The situation has subsided down, so Ben resume his journey. He explores the forest again because he hasn't covered it all. But he needs to be careful because the Council might still watch over the forest.
So he transforms into a goat-like demon with 2 big horns. He also makes Bella wear a T-Rex costume as a disguise. She can't use transformation magic, so he needs to disguise her with a costume.
They explore the forest, Savana, and surrounding areas. It takes a month for him to finish his exploration. He can move faster if he doesn't keep experimenting with his storage magic item project.
But it is important, so he keeps doing it even though it slowed down his journey. If he succeeds, then it will be a very useful item for him, his sisters & his guild.
Ben goes to the Central area of Fiore Kingdom after finishing his exploration in the forest. He avoids moving too close with the National Council Branch though.
They might suspect him to be the explosion's culprit if they see him coming from the forest. Well, he is the culprit, but he needs to hide that fact or it will cause a big problem.
He & Bella move stealthily while still using their disguises. They can move past the National Council Branch safely and reach the mountain near Capital Crocus. They remove their disguises and start their exploration in the mountains range.
"Town?" asks Bella.
"No, we won't go there for now. We'll explore this area first to erase any trace that might lead the Council to us. They are very persistent, big pain in the ass," says Ben as he walks into the mountain.
They explore the mountains and Ben keeps doing his experiments. There's no good finding in a week and Ben decides to go to the town. They go to Capital Crocus to buy supplies and search for news of what happened in the Kingdom.
Ben buys their necessities while asking around for news. But there's no big event in the last months since Ishgar cut all ties with Alvarez Empire. The only thing that piqued Ben's interest is a rising star from Fairy Tail.
"Salamander, huh? That little dragon slayer has made a name for himself. Although he made many troubles, typical of Fairy Tail Mages. I'm very curious if his fire can affect me, although it seems to be impossible. But I won't know until I try it," says Ben while grinning.
"Mira?" asks Bella excitedly.
"There's no news about her, so I don't know. Let's call her later at night because she might be on a mission now," says Ben.
Bella nods before asking Ben to buy milk. They go to buy milk for Bella in a shop and they buy a lot of milk there. The shop owner is very happy that they buy a lot of his milk stock so he gives them a VIP card.
'Sigh, this card will be very useful if we live around here. But this is still useful every time we come here,' thinks Ben.
"Milk! Milk!" demands Bella.
"Yes, yes. Here's your milk offering, Your Majesty," says Ben as he gives Bella a bottle of milk.
They leave the shop and go to a mansion around the central area of the town. This is Joseph's mansion, he is the big merchant who has helped Ben take care of his sisters when he joined the Magic Vehicle race.
"Ooh, Ben, Bella, long time no see. Come in!" says Joseph excitedly.
They enter the mansion and some maids prepare drinks for them. Joseph's wife, Lisa, comes to the living room and immediately hugs Bella. She is very excited to see the little cat after such a long time.
"Are you on a mission, Ben?" asks Joseph.
"No, we are exploring the Kingdom since last year. It's been 10 months since we started this journey and it's almost finished. We are exploring the nearby mountains and need to fill our supplies, so we came here. We decided to visit you before resuming our exploration," says Ben.
"Wow, you have done a big thing at such a young age. I have the same dream to do what you do in the past. Too bad I'm not a mage and don't have the necessary strength to do that," says Joseph sadly.
"Yeah, the wilderness is dangerous. Many places almost kill Mages like us. So such journey will be very dangerous for normal people," says Ben.
Joseph sighs hearing that and has a bitter smile. He knows it is impossible as he is a normal human and he is old already.
"But don't be too sad. There are places that you can visit. They aren't too dangerous, although you still need some Mages as guards. But I think hiring them won't be a problem for you," says Ben while smiling.
"Really? Then maybe I should go to those places when I have time. It can be a good recreation for this retired merchant," says Joseph.
"Give me a map and I will show you the places. But retired? Have you given your business fully to your son?" asks Ben.
"Yeah, the era has changed, and we need regeneration. My son is ready to take over the business, so I decided to give him full responsibility. My decision is right because now the business grows with his new & fresh ideas," says Joseph while gesturing his buttler to take a map.
"That's good to hear," says Ben as he sips his drink.
"It's also thanks to you. He saw you have succeeded as a Mage at such a young age. So he gets motivated and does his best in his field," says Joseph.
Ben smiles hearing that. Everyone will be happy to know that they've become someone's inspiration to be better. Lisa also smiles and thank Ben for it while still hugging Bella and giving her more milk.
The buttler returns and gives Ben the Kingdom's map. Ben draw marks on the map with colored markers. He shows the safe locations with green color and dangerous locations with red color.
"Don't go too close with the red locations because strong creatures might go there. You still need to be careful even in the green locations. I suggest you hire an S-Class Mage or a few high-class Mages though. We never know what might happen in the wilderness," says Ben.
"That will need a lot of money," says Joseph.
"Well, money or your safety?" asks Ben teasingly.
Joseph sighs and can only nod after Ben said that. Ben has gone to those locations, so he knows the danger in those places. It will be very bad if Joseph ignores an S-Class Mage's warning like him.
Ben & Bella leave after staying there until afternoon. At night, they call Wendy & Carla before calling Mira. Bella is very happy to see Mira because it has been 5 weeks since they called Mira.
The next day, they resume their journey and explore the mountains range. Both of them also go to the cave where Ben met Smog but nothing is found there except the traces of Smog's skeleton.
The mountains range doesn't have anything interesting. The Kingdom must have explored this area and taken all those things. But, strangely, they didn't find Smog and Ben knows the reason.
Smog must have put a defensive spell to stop anyone from finding his location. Ben also won't find it unless Smog called him and showed him his location. A dragon's spell isn't easy to breach even after many years.
Ben & Bella finished their exploration in the mountains range after 6 weeks. It's 27 April, so there are still 2 weeks from their time limit. They decide to visit Mira & Elfman before going home.
"Let's see the infamous Salamander too while we're there," says Ben while grinning as they depart to Magnolia.
______________________________________________________________
You can read up to 35+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Clicking that power stone/like also seem to be a good choice, hehe.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 167 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 178 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)
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Fairy Tail: Sun Eater - Part 1
Fanfiction2nd Part in my profile _____________ Ben Cooper was an elite soldier, but a tragedy change his life. That tragedy lead to his death, but it isn't the end for him. He get a new life in a new world, and he won't waste it, he will enjoy it in his own w...
