A Familiar Figure Passing By

"Th-this... how did this happen?!" Staring at the grand, imposing city gate before him, Achill was dumbfounded. Completely dumbfounded.

Because this was absolutely not where he had wanted to go!!!

"HAHAHAHA—" Seeing Achill's rare look of embarrassment, Gajeel was in an utterly fantastic mood! He could hardly contain himself as he burst into mocking laughter. "So this is that so-called instinct of a charming man? And weren't you always calling yourself a genius?! What happened this time, genius? How did a genius like you get lost?! Wow! A genius can get lost too?!! Who would've thought, who would've thought~"

"Shut up!!!" Mortified and enraged, Achill said nothing further and gave Gajeel a resounding flick on the forehead~

Immediately, Gajeel, sporting a huge bump, crouched in a corner with tears streaming down his face as he drew circles...

Looking at the unfamiliar city walls before him, even someone as thick-skinned as Achill clearly realized it now—he seemed to have gotten lost again...

In truth, he really had gotten lost. After picking up his pace, Achill had traveled for another whole day, yet he still had not reached the place he had imagined. Instead, he had arrived at this utterly inexplicable place. Right now, Achill only felt that his life was tragic! And not just ordinarily tragic!! He did not have much money left on him, and now he had somehow ended up in this unfamiliar place. With no knowledge of the area, it would be hard not to feel miserable.

But the most pressing matter now was solving the food problem! Looking at the sun that was nearly setting, Achill let out a helpless sigh. Hmm, he also needed to settle the lodging problem as soon as possible...

But—

"Why do I feel like this guy is useless now..." Achill glanced at Gajeel behind him, who was still tightly bound, and muttered to himself, "Also, it seems like he eats even more than I do. He's highly suspected of wasting food..." As he thought that, he could not help giving Gajeel a few appraising looks from head to toe.

"H-hey, what kind of look is that?!" Gajeel was getting goosebumps from being stared at and could not take it anymore. He immediately shouted, "Let me make this clear first: I am absolutely not interested in men!! Especially not a man with such terrible tastes!!!"

"Like hell I'm interested in you—" Achill's forehead darkened with black lines. Smiling with a twitching mouth, he said, "And who are you calling someone with terrible tastes?!!" By the end, he was still smiling, but his tone had turned utterly chilling.

"Uh—" Gajeel hurriedly shook his head like a rattle drum, sweat pouring down his face. He laughed awkwardly. "N-no one! Don't mind it..." He truly was afraid. Before this terrifying demon who possessed not a shred of humanity and especially enjoyed tormenting minors, Gajeel felt nothing but fear. He could not muster even the slightest desire to resist...

If Gajeel had remained completely unconvinced by Achill before noon today, believing that Achill had only captured him through a despicable sneak attack, then that notion had completely changed after noon!

There was no other reason. While they had been traveling at noon, Achill had been bored out of his mind. So, after lunch, he wanted to find some entertainment to kill time. But what fun could there possibly be in this barren wilderness? Thus, he turned his attention to Gajeel.

When Achill proposed with a wicked grin that he would let Gajeel go if Gajeel could defeat him, Gajeel had predictably taken the bait!

In fact, Gajeel had long been holding back a stomachful of anger toward that despicable and shameless bastard Achill! Unfortunately, he had always been tied up and unable to get revenge, so he could only suppress that rage in his heart. But now that Achill was finally willing to fight him head-on, how could Gajeel possibly let such a rare opportunity slip away—an excellent chance not only to avenge himself, but also to escape that demon?

Even if I take ten thousand steps back, even if I really can't beat that demon, escaping shouldn't be a problem at all! Besides, he did not believe he would lose, much less lose to such a despicable and shameless person!

With that mindset, Gajeel boldly began his brave challenge against the demon!

However, reality and imagination often differed by quite a bit. Although Gajeel was a legendary Dragon Slayer Wizard, he was clearly not much in front of Achill! Thus, poor Gajeel was tragically and thoroughly beaten up by Achill... His confidence had suffered a devastating blow, enough to leave a shadow on his heart~

But Achill did not mind. Or rather, in his eyes, the fight between himself and Gajeel was more appropriately called post-meal exercise than a battle. Their strengths were simply not on the same level, so their fight had mostly been a game to him.

From beginning to end, he had only used Requip to summon a single Zanpakutō, one called Wabisuke...

Thus, Gajeel, the so-called Iron Dragon Slayer Wizard, had decisively fallen flat before Wabisuke and its ability, Gravity Doubling. It could not be helped—he was an iron~ dragon, after all~

"What are you standing around for? Let's go—" Tugging the rope in his hand, Achill impatiently "led" Gajeel toward the city. Gajeel was utterly depressed, but since he could not beat Achill, he could only submit to fate, endlessly lamenting the unfairness of his destiny...

Meanwhile, at the train station in Kaisa City, a group of four emerged from a train that had just arrived.

"I hate trains! I hate all forms of transportation!!!" Wiping the filth from the corner of his mouth, Natsu shouted resentfully. Yet his voice sounded utterly weak. Well, it made sense. If anyone else got motion sickness as badly as he did, they probably would have died long ago. How could they still have the strength to speak like him? Fortunately, his Dragon Slayer body was exceptionally tough. Even so, after being sick for so long, his legs had started to weaken, and he staggered slightly as he walked.

"How embarrassing. You get motion sickness just from riding a train." Gray sneered disdainfully from the side.

"What did you say, you exhibitionist?!" Provoked by his nemesis, all of Natsu's negative condition vanished in an instant. Flames blazed in his eyes as he roared back.

"I was talking about you, you slant-eyed bastard!!"

"I'll kill you! You droopy-eyed pervert!!!"

"Slant-eyes—"

"Droopy-eyes—"

Thud! Thud! With two muffled impacts, Natsu and Gray, who had been arguing fiercely, both cried out in pain and crouched down clutching their heads.

"Enough. Stop arguing, you two." Lowering her smoking right hand, Erza instructed them sternly, "We've arrived at our destination, so from now on, the mission comes first! Understood?"

At that, Natsu and Gray immediately nodded furiously like chickens pecking at grain. They were clearly very afraid of Erza.

"Don't be so strict, Erza." Holding a bottle of liquor, Cana took a few swigs and said with a smile, "The old man already said that this mission is mainly for Natsu and Gray to complete. We only need to assist them from the side. The two of them need more practice!"

"That's true, but if we don't keep a close eye on them, I'm worried they'll cause trouble." Although she felt Cana made sense, cautious by nature, Erza was still somewhat hesitant.

"Relax, relax! Trust those two!" Seeing Erza still wavering, Cana smiled and added another heavy blow. "You can't be thinking about helping them every moment, can you? Don't forget, Fairy Tail doesn't need flowers raised in a greenhouse! Besides, do you think those two look like—" With that, she smiled and glanced at Natsu and Gray.

"—the type to be greenhouse flowers?" Cana finished with a grin.

"Uh—" Erza became even more hesitant. Seeing this, Cana immediately gave Natsu and Gray a covert look.

"Don't worry, Erza!" Natsu might have looked a little simple-minded, but he was not stupid at all! Seeing Cana's signal, he immediately patted his chest and promised, "I'll definitely complete this mission perfectly! Of course, that's assuming a certain exhibitionist pervert doesn't hold me back—"

"Same here, Erza!" Gray immediately refused to be outdone. "Leave the mission to me! With my strength, even if some fire-breathing idiot tries his hardest to drag me down during the mission, I'm absolutely confident that I can complete it!!!"

"What did you say, Droopy-eyes?! You're the one who'll hold me back!"

"Bullshit! You're obviously the one who'll hold me back! You slant-eyed bastard!"

There they went again. Seeing the two start fighting once more, Cana could not help getting a face full of black lines.

"Enough! Stop arguing!" After finishing her deliberation, Erza did not hesitate to give each of them another forehead flick. With a serious expression, she said, "I've decided! Natsu, Gray, I've decided to let the two of you complete this mission alone! Cana is right. Protecting you too much would only hurt you in another way! Yes, that settles it! Go and do your best. Don't disgrace Fairy Tail!!!"

The moment she finished speaking, Natsu and Gray cheered and ran off noisily.

"Stop making that face, Erza. Just leave the mission to those two!" Cana smiled, placing a hand on Erza's shoulder. "How about we go shopping? I heard the clothing designs in this city are quite distinctive~"

"Really?!!" At those words, Erza's previously stern eyes immediately lit up like stars. Without another word, she grabbed Cana's hand and excitedly ran toward the shopping district, looking eagerly from side to side at all the various shops around them as they ran.

But after only a few steps, an extremely familiar figure suddenly flashed through her vision, and Erza's swiftly moving body abruptly froze!!!

"Name—" Ignoring the overwhelming shock and joy that surged up within her, and ignoring Cana's puzzled gaze, Erza trembled violently like a sieve. Her eyes brimmed with tears of extreme worry and delight as she looked once more toward where she had just seen that familiar figure, ready to call out instinctively.

But there was nothing there. Other than the crowded mass of people, there was nothing. There was no sign of the person she had missed for so long.

"Ah, that's right..." A deep disappointment flashed through her eyes. She forcibly swallowed the name that had been about to leave her lips and murmured bitterly to herself, "So it really was just my imagination. After all, Big Brother Nameless, he already..." Her voice became incomparably low.

Big Brother Nameless... have you really left this world? Memories of the happy times she had spent with Nameless flashed through Erza's mind, followed by the scene of Gerard piercing through Nameless's body and sending him falling into the sea. Her heart ached with waves of grief, and her expression darkened in sorrow.

Yes, that's right. Big Brother Nameless... he has already left us forever...

"Let's go, Cana! Let's continue shopping!!" Forcibly suppressing the grief in her heart, Erza gave Cana, who wore a puzzled expression, a strained smile. Without paying any attention to the questioning look in Cana's eyes, she simply dragged her away and ran...

"That person just now..." Amid the crowd, Achill frowned and murmured with confusion, "Why did she seem so familiar..." The moment he and Gajeel entered the city, he had noticed the girl wearing armor and sporting beautiful scarlet hair. For some reason, he could clearly feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity from her, as if he had known her before!

But before he could take a closer look, the surging crowd had swept him away. By the time he finally broke free and looked back toward where she had been, she was already nowhere to be seen. It left him extremely frustrated, though he did not dwell on it too much. He simply thought that she looked somewhat familiar.

"Hey, I—" Gajeel wore a strange smile. "Don't tell me you've got your eye on that flat-chested woman from earlier?!"

"Shut up!" Without hesitation, Achill smacked Gajeel on the head again and snorted, "Right now, the important thing is finding some temporary work to earn money. If you don't want to sleep on the streets tonight, you'd better behave yourself!"

With that, ignoring Gajeel's protests, Achill dragged him away.