Fairy Tail: Jinchuriki

Alex planned to not take any jobs for a while, but he just can't relax. So he decides to take easy jobs located in the town.

"Master, are there jobs to do in Magnolia? Maybe jobs that no one takes even after a long time or urgent jobs. I just can't rest, my body is itchy to move but I still don't want to go out of town."

"W-will you really take such jobs?" Makarov's eyes sparkle while asking that.

"As long as I can do those jobs."

"Great! Show him!" Makarov looks at the bartender with a wide smile.

The young male bartender then takes out a rather thick stack of papers and puts it on the bar. Makarov tells Alex to choose any of the jobs in these papers.

They are low paying jobs that no one is interested in and quite a lot of them are jobs in Magnolia. Sometimes these jobs' pays are too low for the effort or they don't really need Mages' power, so the Mages rarely take them.

"Demolishing an old building and clearing the rubble? Do they really need a Mage for this?"

"Not really. That's why they don't just ask us to do it. Some other jobs are like this as well. The clients usually just post their requests in different places that can do the jobs. So even if we don't take them, other places might take them. The clients will recall all the job posts after someone clears their request. So as long as we still have the posts, that means no one has yet to finish the jobs."

"I see. Then I'll take this demolishing job for now."

"Are you sure? You can't burn the building inside the town, you know."

"Don't worry. I have another Beast suitable for this job."

"Hmm, alright then. The payment isn't high, but if we finish this job, our reputation will get better, so I'm thankful that you take it." Makarov hands the quest paper to Alex who nods before leaving the Guild building.

Alex then goes to the client's place to confirm if the job is still available. The client is a fat middle-aged man who cries happily when knowing that someone is taking the job

"Why did no one take the job even after this long? If you want to build a new building on that plot of land, then can't you just ask the construction workers to also demolish the old building?"

"I also thought of that, but...." The client is hesitating to continue.

"What is it? I can't do the job if I don't know the important details." Alex pressures the man to talk.

"That's, the building is haunted." The man finally speaks after hesitating a little.

"Huh?"

"P-people say that the building is haunted and cursed. They say the ones who demolish it will be cursed by the evil spirits living there. So no one dares to even touch that building."

"And you want to demolish that building even after knowing something like that?" Alex is dumbfounded by how this guy dares to order a demolition on said building but acts timidly when talking about the curse.

The man's shoulders drop dispiritedly. "I didn't know about it when I received this building from my deceased father. My father bought that building a long time ago, but then he left it unattended to live in another town. He passed it down to me and I planned to use it for business. But the building is in a very bad condition so I wanted to rebuild it. Then I found out that it is haunted and cursed, that's why no one took the job. I can't even sell it because people are afraid of buying a cursed building."

Alex now understands why this job hasn't been completed for 3 months even though it's not a difficult job.

"Alright then, I'll take the job. Curse or ghost, they can come to me if they want."

"R-really?" The client thought Alex would change his mind, but he actually still accepts the job even after hearing all those things.

"But before I demolish the building, let me check the building first. I want to see the ghost or maybe find the curse before demolishing it. If I don't remove the ghost and curse, then they will stay there even when you build the new building. Also, I'm curious about those things."

"I-if you really can remove them, then I will increase the pay."

"You should've done that the moment you knew that the building was haunted and cursed." Alex clicks his tongue, making the man scratch the back of his head embarrassedly.

After the meeting with the client, Alex goes to the mentioned building. It is quite big, but it really looks abandoned as it is completely covered with moss, dirt, vines, and even some small plants grow on the wall.

Some parts of the building like its roof and windows are also broken. It looks very contrast with the buildings around it that are still used.

"They say this is a haunted building but the ones around it are not affected at all? How strange."

Alex then enters the building while looking around. There aren't any traces of humans coming in and out from the front of the building, so even the client must've stayed away from this building which is a good decision because it looks like it can collapse anytime.

For now, Alex is investigating the building. He checks every room to find the ghost and curse that the client told him. But he doesn't find anything even with his very sharp senses.

"I think it's not a ghost, but animals like rats or bats that live here. They must have caused quite a lot of ruckus and people mistook them for ghosts." Matatabi says it after Alex fails to find any ghosts or curses.

"Hmm, that's possible. Then let's find them."

Alex transforms into Humanoid Shukaku form and places his hands on the bottom floor. Then he uses Shukaku's ability to sense the Earth to find if there are animals here.

This building's walls are made of bricks, so Shukaku's Earth sensing ability can work through the walls.

"Oh? Now this is surprising."

Instead of something like a rat nest, Alex finds a big underground room quite deep under the building. He also senses a lot of footsteps there, so there are people in the underground room.

Alex tries to sense the whole underground room and finds out that it's connected to more underground rooms located under the nearby buildings. But there is a very long path that leads to the forest outside the town.

"Is this area not affected by Gildarts Shift or that mechanism hasn't been built yet?"

Alex ponders about it because if this area is affected by Gildarts Shift, then there's no way they could build these underground rooms.

Though this place is quite far from the path from the Town Gate to the Guild. So even if the Gildarts Shift has been built, maybe this area still won't be affected.

"I probably need to contact the Guild. If it's a criminal base, then just destroying it won't be enough."

Alex decides to not handle this on his own even though he thinks he is capable of it. It's just that he is worried there are Mages among the ones in the underground rooms.

If he makes a mistake, then it might endanger the town people. So it's better to consult this to Makarov who surely has much more experience than him.

"What?! Is that true?" Makarov is surprised when Alex suddenly returns and reports his findings.

"Yes, I found the underground rooms in that area and I'm sure there are people in them because I could sense their footsteps. But I can't confirm who they are, that's why I return to ask you, Master."

"You made the correct choice. This is not just a simple job quest anymore. It's not a matter of the town's security. If those people are really criminals, then they must be the ones spreading rumor that the building is haunted and cursed. They might even use magic to fake the ghosts to make it more believable. That way the building won't be demolished and rebuilt. If there is construction there, their hideout might get exposed, after all. Also, if they keep using this rumor, then the land and building price will plummet, so they can buy it later. Thankfully they seem to still wait for the price to get even lower, so they haven't bought it yet when you discovered their hideout today."

Makarov quickly orders the ones in the hall to gather all their Guild members and sends someone to inform the town guards. They need to settle this quickly and correctly.

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Ch. 74: Magic vs Curse