(Thank you so much to 'Pokémon,' '☆Seven Dimensions☆,' 'Hip Hop 3,' 'East Wind 10086,' 'Wufeng Haotian,' and 'Yakumo Maki' for the rewards!)
"Um... um..."
With Erza, Lucy, and Gray all staring wide-eyed at her, Wendy seemed to grow a little nervous and spoke timidly, looking extremely restrained.
"I... I'm Wendy Marvell from Cat Shelter. It's nice to meet you."
At that, Erza, Lucy, and Gray exchanged glances, each seeing the confusion in the others' eyes.
"What is Cat Shelter even thinking?" Gray said without the slightest reservation.
"This is a subjugation mission, and an important one at that—an operation against one of the Dark Guilds of the Balam Alliance, which controls the dark underworld of the entire continent. Why would they send a child here?"
It was not just Gray. Erza and Lucy had exactly the same thought.
It was not that Erza and the others looked down on children.
After all, Noah and Erza had already become Mages capable of standing on their own at Wendy's age.
So, no one judged Wendy's strength by her appearance.
The reason everyone was so confused was simply that this mission was not suitable for a child at all.
No matter how one looked at it, this was a subjugation mission.
That meant that, when necessary, everyone had to strike their enemies down without mercy and kill them outright.
How could a child take part in such a bloody mission?
Of course, Wendy did not know what they were thinking. Seeing their confused expressions, she seemed unsure of what to do.
Natsu, who had gotten off the vehicle and finally recovered at full health, wrinkled his nose and looked at Wendy in confusion.
"This scent... feels a little familiar..."
Noah, who clearly saw Natsu's reaction, smiled faintly.
"I'm telling you, don't underestimate Wendy,"