"Ugh." Natsu groaned and collapsed straight onto the floor.
"Aye, a very exciting match," Happy said calmly from the sidelines.
"What was exciting about that? It was a one-hit knockout!" Lucy shouted at Happy's comment.
"Hm?" Just then, Xi Feng sensed a faint trace of magic.
"What's wrong, big brother?" Erza asked curiously.
"Nothing. I'm just a little sleepy." As Xi Feng finished speaking, Erza felt her eyelids grow heavy and finally fell asleep. Xi Feng immediately caught her in his arms. All the other guild members collapsed as well.
At that moment, a masked man in a black cloak entered the Fairy Tail guild. He went straight upstairs, took down an S-Class Dark Guild Extermination Mission request, then returned to Makarov to register the mission he had chosen.
"Long time no see, Mystogan," Xi Feng greeted him, still holding Erza.
"..." Mystogan said nothing, merely giving Xi Feng a slight nod before turning to leave the guild. When he saw the two Lisannas, however, he paused briefly, but left without saying anything.
"Undo your spell!" Makarov shouted after Mystogan.
"Five, four, three, two, one."
As Mystogan finished counting, the people in the guild slowly woke up.
"That feeling just now-Mystogan was here, wasn't he?"
"He hasn't changed a bit. Still that ridiculously powerful sleep spell!"
"That bastard!"
"Huh? Who's Mystogan?" While everyone discussed Mystogan, Lucy, the newcomer, was the only one who had no idea who they meant.
"He's one of the contenders for the strongest man in Fairy Tail!" Mira walked over to Lucy and explained with a helpless look, "For some reason, he doesn't want anyone to see his face, so whenever he comes to choose a job, he puts everyone to sleep like this."
"What kind of behavior is that? That's way too suspicious!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes widening.
"Apparently, no one except Xi Feng and the master has seen his face." Mira poked her cheek with a finger as she spoke, looking cute.
"No, I've seen it too." Suddenly, an arrogant voice rang out from the guild's second floor, sounding as though its owner held everything in contempt.
Chapter 38
"No, I've seen it too." Suddenly, an arrogant voice rang out from the guild's second floor, sounding as though its owner held everything in contempt.
"Laxus?"
"You're here?"
"Since when?"
"Well, that's rare."
Everyone in the guild looked astonished as they raised their heads toward the powerful man on the second floor.
"Another contender for the strongest." Mira smiled at the figure upstairs as she explained to Lucy beside her.
"Ah!" Lucy looked utterly astonished.
"Haha! Mystogan's shy. Don't pry too much." Laxus leaned against the upstairs railing and spoke dismissively.
Natsu, who had been fast asleep, sprang to his feet the instant he heard Laxus's voice and roared, "Laxus, fight me!"
"Well, well! If it isn't Natsu! You couldn't even take one punch from Xi Feng, and you think you can beat me?" Laxus sneered at the fired-up Natsu.
"..." Xi Feng glanced at Laxus without saying anything. Indeed, if Natsu fought Laxus now, he would still be taken down in an instant.
"Xi Feng, let's fight and see who's the strongest in the guild!" Laxus suddenly straightened up, his eyes full of challenge as he looked at Xi Feng.
"Not interested," Xi Feng replied flatly.
"Don't ignore me! Laxus, get down here and fight me!" Seeing Laxus ignore him, Natsu immediately flared up.
"Come up here first." Laxus gave Natsu a disdainful glance.
"Gladly." Without a second thought, Natsu charged toward the second floor.
"You can't go upstairs. Not yet." Sitting on the bar with his eyes closed, Makarov enlarged his right hand and pinned Natsu to the floor in one blow.
"Tsk, tsk! Got yourself a scolding, did you?" Laxus chuckled, gloating as he watched Natsu struggle.
"Laxus, that's enough." Makarov opened his eyes and looked up at Laxus with a complicated expression.
"Hmph! I'm not giving up the title of Fairy Tail's strongest to anyone-not Erza, not Mystogan, and not you, Xi Feng. We may be friends, but this time, I'll definitely beat you!" Laxus laughed wildly before turning his gaze to Xi Feng beside Erza.
"I'm not interested in competing with you for that title," Xi Feng said seriously without looking back.
"Really? Then we'll see!" With that, Laxus turned and disappeared into the second floor.
"Damn it, Laxus is way too arrogant."
"Exactly."
"Xi Feng's probably the only one who can completely ignore him."
"That's right!"
The others all chimed in.
"If anyone can stop Laxus, it's probably big brother," Erza said softly, looking at Xi Feng beside her.
"Didn't the master just say we couldn't go upstairs? What did he mean?" Lucy asked Mira, who was wiping glasses, as she drank at the bar.
"It's a little early for you to worry about that, Lucy. The jobs upstairs are on a completely different level from the ones downstairs. All the jobs posted there are incredibly difficult-S-Class missions. They're dangerous jobs where a single error in split-second judgment can get you killed! Of course, the rewards are quite generous too." Mira answered Lucy with a smile.
"Wow! That's amazing." Stars sparkled in Lucy's eyes as she imagined when she might be able to go upstairs herself.
"Only those who pass the examination to become S-Class Mages, or mages approved by the master, can take S-Class jobs. You probably already know who qualifies: Xi Feng, Laxus, Mystogan, and finally, Erza!"
"Really? That makes sense. They're all incredibly strong." Lucy looked full of longing, then asked Mira, "What about you, Mira? I remember you're one of the strongest female mages too, right?"
"Me?" Mira smiled at Lucy's question. "I'm an S-Class Mage too."
"What!" Looking at Mira, who seemed like a friendly older girl from next door, Lucy could hardly believe it.
"Mira's really strong. Don't underestimate her." Kinana walked over and spoke to Lucy.
"Kinana." Lucy greeted her briefly, then continued, "Then why doesn't Mira take jobs anymore? Why does she work as a receptionist in the guild?"
"It's too tiring, I suppose." Mira smiled and offered a casual excuse.
"It really is tiring." Lucy nodded in understanding.
After leaving the guild, Lucy went home. But the moment she opened her door, she was greeted by a sight that infuriated her.
"You're back?" Natsu and Happy were exercising on Lucy's bed.
"Aye!"
Bang! "You're all sweaty! If you want to exercise, go do it at your own place!" Lucy immediately delivered a flying kick to both the boy and the cat.
Knocked to the floor by Lucy's kick, Natsu suddenly raised his head and said excitedly, "I've decided! Let's take an S-Class mission together, Lucy!"
"S-Class." Happy held an S-Class mission request in both paws beside him.
"What's that? Aren't you banned from going upstairs?" Seeing the request in Happy's paws, Lucy trembled in fear. She hadn't forgotten what Mira had just told her.
"We stole it. Heehee!"
"Since it's our first time, I only picked the job with the lowest reward. Even so, it's worth 7 Million J!" Natsu looked thrilled, clearly imagining everyone's astonished faces once he completed an S-Class mission.
"No! We're not qualified to take S-Class missions! Miss Mira said a single mistake in judgment could cost you your life!" Lucy immediately began lecturing the boy and the cat.
"You're not coming? It's 7 Million J, you know! With that much money, you wouldn't have to worry about rent." Natsu continued tempting her...
"Honestly, you're always so reckless. Anyway, I'm not going. You two can do whatever you want!" Lucy turned her head away, ignoring them both.
"It's a job to save an island!" Happy held the request in front of Lucy's eyes.
"An island?" Lucy asked in confusion.
"The cursed island, Galuna Island." Lucy concentrated on reading the request, but she had barely read one line when Natsu and Happy darkened their expressions and broke into sinister, wicked grins. Her hair stood on end, and she screamed.
"You two bastards! A curse? I wouldn't go even if you killed me!" Lucy turned and shouted, then leaned away, her eyes wide with lingering fear as she hurriedly waved her hands.
"But it's 7 Million J! Your rent..." Natsu kept trying to tempt Lucy.
"Fine, I'll even give you half my fish. Are you coming?" Happy also grinned wickedly, painfully offering Lucy half of his favorite possession.
"Do you take me for a fool, you two idiots? And that isn't tempting in the slightest." Lucy gave the boy and the cat a disdainful sideways glance, then turned away rather than look at their now-pitiful faces.
"Tch! Suit yourself. Happy, let's go home!" Seeing that Lucy wasn't taking the bait, Natsu scoffed and called to Happy.
"Yes!" Happy replied listlessly.
"Honestly! You two should go cool your heads a little!" Lucy turned around, only to see something else that sent her temper soaring: Natsu and Happy hadn't used the front door at all, but had flown straight out the window. Lucy immediately roared, "And leave through the door, you bastards! You always use the window!"
"Aye! Lucy's a scaredy-cat." Flying through the air with Natsu, Happy still remembered to turn back and take a jab at Lucy.
"Happy, go die!" Lucy's face flushed red, and she grabbed a slipper from the floor and hurled it at Happy. But Happy had clearly learned her moves; he immediately swerved out of sight and dodged it.
"Argh! Which bastard threw that slipper? Don't you know it's dangerous when people can't see where they're going in the middle of the night? Have you got no consideration for others?" An enraged voice suddenly rang out beyond the window.
"Eek!" Lucy immediately shrank back and crouched beside her bed, her face red with embarrassment.
"Huh? What's that? They actually left the mission request here! Doesn't that make it look like I stole it? What am I going to do?" Crouching beside her bed, Lucy suddenly noticed the S-Class request on the floor in front of her and clutched her head in dismay.
"Those two bastards actually left something this important at my place." Calming down, Lucy bent over and picked up the request, then examined it closely. Happy's interruption had kept her from reading it properly earlier, but this time, what she saw filled her with surprise and delight.
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