Chapter 5: Ch 5 : Erza Scarlet
Noel quietly sat on the second floor of the guild, reading a book.
Unlike the lively and noisy first floor, the second floor of the guild was extremely quiet.
After all, even in Fiore Kingdom's number one guild, Fairy Tail, only seven people, including the guild master, held the title of S-Class Mage and had access to the second floor.
Noel didn't dislike the liveliness, but he preferred tranquil environments.
In such peace, he could temporarily forget who he truly was and the painful past he couldn't bear to recall—even if that peace was only fleeting.
(It's been a while.) Noel stretched his body, stiff from reading for a long time.
He closed the book The Origins and Historical Applications of Magic and returned it to the shelf.
(Might as well go check downstairs. They're probably getting noisy again.)
With that thought, Noel slowly descended the stairs.
Just then, he spotted Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Gray returning from their mission.
"Huh? How did you all end up coming back together?" Noel was a bit surprised.
After all, whenever Natsu and Gray were together, it was rare for them not to get into a fight—especially when Erza wasn't around.
"We ran into each other on the way back," Gray explained as he handed the mission completion report to Mira.
However, Natsu didn't have one, which indicated that his mission had failed.
"Natsu, what happened?" Mira asked.
The book theft mission Natsu took had seemed unusual from the start, and while Natsu hadn't completed it, he also appeared uninjured.
Hearing Mira's question, Lucy, looking a bit exasperated, recounted the entire mission process to everyone.
After hearing the story, Noel nodded. "You all did well. Natsu has grown."
However, Natsu was in no mood to respond to Noel's compliment and slumped gloomily over the table. "I need to find something to do..."
"Aye, that's right, or there'll be no food," Happy added.
Lucy sighed. "That two million jewels from last time was such a pity. Speaking of which, this month's rent is a problem."
Thinking about her unpaid rent, Lucy could no longer sit still.
She hurried to the mission board to look for a suitable job.
"If you find a mission you're interested in, just let me know. The guild master is out for a regular meeting," Mira said to Lucy.
"Regular meeting?" As a newcomer, Lucy was clearly unfamiliar with the term.
"You can think of it as a bunch of guild masters getting together to chat and drink," Noel casually remarked from the counter, resting his chin on his hand.
Mira shot a glare at Noel before turning back to explain to Lucy, "The regular meeting is a gathering where guild masters report periodically. But it's different from the Judgment Conference."
After that, Mira borrowed a light pen from Reedus and briefly explained the power structure of the magic world to Lucy.
"Hurry up and pick a mission," Natsu urged Lucy.
Lucy glared at Natsu. "Why are you telling me what to do?"
"Because we're a team," Natsu replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What? You don't need to force yourself into a team. You'll still get good missions quickly," Gray chimed in.
"Gray, your clothes," Noel reminded.
"Ah," Gray realized he was shirtless again.
"Gross," Natsu sneered.
Gray's eyes flashed with killing intent. "Did you just call me gross, you flame freak?"
"Super gross, you exhibitionist!" Natsu shot back.
"Bird brain!"
"Streaker!"
Meanwhile, Loki took the opportunity to approach Lucy with a flirtatious grin.
"Lucy, how about forming a team of love with me? Tonight, just the two of us..."
"What?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"You're truly beautiful. Even through these sunglasses, I can clearly appreciate your beauty. If I looked directly at you, I'd probably go blind," Loki said suavely, adjusting his sunglasses and flashing what he thought was his most charming smile.
"Then go blind," Lucy retorted bluntly.
At that moment, Loki noticed the keys hanging at Lucy's waist.
His expression instantly changed, and he took several steps back. "You... you're a Celestial Spirit Mage?"
"Huh?"
"Ah! What kind of cruel joke is this?" Loki looked devastated, muttered, "Sorry, this is where we part ways," and fled in panic.
"When did we even form a team?" Lucy couldn't help but complain again.
"Loki's not good at dealing with Celestial Spirit Mages," Mira explained with a smile. "It seems he had some kind of incident with a girl in the past."
Suddenly, Natsu came flying over and knocked Lucy down before she could dodge.
"Want to fight? I'm always up for it!" Gray clenched his fists as their conflict escalated once again.
"Bad news!" Loki, who had just run out, suddenly came rushing back, shouting in a panic, "Erza's back!"
"What?!" The guild members' faces instantly changed, and an eerie silence fell over the room.
(Erza's back?) Noel's mind flashed to that gallant figure with red hair, and a faint smile curved his lips.
"Erza? Natsu mentioned her before," Lucy recalled as Mira explained, "Erza is the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail."
The sound of heavy, clanging armored footsteps echoed from outside the guild.
"It's Erza."
"Yeah, that's definitely Erza's footsteps."
Whispers filled the guild.
"How scary!" Lucy's imagination ran wild, combining the descriptions she'd heard from Natsu and others into the image of a multi-story-tall monster breathing fire.
While Lucy was still processing this, a figure carrying a massive beast's horn walked into the guild.
"I'm back. Noel, you're here too. Is the guild master around?" Erza placed the enormous horn on the ground, smiling as she addressed Noel.
"She's gorgeous." The stark contrast between reality and Lucy's wild fantasy left her stunned.
Erza had deep crimson hair and eyes like rubies, exuding an aura of confidence and poise.
She wore a custom-made female armor that accentuated her beauty and strength.
This was Fairy Tail's "Titania"—Erza Scarlet.
"Welcome back, Erza," Noel greeted. "The guild master is attending the regular meeting."
"I see," Erza nodded.
"Miss Erza, what's that huge thing?" someone nearby asked.
"It's the horn of a monster I defeated. The locals gave it to me as a decoration. Is it a problem?" Erza asked calmly.
"Absolutely not!" Everyone broke into a cold sweat.
Noel placed his hand on the beast horn, sensing a faint magical fluctuation within.
It seemed this creature was of a fairly high level—likely Erza intended to use it as material for armor.
"You lot... I've been hearing rumors throughout my journey. Fairy Tail has caused yet another pile of trouble. Even if the guild master forgives you, I won't," Erza, as expected, began scolding everyone in her role as the guild's disciplinarian.
The entire guild tensed up, fearful of having their names called out.
"Cana, why are you drinking in that position? Laki, if you want to dance, do it outside. Wakaba, you've left ash all over the place! Nab, are you still aimlessly browsing the job board every day? Go find some work." Erza rubbed her forehead, sighing. "Honestly, you guys are such a handful. I'll let it slide for today."
"You've already said plenty, though. Is she really a disciplinarian?" Lucy, witnessing this for the first time, couldn't help but whisper.
"That's Erza, aye!" Happy chimed in.
"Natsu and Gray, are you here?"
"Yeah, Erza! We're best buddies today!"
"Yeah, totally!"
Natsu and Gray, noticing Erza's gaze, immediately froze, throwing their arms around each other and greeting her stiffly.
"Is that so? Even good friends fight sometimes, but I like seeing you get along," Erza said with satisfaction.
On the side, Noel struggled to keep himself from laughing.
Natsu and Gray's clumsy act—only Erza would believe something so unconvincing.
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