Right now I'm looking at a small hut next to a forest a short twenty-minute walk away from a small village. This is the home of my next target. The heavy drinking Fairy Tail member.

Cana Alberona.

It is January of X772 and Cana's mother has just entered the first phase of her illness. Cana has been taking care of her for the past few days as I watched her thinking of how to go about my plan. To be honest I don't really know how I can become important to her. After all she is focused on her mother which gives me very little opportunities to work something out.

Hm, first of let's have her come out of the house shall we. I emptied their water pot so that Cana would leave the house in order to refill it from the nearby lake. And then I will use s.p.a.ce to summon a weak magic beast nearby and come in to save her. I don't know what else can be used given the circ.u.mstances. I can go back more in time where she had more time to go outside but I wouldn't know what to do then either as this is the only significant event in her younger days.

As she was refilling the pot by the lakeside after finding it empty, the magic beast made its way towards her after picking up on her scent. And as she was petrified from fear by the monster I blocked her view and took it down easily.

"You alright? Can you stand up?"

I turned around to see her trembling and tried to calm her down. Man, every time I do things like this the guilt I feel threatens to overcome me. But I will definitely make it up to every girl that I get.

After a while she calmed down and was able to form sentences that could be understood. She thanked me for saving her and we introduced ourselves to each other. She couldn't look me in the eyes as she was almost entirely focusing on keeping her head down trying to hide the blush that she was wearing.

I told her that I was just wandering around without a place to call home which is technically true and that I would escort her to her home. We started walking towards her home as we continued to chat and speak about ourselves. I found out that she still didn't know who her father was, so I'm guessing that she must have found out about it when her mother was dying.

We reached her home and entered after her invitation. She introduced me to her mother with a slight blush when she saw her mother's smile which turned into a frown as a worried look appeared when Cana told her how I saved her.

"Thank you so much for saving Cana, Ray. We don't have much to repay you for the grace you have shown. But I hope you would stay with us for a few days to express our thanks to you."

"Ah, there is really no need for that. I think anyone would have done the same."

"No insist. Please can you accept this request of mine."

I didn't think Cana's mother could be so stubborn as she asked me to stay. It wasn't like I was going to refuse, I just acted humble. Cana set up a pillow and a blanket on the couch and then went to get food ready. When she was out of sight her mother started talking to me.

"Ray, can you do me a favor. I know that I won't be able live long. This sickness will be the end of me. But I can't stop worrying about what will happen to Cana. That's why I want you to take care of her for me when I die. You are a mage and even though you said you don't belong to any guild, I have little doubt that you will one day join one. So my only wish is for you to help Cana get strong enough to enter a guild called Fairy Tail. Please."

I stayed silent for a while before I agreed. That was what I intended to do but I can't help admire how strong of a woman she is. She knows that death is just around the corner for her and yet she is not afraid. Instead she is worried for her daughter.

Cana came to tell us that dinner was ready and as I had expected from seeing the house, they have very little food and it weren't that nutritious either. Since I'm here I thought I might as well give Cana's mother some better food before she pa.s.ses away.

And so the next day I went to a nearby town where I sold some magical beast to earn money and used it to buy fruits, vegetables and seasonings. I didn't need to buy meat as I had plenty of it. After coming back, I stopped Cana from making lunch and entered the kitchen to make food myself.

It wasn't a very luxurious dinner but it was worlds apart from what they were eating. Cana couldn't stop eating and even her mother who had a small appet.i.te ate more than she usually does. I was also thinking on the way of training Cana.

In the canon, she was well endowed in physical aspect and her accuracy was also very good. So I think focusing on those two would be for the best and I could also try and teach her hand to hand combat that I am using. But that will have to wait for later as I didn't want to take away what remaining time she has with her mother.

And so, two months pa.s.s and it is March of X772 right now. I had found out of Cana's mother pa.s.sing away when I woke up and as I didn't want to be the one to break it to Cana and instead let her find out on her own, I went outside the house and sat down waiting for Cana to wake up.

I didn't have to wait long as I heard her screaming for her mother followed by her crying. I sighed and went towards the crying Cana and then gently hug her. I didn't say anything and just stroked her back. But this was somewhat different from the canon. Her mother hasn't told her about Gildarts yet. She did tell me but not Cana. Was she expecting me to tell her?

Well I will think about it later. For now, my focus should be helping Cana get over her grieving and get back up on her two feet. After that head towards Fairy Tail.