Trouble in the Royal Capital

Crocus, the capital of the Kingdom of Fiore.

As the venue for the Grand Magic Games, the grandest annual magic festival, this city is currently brimming with unprecedented vitality and excitement.

The wide streets were bustling with people, tourists and mages from all over the world jostling shoulder to shoulder, their faces filled with anticipation for the upcoming festival.

"Wow--! We've finally arrived! This place is so big and lively!"

Looking at the magnificent city before her, Lucy's eyes sparkled, and she let out a sound of amazement, as if she had never seen anything like it before.

"Eek! It's definitely best not to have to take public transportation!"

Natsu took a deep breath of the calm, earthy air, and felt completely refreshed.

That's right, it was to take care of those few "problem children" in the guild who were prone to motion sickness (at this point, Gajeel was unaware that he was also starting to get motion sickness).

Of course, the main reason was to fulfill Erza and Mirajane's little wish to come to the capital to see their new clothes as soon as possible. This time, Jiang Bai used Space Magic to teleport everyone to the capital.

"This place feels so much bigger than the capital of Edolas!" Little Lily walked along the road, looking up at the bustling city, and exclaimed sincerely.

Just then, a familiar voice came from ahead.

"You've finally arrived."

It was Chairman Makarov who set off earlier.

With the lovely Asuka perched on his neck, and Droy and the others following behind, he was smiling as he walked toward them.

"Now that you've decided to participate, you'd better do your best this year!" Droy pumped his fist to encourage everyone.

"We must show them the true power of Fairy Tail!"

However, amidst this warm atmosphere of reunion, some discordant and malicious whispers quietly arose from the surrounding crowd.

"Hey! Look! Isn't that emblem Fairy Tail?"

"Really! It's that guild that's always at the bottom."

"Pfft! I really don't understand. They've fallen on such low levels, how can they still have the nerve to come?"

These sharp and sarcastic remarks reached the ears of every member of Fairy Tail.

"Hey! Who was laughing at us just now?!" Natsu's fiery temper flared instantly. He glared around, trying to find the source of the voice.

Unexpectedly, his anger did not have a deterrent effect; instead, it provoked even more direct and blatant provocations.

Two seemingly thuggish young men, without any restraint, began to loudly mock them right in front of them.

"Anyway, we'll definitely be at the bottom this year."

"There's absolutely nothing interesting about this."

"That's right! This year's first place definitely belongs to our 'Sabertooth'!"

The two laughed unrestrainedly, their eyes filled with contempt and disdain as they looked at the Fairy Tail members.

"Damn it! You two bastards! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"

Flames were already burning on Natsu's fists, and he was about to charge forward.

"Hey, calm down, Natsu."

Jiang Bai reached out and pressed down on his shoulder, his tone still as lazy as ever.

"After all, our results weren't very good in previous years, and they can say whatever they want, so let them talk."

The members of Fairy Tail were all stunned when they heard this.

Jiang Bai... has he changed his ways? He's actually being so good-natured in mediating a fight?

However, the next second...

"Buzz--!"

An invisible, terrifying pressure flashed past Jiang Bai's body.

The two young men, who were still laughing arrogantly, froze instantly. Then, their eyes rolled back, and like puppets with broken strings, they silently fainted.

After doing all this, Jiang Bai didn't even bother to look at them, he just raised his hand slightly.

Two invisible Psychokinesis instantly lifted the two unconscious men, and then, to the horrified gazes of everyone around, tossed them precisely into a stinking garbage dump on a street corner, as if they were trash.

"But," Jiang Bai added slowly after he had done all that,

"We can choose to send this trash to where it's supposed to go."

"..."

"He really is Jiang Bai!"

I knew it!

Natsu and the others watched this scene with knowing expressions on their faces, as if to say, "That's more like it."

"Ahem!" Makarov coughed twice, a token reminder.

"Jiang Bai, don't be so violent in public."

Just then, the ordinary people around finally snapped out of their shock and burst into panicked screams.

"Someone got hit!"

"Guards! Help! Fairy Tail is openly beating people in the street!"

Upon hearing the shouts, the royal guards, whose patrol numbers had already been increased several times over due to the celebration, immediately rushed over from all directions.

The man who appeared to be the team leader, seeing the tense atmosphere, shouted sternly, "What's going on?!"

Immediately, some busybodies jumped out, pointing at Jiang Bai and his group and shouting, "Reporting, Captain! It's these mages! They're taking advantage of their strength to openly injure people! Arrest them immediately!"

Upon hearing this, the captain's face darkened, and his sharp gaze swept over the Fairy Tail members.

Is what they're saying true?

"This... this is a misunderstanding..." Makarov was about to step forward to explain, but he couldn't afford to be disqualified from the competition because of this small conflict; that would be a huge loss.

However, Jiang Bai was one step ahead of him.

He didn't even bother to speak, but simply pulled a black token from his pocket and casually tossed it to the captain.

The captain instinctively caught the token and looked down.

The next second, the color drained from his once serious face, his legs went weak, and he knelt down on one knee in front of everyone with a "Jiang Bai"!

His voice trembled slightly with extreme shock and awe.

"Greetings... Greetings, Lord Infinity!"

"Oh right!" Natsu clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm, looking as if he had just realized something.

"Jiang Bai still has this?! I almost forgot!"

Jiang Bai didn't even bother to look at the captain kneeling on the ground, but spoke in a calm tone that left no room for doubt.

"Lock those two in the garbage dump in jail and teach them a lesson on how to speak properly."

"And those guys who were just yelling about arresting us—I don't want to see them in Crocus City again during this festival."

"Yes, sir! As you command!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the captain immediately scrambled to his feet, then whirled around and unleashed a thunderous roar at his men.

"What are you all standing there for?! Arrest all these troublemakers!"