Dragons and Cats

Riyao led Natsu and the others away from Fairy Tail, heading towards the royal capital.

He took a few X-Balls out of his pocket, waved them in his palm, and the little pills rolled around in his hand.

"Eat this and you'll be able to use magic. Be careful with your magic power; it's not as plentiful here as it is back home, so it recovers more slowly."

He handed the X-Ball to Natsu and Wendy. Natsu took it, glanced at it, tilted his head back, and threw it into his mouth. He chewed it a couple of times, his whole face scrunched up.

"Ptooey! What a taste! It's like chewing on a lump of mud!"

Wendy carefully placed the X-Ball on the tip of her tongue, pursed her lips, and her little face scrunched up in a bitter expression, but she still obediently swallowed it, patting her chest as if to encourage herself.

Happy raised his little paws, his tail held high, and looked at Riyao with anticipation.

"What about me and Carla?"

Riyao bent down, reached out and flicked Happy's head, making a soft "plop" sound.

"Aren't you the natives of this place? You don't need to eat this. Besides, your race corresponds to dragons."

Happy froze, his two round eyes wide open like saucers, his little mouth slightly agape, as if a string in his mind had been suddenly plucked, making a buzzing sound.

Dragon? Am I a dragon?

Natsu suddenly turned to look at Happy, his eyes shining. He excitedly grabbed Happy's front paw and shook it hard, almost shaking Happy apart.

"I knew it! When I found the Happy egg, I said it was definitely a dragon, hahaha..."

Natsu laughed so hard he almost fell over, slapping his thighs, looking as smug as if he were the prophet, his smile practically reaching his ears.

Wendy tilted her head and looked at Carla, her little face full of confusion. Her fingers unconsciously twirled the hem of her clothes, and her brows furrowed slightly.

Is Carla a dragon?

Carla crossed her arms over her chest, raised her chin slightly, snorted disdainfully through her nostrils, and flicked her tail impatiently.

"How would I know? Maybe that cunning bastard is just making things up."

Riyao raised one index finger, started counting on his fingers, and began to talk nonsense in a serious manner, his expression as solemn as if he were giving an academic report.

"Dragons can fly, Happy so can Happy. Dragons have tails, Happy has tails too, and both are laid from eggs."

He counted off a finger for each point he made, his tone so certain it left no room for doubt, and he even nodded seriously, as if the three arguments formed an impeccable logical loop.

Natsu and Happy's eyes grew brighter and brighter, like two lit lanterns, completely believing in this claim. Happy was so excited that his little wings flapped incessantly.

"Oh ho ho, I knew Happy was a dragon!"

"Aye! I am a dragon!"

Happy raised his little head, puffed out his furry chest, and put his two little paws on his hips.

Carla rolled her eyes, her lips twitched, and she thought this was utterly ridiculous.

Wendy was skeptical, glancing at Happy and then at Riyao, her lips pursed as if she were seriously considering the possibility of this claim.

The group arrived at a small town. The shops on both sides of the street were similar to those in Earth-land, but there were some subtle differences in the words written on the signs.

As Riyao walked, he looked around.

"If Levy saw these words, she'd be ecstatic."

As he walked, Riyao suddenly stopped, put his hands in his pockets, and glanced behind him.

You really don't need to come with us.

Natsu tilted his head, puzzled, and was about to speak.

Two people emerged from around the corner behind them: Lucy and Lisanna from Edolas.

Lucy scratched the back of her head, chuckled sheepishly, and glanced away guiltily.

"Haha, we're just here to resupply."

Lisanna stood behind Lucy, her hands behind her back, her toes shuffling on the ground. Her expression was much more open, with a sly smile playing on her lips.

Natsu twitched his nose twice, trying to discern the scent, then abruptly turned his head to look in a certain direction.

I smell Lucy!

Lucy of Edolas looked at Natsu with disdain, her lips twitching downwards as she sized him up and down.

"Your Natsu is such a pervert."

"I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about our Lucy." Natsu waved his hand.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, slightly raised her chin, and a hint of curiosity flashed in her eyes.

"Does he look like me? I'm a little curious, take me to see him too."

"Me too, me too! My brother-in-law won't object, will he?"

Lisanna came over and quickly accepted the role of brother-in-law, squeezing in front of Riyao with a grin.

Lucy and Lisanna stubbornly insisted on following, neither willing to back down an inch.

Riyao pursed his lips, looking at the two of them speechlessly, his temples throbbing twice.

Natsu agreed without hesitation, and with a wave of his hand, led everyone to find Lucy, their steps as light as if they were going on a picnic.

Riyao reluctantly followed, hands behind his head, a slight smile playing on his lips, treating it as if he were going to witness a famous scene involving Lucy.

"By the way, is there any transportation around here?"

"Brother-in-law, I know! I'll take you to see it later."

Lisanna took two steps, then suddenly tilted her head to look at Riyao and blinked.

"But brother-in-law, do you have money?"

Riyao paused for a moment, felt his pockets, rummaged around inside with his fingers, and pulled out his clothes—they were empty.

"Huh? Why do we need money? We're leaving after this job, why would we need to pay? Who in their right mind would pay?"

Lucy and Lisanna stood there, stunned. They looked at each other, their expressions shifting from shock to helplessness.

"How about I give you directions later, brother-in-law? I won't go."

Lisanna's face fell, her voice suddenly went limp, and her shoulders slumped.

Riyao reached out and patted Lisanna on the shoulder, the force neither too light nor too heavy, his tone full of bravado.

"Oh, what are you afraid of? Since you're already here, your brother-in-law has to prepare a dowry for you."

Lisanna's lips twitched, unsure whether to be touched or speechless. This brother-in-law was truly unreliable.

Lucy looked at Lisanna's pained expression and couldn't help but burst into laughter, laughing so hard she bent over, one hand on her knee and the other wiping away tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes.

"I never thought Lisanna would have a day like this, hahaha... sob sob."

Before she could finish speaking, Lisanna reached out and grabbed Lucy by the neck, tightening her arms and trapping Lucy's head under her armpit.

Lucy's eyes rolled back as she was being strangled, and she patted Lisanna's arm with both hands, begging for mercy.

"Honey, feeling dizzy is normal. Take a deep breath."

Lisanna spoke expressionlessly, her grip on her hand not loosening at all.

Seeing this, Riyao subconsciously reached out and ruffled Lisanna's hair, gently rubbing her head twice with his palm, the movement as natural as if he had done it a thousand times.

"It feels the same as Lisanna's back home."

Lisanna slapped Riyao's hand away and punched him.

Don't touch my head!

A clear, Earth-land Lucy voice came from afar, echoing through the street.

"What are you doing? Let go of me! You've really messed with me! Virgo!"

Virgo appeared, her chain drawing a silver arc in the air, and in no time at all, she had knocked down the kingdom's soldiers with fluid, clean movements.

A masked man jumped out of the shadows, put his hands on his hips, struck what he thought was a cool pose, and let out a series of classic, eerie laughs.

"Hehehe, this little girl is quite brave..."

Lucy of Edolas raised her hand to stop him, her gaze sweeping over the masked man, her lips twitching slightly.

"Riyao, I know it's you."

Riyao reached out and took off Natsu's scarf from around his neck, revealing his grinning face, and deliberately flicked the scarf around.

"Not bad, you were able to see through my disguise."

The people present could practically dig out a huge villa with their toes.

Is that disguise? You're just covering half your face with a scarf! Most of your face is still showing!

Natsu and Happy found it very interesting.