Sitting in the train carriage opposite Cana and Lucy, I leaned against the window, gazing at the passing plains. "Oh yeah, what were you teaching Romeo, big bro?" Glancing at Cana, who curiously looked at me, I informed her about teaching Romeo Indestructible magic, surprising her. "Eh, you seriously taught Romeo your magic?" "I mean, yeah? What's so surprising about it?"
Tilting my head in confusion, Cana opened her mouth only to sigh and shake her head before suddenly smirking. "Can you teach me, big bro? Indestructible magic has always amazed me." "Yeah, sure, I just don't see how it would complement your style. I'll teach you and Romeo when we finish our mission." "Eh, n-not one-on-one, big bro?" "Why would I teach you independently? It would be more efficient to teach at the same time."
"Ahah, o-on second thought, you're probably right, big bro; learning indestructible magic would just be a waste of time for me." Wryly smiling, Cana dismissively waved her hand and averted her gaze; I wasn't offended that she refused learning me magic, but I was a bit confused since she had just seemed somewhat excited. "Haa, you're a dummy big bro." Eyeing Lucy, who gently shook her head, I growled slightly before closing my eyes and folding my arms.
'Tsk, maybe I shouldn't have asked to be sexy; it's causing quite a lot of problems for me… Whatever, I'll pretend to be dense.' I'd be pretty stupid if I didn't realize Erza, Mira, and Cana had a crush on me, though; I don't know if you could call such a long-standing one-sided love a crush at this point.
I wouldn't commend my actions of not drawing a clear line between romantic and sibling love, but I've also experienced the same thing in my past life that ruined our friendship, so I didn't know what to do other than pretend their love didn't exist. 'Tch, I should probably ask Loke, that punk knows how to deal with a woman's heart.' Still, I was pissed with Loke, so I'd ask him sometime later.
"Hey, big bro, why did you get Juvia something for joining, but I got nothing? Do you have a thing for women with Blue hair?" Giving me a teasing smirk, Lucy covered her mouth while I growled in annoyance and tossed the empty earring box at Lucy's head, causing her to pout. "Ouch!" "Not at all, Juvia is too depressing; also, I don't like women who are younger than me. If I ever get a girlfriend, I want her to be older than me, preferably in her late 20s; also, I don't care if she's flat up top so long as she has a big butt."
Nodding with a faint smirk as I imagined my ideal girlfriend, I subconsciously licked my lips before shaking my head, snapping myself out of my thoughts while shifting my gaze to Cana and Lucy, who were both looking at me. "What?" "Nothing."
Shrugging my shoulders, I laid onto the seat and drifted to sleep; it would be several hours until we reached our destination, as it was in western Fiore. "Wake me up once we arrive."
Experiencing a wacky dream involving a talking rock, a giant butt, and a flaming moon, I was stirred awake by Cana, causing me to sit upright while stretching and yawning. "Weird ass dream." "What was it about?" "I couldn't even tell you."
Standing up, I followed Cana and Lucy out of the room as we disembarked from the train, stepping into the vibrant city of Rose Garden, which looked even more beautiful than usual as it was late at night. "This place brings back memories." Smirking slightly, I took the lead and left the train station while my two siblings walked on either side of me as we moved through the city.
"Weren't you ambushed in this city and captured a long time ago?" "Eh, that happened, big bro!?" "Heh, yeah… It was pretty fun." Grinning, I glanced in the direction of the destroyed mansion, which had a new mansion built atop it. "Ha, what maniac smiles while reminiscing about the time they were ambushed and kidnapped?" "Our big bro, that's who." "Hey, don't say that, I was able to fight to my heart's content, why wouldn't I smile? One of the funniest missions I've taken."
While retelling the events of the mission, since Lucy had never heard of it, we headed to a hotel where I paid for two rooms for the night. "You're crazy, big bro." "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Good night, you two." Dismissively waving my hand, I entered my room and plopped onto the bed, though I didn't go to sleep, not because I couldn't, but because, despite Rose Garden's popularity, it was rather rampant with crimes, mostly drug abuse and human trafficking.
Of course, thanks to my interference in destroying various dark guilds, crime has significantly lessened, but it is still present. 'I suppose I could warm up; it'll also be good to check if I'm fully healed.' Opening the window, I leaped out from the tenth story and spent the entire night destroying bases belonging to small-time criminals engaging in illegal activities; by the time morning arrived, I had demolished several criminal bases, beaten over two hundred criminals, and killed around fifty of them.
'Alrighty, that was productive on both ends; my injuries had fully healed, and I took down nearly 300 criminals. Unfortunately, none seemed to have ties to Dark Guilds; it seems like a power vacuum has appeared in Rose Garden.' Dusting my hands off, I left the area, which was beginning to flood with knights, and stealthily returned to the hotel, scaling up the side of the building before entering my room through the window.
"Big bro, you up?" "Yeah, I'm coming." Closing the window, I brushed my hair back and opened the door, where Cana and Lucy stood just outside. "Ha, go shower, big bro." Plugging her nose, Cana backed away alongside Lucy while eyeing me, causing me to glance at my chest, which was covered in splotches of blood. 'Oops.' "I'll be back in five!"
Quickly taking a shower while still wearing my clothes to clean them, I exited the shower after five minutes and left the room, only to find my two little sisters playing rock-paper-scissors. "You still smell a little like blood, but at least you don't look like a mass murderer. C'mon, let's go." Awkwardly coughing, the three of us exited the hotel and walked through the city, ignoring the commotion I had caused, while quickly leaving Rose Garden.
"Anyways, the village where the quest came from was northwest of Rose Garden; if we follow this trail, we should eventually get to them, though I don't know how long it'll take." Glancing at a map of Fiore, Lucy took the lead while pointing forward, prompting Cana and I to nod.
For the next few hours, we did nothing but walk across the dirt trail, coming across only a few carriages and other people, though nothing noteworthy. "Ugh, what's that smell? It's terrible; it's like rotting flesh." Suddenly getting hit with a faint but horrid and horrendous scent, I quickly covered my nose while Cana and Lucy looked at me with furrowed brows before sniffing the air. "Hmm, I can't smell anything." "Yeah, the air actually smells pretty pleasant." "Lucky you."
Grunting, I enhanced my senses with magic and sniffed the air, inhaling that horrid scent once more, though this time it was far more potent. "Ugh, disgusting! Follow me." Leaving the dirt trail, I headed left, walking for several minutes while following the horrid scent until we eventually came across a decently sized river. "Oh god, I-I can smell it now." "I-I might throw up." "You better not vomit on me again!"
Instinctively distancing myself from Cana, I squatted on the bank and intensely eyed the river, though even with my enhanced vision, I couldn't find anything wrong with it other than its slightly darker color. "I-I think we found the contaminated river; we should just follow it upstream, and we'll come across the village that way. I don't want to, though." Despite her complaining, Lucy took the lead while I trailed slightly behind, keeping most of my focus on the river as I searched it.
"W-Wait up!"
Thirty minutes later, we came across a village and quickly noticed the field was mostly dead, with barely one plant struggling to stay alive. "Good thing I didn't drink it." "You thought about drinking it!?" "... It crossed my mind." I wasn't one easily embarrassed, but even I felt a bit embarrassed as heat rushed to my cheeks; thankfully, it quickly faded as we focused on our mission.
With Lucy taking the lead, we entered the city and asked around, searching for the person who had contracted the mission. Unsurprisingly, it was the village chief who was responsible. Entering his little abode, we sat down and had a few snacks while he began to answer our questions.