A border village in the Fiore Kingdom.
Erza of the Fairy Tail Guild was at the client's house, listening to the mission details.
"Three years ago, a demon moved into the west side of the village. It torments the people of this village every day. No one can sleep, and after being exhausted, their bodies become full of energy again in a few seconds."
"The longest any of our villagers have gone without sleep is three years. This is definitely the demon's curse; it's torturing humans!"
The village chief, the client, was over ninety years old. By all accounts, he should have been frail, but this chief was covered in muscles.
If not for his full head of white hair, Erza would never have believed he was an old man.
Erza asked, puzzled, "Why is it that the longest someone has gone without sleep is three years? Shouldn't everyone be full of energy and unable to sleep?"
The chief's face instantly darkened. He snorted and replied, "More talk is useless. That demon is definitely an evil existence, and isn't the mission of a Mage Guild to eradicate evil?"
Erza closed her mouth and remained silent.
As a member of a legitimate Mage Guild, it was natural to eradicate evil forces upon seeing them.
Although there were many loopholes in the chief's words, what that demon had done was indeed against common sense.
"Then take me to see it," Erza suggested.
The chief immediately revealed a mouth full of yellow teeth, grinning as he stood up and gestured for her to set off.
Walking on the road.
Many villagers stopped their work, looking at her with anticipation in their eyes.
"It seems the villagers all want to get rid of that demon..."
Erza noticed the villagers' gazes and understood that these people were indeed suffering greatly.
As a righteous Mage, she could indeed resolve the foreign demon without any pressure.
"Everyone, don't worry! This Mage-sama today comes from the Fairy Tail Guild and will surely kill the demon!" the chief announced.
The villagers' eyes grew hotter, their fists clenched, and their bodies trembled as they shouted in their hearts.
A few bolder ones directly followed behind, ready to witness the demon being killed with their own eyes.
Surrounded by many villagers, Erza arrived in front of the 'demon's' house.
It was a three-story wooden cottage.
The wood of the building had sprouted numerous green leaves and flowers, and countless colorful butterflies fluttered around.
A refreshing fragrance filled her nostrils.
This was a demon's house?
Erza found it hard to imagine; shouldn't a demon's house be a dark and oppressive environment?
How could there be such a beautiful scene?
"You really are a bunch of rotten mud."
Before the chief and the few villagers could speak, a magnetic male voice came from inside the cottage.
The chief and the few villagers' expressions changed drastically.
Their throats moved as they swallowed, and they immediately retreated two steps, hiding behind Erza.
The chief gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Mage-sama, quickly destroy this house along with it! Look at this enchanting environment; how could it be a good person's place!"
Erza's curved eyebrows furrowed, making her even more convinced that the chief was lying.
This magnetic voice and beautiful scenery, how could it be a demon's house?
Perhaps there really was some misunderstanding.
"Friend, come out and meet me. I am Erza Scarlet, an S-Class Mage from the Fairy Tail Guild," Erza introduced herself.
Creak... In a few seconds, the door of the cottage made a strange sound, and a handsome man with purple hair and golden eyes, holding a magic staff, walked out of the house.
A human?
Erza tilted her head, looking at the chief with a hint of blame.
Didn't he say it was a demon?
This was clearly a human! Not a single word from this chief's mouth was true.
"You are the Fairy Queen?" Aux narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the red-haired girl.
Indeed, she was just as he remembered.
He was a reborn individual with a golden finger.
After knowing this was the Fairy Tail world, he also yearned for magic.
He had been traveling the world, and he hadn't expected to meet the Fairy Tail Guild so soon.
It was only X782; the plot wouldn't start for another two years.
"I wonder how the people of this village offended you, to make them unable to sleep for three years?" Erza asked in return.
The other party was clearly also a Mage.
He must have used some kind of magic on these villagers, causing them to be unable to sleep.
"Heh..." Aux sneered, "They are nothing but greedy villagers. Their inability to sleep is a request they made, kneeling before me, begging for my blessing."
"You're spouting nonsense!" The chief immediately turned red-faced, pointing a trembling finger at Aux, denying it.
Erza didn't understand the exact situation.
But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a villager showing an embarrassed expression after the Mage finished speaking.
She deduced that perhaps it really was the villagers' request?
"Three years ago, I traveled here and saw that all the villagers were exceptionally lazy."
"They had very fertile land; with a little diligence, they could live without worry, but these guys were too lazy to even move."
"Later, after they learned I was a Mage, all the villagers collapsed before me, with pleading looks in their eyes."
"I thought they were begging me, so I used Addition Magic to bestow the ability of 'Vigorous Energy' upon most of them."
"Since then, they have bravely pushed forward, working in the fields before dawn. Because of their vigorous energy, they can't sleep," Aux recounted.
Erza's mind raced. It sounded like he was forcing the villagers to work.
The chief angrily rebuked, "We never knelt to you; we just wanted you to help us plow the fields."
Hearing this, Erza immediately showed a disgusted expression.
How could these villagers have the nerve?
This Mage was completely doing a good deed. This is how these lazy fellows should be dealt with.
"Rotten mud cannot be plastered to a wall. I haven't even used Addition Magic on you today, so I might as well not bother with you anymore."
Aux let out a contemptuous laugh.
He turned his head to look at the three-story cottage where he had lived for three years, his eyes narrowed as he raised the magic staff in his hand.
"Addition: Wither!"
"Ding! Detected the use of Addition Magic. Infinite Addition has been upgraded to: Wither Lv. MAX."
As the magic staff in Aux's hand glowed.
His golden finger system also cooperated, upgrading the Addition attribute to its maximum level.
Rustle... After the cottage was enchanted, the wood and flowers rapidly withered.
In a breath, they shriveled into ashes.
With a gust of wind, the once beautiful scenery vanished, and the butterflies, scared, quickly flew away.
Infinite Addition System!
This was Aux's golden finger.
Whenever he used Addition Magic on anything, the system would cooperate by boosting the added characteristic to its extreme.
He used Addition: Vigorous Energy on the villagers.
Under the system's blessing, the villagers' energy was boosted to the maximum level it could reach.
This resulted in their inability to sleep.
Of course, Addition Magic on living beings always had a time limit.
The villagers' effect lasted 24 hours, so Aux had to use Addition Magic every day.
"Sugoi!"
Erza's eyes widened.
That building disappeared in a breath; this ability was too powerful!
Meanwhile, the chief and the few villagers turned pale with fear.
If that move had been used on them, they would probably have died very quickly too.