This is Chapter two of my rewrite. I hope you'll enjoy it. And please review. I'll read every last one of them and I'll select some to respond to them at the beginning of every new chapter.
Silvanatri: Glad you enjoyed it. Also if you tell me which scenes you thought weren't explained I will explain to you whatever you didn't understand about them or what seemed to be not made to clear to you.
cruel vamp: I am glad that you liked it. So far you are the only one who has noticed or at least commented on Sorins cameo appearance.
Lootryx: That's the reason it seemed like such a dramatic change. Without having all the background it must've looked as if Naruto's personality changed 180 degrees. That is one of the reasons why I decided to rewrite this story. In any case if it remains exactly as it is now remains to be seen.
nxkris: Yes. Erza will still defeat him. That is a crucial point that wont change.
dbzsotrum9, TeninChwang and forbiddenfruitunloved (who both reviewed on the AN of the first story) I have noted your particular distate for a polyamorous relationship inside this fiction. And I do understand it, but for now my decision stands to have both Erza and Meredy involved and with very high certainty a third character that may come as a surprise to everyone. Beyond that it's open if I add more. At the very least I feel confident to make that much work, if I do change my mind because I am unable to make it work out the way I wanted I will notify everyone. Also to dbzsotrum9 and forbiddenfruitunloved. I wont add a dead love interest anymore. Some of the reason will likely be revealed by reading this chapter. The other reason is that the only period of time this pretty much would be possible would be between this and the last chapter and while I wont deny that Naruto is coming/came into puberty and does begin to notice girls during that time, at the same time he is much too focused on his revenge to consciously chase a love interest.
Year X780
It had been two years since he turned Konoha into a ghost town. Killing every last person that had been inside Konoha that day. Since then he had been wandering Fiore, beginning far in the west before following the coast eastward, in search of knowledge on Zeref, devouring the few mages that he came across to get to their knowledge and magic of course but that was a mere side benefit. The most he seemed to get out of those people he had devoured and made a part of him was the general history of Zeref, things you could come to know by visiting any common library, few if any did have specialized knowledge about the Black Mage.
Furthermore he had found out that he had been called the 'Crimson Reaper', a name he very much liked, a S-Ranked Criminal that is supposed to be brought to justice, according to the order of the Magic Council. Whereas some of the less magic savvy people thought he was a vampire for his tendency to leave husks, drained of their blood in his wake.
'Fools, all of them.' He thought to himself in disdain of such stupid people.
Naruto moved one of his hands through his shoulderlength blonde hair having grown it to that length. His height too had increased a bit to five inch and three feet. In his search for Zeref's whereabouts he had not advanced at all. As it stood now Zeref seemed to be dead, as all history books would claim, which was why he was working on a methode of ressurecting a dead person.
However such a thing seemed to be even more impossible than procuring any knowledge on Zeref in the first place.
Currently he had taken residence in Narcissus a rather large port town on the coast of Fiore just south of Era where the national Magic Council had its seat.
Since he had taken steps to ensure no one knew his face, which was by killing all those that recognized him or that witnissed him killing anybody, nobody here knew that he was a wanted criminal that had slaughtered a whole village and many more.
Though as he spent more and more time in Narcissus he came to hate the people here too and if the town wasn't as big as it was he would have done more than entertain himself with the thought of slaughtering them all, because the people here were just like the name of their town suggested narcissistic.
Not just in the 'I am the most beautiful person on earth' sense but in the 'Our town is so important and we are all better than you' as well. Beauty really mattered in this town. It was just good of him that he made them think he was a noble from Crocus, else they probably would have treated him like dirt too.
The city itself was split up into four areas. In the middle of the city and making up the entire east section was the market district. In it's center was a large plaza with a huge fountain in the middle. North of the marketplace was the residential district. The place where one could find the majority of people living, the Golden Ship inn and the church. South of the plaza was the Port district. That was the place all the ships anchored and travelers no matter if they arrived by ship or train would see first. And the fourth area laid in the west. To the west of the market lived the rich and influential and you could find the mayor's office in that direction.
Also Narcissus buildings were color coded. The most important buildings were pristine white. The buildings of merchants were gold colored. The houses in the port district were either blue or green. And most buildings in the residential area were red.
'Clothes do make the man afterall.' Naruto thought, because he looked quite regal in his outfit, which consisted of red trousers with white stripes, a exquisite blue kneelength robe, that was white inside and had lots of gold colored ornaments. His feets meanwhile were covered in a pair of fine leather boots. It was a surprise that he managed to wear an outfit with so little of the color red in it because quite frankly he was obsessed with that color. He would freely admit that much.
Officially he resided in the Golden Ship, a rather luxurious inn sitting just north of the market district of the town though he had connected a well concealed entrance from his hidden laboratory in the sewers of the city to the wine cellar of the inn, so as to not arouse suspicion of being seen by anyone on the Nightwatch.
Another reason he choose a port town was that the salty sea-air would conceal any strange smelling fumes that could come out of the sewers, as a sideeffect of mixing liquids and substances, at worst people would think somebody was selling rotten fish.
But back to his problem of ressurrecting a dead person. Currently he was experimenting if his Blood Magic could be of any use in that. You never knew until you tried afterall.
Normally the answer would be a definite no. The blood of a Blood Mage was not capable of being of service to anyone else but him or herself, hence why it was a Black Magic. If his pure,untempered blood ever entered the bloodstream of another person or an animal they would probably feel either excrutiating pain or collapse of anemia soon after ingesting it, since he hadn't tried it so far he had little certainty. For now he had been picking up any stray cat, dog and rat he came across and experimented on them.
As of now the concotion he gave them caused them to experience enhanced levels of aggression and a great desire for blood. Their blood cell production and the pace at which the blood was pumped through the body seemed to increase as well. This increased their strength and speed allowing more high powered and high speed moves. In the aftermath they died a horrible death. Blood starts to fill their eyes turning the sclera blood red, before the blood bursts out of their eye sockets giving the impression of the animals crying blood.
Then blood starts pouring out of their ears and finally they are coughing it up as well, until they collapse dead on the ground. It was likely a stress reaction. Their organs probably ruptured from the high blood pressure at which the blood was pumped through their veins and arteries. Thus the cause of death was likely organ failure.
Currently though all he had done was add powdered mandrake root to his blood. Though failure was part of every great success. For now he had to somehow stabilize the concotion so that the user wouldn't die. Maybe the enhanced blood cell production could be used in some way.
He passed the many shopping citizen of the town who went after their everyday business. Finally he came upon his inn, the Golden Ship. The façade of the inn was completely white with a small ornate golden ship which hung over the entrance.
He walked towards the receptionist, a rather slimy man in his mid thirties. Eite was his name. He was just a a bit taller than him, standing five feet and seven inches tall. He had short black hair that was slicked back, looking like it was completely coated in grease. He wore a white button up shirt and a black pair of pants. The shirt was slightly undone giving a slight view of a chest covered in large amount of hair. Around his neck hung a thick gold necklace and on his right hand were a few plain gold rings.
"Good day, Naruto-sama." Eite greeted with a false smile, his voice just as oily as it always was"Finished your errands for today already?"
"Of course, Eite. Would I have returned, if I didn't?" Naruto returned adopting a haughty and arrogant persona.
"Forgive me Naruto-sama. It was stupid of me to question you." He replied servile bowing slightly with his upper body"May I ask what I can do for you, Naruto-sama?"
"Eite, during my errands I came across more of those nasty animals." Here Naruto sneered in fake disdain"You know the ones with the red eyes, that are aggressive and die pretty fast."
"Yes,yes I am truly sorry Naruto-sama. It seems some sort of epidemy has struck those animals. But our best doctors don't know what it is. So long as they don't know what is plaguing them we can't do anything." The greasy haired receptionist tried to calm the blond haired teenager down
"That doesn't satisfy me Eite. If my father in Crocus hears about this, yours and all of Narcissus profit is going to sink drastically. I want it taken care of and soon at that. I don't care if you have to hire a Guild to do it, but I want to have it taken care of." Naruto stressed the importance of the subject to the greasy haired man"I am going to my room now and as always do not disturb me or the consequences will be grave."
"Of course, Naruto-sama. I will instantly send a missive to the Mayor who will hire the best guild available." Eite reassured the blond 'noble' with a fake smile"And as always you wont be disturbed."
'Arrogant little brat…' the Innkeeper thought angrily while his slimy subservient smile stayed on his face'If he didn't pay so well I would show him how to pay proper respect to his betters. Little daddies boy probably can't even lift a weapon.'
'Perhaps I over-acted a bit. If they do send a competent mage he could sense my magic, which would mean I would have to eliminate them and then that is going to cost me my cover…' The blonde was a bit distressed that he made a grave mistake but was confident he could work around it, if it came to it.
He walked the flight of stairs upward, leaving the innkeeper seething as he wrote a letter to the mayor of Narcissus.
He then called for a page to deliver the letter.
The mayor's office could be found to the west of the market district. On the outside it was pristine white like any other important building of the town. Inside however it was decorated in a way that seemed fit for royalty. Eveywhere hung red and gold colored banners with the narcissus flower, the eblem of the town, embroided in white. In the foyer of the building stood a pair of golden narcissus flower statues.
The mayor obviously had not shied away from any kind of expense to make this the most pompous building in the town.
The page walked the stairs up until he arrived at the secretary's office, beyond which laid the mayor's office.
He turned the door knob and entered the office. The secretary was a woman that many men outside of Narcissus would deem to be a beauty. She had fair skin, shoulderlength brown hair tied into a ponytail, emerald green eyes and a fairly large bust. However she also had to wear a pair of glasses.
Which in the eyes of the people of Narcissus detracted from a persons beauty, as it no longer was 'natural'. As a matter of fact if you had any kind of imperfection in other words a birth mark,glasses,scars anything of the sort your social standing even among the lowest of the working class in Narcissus took a big hit.
"Hello, Bria. I've got to deliver a message from Eite." The page informed the secretary
"Sorry, Theo, but Mayor Preence is pretty busy at the moment. You'll have to wait." Bria responded stopping her work for a moment"Just take a seat he should be done soon."
The page, Theo, took a seat and sighed in dismay, Eite would no doubt chew him out for returning too late.
About ten minutes later frantic shouting could be heard from the mayor's office.
"But…but Mayor Preence. I am sure some sort of demon has placed a cursed upon our wonderful city. If… If you would just…increase the gracious donations you are making to our church I am sure we could hire an expert exorcist to take care of the problem." A rather high voice said to the mayor
"No, means NO! I wont waste any more of our towns well earned money on some spiritual mumbo-jumbo." The deep voice of the mayor had a high pitch to it in his agitation"You should be happy that I decide to donate money at all to your little club. AND NOW OUT!" Preence screamed that last part rather loudly.
The door opened and a dejected looking man left the room. He was clothed in an expensive purple robe. He was the priest that took care of the church that could be found in the residential district, not all that far from the Golden Ship.
"Are any more people going to bother me today, Bria?" the mayor asked his scretary.
Preence was a small rotund man with balding brown hair. He was only about 5 feet tall and he probably weighed more than twice any person of his height did. He wore a grey suit with white stripes. The cord of a golden pocketwatch could be seen hanging out of one of his pockets. Small beads of sweat had formed upon his forehead which he hastily wiped away with a silken handkerchief. The only reason someone like him was Mayor in a city that valued beauty was because of the money he had. He had bribed everyone else that had tried to get elected and as the only person left in the end he became mayor by default.
"Yes, sir. Theo, the young page from the Golden Ship, has a message for you from Eite." Bria explained curtly
"Ah, Theo, my boy. How are you?" Preence asked with a large fake smile that betrayed his annoyance. Whenever Eite sent a message it didn't bode well for him.
'That guy is always demanding things.' Preence thought grimly
"I am fine thank you, sir." Theo handed the letter to Preence "Well, I've got to be going Mayor Preence. I've still got a lot of work to do at the Golden Ship." Theo bowed a little so as to not anger the mayor for taking a quick leave.
"Of course, my boy." The Mayor nodded absentmindedly as the page left the building.
The small man opened the letter and began reading it, his face taking on an interesting shade of red before it turned to purple. At first he crumbled the piece of paper in his hand before tearing it to little shreds in anger.
"Bria…" his teeth were gritted in rage "I want you to send a job request to a Mage Guild. They are to take care of the animal problem we are having, make it an extermination Job with a bonus for finding out the cause."
"Yes,sir." The secretery obliged with her employers demands and wrote a job request. Including some information, before sending it to the guild of Fairy Tail, as when it came to destroying things they were probably the best at it.
A few days later. Magnolia Town, Fairy Tail Guild Hall.
A young fifteen year old teenage girl with scarlet hair and brown eyes entered the Guild Hall.
She wore a white shirt with a scarlet cravat, a white kneelength skirt, a blue pantyhose and a pair of brown leather shoes. If her torso and arms weren't covered in plate armor one would have been able to see the growing pair of breasts beneath her clothes. Two leatherstripes fastened a sheath, which held a sword, to her attire. A blue fairy-tail tattoo could have been seen on the middle of her left arm if it wasn't covered by the long sleeves of her white shirt.
She was Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's newest S-Rank Mage, having passed the S-Rank Trial that had been held mere days ago on Tenrou Island, besting her rival Mirajane to the position.
"Congratulations on passing Erza." The words echoed through the guild hall being spoken by most of her comerades
"Good job, kiddo." Gildarts congratulated her with a big grin and slammed his flat hand, perhaps a bit too hard, unto her back as she nearly keeled over.
"Thank you, Gildarts." She brought out with the last bit of her breath and saw him leaving with a job request in hand.
"You were just lucky." A white haired girl with blue eyes commented. She was Mirajane Strauss oldest of the Take Over siblings and closest to the title of S-Rank Mage. She was also Erza's most fierce rival. She wore a short purple tank-top, purple hotpants held up by a white belt with a silver clasp and a pair of knee high boots. Two bangs framed her face and her long hair was done in a ponytail held together by a purple ribbon.
"Don't be mean to Erza, Onee-chan." Lisanna, the youngest of the Take-over Siblings, pleaded knowing that another fight between them could break out any moment.
Lisanna had short white hair and blue eyes like her sister. She wore a big pink shirt that was many sizes too big for her and red slippers.
The older girl huffed in anger "Next time I am going to be an S-Ranked Mage too."
The scarlet haired girl smirked "I'll be waiting for you, Mira."
The white haired mage scowled and walked away.
"Don't be angry with Mira-nee. I think she is happy that you got promoted too." Lisanna explained
"It's okay, Lisanna. I understand."
The young girl smiled and followed her sister.
Erza walked upstairs to the second floor of the Guild Hall, the part of the guild that was reserved for S-Ranked Mages. At the moment that included three people in Fairy Tail. Laxus Dreyar, the Master's grandson, Gildarts Clive, the strongest Mage, excluding the Master, in the guild, and her the guild's newest S-Ranked Mage.
This was the first time she would go alone on an S-Rank Quest. She had accompanied Gildarts once or twice to get some experience as to what these S-Rank Quests were like. She surveyed the jobs posted on the board until her gaze fell upon one particular job.
Request: Extermination in Narcissus
The Mayor of Narcissus offers 6 million Jewels for the Mage that can exterminate all infected animals and a bonus of 2 million if the source of the unnatural infection can be found.
This job sounded relatively easy for a S-Rank Mission, but it would serve as a good first solo S-Rank Mission.
She ripped the mission from the board and made her way towards Magnolia's trainstation, having everything she needed in her Requip space.
Just as she was about to exit the Guild Hall a small old man with grey hair and a grey mustrache spoke to her. He wore an orange jacket over a white shirt with the Fairy Tail emblem, an orange pair of shorts, brown shoes and an orange and blue striped jester hat. That was the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar.
"Already leaving for your first job, Erza?" he asked her with a smile
"Yes, Master." She affirmed "I mustn't shirk my duties just because I got promoted to S-Rank."
"Which job did you decide to take?"
"The extermination in Narcissus."
"Alright have fun and take care of yourself." He wished her farewell as she left the guild for the trainstation, she would probably arrive in the morning or afternoon of the next day.
Suddenly all color drained from the Masters face'Narcissus… wasn't that the general area the Crimson Reaper had been reported to be in?' the small man gulped hoping that no harm would befall his 'child'
The next Day
Erza woke up and stretched her stiff body having not slept well on the hard furniture of the train. Her eyes adapting to the bright light as she pulled the sun shield back up. The train ride had been quite unspectacular. Nothing of note happened, her thoughts and the newest issue of the Sorcerers Magazin were all she had to occupy herself with.
"Next stop, Narcissus. I repeat. Next stop, Narcissus." The voice of the conducter filled the wagons, as he spoke over the intercom "All passengers with their destination as Narcissus, this is your stop."
Slowly the train came to a grinding halt, the gears squeaking loudly before the train stopped fully.
The scarlet haired mage got up from her seat and left the train.
"I should probably talk to the mayor to get all the information I need."
Unfortunately she didn't know where the mayor's office was, so she needed to ask someone for directions, which would prove more difficult than Erza would have thought.
"Excuse me?" she stopped a young black haired woman with blue eyes"Could you tell me how to get to the mayor's office?"
The woman took a single glance at Erza and scoffed, before ignoring her and continuing on her way.
"That was rude." The red haired girl muttered, before she stopped the next person. A slightly older man in his late fourties. He had brown hair green eyes and a well trimmed beard. This person ignored her as well. This irritated her a little bit.
For the next half an hour she tried to get people to respond to her, without success and quite frankly she was pretty pissed of. Angry as she was she grabbed the next person she saw at the scruff of his neck, glaring at him"Tell me how to get to the mayor's office." She growled at the blond haired boy, who looked like he was just about her age.
"Could you please let…" Naruto tried to finish his sentence when he saw the scarlet hair of the person, that had grabbed him. It belonged to a teenage girl that must have been about his age.
'S-she is beautiful.' Naruto thought. In his mind that red hair of hers was absolutely perfect. Naruto wanted nothing more than to touch her hair, caress those silken scarlet strands. He barely supressed the urge to just reach out and grab some of it. He had to have this girl. However he realized another thing as well, she had a sizeable portion of magic power inside as well'She must be the mage that fool of a mayor hired.'
Naruto was torn, if it came to it he didn't think he would be able to kill her but he had to if he wished to preserve his secret.
"JUST ANSWER MY QUESTION!" the girl nearly screamed his face off.
"I-if you'd just put me down." He promised her "I will answer any question you have. I swear"
She gave him a scrutinizing stare "Fine." She told him and dropped him on the ground.
Naruto exhaled in relief and dusted himself off"You want to get to the mayor's office, right?"
She nodded in response.
"You are currently in the south-eastern part of the city. You will have to follow the street west until you come to the port district. Once you arrive at a tavern called Salty Bilgerat follow the street north until you arrive at the central marketplace, it is marked by a large fountain in the middle of the plaza. From then just continue following the road west until you come across the first pristine white building you see. Take the stairs to the first floor where you will find the secretary's office, beyond that you will find the office of the mayor."
"Thank you…"
"Oh sorry, I am Naruto Uzumaki." He smiled and held his hand out"It's nice to meet you…"
"Erza Scarlet. I am pleased to make your acquaintance Naruto-san." She shook his hand "You know this city of yours is pretty rude. You are probably the fiftieth person I asked and the first to answer me how to get to the mayor's office."
"Actually I am not from here. I am from the capital."
"Crocus?" she raised an eyebrow in surprise
"Yes, Crocus. My father is allowing me to stay here on vacation." He lied, not that Erza knew that"But I get your problem with the people here. As the name of the city implies they are pretty narcissistic. With the way you look they probably thought you weren't worth their time."
"Not worth their time?" she inquired sceptically
"Yes, if you do not look like a noble or are a merchant people here wont talk to an outsider. They consider it to be beneath them." Naruto let out an exasperate sigh "It does get quite tiring."
"I can imagine." The red haired mage noted with a grim expression and then blushed"I am sorry for the way I treated you but I was just so…."
"Angry?" he cut her off and after seeing her nod he chuckled mirthfully"Yes, I imagine you must have been quite frustrated but don't worry about it. You didn't harm me in the least. By the way that scarlet color of your hair is just beautiful." Naruto complimented her with a warm smile, which caused a light blush to form on her cheeks
"T-t-thank you, Naruto-san." She stammered lightly embarassed as she was unused to such compliments
"You may drop the formalties. Just call me, Naruto." He put his best charming smile on, causing her to just nod in response "Well if you are planning to stay a bit longer here there are three places you can rent a room at. Down in the port district at the 'Salty Bilgerat' and the 'Groggy Seadog'. They don't charge much, just about 700 Jewels a day mainly because it is used by sailors and fishermen." The blonde explained "If you however want to live with a bit more flair in the residential area, north of the marketplace you will find the 'Golden Ship', that is where I am staying at the moment. They charge quite a bit more namely 15000 Jewels a day. If you aren't too occupied come visit me, I can show you the city and maybe you'll allow me to treat you to dinner…" Well the only reason he was able to pay the large fee was because he took the liberty of taking the money his victims had on their person.
Erza had forced her blush down "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer. As I believe this job is going to take more than a few days." She said
"Job? What kind of job brings you here?" the blonde asked innocently, feigning ignorance
She smiled proudly "I am a mage from Fairy Tail. I have been hired to take care of some infected animals and maybe find out what is causing it as well."
Naruto faked awe "Wow, you must be pretty strong then. I came across some of these beasts and they are pretty nasty."
Erza nodded "Yeah, I have just been promoted to S-Rank." She wasn't usually one for bragging except when it came to contesting with Mirajane but for some reason she felt the need to impress Naruto
'Red hair,beautiful and strong…' He was sure there were few girls and woman who combined those traits quite like her. His desire to have her be his grew exponentially.
"That's amazing. Well I've got some shopping to do. I wish you a good day." He smiled and bid her farewell "Good luck with your appointment."
"Thank you, Naruto." She turned around and followed the description the blond had given her.
Narcissus, Mayor's Office
Erza had arrived at the place just as Naruto had described. She entered the secretary's office.
"Hello, I am here because of the job request." She stated and the brown haired woman looked up from her work. She seemed to have been checking different expenditures and incomes by the look of it.
"Ah welcome, Miss…"
"Erza Scarlet."
"The mayor has been expecting you Miss Scarlet."
Erza nodded and opened the door that led to the mayor, not hearing the"Awefully young." Bria had muttered
"Welcome." Preence stated in a boisterous voice"I am the mayor of this city, Ignatius Preence. I welcome you to our wonderful city, Miss Mage."
"My name is Erza Scarlet." The red haired girl introduced herself once again, a hint of annoyance in her voice
"Ah yes Miss Scarlet." He eyed her with a sceptic gaze, a false smile on his lips"Excuse me, if I am not well informed, but aren't you a bit young to take this job?"
A slight feeling of anger had welled up inside Preence feeling betrayed that he had been sent a small girl instead of an experienced mage. He was silenced quickly though, as Erza had drawn her sword in a flash holding it to the mayor's throat.
"You'd do well not to underestimate a Fairy Tail mage, Mister Preence." She said in a dangerous voice
The balding man began to sweat profusely "Yes, I am sorry that I questioned you, Miss Scarlet." He apologized
The rookie S-Rank mage resheathed her sword again"Alright, I would like to know more about the job I am supposed to carry out."
The mayor, using his handkerchief, wiped his sweat away "Well, it began about a week or so ago. Mostly stray animals had gone missing so we didn't think much of it, after all who cares for some dirty little strays." The small fat man sneered in disgust"But then just a day later some of them reappeared. They had red eyes and were very, very vicious. They bit and attacked anyone that came close to them, the worst thing about it is that they are much stronger than a normal animal of their size. One dog came close to biting a dock workers leg off in one bite. The strange thing is those animals don't make it past half an hour or maybe an hour at most. They die horribly afterwards. Blood seeps out of their eyes, ears and mouth and then they just fall over dead…" the mayor sat down in his large chair" The few people that have been bitten are feverish and just like the animals very aggressive, but stable. Every last bite victim has recovered after one or two days of rest. And our best doctors haven't been able to figure out what's plaguing the animals. They are saying that it isn't even an infection and somebody is turning them into those bloodthirsty animals, but that couldn't be true right?" the rotund man seemed to be visibly distressed"I mean the Nightwatch didn't find anyone roaming the streets at night, so how could this be?"
'This definitely isn't normal.' Erza contemplated the information she had been given"Well your doctors, might be right with their assumption. Someone could be using Forbidden Magic on these animals to turn them into bloodthirsty beasts." However Erza had never heard of a magic capable of turning good-natured animals into frenzied beasts.
"Well then let me change the mission. I am willing to pay you ten million Jewels if you find out who the culprit is and stop him." The mayor promised her
"Mayor Preence, I will stop the culprit and return peace to your city." Erza swore on her honor as a mage that she wouldn't leave this mission unfinished.
She left the mayor's office and walked down to the port district, the sun had already begun to set, casting an orange glow over the city. She entered the Salty Bilgerat, which was filled with many drunken sailors, walking to the person she presumed was the keeper of the tavern. He was a large bulky man with long messy brown hair and a full beard. He was currently polishing a dirty glass.
"Excuse me?" she asked
"I am Gnoin welcome ta the Salty Bilgerat."he said, finally looking up to her"What can I do fer ya young lass?" he asked gruffly
"I would like to rent a room." Erza requested
"Aye, I bet ye would like to do that." He said and shook his head"No can do though, sorry lass. All rooms are taken."
"Oh…I am sorry for bothering you then." She turned around and would see if she could get a room at the Groggy Seadog
"It's alright lass." He said setting the glass he had been polishing down and took a new, dirty one"If ye intend ter go to the Groggy Seadog, don't bother. My brother Gloin has rented out all rooms too. It's fer the grand market that is going to be held this week. If ya still want ta get the room try the Golden Ship up in the residential district."
'Well, I hope this job is not going to take all too long. I just have 50000 Jewels with me. Any more than three days and I am broke.' She mused'If I didn't need to find the culprit, I would just camp outside the city, but since it's this large I don't think I can afford to.'
She then made her way north to the residential district, quickly arriving at the grand inn 'Golden Ship'.
She entered the buidling and saw the black haired receptionist and already got a bad vibe from him.
"Welcome in the Golden Ship inn. How can I be of service, Miss?" he asked her with his usual fake smile
She could feel the man's lecherous eyes on her body, but decided to ignore that"I would like to rent a room."
"Yes, of course." He nodded and continued to keep his false smile up "How long do you intent to stay?"
"I don't know, that depends how long I need to conclude my job in this city."
"Hmmm…" he seemed to contemplate her situation"With the grand market coming up this week, this might be bad for business you know? You could be taking up room I would usually rent out to a merchant. That would cost me a lot of money…"Eite put up a large grin "But for 70000 Jewels upfront I'll be able to give you a room."
Erza blanched. She wouldn't be able to pay the amount of money the innkeeper demanded, which would be a major setback for her mission. She was about to leave the inn when she heard a familiar voice.
"You sicken me, Eite. This is no way to treat an esteemed guest." Naruto spoke full of disdain descending the stairs
"B-but Naruto-sama, you have to understand I just can't give her the room under any other circumstances." He pleaded
'On one hand it would make keeping my cover much easier if she couldn't take residence in the city but…' Naruto knew he'd regret this but he just had to have Erza Scarlet, he desired her, she had to be his.
The blonde sighed audible, the other two occupants in the room thought it was because he was fed up with the greedy attitude of Eite. If they could read minds they would have known that it instead was because of a conflict of interests inside his mind "I will pay the fee for her." He said before adding "And if I see or hear of you ripping off another person, Eite… I'll make sure to have you kicked out of this place and see to it that you will never again will be able to set foot into a respectable business."
The greasy haired man almost seemed to grovel in front of him"Of course, Naruto-sama. Certainly, Naruto-sama. I wouldn't dream of doing anything like this."
Eite took a ornate silver key with the number ten and handed it to her. He was about to call a page to show Erza to her room but Naruto stopped him.
"That wont be needed Eite, I'll show her to her room, seeing as it is opposite of mine."
The man bowed in subservience"Certainly, Naruto-sama." He said and the two people walked upstairs. Once they were out of sight Eite slammed his hand on the couner"That damnable well paying brat." He growled out in anger "Making me act inferior to this outsider… I hate him, I hate him so much…"
Once upstairs Naruto pointed at a door with the number ten"That is your room."
"You didn't need to pay for me, I could have just as well camped outside the city." She stated feeling guilty of using a persons good well
"Don't worry about that, that's what friends are for, right?" he asked with a smile
"Friends?"
"Yes, I would like to be friends…" he fell silent his expression growing sad before continuing"if you don't want to that is fine as well."
She shook her head"No, I would like that."
"That's great." He responded with a smile"And I am sorry about Eite he knows that with the Salty Bilgerat and Groggy Seadog fully booked he can charge whatever he wants too."
"Yeah, I got the feeling that he wasn't all that happy to have you pay for me."
The blonde chuckled"Yeah, he doesn't like me all that well." He told her "He considers himself superior to everyone, especially outsiders so the fact that he has to pay me respect really gets to him. Eite really isn't the most pleasant guy to be around."
The red haired girl nodded in agreement.
"In any case I better get some sleep and you'd better do the same. I am sure you're quite exhausted after travelling all the way."
"Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning, Naruto." Erza said and inserted the key into the lock and turned it, opening the door to her room which she entered right away.
"Till tomorrow." He said bidding her farewell, as the door closed behind him and he heard the door being locked.
He turned around and sneaked away never entering his room with the number nine, instead he snuck into the wine cellar opened the concealed pathway and made his way towards his hidden laboratory, where he would be experimenting a few more hours until he went into his room and slept as well.
Well that was Chapter number two of my rewrite.
Useful Information: Mandrake root causes delirium and hallucinations. In high doses, it can even send the user into a coma.
Interestingly enough I didn't know that when I choose it to be the first test ingredient during Naruto's experiment.
Also for those interested in converting Fairy Tail currency into real Money. According to Fairy Tail wiki 100 Jewels are aproximately One US Dollar.
Spell Grimoir
No Magic has been cast during this chapter. No addition to the Grimoir.