With that, Sorano ignored Kabi's stream of excuses, turned, and walked out without a backward glance, Lucy and Meredy in tow. Kabi hurried after them, apologizing the whole way as he showed them out.
Once the mansion's back door had swung shut behind them, Lucy kicked moodily at a pebble by her foot.
"Seriously, it was all an act. Here I thought we were about to make a fortune. But Sis Sorano, how did you tell he was faking it?"
Sorano waved for the other two to keep pace with her as she explained.
"I already thought it was strange the moment he came out to open the door for us. A mansion this size, even if he had some reason for having us use the back entrance, the master of the house himself shouldn't have been the one answering it. There should have been at least a servant or maid around to do that. Once we got inside, I took a closer look and noticed almost every room in the place was shut tight. And most tellingly, some of the valuables had been deliberately covered with cloth, like someone was worried about them gathering dust from sitting untouched too long. None of it looked like somewhere people actually lived. So I figured the house had to be rented or borrowed. I just didn't expect the two of them to be quite that broke. Two million being out of reach is one thing, but even two hundred thousand had to be squeezed out through gritted teeth. If they hadn't managed that much, for someone shameless enough to lie about a reward like that, I'd have driven the price up even higher, just to teach him what lying costs."
"Wow, that's amazing. Such a sharp read on the whole situation."
Hearing Sorano lay out her whole line of reasoning, Lucy let out an admiring gasp. Meredy's eyes were practically sparkling too, feeling like she'd learned a lot.
"Two hundred thousand it is, then. It's just a book retrieval job anyway, so that's still a generous reward."
With the matter of the money settled, Sorano turned her full attention to the job itself. But that was when Lucy suddenly cut in.
"Since Sis Sorano's been so on top of things, I can't just stand around watching. You two wait here, I'll be right back."
She left them with that cryptic line and, before Sorano or Meredy could react, dashed straight into the streets of Hilosand vanished from sight. Left behind, the two of them exchanged a blank look, with no idea what she was up to this time.
With nothing else to do, they waited there in boredom for nearly half an hour. Just as their patience was running thin and they were about to go looking for her, Lucy came jogging around the corner, her hair done up in twin tails, dressed head to toe in a classic black-and-white maid outfit, and skidded happily to a stop in front of them.
"Ahem, so sorry to keep you both waiting, my dear masters~"
Watching Lucy fidget awkwardly in her new getup, playing the part of a maid, Meredy and Sorano froze solid on the spot. Neither of them had imagined for a second that Lucy actually intended to disguise herself as a maid to sneak into the Ebar estate.
Meredy rose up on her toes in a panic, cupping a hand over her mouth to whisper to Sorano.
"What do we do, Sis Sorano? Lucy actually took our joke seriously."
Sorano's own mouth twitched uncontrollably, floored by Lucy's brand of "innocence."
"There's no telling her now that we were joking. Might as well roll with it."
"Hey, I heard that, you two jerks!"
Lucy's face flushed red with anger. She hadn't expected that after half an hour of effort, this was the response she'd get.
"Ahem. Don't blame us for your own foolishness."
Sorano cleared her throat to cover her embarrassment, then turned around and began scolding Lucy with righteous indignation instead.
"Use that head of yours for a second. Since when would anyone from Fairy Tail let a comrade sell herself short just to finish a job? Especially when you're already the girl Kabe's got his eye on, practically spoken for and everything."
That last part, of course, she only said in her head. Imagining how Kabe might react if he ever found out about this, Sorano's stomach lurched, and she hurried Lucy along.
"Just go change out of that outfit already. Whether you throw it away or keep it to wear for someone you like someday is up to you."
"I... I don't have anyone I like! But I did spend what little savings I have on this, so it'd be a waste to just throw it away..."
Whether from embarrassment or irritation, Lucy's face stayed red as she muttered a quiet protest, then spun around and hurried off into an empty corner to change.