The Fake Fire Dragon

Upon hearing "I'll treat you to a meal," Natsu and Happy's eyes instantly shone with a light even brighter than a magical flash.

With a "plop," the two knelt down in front of Lucy, their movements perfectly synchronized and their posture utterly devout.

"Thank you so much! You are our savior!"

This unexpected turn of events left Lucy blushing deeply with embarrassment, and she quickly waved her hands.

"No... you don't need to be so polite!"

The three of them walked into a restaurant that looked decent. As soon as they entered, they heard a familiar, lazy voice coming from not far away.

"Boss, this steak is great! Two more, please."

Happy's ears twitched, and he exclaimed softly, "It's Jiang Bai!"

"Hey! Jiang Bai, you're here too!"

Natsu had long forgotten his hunger and waved excitedly in greeting.

Happy transformed into a streak of blue lightning, leaping to Jiang Bai's table and grabbing his arm, crying, "Jiang Bai, I'm so hungry! Can I have this grilled fish?"

Jiang Bai casually handed the golden-brown, crispy fish on the plate to Happy, then looked up at Natsu and said lazily, "Yeah, we're out here to lay low for a bit."

Seeing this familiar scene, Lucy followed suit.

Her gaze lingered on Jiang Bai for several seconds, and she couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

How could Natsu know such a handsome guy? Although Natsu isn't bad-looking himself, he's still a tiny bit less attractive than this man.

Jiang Bai's presence in Hargeon was partly to witness firsthand the place he knew so well, the place where the story began.

The other reason is that Mirajane in the guild... has started researching new recipes again.

While wolfing down the fish, Happy mumbled indistinctly, "Hey~ Mira's cooking is delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Bai's face instantly fell, and two bitter tears even welled up in the corners of his eyes.

"It's delicious, but I really don't want to eat the same dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three days in a row!"

Mirajane has a habit when researching new recipes: she'll keep making a dish until she thinks it's perfect.

"Alright, let's not talk about me anymore." Jiang Bai waved his hand, changing the subject, "What's going on with you guys?"

"We're here to find the Fire Dragon!" Natsu replied earnestly.

Even though she already knew this would be the answer, Jiang Bai still couldn't help but rub her forehead and look at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

"Natsu, use your brain! Do you really think a real dragon would appear in a city full of people like this?"

Natsu and Happy were both stunned. They looked at each other and their faces showed a shocked expression of sudden realization.

"Um... what's Fire Dragon?" Lucy asked quietly from the side.

"It's a real dragon," Happy replied.

Lucy's mouth instantly formed an "O" shape; she was also shocked.

"Oh right!" Natsu clapped his hands, pointing at Lucy and introducing her, "This is our benefactor who's going to treat us to dinner!"

Jiang Bai then looked at Lucy properly and nodded politely. "Hello, my name is Jiang Bai."

"Hello, my name is Lucy," Lucy replied somewhat reservedly.

After the introductions were finished, Natsu completely disregarded everything else, plopped down, and began a whirlwind sweep with Happy.

From then on, the dinner table basically became Lucy's one-woman talk show.

"That fake Fire Dragon just now, he used [Charm], which is Charm Magic. This spell was banned from sale several years ago! To go to such lengths to be popular, what a despicable guy!"

She took a sip of water and said, "But thanks to your sudden intrusion, my Charm Magic was broken, so I'm really grateful to you."

With his mouth full, Natsu mumbled, "I see."

"Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm still a mage!"

Lucy puffed out her chest, looking somewhat proud.

Seeing that Natsu had devoured half of the steak he had just ordered, Jiang Bai abandoned all pretense of politeness and quickly forked a large piece into his mouth, mumbling a "Oh, oh."

Once Lucy started talking, she couldn't stop.

"Although I haven't joined a guild yet... By the way, a guild is basically a place that brings together many mages and provides them with various quests."

"And also, there are so many guilds in this world, but the screening process for joining the most popular guild must be very strict, right?"

"No way," Natsu replied casually, stuffing another bite of meat into his mouth.

"Oh, I'm so sorry,"

Lucy blushed slightly and waved her hand, "Even if I explained all this to you, you probably wouldn't understand. But I'm determined to join that guild!"

Jiang Bai was stunned. He leaned close to Happy's ear and whispered, "This girl is really good at talking."

Happy, with a fish tail in his mouth, nodded in deep agreement.

"Hey~"

Lucy finally finished saying everything she wanted to say, let out a satisfied sigh, glanced at the sky, and prepared to take her leave.

She took out her wallet from her small bag, ready to pay.

Jiang Bai saw her action and said, "No need to spend money, this meal is on me."

"No, no!"

Lucy quickly waved her hand, "I promised to treat you to express my gratitude, how could I let you pay?"

She insisted on counting out the money for the meal, and even including the money for Jiang Bai's steak, and placing it on the table before waving to the others.

"Well then, I'll be going now. See you again sometime!"

After saying that, the blonde girl hummed a little tune and left in a cheerful mood.

At the dinner table, only the three people who had finished their meal remained.

"Burp~ I'm so full."

Natsu patted his round belly contentedly and said to Jiang Bai, "Jiang Bai, let's go back."

He then seemed to remember something, and a look of pain and pleading appeared on his face.

"Use your Space Magic to take us back. I don't want to ride that horrible train again."

"I don't want to."

Jiang Bai refused without hesitation. He leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and said, "The scenery along the way is very important; you have to appreciate it with your heart."

Happy flew up to him, looked at him, and said, "Jiang Bai, I'm going to tell Erza that you've been secretly smoking again."

"I'm an adult now. Hey! You little kitten, you ate my fish for nothing."

"But Lucy was treating us."

"..."

"We still have things to finish," Jiang Bai changed the subject.

"What's up?" Happy tilted his head, having indeed been redirected. "We came here to find Igneel, right? Since we didn't find him, we should go back."

Jiang Bai's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile as he slowly asked, "Didn't you just say there was a 'Fire Dragon' here?"

"Yeah, right." Natsu looked disappointed and annoyed. "Too bad he's just an imposter, a greasy guy."

Seeing his expression, Jiang Bai finally dropped a bombshell.

"Natsu, don't you know?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it stunned both Natsu and Happy.

"The title 'Fire Dragon' in Fairy Tail refers to you."

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

The nonchalant and indifferent look on Natsu's face vanished instantly.

Those eyes, which always burned with pure fire, became incredibly serious at this moment, even carrying a hint of cold anger.

Igneel is Fire Dragon, and as Igneel's son, who inherited the Dragon Slayer Magic, his codename in the guild and among outsiders is— Natsu Dragneel the Fire Dragon.

He can be impersonated, he can be looked down upon, but the words "Fairy Tail" are an absolute taboo subject for Natsu.

He would never allow anyone to use Fairy Tail's name to swindle and deceive others, thus tarnishing the guild's reputation!

Where is that guy?

Natsu's voice deepened, and his fist clenched unconsciously, with sparks of heat dancing between his fingers.

He suddenly stood up from his seat, exuding an aura of impending battle and rage. He turned to rush out and settle scores with the fake Fire Dragon who dared to impersonate him.

"Wait a moment."

Jiang Bai's voice rang out again, calmly stopping him.

Natsu turned around and looked at him with eyes burning with anger.

Jiang Bai pointed to the gradually darkening sky outside the window and said slowly, "What's the rush? Didn't he say there's a party on the cruise ship tonight?"

"Let's go after the party starts."

"Perfect, it'll be more lively with more people."