The train ride was a bit bumpy but it wouldn't have mattered much to Kumiko, who was currently lying down on the train seat with her face up at the ceiling while she could feel her insides swirling around in a cocktail of unease. She had been riding for what felt like an eternity while her stomach preoccupied itself by doing flips in the meantime. Her current mission here was given by Mura, who believed she possessed the aptitude to advance in rank in the guild after her dutiful job of sniffing blood from a rag that was gathered around Earthland. So a job where she was supposed to find out what became of crops that kept vanishing in the night was perfect for her! The train must have had some amount of mercy to give the small child, as it would come to a halt once more while the conductor would give the location they were in currently, that being Terra Ignis. With a shaky hand, the kitsune child pulled herself on her two feet and off of the train while battling the nauseous feeling that had began to fade as soon as she stepped onto the platform. She dug in her pockets for the paper map Mura had provided, following the path out of the city and towards the more forested region of the stop. The beaten path became less and less up to date and slowly fell back into the rural kind of trampled dirt pathway that she had come to recall seeing in Lower Midi. This led her towards the more tribal development where a more nature-centric people would spot the outsider and a pack of guards would be the first to greet her timely arrival.
"I'm from Fairy Tail!" she said, her arms up in the air while staring at the surrounding armed guards which had quickly flocked around her. "I'm not gunna attack or anything, promise!" The guard seemed adamant to turn her into a Kumi-kebab had it not been for a child her age sprinting towards the display. He had dark hair, tanned skin and was most obviously active if the exposed arms and their definition were any indicator. "Stop! The advisor has called for the outsider! Weapons down!" The revelation that this was their supposed problem solver made some of those present to give the girl with a fox tail a rather suspcious look but follow the order and lowered their weapons towards her. Kumiko would have thanked the boy who had saved her had it not been for him pulling her towards one of the wooden buildings near the entrance.
"...And that is why we contacted Fairy Tail, young outsider." The chief's advisor said to Kumiko, who was now standing before the small group of him, the royal handmaiden and one of the farmers whose crops had gone missing. "The chief has been locked away in his studies for a magic to track whoever is responsible. Without your help, not only will we starve but the supplies that will be traded to the outside world will be forced to be held back." The news was shocking to Kumiko, who would eagerly declare her answer to the tribe's plight. "Don't worry, sir. I'll get to the bottom of this~ I think I know what I can do to find out who stole your crops."
It would be a slight bit trickier to track down a specific scent that was fresh, but still certainly doable. Kumiko asked the farmer to led her towards the tribal fields which once house the crops that were once ready for the seasonal harvest. She stood in the barren mounds of dirt and lowered herself down by bending her knees ever so slightly and scooping up a bit of dirt with her hand. A few inhales of the fresh, upturned earth would be enough to get a great variety of samples from them. She could smell a lot of things: the fertilizer (ew!) that was dried, the water that had once quenched the thirst of the vegetation here, and the feet of villagers. But one thing did stand out. That vile stench which made her stomach queasy even just catching the vague after sample. The girl hyper-focused her sense of smell and would follow along the distant pathway the culprit took, snaking along the rows of crops and then onwards into the village. "It's somebody inside of here, but who?" she muttered to herself while following the path towards the biggest building in general. The scent led her towards the door to the chieftain's house, whom Kumiko would likely want to take by surprise seeing as it was his abode. She went towards the cellar and looked at the door before casting a low level spell, something to really just knock the door in so she could enter. AN ethereal dragon head behind her would be summoned, creating an orb shaped blast of light magic which exploded in a plume of smoke and splintered the door apart.
There, in the dark recesses of the basement would sit the chief...and all of the stolen crops. "Wait, you took them all?!" Kumiko said as the chief would launch a counter attack of his own, summoning forth a dark purple breath of fire which she narrowly avoided by throwing herself onto the floor just in time. She retaliated against the chief, swinging her head around while casting another spell. Several dragon heads rose, casting the same spell as before but in tandem, creating a much larger orb of destruction than before. The resulting blast would open a hole for the townsfolk surrounding to see, as well as knocking the chief out from the impact. Kumiko stepped over him, motioning towards the mass. "Your chieftan is the culprit. I picked up the scent from the farm and followed it. He's the one who's been stealing your crops using darkness magic." The people looked visibly hurt, gasping in surprise as several of the guard would go to him and carry his body back inside.
The (former) chief's adviser would stand before the exit, looking very impressed by the work of the young mage. "Thank you for your service, outsider. Had it not been for you, the chieftan's antics would have cost us dearly. I will send for Ace to deliver news back to the guild at once. If you excuse us, we must make penance with our gods. Such flagrant displays of heresy must be dealt with with a firm hand." He waved her off as Kumiko did the same, returning on the path she had done half a day ago and then boarding the train. As she arrived back in the halls of Fairy Tail, she would walk to Mura's office. Her back felt the addition of a strange weight, not yet noticing as another two tails had been added to her first three.
WC: 1152 // 1000
"I'm from Fairy Tail!" she said, her arms up in the air while staring at the surrounding armed guards which had quickly flocked around her. "I'm not gunna attack or anything, promise!" The guard seemed adamant to turn her into a Kumi-kebab had it not been for a child her age sprinting towards the display. He had dark hair, tanned skin and was most obviously active if the exposed arms and their definition were any indicator. "Stop! The advisor has called for the outsider! Weapons down!" The revelation that this was their supposed problem solver made some of those present to give the girl with a fox tail a rather suspcious look but follow the order and lowered their weapons towards her. Kumiko would have thanked the boy who had saved her had it not been for him pulling her towards one of the wooden buildings near the entrance.
"...And that is why we contacted Fairy Tail, young outsider." The chief's advisor said to Kumiko, who was now standing before the small group of him, the royal handmaiden and one of the farmers whose crops had gone missing. "The chief has been locked away in his studies for a magic to track whoever is responsible. Without your help, not only will we starve but the supplies that will be traded to the outside world will be forced to be held back." The news was shocking to Kumiko, who would eagerly declare her answer to the tribe's plight. "Don't worry, sir. I'll get to the bottom of this~ I think I know what I can do to find out who stole your crops."
It would be a slight bit trickier to track down a specific scent that was fresh, but still certainly doable. Kumiko asked the farmer to led her towards the tribal fields which once house the crops that were once ready for the seasonal harvest. She stood in the barren mounds of dirt and lowered herself down by bending her knees ever so slightly and scooping up a bit of dirt with her hand. A few inhales of the fresh, upturned earth would be enough to get a great variety of samples from them. She could smell a lot of things: the fertilizer (ew!) that was dried, the water that had once quenched the thirst of the vegetation here, and the feet of villagers. But one thing did stand out. That vile stench which made her stomach queasy even just catching the vague after sample. The girl hyper-focused her sense of smell and would follow along the distant pathway the culprit took, snaking along the rows of crops and then onwards into the village. "It's somebody inside of here, but who?" she muttered to herself while following the path towards the biggest building in general. The scent led her towards the door to the chieftain's house, whom Kumiko would likely want to take by surprise seeing as it was his abode. She went towards the cellar and looked at the door before casting a low level spell, something to really just knock the door in so she could enter. AN ethereal dragon head behind her would be summoned, creating an orb shaped blast of light magic which exploded in a plume of smoke and splintered the door apart.
There, in the dark recesses of the basement would sit the chief...and all of the stolen crops. "Wait, you took them all?!" Kumiko said as the chief would launch a counter attack of his own, summoning forth a dark purple breath of fire which she narrowly avoided by throwing herself onto the floor just in time. She retaliated against the chief, swinging her head around while casting another spell. Several dragon heads rose, casting the same spell as before but in tandem, creating a much larger orb of destruction than before. The resulting blast would open a hole for the townsfolk surrounding to see, as well as knocking the chief out from the impact. Kumiko stepped over him, motioning towards the mass. "Your chieftan is the culprit. I picked up the scent from the farm and followed it. He's the one who's been stealing your crops using darkness magic." The people looked visibly hurt, gasping in surprise as several of the guard would go to him and carry his body back inside.
The (former) chief's adviser would stand before the exit, looking very impressed by the work of the young mage. "Thank you for your service, outsider. Had it not been for you, the chieftan's antics would have cost us dearly. I will send for Ace to deliver news back to the guild at once. If you excuse us, we must make penance with our gods. Such flagrant displays of heresy must be dealt with with a firm hand." He waved her off as Kumiko did the same, returning on the path she had done half a day ago and then boarding the train. As she arrived back in the halls of Fairy Tail, she would walk to Mura's office. Her back felt the addition of a strange weight, not yet noticing as another two tails had been added to her first three.
WC: 1152 // 1000
