Fairy Tail: Saint Seiya Magic Unleashed

Chapter 27: Reuniting with Wendy

After searching around the outskirts of the Vast Forest, Moen came up empty-handed—or rather, not entirely. He stumbled upon a broken-down, long-abandoned village. The buildings were dilapidated, their style clearly showing their age.

"Is this some kind of tribal ruin?"

Moen stepped cautiously into the village. It was worth checking—he had a hunch that Jellal and Wendy might have stopped here to rest.

But he had barely set foot inside when the place revealed a rather extraordinary secret.

"VMMM!!!"

A powerful wave of magical energy suddenly swept through the entire ruined village.

It wasn't hostile—it wasn't an offensive spell at all. In fact, Moen couldn't even tell what kind of magic it was. What he could sense was the caster's mana—colossal, overwhelming, almost like someone was cheating the system.

Scanning his surroundings, Moen frowned. The magic didn't seem aimed at him, but it still made him deeply curious. Who was casting such powerful magic—and for what?

Then the real shock hit him.

Before his eyes, the previously empty, crumbling village suddenly came to life. People began appearing out of nowhere—villagers, fully formed out of thin air! Conjured instantly from that enormous magical force.

"What the hell... what kind of spell is this?!"

Moen stood with his mouth slightly open, stunned by the scene. Even with everything he'd seen before, this caught him completely off guard.

"Could these be... Thought Projections?"

He quickly formed a theory.

"Thought Projections"—a common concept in ACG worlds.

In this world, a Thought Projection could be a non-sentient clone formed from the soul of a living being. Alternatively, it could manifest from the lingering regrets or wishes of the dead.

These kinds of projections are like spiritual echoes—fragments of soul and memory—usually identical to the person they once were.

They looked no different from regular people, and since they were magical constructs, most mages couldn't even tell them apart from real individuals.

Clearly, these "villagers" were some kind of projections—but the strange thing was, he had only sensed one magical presence when the magic activated.

"So all these projections... came from a single person?"

Creak—

Just as Moen puzzled over this mystery, the door of one of the rundown houses slowly opened.

Out walked a short, elderly man dressed in something resembling Native tribal attire.

And behind him... a figure Moen had been actively searching for appeared.

"Wendy, look! These are all your guildmates. So many of them—all members of our guild!"

The old man smiled kindly as he spoke to Wendy.

"Wow! So many friends!"

Wendy's cheeks were flushed with excitement. Her eyes were still red and teary, as if she'd just finished crying—but now they sparkled with joy.

"Eh?!"

Then she turned her head and caught sight of Moen. Her expression froze in surprise, her wide eyes blinking with a cute, confused sound of recognition.

"Grandpa... is this guild called Fairy Tail?"

Wendy looked up at the elderly man beside her, her wide eyes blinking as she asked the question that left the old man visibly confused.

Clearly, the name Fairy Tail had etched itself firmly into her memory.

"Fairy Tail? Uh… no, it's not."

The old man, Robynlu, shook his head. He hadn't yet decided on a name for the new guild he had just created, but it definitely wouldn't be Fairy Tail. Even though he hadn't heard of the guild personally, it was obvious from Wendy's reaction that such a guild already existed somewhere.

At the same time, Robynlu's gaze turned to the confused young man standing at the village entrance—Moen.

"You there, who are you?"

Robynlu took the initiative, frowning slightly. Had this kid been around when he summoned all those thought projections? Did he see the whole process?

"Ahem, hello. I'm Moen—Moen Dolore, a mage from Fairy Tail. I'm here to find Wendy and Jellal."

Moen cleared his throat and introduced himself quickly as all eyes—including those of the thought projections—shifted toward him. He also made his intentions clear.

By now, Moen had figured it out. The old man beside Wendy, dressed in those unusual tribal clothes, was most likely the one who had cast that massive spell—the one with the overwhelmingly strong magical presence. The one who had somehow conjured an entire crowd of lifelike thought projections, each with distinct faces, behaviors, and movements.

And most shockingly… they didn't even feel like projections. They felt real. They acted real.

It completely blew Moen's mind.

"Isn't this basically creating people out of magic? No way this guy just has some extreme split personality and made all his projections from his different personas, right?"

Compared to actual magic-born humans, Moen would honestly find the split-personality explanation easier to accept.

"Wendy, do you know this kid?"

Robynlu turned to Wendy, still a bit skeptical, though Moen's explanation and her earlier mention of Fairy Tail lined up. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Mm-hmm! I know him!"

Wendy nodded hard and took a few quick steps forward with her tiny legs until she stood in front of Moen. Her expression was full of curiosity.

"Big brother, did you come to find me and Jellal?"

"Yeah. Where's Jellal? I don't see him around."

Moen smiled gently at her, then glanced around. But there was no sign of Jellal anywhere.

"Jellal… Grandpa Robynlu said he had something really urgent to do."

Wendy's expression faltered as she mentioned Jellal, a hint of sadness creeping in. Her eyes shimmered again, clearly on the verge of tears.

Moen took one look at her pouty face and teary eyes and immediately understood the situation: Jellal had likely entrusted Wendy to Robynlu's care before heading off alone.

Back in the Vast Forest, Jellal already seemed anxious to leave. Whatever he was dealing with must have been truly urgent.

"It's okay, Wendy. He didn't abandon you—he just didn't want you to be in danger."

Moen knelt down and gently patted her head, meeting her eyes with a warm, comforting smile.

"Sniff…"

Wendy sniffled, rubbing at her face with her small hands in a clumsy attempt to wipe her tears away.