he bowed and said gratefully, "Thank you, Aniki!"

Zach smiled - feeling a little giddy - and said, "Take care of it, okay? If I see the sandals the next time I see you, I'll treat you to a meal."

Feeling a sense of duty and also looking forward to the next time they meet, the little guy nodded with sparkling eyes as he looked at Zach. He asked, "When will I meet you again, Aniki"

Zach just smiled as he turned around, looked at the horizon, and said, "Who knows," Zach then started walking, he waved his left hand as a sign of farewell and announced, "If fate wills it, we will meet again.

The little guy looked at Zach's fading back in a daze. Looking at the kind big brother's fading back with the backdrop of a setting sun amazed him, making him murmur, "So cool…"

...

Feeling happy with how he made his exit, Zach asked Eevee in a smug tone using telepathy, 『Hehe, Eve wasn't I cool?』

Thinking that it was genuinely cool, Eevee replied, 『Vee, vee. Master so cool!』

Zach chuckled lightly as a small smile hung on his lips as he continued to walk around, Passing by many interesting shops, Zach and Eevee made many turns to find more interesting shops and places. Turning right on the next block, continuing straight, going left, making another left, Zach arrived at a weapon shop. As they were about to go inside, The scene in front of them made Eevee smack her forehead and dumbfounded them both.

Right across the street, an emaciated figure of a young boy was sitting on the sidewalk, trying to figure out how to put on some brown leather sandals.

Seeing this scene, Zach wanted to back away, remembering what happened just minutes prior and; Eevee just wanted to get off from her master's head and find a place to hide.

When Zach was about to turn back, the kid lifted his head, having given up on wearing the sandals by himself and was about to ask for help. Turning his head, his eyes lit up as he saw the kind big brother who gifted him the sandals. Waving his hand, he sat up and started running towards Zach.

Just from having that small run, the kid was already panting slightly as he arrived in front of Zach. He then asked with an embarrassed face while scratching the back of his head, "Aniki can you teach me? How do I put these sandals on? I've never had any of these. I've only ever had slippers."

Feeling the burning feeling in his cheeks, Zach forced a reassuring smile as he started teaching. After that, he asked, "What's your name?"

Having finally learned how to wear his slightly big sandals, he said with a big smile, "Thank you, Aniki! My name is Francis, Francis Belcroix."

Zach nodded after learning Francis' name and also a response regarding Francis' thanks. Zach then looked at Francis closely. Black hair that hangs on either side of his head and droopy black eyes. Francis was also surprisingly tall for his age despite being malnourished. Almost reaching Zach's own height which is 156 centimeters; also pretty tall for a 12-year old. Francis also had a slim build, combined with his tall height, he looked like a bent stick with how he was slouching over.

After having a good look at Francis' appearance, Zach then asked with some embarrassment, "So, where do you want to eat?"

Not understanding the question for a bit, Francis tilted his head in confusion. He then remembered Zach's earlier promise and put his fist on top of his palm as he exclaimed, "Ah!" He then scratched the back of his head as he said, "I thought Aniki meant you'll treat me to food after today if we meet again, somehow."

"..." Speechless, Zach changed the topic, "Anyway, before we go eat something, let us take a look around this weapon shop."

Francis just nodded and followed behind timidly.

Zach then started looking around. He looked at the different kinds of swords, spears, guns, bows, and more. Zach then started examining a katana. Calling for a shop clerk, Zach asked if he could hold and try the katana. The clerk agreed but warned that if the product was damaged, the customer had to pay the full price.

Without any hesitation, Zach took the katana from its stand. Swinging it around a few times, Zach was satisfied with the length and weight. Just from holding a bladed weapon, Zach already understood most of its strength and weaknesses. Thanks to one of his Demon Slayer Magic. After trying everything, including the sheath, Zach then looked at the price. He was then horrified that it cost 155,000 J. That price was more than ¾ of his money left. He still hasn't received his remuneration from the blood wolves as Makarov was still in the guild and hasn't turned in the 'quest items'.

Reluctantly putting it down, Zach then roamed the shop once more while Francis still kept following behind.

Now standing at the Magic weapons corner, Zach browsed the items on the shelves. As Zach kept on walking as he skimmed through the items, he noticed Francis stopping to look at a clear crystal ball that glowed purple light.

Noticing the anomaly, Zach asked Francis, "Fran, what are yo-"

Before Zach could finish, Francis touched the crystal ball which made it glow intensely.

Francis then turned his head to look at Zach and said, "Aniki…"