Some Hearts Will Always Remain Out of Reach

Erza flicked the blood from her sword and followed the big bald man's gaze to the throne on the raised platform.

"Is that their boss?" Erza frowned slightly. This Jack was much smaller than she had imagined.

Erza saw someone standing motionless in front of the throne. Judging by his height and build, he might not even have been an adult, and he looked very young. But he had a T-shirt over his head! That was right, it was only over his head, as though he had stopped halfway through putting it on. He was fumbling to tie the bottom of the shirt shut, apparently to keep it from falling off his head.

Erza instinctively tightened her grip on her sword. This person was hiding his face and acting flustered. One look was enough to tell he was no good.

Eleven was in despair himself!! What could he do? Who could have guessed that Erza, whom he had forgotten about because he was having so much fun teaching others a lesson, would suddenly show up here?

Luckily, Eleven had reacted quickly. Before Erza barged in, he had forcibly stripped a fairly intact T-shirt off someone nearby and pulled it over his head. With his Spiritual Power to help him, not being able to see wasn't much of a problem anyway.

What he needed to figure out now was how to bluff his way through this! His situation couldn't have been worse! Once his identity was exposed, nothing he said would clear his name. He would either have to admit he was a stalking pervert or be forced to become the boss of a bunch of thugs! Heavens, please let the clever me from this morning come back once more!

As Eleven adjusted the cloth concealing his face and prayed to the heavens, Erza spoke first. "You're Mighty King Jack, aren't you? The boss of the Rock-Crushing Gang. I'm a mage from Fairy Tail. Surrender without a fight!"

Eleven was delighted to hear that. So she was looking for Jack. That had nothing to do with him! He spoke with a hint of pleasure. "Oh, the big bald guy you just cut down is Jack. I'm not! I'm not the one you're looking for!"

Erza frowned slightly and looked back. The big bald man did fit the two-meter-tall description the mayor had given her better.

Just then, the thug Eleven had stripped the shirt off somehow found the courage to throw himself at Eleven's feet and burst into tears. "Boss! You have to avenge Brother Jack! Boss, we're counting on you!"

Eleven: ヽ(#`Д´)ﾉ??

Erza raised an eyebrow. As expected, things weren't so simple. The little shorty in front of her was the real boss. Her mission had been to destroy the Rock-Crushing Gang in the first place. She had been looking for Jack because, according to her information, he was the only mage in the gang. She had thought killing Jack would mean the mission was half complete, but now it seemed there was more to it.

"Um, listen to me. I really was just passing through. I have nothing to do with them." Eleven glumly tried to shake the thug off his leg while hastily explaining himself to Erza.

Erza pressed her lips together and ignored Eleven. Sword in hand, she charged at him.

Eleven hadn't expected this woman to be so fierce that she couldn't even be bothered to answer him. With no other choice, he used Telekinesis to grab Erza's ankle.

"Ah~"

Erza landed flat on the ground with a splat and let out a cute little cry.

But Erza reacted quickly. She scrambled to her feet and continued charging at Eleven as though nothing had happened.

Eleven had just kicked the hanger-on off his leg. With no other choice, he tried the same trick again, hoping to trip Erza. He really didn't want to fight her.

But this time, Erza seemed to sense something in advance. She suddenly jumped, narrowly avoiding Eleven's sweeping Telekinesis. As soon as she landed, she swung her sword down at him without hesitation.

Eleven was stunned. He hadn't expected Erza to be so remarkable. Leaving aside the heavyweights in the guild, he had yet to see anyone besides Laxus dodge his Telekinesis attacks.

He hadn't put much force into that move, but that also made it more subtle, with almost no sign of its approach. Erza had dodged the attack entirely on instinct, which was a little frightening!

Erza's sword never landed. It wasn't because she had shown mercy, but because Eleven had caught it with Telekinesis. Though her astonishing natural talent let her dodge Eleven's attacks, when it came to sheer power, not even Laxus could currently match Eleven's Telekinesis.

Seeing one of her swords caught, Erza swung the sword in her other hand upward from another direction without hesitation, slashing at Eleven's chest.

Of course, the other sword was held fast too, just as expected. Both swords seemed frozen in the air. No matter how Erza twisted or strained, neither blade budged.

The thugs around them cheered loudly when they saw Eleven catch Erza. Some shouted praises for their mighty boss, some called for Erza to be killed to avenge Jack, and others shouted that they should carry her back to be their boss's bride.

Eleven ignored the thugs. Instead, he frowned deeply and muttered to himself, "Just as I thought, I still can't sense anything!"

Eleven couldn't sense any emotional fluctuations from Erza at all. Even now, in the middle of a fight, at a moment of crisis for her, he still couldn't sense the slightest emotional fluctuation. He couldn't even sense any fluctuation in her spirit.

She clearly had Spiritual Power, yet there were no fluctuations. Eleven had only seen that happen with one thing: the soul of a dead person.

That was why his first encounter with Erza had given him a terrible fright. But he soon discovered that it wasn't that her Spiritual Power had no fluctuations. An invisible barrier had sealed away all her emotions.

People's Spiritual Power unconsciously mingled with that of others, overlapping like auras. Why was it that sometimes two people were all smiles, yet things were awkward between them? Why was it that sometimes being with someone felt comfortable, even when they did nothing at all?

The different atmospheres that arose depending on the people involved were the result of their Spiritual Power being compatible.

If two people spent enough time together, their Spiritual Power mingling for long enough, they would develop an understanding. They would instinctively know what the other was thinking and what they would do. That was a bond!

But Erza couldn't engage in that kind of spiritual exchange with others. She had sealed off the means by which she connected with the outside world, so naturally she couldn't truly open her heart to anyone. As a result, everyone felt a barrier between them when they spoke with her.

That was also the real reason Gray disliked Erza. This barrier made her utterly unable to form bonds with others, utterly unable to become their companion!

Looking at Erza in her heavy armor, Eleven sighed. He didn't know why she had closed off her heart. She had done so of her own volition, which meant he couldn't break through it by forcing his way in with Spiritual Power. Erza had to open her heart herself.

The Erza of today was like someone wearing a thick layer of armor inside and out. While everyone was unwilling to touch her, Erza was also consciously keeping everyone out.

It was armor for her heart.