thefictionvixens Chapter 325 This is the veteran actor
Chapter 325 This is the veteran actor
Chapter 325 This is what a veteran actor is like (Please subscribe!)
[Ding! Mission triggered!]
Task Name: "Safe Return!"
Task details:
Through "Memories of Time," you travel back in time to Magnolia six years ago. To ensure the future remains unaffected, you must lead this time-travel journey, safely return with your companions, and ensure everything is alright.
Task progress:
Lead all companions back (incomplete)
Mission Reward: Randomly selected Saint Cloths or Skills from the five main characters.
After glancing at the system-triggered task, Moen closed the panel.
There's not much to say about this task; it was something he had to do anyway. But he never expected that this one task would trigger two tasks. He triggered one task when he was a child, and he triggered another task now.
If I had to put it that way, this should be considered as two tasks being triggered at the same time.
However, it's clear that his task was simpler when he was a child. The real challenge is for him now, who is in charge of everything behind the scenes. This can also be seen from the task rewards. When he was a child, he only received a random Silver Saint skill as a reward, while this task directly targets the five main characters.
Wearing a mask, Moen appeared in the alley of Magnolia, while his crows flew high in the sky, watching the "actors" and constantly sending back messages.
In the end, Moen decided to keep an eye on Natsu and Gray. In comparison, Lucy and Erza were more reassuring, and he also gave them some rehearsals.
Moen disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was not far from where Natsu and Gray were. He silently watched the two people and the cat, observing their every move.
Natsu, Gray, and Happy actually listened to Erza and Lucy's advice, and the two of them and the cat did some simple disguises.
Gray wore a yellow wig and a white headscarf, while Natsu wore a black wig. Both of them had changed their clothes, and even Happy was disguised as a yellow bear costume.
"That way, I won't be afraid of being recognized!"
Natsu grinned, thinking he had done a good job of disguising himself, and indeed, they were much better disguised than Lucy and Erza.
The two people and the cat didn't do anything outrageous; they just walked excitedly down the street, chattering about the changes in Magnolia and looking at the shops that now only existed in their memories.
It's not that all of them have closed down; some have simply moved to a different location. As new businesses come in, old ones naturally go out. Magnolia has developed rapidly in the past few years, and some businesses that couldn't keep up with the times inevitably had to make adjustments.
"I quite like this store."
Naz pointed to a restaurant, quite sadly, because the restaurant no longer existed six years later.
"It's all thanks to you."
Gray muttered to himself, "This shop was destroyed by Natsu, and this guy is still lamenting about it? Natsu lost a lot of money back then, doesn't he even remember?"
"what?"
Natsu's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but scratch his head. He really couldn't remember. There was no way around it; he had caused too much destruction. Just like a person can't remember how many slices of bread they've eaten, Natsu couldn't remember how much destruction he had caused.
This is what happens when you've been a mage for so many years, done countless missions, and earned a lot of money, but have no savings whatsoever.
In a sense, Natsu is exactly the kind of slave that the Mage Guild loves most: powerful, always on missions, never saves money, always on missions, never considers retirement, never takes a long break—he's practically a fully automatic slave.
"Fortunately, these guys know what's important."
After watching the two people and the cat for a while, Moen breathed a sigh of relief. There were no problems at the moment. The two people and the cat had already headed towards the outer city and were heading towards the small river where they often went.
"In X778, I've only been with the guild for a year, and Ignir has only been missing for a year. I'm going to find Ignir!"
Just as Moen was about to leave, Natsu suddenly got excited. "Finding Ignir" was like a main quest that had been running through Natsu's life ever since he first joined the guild.
"Don't be silly! You were looking for it every day back then, but you still couldn't find it. What's the point of coming back to look for it now?"
Furthermore, we can't go too far, otherwise Moen and the others might not be able to find us.
When Natsu triggered the underlying code, Gray immediately pinned him down; of the two men and the cat, he was clearly the most conscious.
You're right...
'
Natsu paused for a moment, then abandoned his previous idea. He wasn't someone who acted without thinking; he knew Gray was right, and besides, he had searched almost the entire area before and still couldn't find it, so there was no point in looking now.
"Speaking of which, Harpy should be joining the guild soon, probably in the second half of the year, right?"
The two people and the cat squatted side by side by the river, watching the babbling stream and reminiscing about what happened in X778.
That was a year in which a lot happened. Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna all joined the guild that year. The guild became more and more lively, and most of the members had arrived.
"Love! I was born in this year!"
"Harpy said loudly."
Happy felt that this experience was very strange. He had actually come to a time before he was even born and met Natsu, Gray, and Erza before he was born.
Suddenly, a slightly teasing, familiar voice broke the tranquility of the riverbank from behind them: "Do you remember how you got your name?"
"Wow!"
The sudden sound startled the two people and the cat, who jumped up from the ground as if their tails had been stepped on. Their movements were so synchronized that they almost fell into the river below together.
"Moen! Have you thought of a way back?"
Gray turned around and saw Moen standing behind them, who had already removed his mask. He immediately asked.
Gray thought Moen had come to take them back. He knew Moen would definitely find them; the crows flying in the sky must have caught up with the three of them immediately.
"No, Erza is trying to figure something out, and Lucy is looking for you."
Moen shook his head and explained the current progress, leaving Gray completely bewildered. This division of labor seemed a bit off, didn't it? Shouldn't Moen be the one figuring things out, the one coming to them for help?
Although this might make Erza and Lucy seem useless, it's true that it would be much easier for Moen to do these things.
"This is a test for you. Just pretend I didn't come along. Whether you can go back and solve the problem is entirely up to you. I'll go back by myself in a bit."
With a smile on his face, Moen changed his story to the two people and the cat, leaving them dumbfounded.
"How could this be?!"
"Harpy yelled! They've been so relaxed because of Moen, and now Moen's going to leave them here?!"
"That's it, Happy. I forgot to remind you, if you did something wrong, you might not have been born at all, and the name Happy might have ceased to exist."
Moen squinted at Happy, a creepy smile on his face, and said something that scared Happy so much that he was completely terrified.
"How...how could this be...impossible!"
Happy froze completely, his big, round eyes instantly filling with tears of fear, his little paws gripping the edge of his mascot costume tightly. That kind of thing... No way!
"Alright, that's all for now. I'm leaving."
After saying this, Moen stopped wasting words with them. He put on his mask again, his magic surged, and his figure disappeared instantly, teleporting into the city.
"6
'
The remaining two people and the cat looked at each other in bewilderment. Happy still looked terrified, while Gray was somewhat worried. Could Erza solve the problem?
"Seriously, why do we have to put them through this kind of test? Can't we just have a fight?!"
Natsu was silent for a moment before speaking. He seemed to have finally processed the bad news. He scratched his messy wig in frustration, still maintaining his squatting posture, but his tone was full of complaints.
Instead of complaining here, you should hurry back.
Gray stood up and made a sarcastic remark about Natsu.
"What's the point of going back? I can't help you with anything. It's not like you can help at all."
Natsu remained unmoved, then made a sarcastic remark to Gray. Natsu had a clear understanding of his own magical research capabilities; at least in this matter, he wouldn't show off. He was fine with fighting, but researching magic books...
just forget it.
"You bastard?! Are you looking for trouble?! Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't!"
Gray's forehead veins bulged. He was different from Natsu. Although he also spent most of his time on practical training, he was much better than Natsu in magical research. He took a lot of notes when he attended classes and trained with Moen, unlike Natsu who never took notes!
"Ha! You're the one looking for trouble, aren't you?!"
Gray clenched his fist, and Natsu immediately responded, the two of them shoving each other, which then turned into a full-blown fight.
"At this point, you two are still..."
'
Happy, standing to the side with a look of fear on his face, was furious. At this point, Natsu and Gray were still fighting. Shouldn't they be thinking of a solution? But looking at the scene before him, Happy was helpless. He could only rely on Erza.
"My name... was given to me by Moeng."
Harby remembered the question Moen had asked him earlier.
"Moen would never let me die before I was born!"
Harby clenched his fists, convinced that Moen wouldn't really abandon them.
Having figured this out, Happy relaxed a little. He looked down at the riverbank below, where Natsu and Gray had arrived and were fighting.
On the roadside above the riverbank, Big Natsu and Big Gray were engaged in a passionate brawl, both of them already bruised and battered.
Down on the riverbank, Natsu and Gray were also engaged in a passionate brawl, though less intense and not as violent as they would have been as grown up.
As the golden sunset gradually descended, it bathed the entire riverbank, the path, and the figures wrestling together in a warm yet slightly absurd orange-red glow. A gentle breeze rippled across the river, reflecting the two scenes of "battle" that seemed like mirror images yet were full of dramatic differences.
Habi was momentarily lost in thought as he watched the strange scene, and the tension and fear in his heart gradually eased and subsided without him realizing it.
"I can't take it anymore! I don't understand this at all!"
On the other side, inside the stall tent, Erza, who wanted to prove herself, ultimately failed. Frustrated, she scratched her head, clearly not understanding the contents of the book at all.
Outside the tent, Lucy, who had finally escaped the guild's suffocatingly enthusiastic embrace, hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath when her gaze froze in horror. She saw a small figure standing straight outside the tent, dressed in neat armor, with braids and eyes as sharp as a hawk's!
That's... little Erza!
"Damn it! Moen didn't mention anything about little Erza!"
Lucy's heart skipped a beat, her mind went blank—this was completely unexpected, something out of the script! Little Erza was going to meet Erza! This wasn't in Moen's script at all!
Up to that point, Lucy's performance in her part was practically flawless, following the plot exactly as Moen had described, without the slightest deviation.
In reality, she wasn't acting at all. After she entered the guild hall, she was pushed around by enthusiastic guild members the whole time, and she was almost registered as a member by Guild Master Makarov.
If it weren't for her brother Moen coming to her rescue when she was little, she wouldn't have known how to handle the situation. Fortunately, she managed to get out safely.
After that scene ended, Lucy thought that the most difficult part of the script was over. After all, it was a scene that directly confronted the entire "Fairy Tail" and was very stressful. Logically, there shouldn't be anything more difficult. But this scene, which was like a bolt from the blue, made her stand there petrified, her hands and feet turning cold.
In the suffocating silence, two clear voices rang out almost simultaneously: "Catwoman over there."
This is Erza's voice, filled with curiosity and a hint of scrutiny.
"The bunny girl over there."
It was a steady, familiar boy's voice, tinged with a helpless smile.
Under Lucy's gaze, little Erza spoke, calling out to big Erza, but for some reason, Lucy seemed to hear an echo, and it was a male echo at that.
As it turned out, Lucy wasn't the only one who heard the voice, because both Erza and Erza, who were in her line of sight, turned their heads at the same time, with a hint of confusion, and looked in her direction, at the person behind her.
Lucy turned around in surprise and saw little Moen. In that instant, Lucy felt as if she had seen a savior.
That's it! Now everything is correct! The rest can be left to young Moen. My mission is complete!
Unlike Lucy, who was overjoyed, Moen, who was secretly watching, had mixed feelings. Looking at his younger self, he had many thoughts, such as keeping some of the Royal Magic Palace Roses as a secret weapon, or telling his younger self about what would happen later.
But these thoughts only lasted for a moment before Moen immediately erased them all. There was nothing in their past that needed to be changed, and he was satisfied with and cherished the present year X784.
Watching his younger self skillfully and cleverly deflect the questions of young Erza with a few words, and then ruthlessly expose Lucy and Erza's complete pretense with a speechless expression, Moen's lips curled up slightly, feeling a sense of nostalgia.
Because Moen had arranged all of this in advance, Erza and Lucy were driving the plot forward. The two of them didn't have any acting skills at all; they were just being themselves. They were genuinely surprised, genuinely bewildered, and genuinely impressed by Moen's insight.
Little Moen's demeanor was so calm and composed, as if he had foreseen all of this and had come specifically to clean up their mess.
Lucy and Erza were naturally unaware that Moen possessed the [Saint Seiya System]. Although Moen had mentioned beforehand that his younger self would come to help, they were genuinely shocked when the younger Moen actually arrived and astutely saw through everything, almost causing them to ramble on about the future.
As expected of Moen! He's been this good since he was a child!
Moen watched from the sidelines as Lucy, as if granted a pardon, left lightly to find Natsu and Gray, saw his younger self easily unravel the mystery of "Memory Time," and saw them running together towards the river outside the city.
"Oh...
"
In the shadows, Moen chuckled softly. He shook his head, thinking to himself, "No wonder I couldn't tell they were acting when I was little."
Erza and Lucy's genuine reactions of shock, panic, stunned silence, and relief were completely natural and unadulterated, without a trace of acting, perfectly matching their identities.
This is probably the highest level of... serendipitous success?