Ed, Pressed into Service

For the next while, Ed did not go out on any more jobs. Instead, he stayed in Magnolia, occasionally heading to the mountains behind town to train, while spending most of his time being lovey-dovey with Mira.

One day, Ed came to the guild and saw Mira, dressed in a long skirt, wiping glasses behind the bar. He walked right up to the counter and said with a grin, "Miss Poster Girl, one special cocktail, please~"

"Hm? Hmph~" Seeing that it was Ed, Mira gave a light snort, then handed him a glass of milk instead. "Don't drink so much alcohol. You should have this."

"Sigh... Milk again..." Ever since Mira had become the poster girl and Lisanna a waitress, Ed had never gotten a single sip of alcohol at the guild. Every time, it was juice, milk, or something similar.

Ed drained the milk in one gulp, then looked at Mira's long, fair neck and asked curiously, "Why aren't you wearing the necklace I gave you? Don't you like it?"

"It's not that. I just feel that gemstone necklaces are a little too flashy. Speaking of that necklace, how much did you spend on it?" Mira replied with a smile, tapping her lips with one finger.

"It... it was all right. Around 200,000 J, I guess." Ed recalled that bargaining session that had somehow both failed and not failed, leaving him conflicted.

"200,000 J? That seems a little expensive." An arrow pierced Ed's heart.

"Even though it was sapphire, the cut, setting, craftsmanship, and size were all fairly ordinary." Ed was dealt a double kill.

"You probably could have gotten it for 50,000 to 80,000 J. I taught you how to haggle before, didn't I?" Mira sank Ed completely.

"Morning, Mira! Morning, Ed~" While Ed was still grieving, Lisanna skipped over and greeted them both.

Seeing Ed wave at her listlessly with a look of utter despair on his face, she turned to her sister in confusion. "What happened to Ed? Why does he look half-dead?"

"Hmm... Probably because a shopkeeper ripped him off when he bought something." Mira answered with a smile.

"All right, enough about me. Lisanna, I haven't seen you with Natsu these past few days. What, did the little lovebirds have a fight?" Ed decisively changed the subject.

"What are you talking about, Ed? Natsu and I haven't gotten that far yet... Besides, Natsu has been teaming up with that new girl for jobs lately..." Lisanna's voice grew quieter and quieter.

"Natsu is actually taking a newcomer on jobs? That doesn't sound like him... Do you know what's going on?" Ed stroked his chin and asked Mira curiously.

"I do." Mira paused. "It's because the target of that job really likes blond girls." "So he invited Lucy along, huh? He's actually pretty clever when you look at it that way." Ed did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Mira then asked Ed, "Come to think of it, you haven't gone out on any jobs recently. What's wrong? Taking a break?"

"I've actually been practicing this Thought Body thing." As Ed spoke, he split into two on the spot. After demonstrating it, the two merged back into one. "It seems pretty useful. I can probably use it in battle and everyday life."

As they chatted, Natsu and Lucy suddenly pushed open the door and came in. Natsu, looking thoroughly annoyed, walked straight to the bar and slumped over the counter. "What's wrong, Natsu? Did the job not go well?" Lisanna asked worriedly from nearby.

"The job went really smoothly... We just didn't get the reward... Ahaha..." Lucy took over. "Doing volunteer work? That doesn't sound like you, Natsu. By the way, do you still have enough money for living expenses?" Hearing this, Ed leaned over as well.

"This is so annoying! That guy wasn't rich to begin with, and he barely scraped together the reward. Whatever, I'm taking a break, then I'll go find more work." Natsu raised his head and spoke impatiently before dropping back onto the counter.

"By the way, where's the master? Isn't he usually sitting here? Did he go out?" Lucy looked at Makarov's empty usual seat and asked curiously. "The master went to attend a regular meeting~" Mira answered with a smile.

"A regular meeting?" Seeing Lucy still looked confused, Mira borrowed a light pen from Lidas and began writing and drawing in the air as she explained. "The magical world is mainly governed by the Magic Council, and the Magic Council's primary subordinate organization is the Guild Alliance, which consists of most guilds. The master went to attend the alliance's regular meeting."

"Most guilds? Then what about the others?" Lucy raised her hand like an elementary school student and asked her question.

"Those are Dark Guilds. They're dark wizards who do illegal things. You have to be careful if you run into them." Mira's face turned serious as she said this.

"Come to think of it, that tsunami in Hargeon before was your doing, right? With that kind of strength, most Dark Guilds won't be able to do anything to you~" Ed casually remarked from the side.

"Ah... Well... Ahaha..." Lucy replied weakly to Ed's words.

Meanwhile, Natsu had recovered his energy. Since the master was absent, he was once again butting heads with Gray. As the two fought, more and more people joined in.

Just as it was about to turn into an all-out brawl, Loki suddenly burst through the door and shouted, "This is bad! Erza is back!" The guild members who had been fooling around instantly calmed down upon hearing the news. They quickly restored the room to how it had been before, pretending as if nothing had happened.

"Huh? Erza? Who's that? Is she that scary?" Seeing everyone's sudden change, as well as Gray and Natsu acting like the best of friends, Lucy grew curious about what kind of person could be so intimidating. In her mind appeared the image of an ultimate fierce woman, eight feet tall and eight feet around the waist, with people able to stand on her fists and horses able to gallop across her arms.

"Erza? She's also an S-Class member of the guild. Her personality is probably rather serious, though. She has that disciplinary committee member sort of feeling." Ed took the milk Mira handed him and spoke to Lucy, who was trembling all over at whatever she had imagined.

No sooner had he finished speaking than heavy footsteps sounded outside. Thud! Thud! A huge shadow appeared beyond the door, startling Lucy. Then Mira greeted the newcomer beside her, "Welcome back, Erza. What is that?"

Erza stepped out from behind the shadow and placed the object in her hand on the floor. Only then did everyone realize it was the horn of some magical beast. "It's the horn of the beast I hunted. The locals said I could have it, so I brought it back. Is it in the way?" Erza clapped her hands and asked Mira.

"I think it's fine." Mira looked at the size of the horn. "It looks like it was a very large magical beast."

"It was all right. Aside from its size, there was nothing worth mentioning. Where's the master?"

"He went to attend a regular meeting."

"I see..." Erza looked over the people in the guild and began lecturing them one by one.

After she had finished reprimanding everyone, Erza invited Natsu and Gray on a job. "Natsu, Gray, you two didn't fight today. Good job. I prefer seeing you two getting along. Now, there's an urgent matter that requires both of your assistance."

"You need those two to help you? What kind of matter needs that much fighting power?" Ed asked curiously. Erza looked at him and said directly, "If you don't have a job, come help too, Ed. I'll feel more at ease with you there."

"You and me, plus Natsu and Gray? Are you going to overturn the Magic Council?"