An Unexplained Battle

"Um?"

Seeing Laxus gazing up at the sky, Kana asked, puzzled, "Laxus, what's wrong?"

"Kana, look!"

Hearing Laxus's words, Kana turned her head to look in the direction he was pointing, muttering under her breath, "Could it be that some unknown creature is flying over again?" (Tobi: I'm not an unknown creature, I'm a human! I'm a human!)

"Call out!"

The moment Kana and the other girl looked up, a piercing sound of air being torn apart came from the sky, and then a bluish-white light spot that was growing at an extremely fast speed was reflected in their pupils.

"This... this could be..."

Before Kana could even finish her guess, a familiar voice had already traveled through space and reached the ears of the four of them.

"Kana, Laxus, are you alright?"

Upon hearing the call, Laxus and Kana both gave each other big smiles, while Lidas seriously complained about a certain forgetful guy.

"Hey bro, it seems like I'm one of your team members too?"

Seeing Lidas hovering his finger in front of his nose, Kana and the other two laughed rather unkindly.

"Ha ha"

"Ha ha"

"Hey, what are you laughing at?"

Hearing the voice behind her, Kana suppressed a laugh and recounted what had just happened.

After learning what had happened, Old Suo generously rewarded each of them with a head pat (the kind that emphasizes the patting).

Before the two could protest their behavior, the captain spoke first, reprimanding them. "You two remember this, never laugh at your teammates! Never!"

After speaking, Old Suo turned around and bowed deeply to Lidas.

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to working with four people yet, that's why I made that mistake. I hope you're not angry!"

Looking at the right angle in front of him, Lidas was stunned for a few seconds, and then he hurriedly stepped forward to help the captain up.

"Mr. Sordil, I wasn't angry just now, you don't need to be like this!"

"Really?"

"Um!"

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the two people gazing sincerely into each other's eyes, Sordil, one of the parties involved, suddenly spoke up, "Phew! In that case... then please draw a spacious carriage quickly, I have an urgent matter to attend to!"

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped and then lay down.

"Plop"

"Plop"

"Heh! I can't believe that Old Suo would be nice to someone for no reason. Looks like I still need to practice!" (Laxus's inner thoughts)

"That Old Suo, So, dared to trick This Lady into crying! How despicable!" (Kana's inner thoughts)

"Heh! Looks like I underestimated the nerves of S-Class Mage! (Lidas)"

"Hey, wake up! We still have things to take care of!"

"I'm not asleep yet! (Trio)"

After complaining about someone, Kana and the other two quickly stood up from the ground.

"Old Suo, didn't you take care of that big guy? Is there anything else we need to handle?"

"Bang!"

After feeding Laxus a Maruko, Old Suo angrily roared, "Idiot, our mission isn't finished yet!"

After being reminded by their captain, everyone realized that they had come here to hand over a mission, not to fight a giant monster.

"Old Suo, with the town turned into this, will we ever be able to see our client (Kana)?"

Glancing back at the town... well, the burning inferno, His Majesty the Emperor said solemnly, "Whether we can see it or not, we'll only know after we see it!"

"Shirley, you haven't forgotten the agreed location, have you?"

Hearing the question, the purple-haired girl said angrily, "I chose the meeting place. Do you think I would forget?"

"It's not impossible, after all..."

"What did you say?"

Seeing the pink cheeks filling his pupils, the Blue-haired boy swallowed the rest of his words and said, "N-nothing!"

"Snort!"

After giving the other person a cold snort, Shirley took a few steps back. Then, she turned her attention back to the burning town.

"Phew~~ Dad was right, women really are unpredictable creatures!"

Just as the Blue-haired boy finished muttering, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the road in the distance.

"Da da"

"Da da"

"Um?"

Noticing the movement behind them, the two immediately turned their gaze to the horizon not far away.

A moment later, a luxurious two-horse carriage came into view.

"What a magnificent carriage!" (Shirley)

"Um!"

The moment the two finished speaking, the carriage door was suddenly opened, and then a silvery-white unidentified object fell down.

"Hey, Shirley, don't you think that guy looks familiar?"

"That guy?"

"It's that person hanging on the carriage!"

"Huh? Is that a person?"

After her initial surprise, Shirley stared at the long, silvery-white strip for a long time before realizing that it was indeed a person, and someone she knew.

"Silver-haired older brother?"

"As expected...?" (Blue-haired boy)

"But shouldn't he be staying in town? How come he's outside town, and in such a luxurious carriage?"

Upon hearing Shirley's question, the Blue-haired boy scratched his head and said, "This question... I'm afraid only he himself can answer it for you!"

Just as Shirley was about to complain about someone's endless rambling, the carriage arrived and stopped in front of them. At the same time, the long, silver-white strip on the carriage vanished at the speed of light and reappeared in front of them.

"Huh? What are you two doing together?"

Hearing the silver-haired older brother's words, Shirley hurriedly explained, "Big brother, this is what happened. After we parted ways, I came here as promised. Not long after, Yuka came out of the town carrying his father. After talking with him, we learned that we were both saved by you, big brother. After that, we worked together to bury Yuka's father and then came back here to wait for you, big brother."

"Bury Yuka's father? Then... you..."

Seeing the worry on Old Suo's brow, Shirley slowly lowered her head.

"Heh! Looks like the white lie I prepared beforehand won't be of any use!"

After finishing his internal monologue, Old Suo slowly stepped forward and pressed the other person's head against his chest.

"If you're feeling down... just cry it out!"

Upon hearing the magnetic voice above her, Shirley's body trembled, but she didn't utter a single cry.

A moment later, the purple-haired girl broke free from the warm embrace and stared at the boy in front of her with stubborn eyes, saying, "Big brother, Shirley is very strong, Shirley won't cry!"

He knelt down and gently stroked the other person's hair, then Old Suo said, "Although big brother couldn't save Shirley's parents, he brought them back. Shall we bury them together?"

"Um!"

After the purple-haired girl nodded, Old Suo gave Lidas a wink, and the next second, four Sordil carried two corpses down from the carriage.

"This..."

Seeing Shirley and Yuka's surprise, the captain explained, "This is that uncle's magic!"

Shirley and the other woman nodded at Lidas as if they understood, and then followed Old Suo towards the dense forest on one side.

When Old Suo and his two companions emerged from the dense forest, the carriage was empty; instead, the surrounding jungle was filled with heavily armed men lying in ambush.

"Um?"

After his brows quickly gathered and dispersed, a slight magical fluctuation appeared around Old Suo. Then, the three of them walked towards the carriage, chatting and laughing.

"Lidas, we're back. We can set off now!"

Looking at the motionless carriage, the silver-haired youth laughed and scolded, "Lidas, what are you doing? Hurry up and start the carriage!"

Seeing that the carriage was still standing there, the silver-haired boy, whose patience had run out, led the two people beside him straight into the carriage.

Seeing their prey enter the trap, the Old Hunters had been guarding the area left their hiding place and slowly made their way toward the carriage in the center of the encirclement.

"Whoosh!"

As the leader swung his right hand down, the Old Hunters pulled the triggers one after another, and the next second, a cloud of arrows flew toward the carriage.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A moment later, the arrow cloud and the carriage merged into one, transforming into a sharply defined iron hedgehog.

"Superior!"

Hearing the command echoing in the air, the Old Hunters put down their bows and crossbows, drew their longswords, and charged toward the Iron Hedgehog not far away.

"Da da"

"Da da"

"Bang!"

Just as the Old Hunters were about to touch the carriage wall, the Iron Hedgehog suddenly exploded, and the arrow cloud and shattered wood chips on it scattered in all directions with a sharp whooshing sound.

"Call out!"

"Call out!"

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

After the whooshing sound, countless sounds of leather tearing followed, and then the Old Hunters fell one after another.

"Everyone scatter!"

As the order left the leader's mouth, the Old Hunters were still free to move scattered and hid behind the trees.

After his men were out of danger, the leader, who was hiding in the jungle, shouted at the wreckage of the carriage, "Listen up, people in the carriage! If you don't want your companions to be in danger, give up resistance and surrender immediately!"

"Heh! Although I don't know who you are, if you dare to harm my friend, I guarantee none of you will leave here alive!" (Old Suo)

Faced with the silver-haired boy's counter-threat, the leader turned green with anger.

"Fine... fine... fine! I want to see who will be the one who doesn't leave alive!"

After speaking, the leader gestured to a corner behind him, but embarrassingly, no one moved for a long time after he finished.

"What on earth are these kids doing?!"

After uttering his angry words, the leader repeated the gesture he had just made, but nothing happened.

"Asshole!"

As the shouts and curses continued, the leader emerged from his hiding place and stomped angrily toward the corner where they had been standing.