Fishing

The next morning, Hughes showed up at the guild yawning as usual. It wasn't because he was weak, nor was it because he'd exercised his right arm the night before.

He and Mira had walked around Magnolia Town several times the previous afternoon. They now had over five million J on hand and had thought it would be enough to buy a suitable house in town.

But they had underestimated how prosperous Magnolia Town was. To buy a house outright, five million J was only enough for a small, shabby old place.

In the end, Makarov stepped in and used his connections to help Hughes buy a small three-story detached villa with a yard for the friendly price of twenty million J.

Hughes naturally didn't have enough money on hand, so he dipped into Makarov's pension.

The little old man was willing to lend him the money because he'd learned that Hughes and the others had decided not to live in the house outside town because of Laxus.

To beat Hughes, that tsundere Laxus had actually swallowed his pride and asked Makarov for advice.

He told Makarov about his upcoming duel with Hughes, and even told him about their earlier conflict.

Feeling guilty, Makarov personally contacted the builder. Hughes didn't know what they'd discussed, only that the villa's price had dropped from thirty million J to twenty million.

At such a low price, Hughes had naturally bought it. They'd moved in overnight and spent the entire night busy, without a wink of sleep.

As soon as he entered the guild, Hughes saw the shameless side of the grandfather and grandson at the bar. Makarov was gesturing animatedly as he taught Laxus how to deal with him.

Hughes shook his head. It was certainly good that the two had made up, but they were far too shameless, joining forces against a youngster like him.

"Hey, Hughes, shouldn't you be training? Laxus is really strong!" Macao walked over with a glass of liquor and bought Hughes a drink too.

Hughes took it and drained it in one gulp. It was his first time drinking in this life, and it didn't taste bad.

"Macao, only weaklings need to cram at the last minute. Someone like me could beat Laxus with one hand!"

Hughes deliberately spoke loudly enough for Laxus to hear, then handed Macao his empty glass. "Buy me another. I'm broke!"

Hughes's shamelessness stunned Macao. "Come on, don't be shy with your big bro. Drink as much as you want today!"

For the sake of his grand plan, Macao brought over a whole barrel of liquor.

"That's right, Hughes, I'll buy you a barrel too!" Wakaba hurriedly brought over a barrel of his own.

"Something's not right. There's something very wrong with you two!" Hughes eyed them suspiciously. These two weren't generous people!

"Come on, we're all brothers. What's so surprising about buying you a few drinks? Macao and I buy each other drinks all the time!"

"Yeah! Just drink up. If it's not enough, your big bro will buy you more!" Macao said with a smile, then pulled Wakaba away to chat elsewhere.

Hughes burped, then picked up the barrel and drank like mad under Macao and Wakaba's watchful eyes.

Hughes didn't even have to think about it to know they'd started a betting pool on his duel with Laxus tomorrow. Judging by how they were trying to get him drunk, plenty of people had bet on him to win!

At that thought, Hughes grinned...

"Macao, I want some snacks to go with the liquor!"

"Sure, your big bro's treat!"

"Wakaba, I want some meat!"

"No problem, your big bro's brought it over!"

At the bar, Laxus was learning Lightning Sealing Magic from Makarov. Seeing Hughes indulging himself like that made him even angrier. Just how little regard did Hughes have for him?

"Calm your mind, Laxus. You can't learn magic with an agitated heart! Ignore Hughes and teach him a lesson tomorrow!"

Laxus got his mind back in order and continued learning.

Meanwhile, the already tipsy Hughes got up and headed for the guild's back door. He'd remembered he had important business at the guild.

That precocious brat Lisanna had gone out to fool around with Natsu early that morning. To avoid becoming an aunt at such a young age, Mira was going to ground Lisanna for several days as punishment.

Hughes, who loved watching the fun... no, who loved helping others, immediately begged Mira to give him a chance. He would personally escort Lisanna home!

Childhood sweethearts-those were exactly the ones he was going to split up!

He'd grown up without a single girlfriend, so why should two little brats get to have each other?!

"Hughes, where are you going?"

"Hic, to do something evil!"

This was bad. Macao and Wakaba exchanged a glance. If Hughes went on a drunken rampage and did something bad, Makarov would surely skin the two of them as the culprits.

They both sprang up, each grabbing one of Hughes's legs. "Hughes, Hughes, we're a legitimate guild. We can't do anything against the rules, or the Magic Council will put us on the wanted list!"

"Yeah, Hughes, even the master won't be able to protect you!"

The muddleheaded Hughes dragged them along. "What are you talking about? I'm just going to take Lisanna back. Mira said she was going to give Lisanna a serious lesson this time. Didn't you say Lisanna went fishing at the lake behind the guild to catch something for Happy to eat?"

...That was something evil??

Actually, it was pretty evil as far as Lisanna was concerned!

"Wait, we want to come too!" The idle guild members who loved watching the fun chimed in one after another. Clearly, there were quite a few people who enjoyed a spectacle.

There was a huge lake behind the Fairy Tail guild. At the moment, four children, a cat, and a dozing member of the Four Emperors were fishing there.

"Gray, are you blowing cold air? Why do I feel so chilly?"

Gray couldn't be bothered to explain. "Stupid fire dragon, keep it down. You'll scare the fish away!"

"Aye!"

"Oh, but Lisanna's got goosebumps from the cold too!" Natsu pointed at Lisanna's arm to show Gray.

Gray hurriedly defended himself. "Huh? Are you two sick? I wasn't using magic just now!"

The girl in armor stared fixedly at the surface of the lake, undisturbed by the others. She was determined to catch a fish this time.

A certain member of the Four Emperors: Snore~ Snore~

Construction of Magnolia Town's Gildarts Mode had begun, and Gildarts had been hauled off to serve as a test subject throughout this period.

When Hughes found Lisanna, the ice and fire duo in the forest were facing off and blaming each other, while the two or three others stared worriedly at the lake.

Hughes glanced into their buckets...

Whoa, every single one was empty. Had this group of fishless anglers teamed up to feed the fish??

"Are you feeding the fish, or fishing for the meaning of life?" Hughes asked curiously.

"Brother Hughes, help me! Happy wants to eat fish from the lake, but we haven't caught a single one! Even Gildarts can't catch any!"

"What? Even Gildarts can't handle the fish in this lake?"

"What? Gildarts is being bullied by fish?"

"Let me see what's going on!"

A crowd soon gathered by the lake, though no one knew where they'd pulled their fishing rods from.

Hughes, who was supposed to take Lisanna home, went along with it and joined them.

Sitting in Lisanna's spot, Hughes put an earthworm on his hook and looked at everyone with a cocky grin. "Today, I'll show you what I can do. Whoever wins will be the guild's fishing king!"

"I'm all fired up..."

"Wait, what did we come here for?" someone asked in confusion.

"To fish! Didn't we come here to fish?"

"Ah, right, right!"

Meanwhile, the Mira monster, who had been waiting at home for ages without anyone showing up, was roaring her way over~