Lucy, You Really Are a Good, Filial Daughter

After being comforted by everyone, Makarov finally pulled himself together from his grief, wiped away his tears, and decided to rebuild the guild.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and regained his authoritative demeanor as chairman.

"Alright, guys, you've all been working hard all night. Go home and get some rest! Once you're refreshed, we can discuss the important matter of rebuilding the guild!"

"Oh!"

The crowd echoed in unison, and dragging their tired but excited bodies, they prepared to leave in twos and threes.

However, Mirajane keenly noticed Lucy in a corner of the crowd.

She kept her head down, her golden hair obscuring her expression, and she exuded a melancholy aura that seemed out of place with her surroundings.

Mirajane's mind raced, and he immediately realized the reason.

During questioning at the Magic Council, members of the Phantom Lord Guild confessed that part of the reason for the attack was that they had accepted a commission from Lucy's father, the Heartfilia Family.

This kind-hearted girl must be filled with guilt at this moment, taking all the blame upon herself.

Mirajane looked at Lucy, who seemed hesitant to speak, and then at her departing companions. She spoke gently, her voice soft but clear enough to stop everyone in their tracks.

"Everyone! Could you please wait a moment? Lucy seems to have something to say to you all."

Instantly, everyone's eyes were focused on Lucy.

Lucy looked up abruptly and glanced gratefully at Mirajane.

Mirajane gave her an encouraging smile and nodded slightly.

Under everyone's gaze, Lucy took a deep breath, walked to the center of the crowd, and then bowed deeply to everyone.

"Sorry!"

Her voice trembled slightly and had a strong nasal tone.

"The guild was attacked, and things have turned out like this... it's all because of me... if it weren't for me, none of us would have..."

As she spoke, large tears uncontrollably slid down her cheeks and dripped into the dust of the ruins.

Seeing her trembling shoulders, everyone fell silent, unsure how to comfort her.

It's still Natsu.

He strode over and stood casually in front of Lucy.

"Lucy! The Phantom Lord incident was never your fault."

His voice was as energetic as ever, yet carried an undeniable seriousness.

Lucy slowly raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at the cherry-haired boy before her.

Natsu grinned, revealing a bright smile that could dispel any gloom. He scratched his head and said in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Furthermore, there has never been anyone named 'Lucy Heartfilia' in our guild."

"The only person we've ever known, from beginning to end, is..."

"That's Lucy, the mage from Fairy Tail!"

Simple and direct words, like a warm light, instantly illuminated all the dark corners in Lucy's heart.

She stared blankly at Natsu, her tears flowing even more freely, but this time, they were tears of emotion.

She nodded vigorously, her voice trembling with tears, yet she smiled with immense joy.

"Um!"

A potentially heavy apology meeting was thus easily resolved by Natsu in his most "Natsu" way.

The group exchanged smiles and went home to rest.

When everyone gathered again, it was already evening.

Since the guild has been reduced to ruins, everyone can only temporarily use the surviving basement as a basement.

After a good night's sleep, everyone was refreshed and energized.

Perhaps having finally let go of her inner turmoil, Lucy took the initiative to explain to Natsu, Gray, and the others in detail the reasons why she ran away from home.

"My mother died when I was very young. After that, my father changed, and the whole house became cold and cold, like a cage with an empty, gorgeous shell."

Lucy sat on a wooden crate, hugging her knees, her voice low and somber.

"He only cares about his business and wants to use me as a tool for a political marriage to build up his business empire."

"I didn't want to live that kind of life. I wanted freedom, I wanted to see a wider world, so I ran away..."

She looked up at the faces around her, all listening attentively, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.

"Then, I met Natsu and the others, and came to Fairy Tail. This is my true home."

"How awful! How could someone have such a father!"

Cana took a big gulp of wine, indignantly standing up for Lucy.

She patted her chest and said to Lucy, "Lucy, don't worry! If your bastard father ever dares to force you to do something you don't like again, just tell me! I'll have my dad stand up for you!"

"Hey! Cana!"

Gray listened with trepidation.

"Surely we don't need Uncle Gildarts to get involved? That would leave Lucy homeless!"

"Huh?!"

Lucy was startled.

"Is it... is it really that scary? I hate Dad's arrangements, but I don't want anything to happen to him..."

What are you talking about?

Cana waved her hand, her eyes still blurry with drunkenness.

"Isn't Lucy's family super rich? I just want my dad to tear down one of her houses that they hardly ever live in, just to scare her dad."

After listening, Lucy thought about the dozen or so attached villas in that huge estate, and actually nodded seriously. "Hmm... in that case, it's still acceptable."

Jiang Bai, listening from the side, couldn't help but laugh, "Lucy, you're such a filial and good daughter!"

Lucy then realized what was happening, her cheeks flushed slightly as she stuck out her tongue.

She looked at Cana curiously. "Speaking of which, I've never met your father before, Cana. Is he very powerful?"

"Ai!"

Happy eagerly answered.

"Lucy, don't you know? In our guild, if Jiang Bai is the strongest, then Cana's father, Gildarts, is the second strongest! He's just currently doing the 100-Year Quest."

"The second strongest?! 100-Year Quest?!"

Lucy was shocked once again.

Just as Lucy was in shock, Jiang Bai's leisurely voice rang out.

"Wait a minute, Happy."

He strolled slowly behind Happy and corrected him, "I'm not the strongest in the guild, I'm the strongest in the world. As punishment for saying the wrong thing, I'll confiscate one of your dried fish."

As he spoke, with lightning speed, he precisely pulled a small dried fish from the small backpack on Happy's back.

Ah! My dried fish!

Happy instantly bristled, flapping its wings and chasing after Jiang Bai.

"Jiang Bai, you big bad guy! We were wrong! Give it back to us!"

Jiang Bai teased the kitten, who was on the verge of tears, with the dried fish for a couple of minutes before smiling and returning it to him.

Just as the basement was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, a red figure in armor appeared at the entrance.

It's Erza.

She's back.

Erza looked at the guild reduced to ruins, and saw everyone crammed into a small basement. Her resolute eyes were instantly filled with pain and deep self-reproach.

"I'm sorry... I..."

Her voice trembled.

"While I was away, the guild... suffered such a thing... It's my fault!"

"Erza, this is none of your business." Jiang Bai walked over.

Mirajane gently comforted her, "Yes, Erza, no one expected the Phantom Lord to launch a sudden attack."

However, Erza shook her head vigorously. She was a stubborn person, and once she fell into self-blame, it was difficult for her to get out of it.

She suddenly drew the sword from her waist, planted it in the ground in front of her, and knelt down on one knee in front of the crowd.

"Words can no longer hide my remorse! Please... come and beat me! Use your fists to punish my incompetence!"

The group looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Everyone: Putting aside the fact that we genuinely don't blame you, even if we only cursed at you a couple of times, Jiang Bai would definitely chase after us and beat us up.

Just then, Jiang Bai's gaze fell on a tattered flag that Erza was clutching tightly in her hand.

"Erza, don't blame yourself yet,"

He began to speak,

"Is that the flag of the Phantom Lord you're holding?"

Erza paused for a moment, then nodded and raised the flag in her hand.

The banner bore the Phantom Lord.

"Yeah! On my way back after hearing the news, I stopped by and destroyed all their branch guilds."

"I made part of it, and the other part... I met Mystogan on the road, and he gave it to me."

She recounted it calmly, as if she had only done something trivial.

The basement fell silent instantly.

Sweep away... all the branches of a large guild?

Mirajane stepped forward, gently helped Erza to her feet, took the flag from her hand, and said softly:

"See, you've done enough, Erza. Welcome home."