Just before departure, the blue-haired woman, Mary, suddenly fell to her knees before Chill with a thump. Clutching the corner of Chill's clothes, tears rolled down her face like pearls from a broken string.
"Chill... I beg you... please, you must save Siegrain... He... he is my only hope..."
In the sudden chaos last night, Siegrain had been forcibly abducted by people from the black magic cult while protecting his mother, becoming the only missing child in this small town.
Chill quickly bent down to help Mary up and solemnly promised, "Mary, rest assured, I guarantee I will bring Siegrain back!"
Mary looked up, gazing at Chill through tear-filled eyes. Those eyes, brimming with tears, were full of gratitude, expectation, and a trace of indescribably complex emotions.
"Chill... as long as... as long as you can bring Siegrain back safely, I am willing to do anything for you, including offering my everything..."
Chill hurriedly let go of Mary's hand, took a step back, waved his hand, and said, "Mary, there's no need for that. Siegrain acknowledged me as his master yesterday. As his master, protecting an apprentice who has not yet grown up is my duty."
Tike stood aside, watching the two quietly, his expression becoming a bit peculiar.
(This scent... isn't simple.)
---
After several days of arduous travel, the group finally boarded the magic train bound for Hargeon Port.
The train had just started moving when Tike's body went limp, and he collapsed onto the seat with a plop.
Erza gently stroked Tike's forehead and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"The situation is obvious," Alice said, trying to prop Tike up. "Tike suffers from very severe motion sickness. Any form of transportation is torture for him."
When Tike was first captured and taken to the Magic Development Bureau, he had fainted from riding in a carriage for several days and was almost thrown into the incinerator as a corpse.
After learning he was a dragon, Tike had tried to transform back into his dragon form. That way, he could at least run faster than his human form, or possibly even fly, freeing himself from dependence on transportation forever.
However, he couldn't transform back no matter how hard he tried, at most managing to turn himself into a teenage form.
But this wasn't entirely without benefits.
At least now, whatever size clothes he wanted to wear, he could immediately change into the corresponding body shape, never having to worry about clothes not fitting or being the wrong size again.
Seeing Tike suffering terribly, Chill carefully picked him up, let him lean against his chest, and then gently patted his back, his movements gentle and skillful.
How coincidental. His son, who had died young, also suffered from severe motion sickness like Tike.
Whenever his son got carsick, he would hold him like this too.
If reincarnation truly existed in this world, could Tike be the reincarnation of his son?
Chill quickly suppressed this thought by force.
He knew he still hadn't completely let go of the past, hadn't walked out of the shadow of losing his son. However, he couldn't treat Tike as a substitute for his son because of this. It was unfair to Tike, and for himself, it was a form of escapism.
The speed of the magic train lived up to its reputation. By dusk of the same day, the group arrived at their destination.
Woo—
The train slowly came to a stop. Before the doors could even fully open, Alice grabbed Tike and shot through the roof with a whoosh, leaping directly onto the top of the station.
Immediately after, Tike's shout resounded through the clouds from above the station: "I! Tike! Have fully revived!"
Erza and Kagura covered their faces, unable to look. Yukino worried about Tike's condition. Blake maintained a respectful posture on the surface, but the corner of her mouth couldn't help twitching slightly, obviously suppressing a laugh.
As for Lucia, she was busy stuffing the apples that had jiggled out back into her clothes.
The bustling crowd inside the station was also attracted by this sudden loud noise and shouting. They looked up in the direction of the sound and saw the little boy and cat dancing on the station roof.
Following them were the station management personnel. Looking at the train roof with a big hole smashed through it, veins popped on their foreheads.
"Did that Fairy Tail bunch attack again?"
"..."
Chill said nothing, just silently walked forward to negotiate with the station management and discuss compensation.
After the negotiations were over, Chill turned around and found Tike looking around the station with Alice, carefully checking every sign.
He was looking for the train coming from the direction of Magnolia, looking for his Mom Ur.
Chill walked over and said to Tike, "Magnolia is very close to here. If everything went smoothly for Ur and the others, they might have arrived a few days ago. I'll take you to the gathering point for this operation; everyone should be waiting there."
Hearing this, Tike nodded excitedly: "Okay! Let's go quickly!"
Just as the group walked out of the station gate, a mature black-haired woman and a white-haired boy walked toward them.
The moment Tike saw the black-haired woman, his eyes instantly sparkled. He ran over and threw himself into the woman's arms.
"Mom!"
The arrivals were none other than the Ur Tike had been longing for, and his senior disciple—Lyon.
Ur gently stroked his hair, a relieved and doting smile on her face. Then she looked up at Chill following behind.
"Thank you for taking care of Tike during this time."
Chill felt a bit embarrassed instead.
"Ur, you are too polite. Actually... I should be the one thanking Tike. His magic really helped me a lot."
While the two adults were talking, Lyon sized up the little boy who looked almost exactly as he remembered and teased, "Hey, kid, did you stop growing completely in these two and a half years? How come you haven't grown taller at all?"
Tike looked at Lyon, who was a full half-head taller than in his memory, with a confused face.
"What two and a half years? I ran out to find you guys as soon as I woke up!"
Although he was delayed for quite some time in the alternate worlds, it added up to less than half a year in total.
Then, there was only one reason for this discrepancy in time perception.
Alice: "Is the time flow in the alternate worlds different from ours?"
Ur: "After that incident, you were in a coma for more than two years."
"..."
Lyon was totally confused, unable to understand what they were saying at all.
"Wait, what alternate world? What riddles are you playing?"
"Before this, I was taken to an alternate world by my biological mom. My magic was super fierce there! Let's put it this way: even if you and Gray added up and multiplied by ten, you still wouldn't be my match!"