Precht had always been the most composed person in the guild; for him to show such an urgent expression, something serious had likely happened.
But what exactly was going on?
With the current status of Fairy Tail in the Kingdom of Fiore and across Ishgar, could there still be a problem they couldn't solve?
The crowd was bewildered for a moment, so they gravitated toward Darwin, hoping to get the full story from him.
To their surprise, when they turned around, they saw him gushing to Chris about his mission process.
Curious, the group leaned in to listen.
"...You have no idea how perilous the situation was at the time!"
Darwin's expression grew more excited as he spoke, even waving his arms in exaggerated gestures. "There were twenty-five wild boars in that cave, and the Wild Boar King was five meters tall! They were all circling me, making 'oh-ho-ho' threatening noises. I almost thought I'd been discovered!"
Just then, several laughs erupted from beside him.
"Pfft—"
"Hahaha..."
Darwin stopped abruptly and turned to the surrounding companions. "What are you laughing at?"
The crowd wasn't about to tell him the truth, all offering dismissive smiles. "Nothing, just thought of something funny. Keep going."
Darwin frowned, sensing something was off but unable to pin down what it was. He turned to Chris. "What are they laughing at?"
Chris's face was as red as an apple. "Ignore them. They're just a bunch of lecherous, perverted old men!"
Though she was a few months younger than Darwin, she was naturally precocious with a more mature mental age. After hearing Darwin's story, she immediately understood what those "oh-ho-ho" noises were all about and why everyone was laughing.
"In that case, your situation back then was indeed quite 'perilous'!"
Darwin didn't catch the deeper meaning in Chris's words, assuming his story had gained her "approval," and couldn't help but get excited.
"Right, right? You think it was perilous too!"
"However, no matter how dangerous it got, I relied on my iron will, clever brain, and ingenious tactics to successfully resolve the crisis and drug all twenty-five boars!"
"So, am I amazing or what?"
Chris cut him a side-glance.
"Give me a break!"
"Dealing with a mere twenty-five wild boars required using drugs to knock them out, and you call that amazing?"
"If it were me, never mind twenty-five—even with fifty boars, I could take them all down in a head-on fight!"
Good grief!
This girl is even more of a show-off than I am!
Darwin felt like he'd been struck by lightning. His voice caught in his throat, and his face quickly turned a "boar-red" shade of frustration. "I don't believe you! You're just bragging!"
He said it, but his heart was wavering. Darwin knew full well that with Chris's strength, she actually could do it; he was just too embarrassed to admit it.
"And then?"
"And then? What happened next was even more bizarre! After I knocked out the pack..."
As Darwin continued his narration, everyone finally learned what had happened over the past few days and the reason for Precht's grim expression.
"So, those boars were actually humans under a curse, and the culprit is a Black Magic organization that destroyed a village and killed people in an attempt to awaken a certain existence?"
"So that's how it is..."
"Is the dark world becoming restless again?"
Some wizards who had been in the guild for many years and experienced the old "Dark Alliance" incident immediately smelled the scent of a brewing storm.
"It looks like Precht has already told the Master, and the Master has likely notified the Council. They should be taking action, right?"
"There's no need to worry about that. The Council has always made cracking down on dark magic forces their top priority. If they know about this, they certainly won't let it slide!"
"The only thing to worry about is how far they can actually go with their strength..."
In the afternoon, Darwin and Chris walked side by side down the street.
Though they were just young teens, both were handsome and beautiful. Their appearance—three parts mature and seven parts cute—was quite eye-catching to passersby.
However, this picture-perfect scene was shattered completely by Darwin's sudden outburst.
"Chris, lend me some money!"
"No!"
"Please, just a little bit!"
"I refuse!"
"Why not?"
Chris turned and swept a glance over Darwin. "You're definitely going to use it to buy a phone!"
Spot on!
Darwin smiled sheepishly. "So what if I am?"
"Since you gave your phone away to someone else before, you have to accept the consequences of not having a phone to use now!!"
That one sentence left Darwin speechless.
"It's easy if you want to borrow money from me—tell me who you gave the phone to, and I'll lend it to you!"
"Never mind then."
Darwin had no intention of revealing the matter regarding Zeref. After all, in the eyes of normal people, Zeref was a villain who committed every evil imaginable, the most sinful criminal in the history of the magic world!
If others knew he had any interaction with him, it would certainly bring a bad influence on his family and the guild.
Chris didn't expect Darwin to give up so decisively. She shot him a surprised look and stopped pushing the topic, changing it instead: "Speaking of which, I heard the uncles at the guild say that after getting your first paycheck, you're supposed to buy gifts for your family!"
"Eh?!"
This news was like a bolt from the blue, making things even worse for the already-strapped Darwin.
The pay from his first job wasn't much; it was barely enough to buy a Magic Phone. If he also had to buy gifts for his family, it wouldn't be nearly enough!
Moreover, it wasn't just one gift!
Dad, Mom, Aunt Zera, Chris—these four were his closest family; he couldn't leave any of them out.
Erza was also someone very important to him, so he couldn't leave her out either.
Counting it up on his fingers, he had to prepare at least five gifts!
"So troublesome... do I really have to?"
Chris nodded. "According to the ways of the world, yes."
"The ways of the world, huh..."
"The adult world is truly troublesome!"
Darwin frowned helplessly. "But we're still just kids. The rules of the adult world shouldn't apply to us, right?"
Chris couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"So now you know how to pull the 'I'm a kid' card?"
"Who was it that said 'be more mature' and 'act like an adult' back at the guild?"
It was me, it was me, okay!
Darwin massaged his forehead in exasperation. "...So have you bought your gifts yet?"
"Not yet. I only heard the uncles at the guild mention it today!"
"I'm planning to go to the shopping district to pick out gifts now."
"Do you want to come with me?"