And the person who prevented this from happening was Nizu.
He used the giant "Silent Stone" as a cornerstone to suppress the activation of the "Red Dragon Mountain", and at the same time used space magic to dig the underground bedrock and guide the accumulated magma underground.
In fact, even if Niz could eliminate the method Oscar and others used to locate him, things would not change. After all, this place was already known to them, and Niz did not intend to move away easily, and they also knew Niz's intentions.
Whether it was threats, actual blocking of tracking, or clear rejection, nothing worked on Oscar and the others.
Every day, Niz was worried about what to do with these two free men.
However, despite thinking this, whenever he ate, talked about his beloved Irakku, or watched Oscar's amazing inventions, Natsu's face would show a gentle expression that was not usually there. However, he did not seem to notice it.
Of course, both Meredith and Oscar saw it.
This is also one of the reasons why they are unwilling to give up lobbying Niz.
Having said that, once the topic of recruitment came up, Nizu became stubborn again.
Today was the eighth day, and Mireidi and Oscar had arrived at Libu Village, an oasis overlooking the Red Dragon Mountain. While they were dining at the village restaurant, Mireidi groaned as she lay on the table.
Although it's a "village," Libu Village is closer to a "town" in size and is considered quite lively. It's located in the Dumibar Territory, south of the Red Dragon Mountains, and is the closest village to them.
Considering the convenience of visiting Naiz, the two settled in this village temporarily.
They were now on the wooden terrace of the Oasis Lakeside Restaurant, having breakfast and holding today's operations meeting.
Although this is a desert town, the nights are still quite cold. At this time, when the sun has just risen for a few hours, it is cooler and more comfortable outside than inside, so many guests enjoy breakfast on the balcony.
Their eyes alternated between the foreign girl making strange moans and the young man flipping through the store's information magazine, acting as if it had nothing to do with him.
"Miletti, according to this intelligence magazine, the food store on the east side seems to have a fruit wine brewed by the owner himself. I think this should be our gift for today. What do you think? Although Natsu can drink quite well, he didn't seem to like the strong liquor we had earlier, did he?"
"...Oh, didn't you hear Mimi's groaning? As a friend, won't you say anything?"
Oscar looked up.
"Sorry, I thought you thought the breakfast was too small."
"Who are you calling a glutton? No, it's about recruitment. Oh, you've become so close to Nami that you even drink together, but you haven't even mentioned the crucial topic of recruitment."
"He reacted well to my invention and expressed great interest, so I couldn't help but strike up a conversation with him, and even had a few extra drinks. But putting that aside for now, as for recruiting... we'll just have to be more patient and build as much trust as possible."
"Is this also to let Xiaonai speak out his heart knot?"
"That's right, you didn't tell me about your past right from the start, did you?"
"That's... true."
Oscar placed the intelligence magazine on the table, crossed his arms, and said carefully:
"Everyone's life is heavy... especially for those who have experienced trauma. It's not something that can be easily shared with others, nor is it something they should ask about. Yet, we are intruding into this territory. Because we must. So, why not give him a little more time? The more anxious we are, the more we will push him to extremes."
Oscar took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat. Feeling the temperature gradually rising, Oscar turned his gaze away from Meredith and looked out at the shimmering waters of the oasis. He said:
"Take your time. As long as you don't give up, I will be with you wherever you go."
Just as Oscar said that day, he would go with her even if it meant going to hell.
Meredith did not answer. The only sounds around her were the other guests' conversations and the sound of cutlery.
Oscar looked back at Meredith in surprise.
“…What’s that expression on your face?”
"Hmm? Nothing."
Seeing Miledy's smiling face, Oscar's mood quickly turned bad.
He ate the rest of his breakfast roughly, while Meredith said with a smile:
"Ao really likes me, right~?"
"I know you're still sleepy, so hurry up and finish your breakfast."
Oscar's eyes were cold, and he gestured to Millardi's plate with his chin.
Meredith was all smiles, teasing Oscar with pleasure.
"What? Are you shy? Are you shy? Oh!"
Oscar seriously considered throwing his after-dinner coffee in her face, but he tried to calm himself down. If there were a test on how to deal with Meredith, Oscar's level would definitely continue to improve.
Oscar adjusted his glasses with his index finger and changed the subject.
"Natsu said he had something to do this morning. I heard he's sending Eraku to a village with low resources. Let's visit him after lunch."
"He's helping people again~ Is it just because he's a good person, or is it..."
"That's something we'll learn over time. That being said, I'm a little worried about him. He used his powers to save us, and he generally uses them whenever necessary. Since the rumors have reached Meredith in the eastern part of the continent, it's only a matter of time before they become public knowledge, and the rumors will be proven true."
"That's true, but I still don't understand—why a fairy?"
——The desert goblins can save people.
That's right, a goblin. Tall, muscular, with eagle-like eyes, short, bristling reddish-brown hair, and a mostly stern face... a goblin.
"puff!"
Oscar couldn't help spitting out the coffee in his mouth. He seemed to have imagined something.
"But he himself is also confused. Rumors always tend to be exaggerated. A desert elf helping people, that seems like a theme that a bard would like, doesn't it?"
Even so, Oscar and Meredith were very curious about what had happened and why Natsu was described as a fairy.
At this moment, a young girl's voice suddenly rang out.
"Um...did you see the desert fairies?"
Meredy and Oscar looked back and saw two girls.
The two were likely sisters, looking very similar, with brown skin and emerald eyes. They were about twelve or thirteen and seven or eight years old, respectively. The older sister had medium-length hair parted in the middle, while the younger sister had her hair tied in two braids that hung down her shoulders. Both wore cream-colored jumpsuits and sandals, clearly children from this area.
"Uh, are you asking us?"
"Ah, yes, yes, sorry, we were presumptuous!"
When Oscar asked, his sister hurriedly bowed her head and apologized. It seemed that she had heard Oscar and the others talking about the desert fairies and couldn't help but interrupt.
To reassure them, Meredith smiled and replied:
"He doesn't actually look like a fairy at all, but we did meet him. We were just discussing why we called him a fairy... Do you know the reason?"
Hearing the words "encountering a fairy"...the two sisters' faces changed, their eyes filled with intense longing, clearly remembering something that had happened. However, in response to Meredith's question, the sisters kept their mouths shut, hesitating whether to continue the conversation.
After a while, my sister asked timidly:
"...Excuse me, but are you two from the church?"
“How is that possible?”
The two of them showed disgusted expressions and answered reflexively, which was actually a bit dangerous.
However, seeing the attitudes of the two, the sisters actually breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the younger sister seemed to be unable to hold back any longer and leaned forward to speak:
"Big Brother! Big Sister! Do you know where the Guardian Angel is?! Si-nee and Yun-fa love the Guardian Angel the most! We've been searching for him to see him again!"
The elder sister frantically tried to tell her younger sister to shut up, but it was too late.
Meredith and Oscar looked at each other.
They call it "Guardian Angel", not "Fairy"... so I must listen to their explanation.
Moreover, the younger sister revealed that "Sister Si is obviously popular with boys, but she rejects them all!", and the older sister blushed and tried hard to cover her sister's mouth, which made people very curious about the relationship between "Sister Si" and Natsu.
Oscar and Meredith nodded to each other.
"If you don't mind, how about having breakfast with us?"
"You can order dessert, too?"
The two men set out to bribe the two sisters.
The younger sister devoured the dessert on the large plate. Although she lowered her head shyly, the older sister still made sure to secure her own portion.
This was a rare opportunity, so Meredith and the others ate fruit while listening to their conversation. According to the conversation, the elder sister's name was Sisha Lib Dumibar, and the younger sister was Yunfa Lib Dumibar. They were residents of Lib Village.
Furthermore, the people of the desert have a common custom of adding their place of origin and the name of their autonomous territory after their name, so that they can be identified as to where they are from. For example, Sixia's name means "Sixia, who was born in [Dumbar Territory, Libu Village]."
Meredi and the others were suddenly puzzled. So where was Natsu from? Since they hadn't understood desert customs, they hadn't paid attention to the name behind it...
When I asked Sixia and the others if they knew where Natsu was from, they didn't even know that the "Guardian Angel" was named Natsu.
After hearing Natsu's name, Sixia kept muttering "Natsu-sama, Natsu-sama". Meredith and Oscar thought, "This kid is serious."
After asking them about their relationship with Natsu again, I found out that their encounter with Natsu was the same as that of Miledi and the others.
In other words, they were attacked by monsters in the desert, and Nizu helped them escape to safety by diverting them.
At that time, Yunfa was struck by a demon's unique magic, causing her to suffer from an overactive magical energy. However, Nizu disappeared on the spot, but soon returned and gave Yunfa the precious medicinal herb "Jing Yin Stone", saving her life.
Seeing Natsu suddenly disappear and reappear, Sixia was so surprised that she couldn't speak, and she didn't even thank him. When she suddenly came to her senses, Natsu just left a sentence "Please don't tell anyone about me" and disappeared.
"After that, I kept looking for him because I wanted to thank him."
"By the way, confess your feelings to him and ask him to marry Si-sister! Yun-fa can be a concubine!"
Sixia's expression froze, her face flushed. She reached out a hand and pinched her sister's mouth.
"We called it the Desert Fairy in order to deliberately change the rumor about the desert's guardian. Since Nizu-sama seemed reluctant to reveal his true identity, I thought that fabricating a completely different image might be a way to repay him. I didn't think the rumor would stay in this area, so I actively told this story to poets and adventurers at the bar."
"I see~ The rescued people expressed their gratitude by changing the name 'Guardian Angel' to 'Fairy'."
Mireddy suddenly understood, but Oscar felt strange about Sixia's words, and the smooth-talking Yunfa smiled and dispelled his strange feeling.
"Yunfa also helped Sijie! I followed Sijie's instructions and tried my best to talk to many people!"
According to Sister Si's instructions, help Sister Si...
Oscar thought of a possibility and asked, pushing his glasses:
"Excuse me, does your family run a bar business?"
"No?"
After Si Xia denied it, she immediately corrected it.
"Our parents were possessed by monsters when we were young... Now we're living with their friends."
"Are you running a bar?"
"right."
This time she was certain, and Oscar's previous strange feeling turned into certainty.
From Sixia's description just now, it sounded as if she herself was the person involved -
"You were the one who spread the goblin rumor?"
"yes."
Sixia answered with a smile.
Oscar and Meredith's expressions twitched slightly.
According to them, they were rescued two years ago. This meant that Sixia had been helping out at the bar when she was less than ten years old, and had changed the rumor of a "guardian angel" to a "fairy" on her own initiative.
In fact, it really works. At least in other places far away from this area, the rumors heard are mainly about "fairies".
"You're really capable."
Meredith was so surprised that she couldn't help praising her.
Sixia said shyly:
"This is all for Master Natsu."
Her shy expression seemed to be consistent with her age at first glance, but upon closer inspection, she felt inexplicably sexy.
A girl who exudes sex appeal at only twelve years old...
Meredith and Oscar thought to themselves, this kid is really amazing.
"So, what is your relationship with Natsu-sama... I seem to have seen him before."
Sixia asked, observing the two. The clue to the person they'd been searching for might be right before their eyes. Yunfa also stared at Miledi and the others, their eyes filled with eager anticipation.
"Hmm~ Rather than saying we've met him… actually, we've been seeing him quite a lot lately."
“Really?! Where is he now?!”
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