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It is said that Fairy Tail has three mysterious men.
Mystogan, who always appears with a group sleep spell and never reveals his true face, actually just doesn't want to cause trouble for himself and the guild because of his similar appearance to Jellal.
Freed, the leader of the Thunder God Tribe and a man of mystery, actually just worked hard on missions to improve himself because he was a fan, which led to him rarely appearing at the guild and thus having no time to socialize with his guildmates.
It was only because Noah had interacted with them that he knew Mystogan and Freed's 'mysterious' images were entirely due to these two guys' personal reasons.
Only the last mysterious man, Gildarts, Noah hadn't seen him in the almost year he had been in Fairy Tail.
And from the information Noah gathered, the source of mystery for Gildarts, who held the title of 'Fairy Tail's Strongest,' was even more outrageous than the previous two.
Because Gildarts had been away for several years without returning to the guild, later members who joined only 'heard of him, but never saw him.'
Yet Gildarts was an incredibly powerful Mage.
Overwhelming strength and an elusive presence—isn't this the classic image of a mysterious powerhouse in various novels and stories?
That's right, Gildarts was called one of the 'Three Great Mysterious Men of Fairy Tail' along with Mystogan and Freed, simply because he hadn't returned to the guild in a long time...
Noah was also one of those newcomers who hadn't met Gildarts.
However, he met him today, though it was Gildarts' parallel world counterpart.
Noah looked at Cana, who had recovered her emotions. "So, Cana, the person you've been waiting for all this time is actually your father?"
Cana nodded silently. Because of the little white dog incident, she had confessed to Noah and Mira that she joined Fairy Tail to wait for someone.
She just never revealed the person's identity.
But now Noah found a blind spot: why didn't Gildarts recognize his daughter, even though young Cana had seen him many times?
"Exactly! Exactly!"
Macao and Wakaba grabbed the gentleman Gildarts by his collar, one on each side. "Gildarts! Why didn't you recognize Cana?!"
Being questioned on behalf of his counterpart, the gentleman Gildarts felt incredibly wronged. He also really wanted to beat up his counterpart; such a cute daughter was left to grow up into a little drunkard who always had a drink in hand... He was truly an irresponsible father!
Both sides of Fairy Tail were indignant on Cana's behalf, each one seething with anger, wishing they could beat Gildarts right now, which made Cana a bit awkward.
"Uh, actually, Gildarts doesn't know he has a daughter, so please don't blame him too much..."
It would have been better if Cana hadn't defended her father; her words only intensified everyone's anger. Not even knowing he had a child—didn't that mean Gildarts also neglected Cana's mother?
This was no ordinary scoundrel; a heavy blow was needed!
So, let's beat up this Gildarts first!
It's unknown whose suggestion it was from the crowd, but in an instant, numerous fierce glares fell upon the family-oriented gentleman.
Gentleman Gildarts immediately broke out in a sweat. He was truly innocent. Why did something like suffering for another happen to him, and the cause was his counterpart...
However, while everyone was angry, they still had their wits about them. The Gildarts of Edolas was a good husband and father; there was no reason to vent their anger on him.
Seeing everyone regain their composure, Noah, who had already pulled out potato chips, only felt it was a pity not to have seen a good show. He then shifted the topic back to Cana.
"Cana, if Gildarts didn't know you existed, then why didn't your mother tell him?"
Cana sighed. Since her background had already been revealed, she might as well reveal it completely, so she began to talk about her parents.
Gildarts was a straightforward person who loved adventure. Cana's mother, Cornelia, fell in love with him the first time she saw him.
And Gildarts also fell for Cornelia.
It was love at first sight, a blazing passion, and so the two got married and entered the sacred bond of marriage.
Unfortunately, their happy married life didn't last long. Cornelia knew Gildarts loved adventure and didn't want to see him give up his career for the family, feeling that the family would be a burden to him, so she proactively suggested a divorce.
Gildarts didn't understand why his wife would make such a choice, but out of respect, he agreed.
Leaving his family, Gildarts continued his guild life and adventures, but he didn't know that shortly after he left, Cornelia discovered she was pregnant.
Cornelia didn't tell Gildarts the news but gave birth to Cana alone and raised her daughter.
However, unforeseen circumstances occurred; a serious illness took Cornelia's life, leaving behind 6-year-old Cana.
Among her mother's belongings, Cana found a diary and only then learned of her father's existence: a Mage of the magic guild Fairy Tail, named Gildarts.
Thus, the helpless little Cana, filled with longing for her father, traveled all the way to Magnolia. She was very lucky; the first Mage she met was the father she had been yearning for.
But Gildarts didn't recognize his daughter. Due to time constraints for a mission, he told Cana to go home early so her parents wouldn't worry, and then he left gracefully.
Gildarts not recognizing her made little Cana sad, and she didn't get a chance to say the words to acknowledge him as her father.
However, she told herself that next time, she would definitely tell her father who she was.
But due to various interruptions, 'next time' became 'the time after next,' and 'the time after that'... so much so that Cana had grown several years older and still hadn't been able to reunite with Gildarts.
However, as she grew older and more sensible, Cana became somewhat afraid to acknowledge her father.
Because her father, as a Mage, was simply too powerful.
So powerful that even Makarov intended for Gildarts to be his successor. Cana couldn't help but fall into self-doubt: was her weak self truly worthy of being his daughter?
So Cana decided to work hard to become an S-Class Mage, to prove that she wouldn't embarrass her father, and then acknowledge him.
It's just that by now, Fairy Tail's new generation of S-Class Mages already had four members, but there was no place for Cana.
This was Cana's past, a pitiful childhood.
Noah shook his head, letting out a sigh. "Sometimes, excellent parents can actually put psychological pressure on their children. I see you, Cana, are just like a certain rebellious blonde, putting too much pressure on yourself."
"But you, Cana, are different from that blonde. You only consume yourself internally, while that guy consumes others externally. In comparison, Cana, you far surpass him."
Cana put a hand to her forehead, looking helplessly at Noah. "How can you comfort someone like that? Didn't you see Laxus's face turn red from your words...?"
Noah shrugged. "It's okay, Laxus is my good nephew, I'm sure he won't take it to heart."
No way!
You're going too far! Too far!
Laxus, who originally didn't want to argue with Noah, couldn't suppress his anger when he heard the words 'good nephew' and it erupted.
"Damn you, Noah!"
"If you've got the guts, let's have a one-on-one fight, let your cat and my Spark settle who's stronger!"
Noah raised an eyebrow, surprised by Laxus's challenge. "You know you're no match for me, so you want the cats to fight for us...? You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are actually starting to use your brain."
"Indeed, weakness makes one clear-headed."
"Noah, I..."