The Kitty Who Stole a Request

The next day, inside Fairy Tail.

Lucy saw that Ye was not at the guild and asked Mira, "Ye still isn't back?"

Mira looked at Lucy. "Not yet. Since when did you care so much about him, Lucy?"

Mirajane suddenly realized, "Could it be?! You're trying to steal Ye from me?!"

"Nothing of the sort!"

Natsu suddenly walked up to Erza. "Erza, let's finish the duel we didn't finish!"

Erza was in a bad mood. "Natsu, I'm not in the mood right now. Some other day."

Natsu cried out, "No! We have to decide the winner today! Here I come!" Natsu charged at Erza.

Erza said, "Can't be helped. Since you care so much, let's do this." With one punch, Erza sent Natsu sprawling to the ground.

K.O.!

Everyone in the guild burst into laughter at the sight.

Just then, the guild's front door was kicked open.

"Everyone, I'm back!"

A man and a wolf appeared in the doorway.

Mira greeted him warmly. "Welcome back. Oh my! Hati is here too."

"Awwooo!"

"Mira, I'm hungry. Hurry up and make something delicious, hehehe."

"Then wait just a moment."

Macao said enviously, "I'm so jealous, Ye! You come back to such a beautiful girlfriend making you food."

Ye said proudly, "You couldn't learn it even if you tried. Hahaha!"

Mira said mischievously, "Lucy was just talking about you."

Ye turned to Lucy with a serious expression. "Didn't I tell you? You have to get past Mira first. Why can't you understand that?"

Lucy bared her sharp teeth. "That's not true!!"

Lucy muttered, "Damn it, those two are cut from the same cloth!"

Then Ye spoke up. "Lucy, have you earned your rent money yet?"

The moment Lucy heard the word rent, she froze solid. She whined tearfully, "No... The missions I've done these past few days barely made any money. When I do missions with Natsu, we lose money paying for damages, so there's hardly anything left. T_T"

"No, I need to find a mission right away."

Lucy hurried over to the request board and looked through the jobs.

Emmmm, defeat the Volcano Demon, 1,000,000J! Perfect. Natsu was a Fire Dragon Slayer Mage, so this mission suited him perfectly.

Just as Lucy reached for the request, a wave of dizziness struck her.

"Huh?"

A moment later, everyone in the guild except the master and Ye had fallen asleep.

"Yo, Mystogan. You're here. Want a drink?"

"Next time."

"When you have time, interact with the people in the guild more. Don't make yourself seem so lifeless."

Mystogan walked over to the request board, took the request Lucy had been looking at, and murmured, "This request isn't suitable for a newcomer like you."

With that, he walked out without looking back.

"You brat, undo your magic already!"

"5! 4! 3! 2! 1!"

Everyone slowly woke up.

"That feeling... It's him, all right! Mystogan!"

"His sleep magic is as powerful as ever."

When Lucy woke up, she found that the request she had wanted was gone.

She asked in confusion, "What exactly happened?"

Mira explained, "It was Mystogan."

"Mystogan is?"

Gray answered, "He's one of the candidates for the guild's strongest."

Lucy replied, "Isn't Ye the strongest? There are candidates too? Then why did he put everyone to sleep?"

Mira said, "He doesn't want people seeing his face, so every time he comes to take a request, he puts everyone to sleep. Only the master and Ye have seen what he looks like."

"So suspicious!"

Just then, a voice came from the guild's second floor.

"No, I've seen him too. Mystogan is very shy, so everyone should stop talking about him."

Everyone in the guild turned to look at the second floor.

"Natsu, come duel me!" Laxus said disdainfully, "Didn't Erza just beat you up?"

Natsu said angrily, "Get down here!"

Laxus sneered, "Come up here."

"Yeah!" Flames wrapped around Natsu's hands as he leaped toward the second floor. Before he could reach it, the master punched him back down to the ground.

"You aren't qualified to go up there yet."

"You can't even beat Erza, and you still dream of fighting me?"

Erza said furiously, "What did you say, bastard?!"

Makarov snapped, "Say one less thing, Laxus."

"Hmph. Whether it's you, Mystogan, or that guy over there eating, I'm the strongest. Once I become master, I'll kick out all the weaklings and build the strongest guild! Hahahaha!"

Lucy asked, "Who is that?"

Gray answered, "He's Laxus, and he's also one of the candidates for the strongest."

"Then what did the master mean when he said no one could go to the second floor?"

Mira explained, "That's a place only those recognized by the master can enter."

"Recognized by the master?"

"It means becoming an S-Class Mage. The requests stored up there are all S-Class and above."

Lucy could not help growing curious upon hearing the unfamiliar term.

Mira explained, "Requests are divided into low, middle, and high rank. Those are the ones you can access downstairs. One level above those are S-Class Missions. With the missions upstairs, even one slight misjudgment can cost someone their life."

"Eek!! That dangerous?!"

"Of course. The rewards are also extremely generous. The minimum starts at 5,000,000J."

The moment Lucy heard 5,000,000J, her eyes lit up!

"5,000,000J... Do just one, and I won't have to worry about rent for five years. There'd even be money left over."

"So far, only Ye, Erza, Mystogan, Laxus, Gildarts, and I can go up there."

"Mira can go up too? Why did you retire so early when you're still so young?"

"Well~ A lot happened. In any case, remember this: even several lives wouldn't be enough to gamble on an S-Class Mission."

"Got it. S-Class means monsters!"

"You wouldn't be wrong to see it that way."

That evening, Lucy walked home deep in thought.

"The guild's strength is pretty clear now. At the top is the master, then Ye and the other S-Class Mages as the first tier. After that are Natsu and Gray, the quasi-first tier. And below them is me. That means I still have plenty of hope!"

Lucy skipped back to her apartment and found that Natsu and Happy had already entered her room, curling dumbbells.

"Yo, Lucy, you're back!"

"Yo my ass!" Lucy kicked Natsu, sending him from the bed to the floor.

"What are you two doing in my home this time?"

Natsu grinned. "Obviously, we're going on a mission together. Look!"

"???! 5,000,000J! Th-this-this is an S-Class Mission! Why do you have it?"

"I had Happy take it. We picked the one with the smallest reward. Let's do an S-Class Mission together."

"But..."

Happy and Natsu tempted her. "If we finish this mission, you won't have to worry about rent anymore."

Lucy was a little tempted by the two of them.

"Then let's agree on a fifty-fifty split first."

Happy's eyes turned into money symbols. "Lucy, I never knew you were so generous! Natsu and I get fifty-fifty, and you don't want anything? You're such a good person!"

Lucy said angrily, "You two idiots, I mean fifty-fifty!"

Listening to her own words, Lucy felt that something sounded off.

Natsu grinned. "Then let's go!"

The next day, at Fairy Tail.

Makarov leisurely drank his tea.

"It's surprisingly quiet today. It would be nice if it were like this every day."

Gray said slowly, "Natsu doesn't seem to be at the guild?"

Just then, Mira hurried downstairs.

"Master, this is bad! One of the requests on the second floor is missing!"

"Pfft—pfft! What?! Did you check properly?"

"I looked several times. One is definitely missing."

"Which one is missing?!"

"Demon Island."

Makarov roared, "Who isn't in the guild right now?"

Gray said slowly, "It seems Natsu and Lucy aren't here."

Laxus cut in, "Last night, I think I saw a cat carry off a request."

"It was Happy!"

Makarov snapped, "You saw it, so why didn't you stop him?"

Laxus said indifferently, "How was I supposed to know it was Happy?"

"Then go bring Natsu back right now!"

"I have my own request to do. I don't have time for that!"

Laxus teased, "Grandpa, in this situation, they should be expelled from the guild, right?"

At that moment, Ye arrived at the guild with a yawn.

"What happened? Why is it so noisy this early in the morning?"

When Makarov saw Ye, he hurriedly said, "You brat, you came at just the right time. Go after Natsu. He took an S-Class request without permission."

Ye said slowly, "So he finally took that step. I thought he would take one even earlier. Hahahaha!"

"You brat, hurry up and go!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Take Gray with you too!"

"Me!?"

"All right, stop doubting it. It's you. Come with me."

Ye walked to the guild entrance and took out a whistle.

Wheee!~~~

Before long, a silver bolt of lightning shot out from ahead.

"Awwooo!"

Gray said excitedly, "It's Hati. I've wanted to ride him for a long time."

"Get on. I'll let you experience it today!"

"Hati, we're going to catch Natsu! Charge!"

"Awwooo!"

Hati activated wind magic and vanished in an instant.

Hargeon Port.

Lucy sighed emotionally, "I really miss this place!"

"Aye! This is where Lucy was sold off!"

Lucy bared her sharp teeth. "Don't bring up what I'm trying to forget!"

"All right, let's hurry and find a boat!"

"Aye!"

Natsu and the others asked around, but every boatman refused when they heard they wanted to go to Demon Island.

"Damn it, why is no one willing to go?!"

Then an older man asked, "Excuse me, what are you going there for?"

"Sir, we're mages from Fairy Tail. We're going to resolve a request."

"Is that so? Then I'll take you there."

"Really, sir?! You're such a good person!"

By the time Ye and Gray reached the port, Hati stood there looking toward the far side of the sea.

"Looks like we're a step too late. They've already left by boat."

"Ye, what should we do?"

"Right, aren't you good at Make magic? Make a boat, and we'll row over!"

"Good idea!"

The two people and one wolf took an ice boat toward Galuna Island.

"Too slow, Gray!"

(ꐦÒ‸Ó) "Then come row with me!"

"All right, all right, hold on tight."

Kamehameha!

With a whoosh, the ice boat streaked across the sea, leaving brilliant colors in its wake.

"You can stop now! We're about to crash! We're about to crash!"

Boom!!

The ice boat smashed straight through the gates of the village on the island.

Inside the gates, Natsu, Lucy, and the others were startled.

"Is it an enemy attack?!"

As the smoke cleared, the two people and one wolf walked through the village entrance.

"You've got some nerve!"

"Eek!! He caught up to us!"

Happy flew over and pleaded, "Ye! Natsu forced me to do it!"

"Ahhh! You disloyal cat!"

Lucy ran over and hugged Ye's leg. "Natsu forced me too!"

Ye glared at Natsu with an unfriendly look.

Natsu steeled himself. "I have to do an S-Class Mission!"

"Then I'll cripple you today!"

Ye stepped forward and kicked Natsu flying through ten houses in a row.

"Have you forgotten Lisanna?!"

Another punch sent Natsu flying into the air.

Rather than cry for you later, I'd rather let you retire peacefully in the guild now.

Before Natsu could hit the ground in free fall, Ye's foot came crashing down onto his stomach, instantly embedding him in the ground.

"Say something, then! Why aren't you talking anymore?!"

Lucy complained, "At least give him a chance to open his mouth first =="

Ye's gaze immediately turned to Lucy and Happy. The two of them trembled under his stare. When they got back, Lucy would clean the guild for a month, and Happy would not be allowed to eat dried fish for a week.

"Aye!!!"

"Which one of you is the village chief?"

"That would be this old man."

"Sorry, people from my guild accepted this mission without permission. But don't worry—since we're here, we'll help you solve it."

"Then we are truly troubling you, great wizard!"

"You three, carry Natsu back to the room."

"Aye!!!"