Of Aura and Ethernano (Fairy Tail/ Jaune Arc SI): Chapter 15

I am no stranger to fear.

I felt it all the time during both of my past lives, with my life of Remnant being practically shaped by my fears.

But the kind of fear I feel in front of Guild Master Roubaul is something far more primal than just regular fear.

To be fair to the man, he was not trying to be threatening. If anything, he has been very welcoming of us after that rocky introduction. He even helped out Mirajane with her problem very easily, making the siblings very happy (I really envy how he was able to achieve in minutes what I failed to achieve with days of effort. I guess there is a large difference between knowing about magic types and how they work and actually using said magic.)

His guild members were equally as welcoming, even little Wendy, after she got past her shyness, as was evident with how everyone was dancing in some kind of strange dance that everyone participated in while around the big campfire outside the guild hall.

Now, if everything was good and everyone was welcoming, why am I feeling this kind of terror?

That would be because of my Aura Sonar.

After our first meeting and being invited to the guild, I made the mistake of using my Aura Sonar to gauge the power levels of all the mages in here.

The biggest mistake of this life, I tell ya.

Strangely, nearly all the members of the Guild, save for Wendy and Carla, did not even register on my sonar, just like with that guy Magna, making it clear that these people had some kind of method to hide their souls from any kind of probing.

I theorize that the only reason Wendy and Carla did not have this magic was that they were too young. In fact, they are the only children in the Guild as far as I can see, with the rest of the members being either young adults or elders.

The biggest thing I discovered, however, was that old man Roubaul is a monster.

His soul felt so heavy that I could easily compare his power to what I felt from Ozpin before his fight with Cinder during the fall of Beacon. In fact, I think Roubaul’s soul easily overpowers what I felt from Ozpin.

And all of this is just his Soul’s metaphorical weight, not his magical energy, which is a whole different beast.

He hid it really well, just like when we first encountered each other, nearly making himself invisible to my senses, but when he started to relax within the guild, there was no hiding the power that the old man was hiding.

To think that I was planning to eliminate him and his guild should they prove to be Dark Mages in disguise.

How laughable.

And given the knowing look that the old man gave me when I used the Aura sonar, he probably knew that I was probing him and his guild. Fortunately, he did not take offence at my actions. I can’t imagine the consequences I would face should he have taken offence.

“No need to be so stiff, young Jaune. You can relax here. There will be no threat towards yourself or your companions as long as you are here.”

His jovial tone and knowing look made me feel a little trepidation.

But I am an Arc. And an Arc never goes back on his word.

So, with a deep breath, I nodded at his words and forcefully suppressed my terror.

“In that case, I will take you up on your hospitality. Master Roubaul.”

As the old man nodded happily, I stood up and silently motioned him towards the side room.

Roubaul smirked at me.

“Putting aside all pretenses already? Very well. Let’s see what you have to say.”

It was only when I was sure that the door was locked and we were free from eavesdroppers that I placed the documents I had within my Requip pouch along with the small band that the Knights Order gave me, symbolizing that I had the authority to represent them in an official manner to a limited degree.

“Guild Master Roubaul. While I came here primarily for the sake of my friend’s condition, I was also asked to deliver these documents to you should I travel through here during my journey, and also to ask you to agree with what is written in there.”

“Ah! So my guess was right. You did have another objective aside from helping young Mirajane.”

The old man chuckled at my words and took the documents, going through them lazily.

However, as he continued reading, his expression became grim before he gave an annoyed huff.

“Seriously, these youngsters don’t know when to give up. I am sorry, Jaune Arc, but I cannot agree to the Knights' Order searching the premises of my Guild and its lands. You should report my decision to your superiors and that this is my final decision, no matter what they say.”

I nodded my head at those words since Dawn did say that he would most likely refuse even after he personally wrote that letter.

But still, I need to know why he is so averse to getting a simple background and physical check for his Guild, especially since I can tell he does not practice any dark magics based on the purity of his magical energy.

I sat down on the chair and took out a bottle of Ale, something that has low alcoholic content but tastes good enough as the real deal.

The old man laughed as I poured it into the two glasses and pushed one towards him.

“Trying to bribe me with drinks? Sorry to say, but that won’t work.”

“Says the guy while draining it in one gulp.”

“HAHAHA! What can I say? I do love me some good alcohol, even if the alcohol content in it is low.”

I smiled a little as the old man laughed jovially.

“Well, I guess that request was a bust from the start. I’ll tell Dawn about your decision. But, I want to ask, why deny it so strongly? I know it is hard to trust the Knights Order, especially after what happened a few years ago with their previous superior, but I know for a fact that they are much better than the Rune Knights of the Magic Council. I can guarantee that they will not overstep their bounds when searching the place and will respect your privacy.”

Roubaul gave me a soft smile, similar to what I used to get from my grandfather from Earth and even my other grandfather from Remnant.

“I can tell that you trust them a lot based on your words. But trust me when I say that there are secrets here that I don’t want falling into the hands of others.”

“…Are you talking about your ancestry?”

The surprised look on his face made me smirk just a little in happiness.

It was no easy task, searching for documents and ancient texts on the lore of this place after Dawn gave me this task. It was as if someone deliberately erased all traces of this land and anything that had to do with it.

Thankfully, I managed to grease a few palms at the Magic Council and got into their restricted section in exchange for giving them information on my ‘Magic’.

The council knew that I would not tell them everything, and what I would tell would be vague things without concrete information, but they considered it an acceptable compromise, giving me limited access to their restricted section of the library.

It was only there that I came to learn about the so-called Nirvit people who lived in these parts some 400 years ago. There are no concrete dates in the grand total of two books I found about them.

What is known is that they were a very secretive but very powerful people with unique magics that nobody could decipher.

I also found evidence that many forces in the past tried to forcefully take the secrets of the Nirvit people in those times, causing conflicts of all kinds and driving the people into becoming nomadic beings above some kind of moving city.

The details are vague, and the records about them stop nearly three centuries ago when the last of them were supposedly spotted in the same area where the Cait Shelter Guild now exists.

Given the old man’s power, their traditions that felt like they had a lot of history to them in the short time I’ve had to observe them, and the way these people looked slightly different from other humans in the nearby towns, I theorize that these people must be descendants of the Nirvit and Roubaul is worried that the Magic Council and the Royal family will come after his people because of his ancestry.

“….How much do you know?”

“I know that this is the area where the last Nirvit was supposedly spotted over three centuries ago. I can tell that your rituals and customs, the little things that I’ve seen during the past few hours, have a lot of history behind them. Since the only tribes that would have that kind of history in this area are the Nirvit, I think you and possibly the rest of your Guild are descended from the Nirvit.”

The man gave me an amused smile as he slowly started to drink from his cup again.

“A sharp mind indeed. Correct. We are indeed descended from the Nirvit, and I am worried that the Knights Order and the Council would not stop harassing us if they came to know of our ancestry. It is why I don’t want them to search the premises of my Guild.”

I nodded at his words.

I strongly wanted to defend the honor of my friends because I knew Dawn, Owen, and the majority of the Knights Order were good people who would never do something like that.

However, I also knew that every organization would have its fair share of idiots chasing glory and dominated by their greed.

It is people like that who will no doubt sell the secrets of Roubaul and his people to the council, or maybe even a strong enough Dark Guild, for their own greed.

….Wait a minute!

I felt a little bit of panic as a thought came to my mind.

“Master Roubaul, if I were able to come to a conclusion so quickly about your ancestry with my limited knowledge, I bet the council can easily come to the same conclusion.”

The old man waved away my worry with a laugh.

“I know. That is why I have several people inside who have worked to remove any such evidence. I’ll just tell them to tighten the leash a little bit and remove any other documentation left about the Nirvit from their libraries with subtlety.”

I nodded as I felt my panic leave.

I am not worried about the guild master and his people. If they are so strong and capable enough of hiding from my senses, something that nobody has been able to do until now, not even the top guild members like that girl from Blue Pegasus, and even that guy from Fairy Tail who destroyed the hotel I was staying at by walking through it last year.

If push comes to shove, I have no doubt that the guild master can fight anyone and put them at a standstill based on his magic energy alone.

However, I am worried about Wendy and Carla.

They are far too young, and the possibility of something happening to them in the event of a conflict breaking out is relatively high.

Any strategist worth their salt will always go for the weakest link in their adversary’s forces, with the weak link here being the little girl and her cat.

Hopefully, things won’t escalate to that extent-

Suddenly, the door was forced open by Lisanna, who excitedly looked at me and Roubaul.

“Jaune-nii, look!”

She showed me her left shoulder, which now held the Guild Mark of Cait Shelter, making me stare dumbly while the ale flowed out of the slack jaw that Master Roubaul sported due to his dumbfounded expression.

“Pepel-san helped me with the guild mark! We are all part of the guild now! Now, come here! You need to get one as well!”

I wanted to protest, but the little spitfire did not even give me the time to do so before dragging me away from my seat with surprising strength.

It was only when she held my wrist did I feel the sudden presence of magic energy within her, something that was absent in the past few days.

She somehow managed to learned magic in a mere few hours and even joined this guild in the single hour I was away.

And given the mark I could see on Elfman’s neck and the way Mirajane was looking at her own mark, it is evident that they joined the guild as well.

……What the actual fuck? How did things become like this in a single hour?