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Chapter 12
The group are back on the road. To Natsu and Wendy's glee, Zirconis has done such damage to the carriage that it is unusable. To make matters worse for the non-dragon slayers, the horses ran away during the battle against Zirconis. Now, they make their way towards the next town on foot.
"It shouldn't be long before Mount Zonia is in sight." Says Mard Geer.
"Man, I can't wait to tell Igneel and Zeref that I fought a dragon!" Natsu announces.
"I can't wait to finally find out if Zeref can help me." Erza says.
"I just want to see Grandine again…" Wendy muses.
The group reaches a small village by the name of Rosemary. True to Mard Geer's words, a large mountain looms in the distance. That mountain is none other than Mount Zonia. It would only be a few more days travel before they reach it.
Erza pauses in front of the village but follows the rest of her companions a moment later.
"We should stock up on supplies while we're here." Anna suggests, "I don't see any reason for us to stay here any longer than necessary."
Natsu and Wendy quietly wonder if this has to do with the last time they stayed in a town. It certainly seems like Anna would prefer to sleep out in the woods than at an inn now. Though, this town looks significantly nicer than the last one. That is until a small group of men run into town holding a very bloody man.
"Out of the way, out of the way!" the men shout as they run past.
The group's eyes are glued to the scene before them. The men carry their injured friend into a house and a large group begins to form around the house. Curiosity getting the better of them, the group steps closer to the house.
"This doesn't look good." Natsu mutters.
"I wonder what happened?" Erza adds.
An older lady answers Erza's question, "I bet it was the demon of the forest."
Mard Geer looks at the woman in confusion, "Demon of the forest?"
The old woman nods her head, "Yeah, they say an evil spirit roams these woods, killing anyone who dares to enter."
Natsu's face lights up, "Ooh, sounds scary."
Wendy begins to tremble as she says, "Y-yeah."
"Speaking of, is that man going to be alright?" Anna asks.
The woman shakes her head, "I have no idea. I'm no doctor but those wounds look really bad."
Anna looks to Wendy who looks back at her nervously. It comes as no surprise to Wendy what Anna is suggesting.
"Well, we happen to have a very gifted healer with us." Mard Geer informs the woman, sealing the deal for Wendy.
"You do!?"
Mard Geer pats Wendy on the back, "Wendy here is the Sky Dragon Slayer, and she specializes in healing magic."
The woman's eyes light up, "Really? Will you help us? Please!? I promise, you will be compensated!"
Wendy looks around nervously. It seems quite a few people were listening in on the conversation. Hopeful eyes rest on Wendy, who is beginning to get very nervous.
"S-sure."
"Oh, thank you!"
The woman takes Wendy by the hand and barrels through the crowd into the house. The rest of her companions follow after her. Inside the house, some women are trying to bandage up the injured man. The woman leading Wendy alerts the others of the young girl's abilities and convinces them to let her do her job. Wendy stands over the hurt man and extends her hands. She begins to pour purified air into his wounds. In no time at all, the bleeding stops, and the wounds begin to close. At last, the man is in stable condition. Aside for the blood stains on his clothes, it doesn't even look like he was attacked.
The women celebrate Wendy's work and embrace the young girl, thoroughly freaking her out. Erza and Anna step in to help get Wendy out of that uncomfortable position.
"How can we ever repay you?"
"Well, we could use some supplies." Anna tells them.
The women look to Wendy for confirmation, and once she gives it, a few of them lead the group to the general store. The village is very generous in supplying them, and even offer to just give them the supplies for free. While Anna is enthusiastic about getting free stuff, Erza informs the women that they can't just take stuff for free. They settle on a discounted price.
As they are loading up Erza's wagon, the only thing that survived the dragon attack, the man Wendy healed approaches the group. He walks over without so much as a limp. He is wearing a fresh set of clothes, and all the blood is washed off of his skin.
"Are you the young girl who healed me?" He asks Wendy.
Wendy nods her head yes in response.
The man bows before her, "Thank you, very much!"
"It's uh…not a problem."
"I owe my life to you!"
"You really don't…"
Curious about what beat this man up so badly, Natsu approaches the man, "Hey, what did that to you?"
The man gives Natsu a grim look, "Some kind of bull demon."
"Bull demon?"
He now has everyone's attention.
"It was some kind of big man with an iron bull mask thing." He informs them, "He attacked me with an axe."
"How long has this 'bull demon' been terrorizing your town?" Mard Geer asks.
"A few months now."
Erza contemplates something for a moment and says, "Maybe we should check this out…"
"I wouldn't if I were you. That thing is dangerous."
Natsu smirks at the man, "Well, so are we."
The man looks around nervously. He sees that the group before him looks confident that they can take down this threat, except for Wendy. He debates giving them anymore information.
"Fine, I ran into it in the forest in that direction." He points out towards the forest, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"We'll be fine." Natsu assures him.
Thank you for reading!
Who is this bull demon that is terrorizing the town?
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