"Is that… Lullaby? How do you have it?!"
Not just Lucy, but Erza and Gray were stunned too. They'd all gone to gather intel together, so how did Kira manage to get his hands on Lullaby so fast?
Wait, no—he'd said he didn't know where Eisenwald was, not Lullaby. Okay, that makes sense.
Over the next half hour, Kira patiently explained how, in just two hours, he'd scoured Oshibana Town for clues, pieced together Eisenwald's and Lullaby's whereabouts using hints, magic, deduction, scouting, pinpointing, and fighting. In the end, he'd snatched Lullaby right from the hands of half of Eisenwald's members.
"No wonder you said we just needed to deal with Kageyama and his crew," Gray said. "You already had Lullaby!"
"But how didn't I hear a thing?" Lucy asked.
"That's because I used magic to seal off all the sound during the fight," Kira replied.
"If you've already got the thing, why don't we just go take care of Eisenwald now? The train's still a while away!" Natsu complained.
"What are you talking about? I just spent two hours busting my tail! Can't I take a breather?" Kira shot back.
---
Clover Town, Guild Masters' Conference
"Makarov, your wizards sure are lively! That's great~"
Bob, the master of Blue Pegasus, was a bald, chubby man with a flamboyant flair. His cheeks were painted with bright blush, his lips coated in matching heart-shaped lipstick. A pair of white wing accessories adorned his back, a gold-and-ruby necklace hung around his thick neck, and he wore a purple halter dress.
"I heard they beat the snot out of some big shot somewhere," Bob added with a smirk.
Who could've guessed this eccentric guy was once a total heartthrob? Time really is a cruel butcher.
Makarov, sporting a cute hat and clearly tipsy, slurred, "Ohhh! That must be that new girl, Lucy!!! She's great!!! Especially her… assets!!!"
The old perv always got like this when he drank.
"Eww, you perv~" Bob teased.
"It's great to have spirit, but don't your wizards go a bit overboard?" Goldman, the master of Quatro Cerberus, chimed in, sporting a tall hat and sunglasses. He grinned mischievously at Makarov. "Some folks in the Magic Council are worried Fairy Tail's gonna wreck an entire city!"
Makarov laughed, practically dancing. "Heehee! Oh, they might, they might!!! But if they do, it'll be with Lucy's… assets! Hahaha!"
"Come on, you can't hit on your own guild members…" Goldman muttered.
Just then, a white pigeon wearing a wizard hat swooped in with a letter. It was one of Fairy Tail's trained messenger pigeons.
The pigeon landed on Makarov and, to everyone's surprise, spoke. "Master Makarov, a letter from Miss Mirajane."
"Huh?"
A letter at a time like this? Puzzled and still drunk, Makarov opened it. A holographic image of Mirajane appeared, smiling warmly. "Master, thank you for your hard work at the conference~"
Makarov puffed up proudly, showing off to the other guild masters. "See that?! That's our poster girl! Pretty great, huh?!"
"Ooooh!" The other masters leered, their eyes practically turning into hearts.
Mirajane's hologram continued, "While you've been away, something exciting happened at the guild! Erza, Kira, Natsu, and Gray formed a team. Oh, and Lucy and Happy are with them too!"
"!!!"
"Isn't that awesome?"
Since it was just a letter, not a communication crystal, Mirajane's hologram couldn't sense Makarov's reaction. She kept smiling brightly, but Makarov was sobering up fast, his body trembling.
"This might just be Fairy Tail's strongest team, don't you think?" she added.
Makarov was sweating bullets now.
"I heard a dark guild called Eisenwald is causing trouble and got their hands on a magic item made by Zeref—Lullaby. Kira thinks they might target the Guild Masters' Conference, so please be careful~"
Thump thump! Makarov's blood pressure skyrocketed.
"I thought it'd be best to let you know, so I sent this letter! Bye-bye!"
The hologram vanished as the letter ended.
Thud!
"Makarov! What's wrong?!" The others turned at the sound, only to see Makarov collapsed on the floor, twitching.
This… this is bad!! Are those kids really planning to destroy a whole city?!
I've gotta head back right after this conference… Please, don't let anything happen before then!
Oh, and Mirajane mentioned Lullaby and a dark guild targeting the conference? They wouldn't come here and wreck the place, would they?
Makarov felt like his heart was about to explode.
---
Kunugigaoka Train Station
The past couple of days, the station had been crawling with wizards, but today it was even busier.
Eisenwald had nearly 80% of their members gathered here. Aside from a few lackeys always glued to Erigor's side, only Erigor himself and Kageyama, who was still working on breaking Lullaby's seal, hadn't arrived yet.
The rest had taken over the station, ready to lock it down and cut Clover Town off from the outside world the moment they got the order.
Ugly, cannon-fodder-looking wizards stood in small groups, griping about the hypocrisy of legal guilds, the Magic Council's strictness, the weakness of regular people, and… the latest hot topic in Sorcerer Weekly.
Unbeknownst to them, a fire dragon was rapidly closing in…
"Those Magic Council jerks…"
"I saw someone from XX guild…"
"Last time, that…"
"This month's Sorcerer Weekly model has such a figure…"
Suddenly, a powerful fist, wreathed in massive flames, slammed into the group of wizards.
The fire and force combined, heating the air and sending the wizards flying dozens of meters with a single blow.
"Ahh!!"
"Who's that?!"
From the flames, a figure stepped out. Cherry-blossom pink hair swayed in the wind, a scarf danced around his neck, and flames enveloped him without harm. The red Fairy Tail emblem on his arm stood out starkly.
Natsu glared at the goons, growling, "Where's Erigor?"
---
On the train, Kira, Gray, Erza, and Lucy sat across from each other.
"Is Natsu… really gonna be okay?" Lucy asked, worried.
She trusted Natsu's strength, but his recklessness and lack of strategy made her nervous. Plus, they were up against cunning, ruthless, bloodthirsty wizards.
"Don't worry. No way Natsu's getting taken down by those guys," Gray said, propping his chin on his hand as he gazed out the window. His words eased Lucy's nerves a bit.
But two seconds later, Lucy grinned mischievously. "Guess Kira was right. You two do have a great relationship~"
"See? Didn't I tell you?" Kira said, leaning toward Gray. "Ice and fire—those two are practically Fairy Tail's signature duo!"
Erza smiled too. "Getting along is great, isn't it? We're family, after all!"
Their teasing made Gray blush slightly. "You guys are so annoying!"
"What's there to be shy about?" Kira said, slinging an arm around Gray's neck. "You're not a kid anymore. A real man's gotta own his feelings!"
"When did you start sounding like Elfman?" Gray muttered.
"Eh, sometimes other people's catchphrases just feel right. We're family, so no need to sweat the small stuff. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."
"Then let me borrow some of your magic gear."
"Sure, but you'll need to pay a rental fee. Full purchase gets you a discount, though."
"Knew you'd say that," Gray grumbled.
"Speaking of which, I keep hearing about your magic shop," Lucy said, turning to Kira. "What kind of stuff do you sell there?"