My Landlord

Natsu was at the job board when he heard the news. He immediately smashed it to pieces with one punch, then headed outside with Happy.

Watching what had just happened, Lucy could not help but look saddened.

"The Guild Master is so strict."

"And what's wrong with Natsu?"

Mirajane explained, "Maybe it reminded him of his own father."

Looking at the battered Makarov, Ye Yang said, "Old Man, you really aren't honest with yourself."

"You were worried sick, yet you insisted on acting like this."

"Why bother? No job is more important than a life."

Makarov let out a helpless sigh.

"You brat, you're right. No job is more important than a life."

Just as Makarov was about to say something, Ye Yang spoke up. "Don't worry, Natsu has already gone after him."

"Oh, right. Lucy, you should go too."

Lucy was immediately puzzled when Ye Yang told her to go. "Huh? Why?"

"You need to get familiar with how the guild works eventually. Consider this your first job as a guild member."

Since Ye Yang had put it that way, Lucy found it hard to refuse.

"All right~"

Makarov looked at the unusually attentive Ye Yang and asked, "Brat, why are you so concerned about this Lucy? Don't tell me you saw her figure and wanted to..."

"Tut, tut, tut..."

As soon as the Guild Master finished speaking, Mirajane stood there with a knife in hand, smiling at him.

"I'd very much like to know too~"

Seeing the situation, Ye Yang immediately panicked. He could not exactly say that this was how the plot went.

"You're overthinking it. With a great beauty like Mirajane by my side, how could I possibly have the time to look at other girls?"

"Right, my beautiful Snow Princess~"

Mirajane immediately blushed and covered her cheeks.

Seeing that his scheme had failed, Makarov grumpily began drinking.

"Oh, right, Old Man. Put the payment for Lucy's job on your tab."

∑(??д??lll) "Pfft—!!!"

"What?!!"

Ye Yang directly covered his ears and kept saying that he could not hear him.

Meanwhile, Makarov talked so much that his spit was practically spraying onto Ye Yang.

By evening, Natsu and Lucy had helped Macao back to the guild, and the matter was more or less resolved perfectly.

That night, Lucy returned to the place she had rented. It had cost her 70,000 Jewel. Though it was a little expensive, she loved every aspect of its decor, so she had decided to rent it almost immediately.

Just as Lucy finished bathing and came out wrapped in a towel, she saw Natsu, Happy, and Ye Yang in her room, sitting on the sofa and eating her snacks.

"Hi!"

"Yo~"

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Lucy immediately lashed out and kicked Natsu flying. As for Ye Yang, her foot passed straight through his body. Losing her balance, Lucy fell to the floor.

The scene shifted. Lucy sat by the bed while Natsu and Happy had returned to the sofa.

"Y-you... why are you in my house?!"

"Even if we're on good terms, this is a complete invasion of my privacy! This is trespassing! It's a crime!"

Rubbing his kicked cheek, Natsu said, "Louise, that's too harsh."

"I told you, my name is Lucy! And you're the ones being outrageous!"

"Could it be that you're after my beauty, so you wanted to... I know I was born naturally beautiful, with a fatal attraction to men like you. Is all this really the fault of the beauty Heaven bestowed upon me..."

When Natsu, Happy, and Ye Yang heard Lucy start narcissistically praising herself, they were instantly speechless.

So Natsu decisively interrupted her before she could continue.

"You're overthinking it. I just wanted to see what your new place looked like."

Only then did Lucy react. "How did you get into my room? Don't tell me you picked my lock?"

"Huh? Why would we pick someone else's lock? We used a key to open the door."

(?˙▽˙?) "Haha, so you used a key. I knew it..."

"..."

Σ(°Д°; "Why do you have a key to my house?!"

Happy answered, "Lucy, didn't you know? The place you rented belongs to my boss."

"Huh?" Lucy looked at Ye Yang in utter confusion.

"H-he's a wizard, isn't he?"

After taking a sip of tea, Ye Yang said, "Who says a wizard can't rent houses to people?"

"Aye! My boss is going to become the strongest landlord!"

"T-the strongest landlord?" Lucy's mouth twitched when she heard that.

"Every time my boss finishes a job, he uses the money he earns to buy houses in Magnolia Town. He's already the person with the most properties in Magnolia!"

After hearing this whole sequence of events, Lucy was even more confused.

"Do jobs to make money—use the money to buy houses—rent out the houses to make money."

"What even is this?"

Ye Yang said indignantly, "You people have no vision. Real estate prices will definitely keep rising in the future."

"Isn't this rent of 70,000 Jewel a little low? Should I raise it next month~?"

Lucy immediately panicked.

"Don't raise it, it's already expensive enough! If it goes any higher, I won't be able to afford it (????ε???)."

"Haha, I'm kidding. I just heard someone had rented a place around here, so I came by to show my face. I happened to run into these two at the door."

"Since you treated me to dinner yesterday, I'll waive your rent for next month."

Lucy immediately stood up happily upon hearing that, and her towel fell right off. Her perfect figure was displayed before the two men and one cat.

Ye Yang hurriedly covered his ears. That was right—his ears.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

Just as Natsu was about to cover his ears, Lucy kicked him flying.

Then she swiftly picked up the towel and rushed into the bathroom.

"Mom, I'm tainted..."

The scene shifted.

Lucy got dressed and returned to the living room, only to find that the two of them still had not left.

"Why haven't you left yet?!"

Natsu said with a smile, "We're not leaving. We came to play with you."

Ye Yang said, "I heard from Natsu that you have something fun here, so I stayed."

Lucy thought for a long time but could not think of anything fun.

"I just moved in. I don't have anything here at all, okay?"

Natsu suddenly thought of something.

"Right! Lucy, don't you summon things?!"

"Let us see your keys!"

"Huh? Keys? You mean Celestial Spirits!"

"Yeah, yeah, let us see those."

Lucy looked helplessly at the excited Natsu and Happy.

Then Lucy took out all six of her keys: three gold and three silver.

"These silver keys can basically be bought in stores. These three are Horologium of the Clock, Crux of the Southern Cross, and Lyra of Lyra."

"And these three gold keys are incredibly precious. There are only twelve of them in the entire world, and they can open the Golden Twelve Palaces."

"They are Taurus of Taurus, Aquarius of Aquarius, and Cancer of Cancer."