Lucy clutched her head, her expression full of regret.
She was worried that her actions might have caused some negative consequences.
Erza had specifically warned her not to interact too much with the guild members.
A time paradox could cause immense damage, completely altering their present and future.
If her actions led to the collapse of the future or drastic changes to the world, Lucy would never forgive herself.
This time, she had managed to escape from the guild hall, and she inwardly breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Without Marco's help, she had no confidence in getting away from the enthusiastic guild members or avoiding exposure.
"Thank goodness Marco was already so helpful even as a kid." Lucy sighed.
Seeing Marco at this age had genuinely excited her—he was the idol she had admired since childhood!
The admiration she felt back then was completely real.
Of course, after truly getting to know Marco later on, she felt utterly deceived—on a massive scale!
"What kind of Celestial Spirit Magic he used! that was a complete bullshit magic!" Lucy gritted her teeth.
As someone who had loved Celestial Spirits since childhood, learning the truth had truly shattered her illusions.
Because before truly understanding the whole truth, she had genuinely believed Marco was a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage!
"Forget it, finding the others is more important. Can't let Natsu, Gray, and Happy cause any trouble—those three are completely unreliable!"
Pushing aside all those overwhelming emotions for now, Lucy told herself she needed to focus on the task at hand—a very important task!
Walking along the bustling streets of Magnolia, Lucy looked somewhat lost.
She wanted to search them, but she didn't know where to start.
As she walked, she heard a familiar voice—it was Erza's.
"I can't take it anymore, I just don't get it at all!"
That wail from Erza made Lucy's lips twitch.
It seemed their journey back to the future wouldn't be easy.
Inside an empty tent by the roadside, Erza was crouched on the ground, her butt sticking up in the air.
Behind her, a white cat tail was swishing back and forth so fast it was practically a blur!
The speed of that tail seemed to reflect its owner's extreme anxiety.
Holding the magic book that had sent them through time, Erza had been studying it intently for a long while before finally letting out that frustrated cry—she couldn't make sense of any of it.
Erza suddenly thought of Levy.
Even at this age, Levy might have been able to help decipher the book's contents.
While Erza was deep in frustration, Bunny Girl Lucy arrived near the tent and immediately widened her eyes in shock.
Because outside the tent, she spotted another small figure clad in armor—a miniature version of Erza!
"Er—mmph!"
Lucy had been about to call out to warn Erza, but she quickly covered her mouth.
If she shouted her name now, it could spell trouble—their disguises might be blown!
Under Lucy's horrified gaze, the young Erza approached the adult Erza.
At this moment, Lucy's heart was pounding with tension.
Without exaggeration, she felt like the world was about to end.
"Hey, cat girl over there."
"Hey, bunny girl over there."
As Lucy watched, the young Erza called out to the adult Erza.
But strangely, Lucy thought she heard someone calling out to her—a male one, at that.
And it wasn't just Lucy who heard it, because both the big and little Erzas turned their heads simultaneously towards her direction.
"Marco? What are you doing here?" The young Erza spoke up, her face full of confusion.
Meanwhile, the cat-girl Erza inside the tent quickly scrambled out, her tail wagging even more intensely behind her.
"Marco?" Cat-girl Erza's eyes brimmed with curiosity.
The moment she saw Marco, it was as if she had suddenly remembered everything that had happened.
"Huh?!"
Lucy spun around in surprise and, sure enough, saw Marco standing there.
She immediately realized he must have followed her out.
"You two strange women—one a cat girl, the other a bunny girl. Is this some kind of new fashion trend?"
Looking at the two mature and alluring women before him, Marco couldn't help but comment.
He had already figured out that the red-haired catgirl was clearly an older, more mature version of Erza.
"They're dressed really weirdly. What a strange people" young Erza chimed in, nodding in agreement.
She also thought these two were quite odd—she'd never seen anyone dressed like that before.
"..."
Marco glanced at the completely unfazed young Erza, his eyes filled with astonishment.
'Seriously? She really can't tell? Isn't it pretty obvious?'
He looked back and forth between little Erza and the grown-up Erza in the catgirl outfit, while staying silent.
This disguise... was honestly pretty mediocre.
"Ahem, yeah, it's... kind of trendy. Haha," Lucy laughed awkwardly, trying to brush off the topic.
She didn't want to dressed like this either!
"Sorry! We should get going!" Adult Erza scrambled up from the ground, leaping to her feet in a panic.
She grabbed Lucy's hand and tried to bolt, not daring to look at Marco again.
"Wait a second!"
However, little Erza blocked their escape, her expression suspicious.
She had a gut feeling these two were up to no good.
"Eep!"
Both Erza and Lucy let out a pitiful whimper but obediently stopped in their tracks.
They couldn't possibly harm the younger Erza.
"You two, have you seen a pink-haired guy with a scarf and a shirtless pervert around here? They always look like they're about to fight," little Erza asked.
She had been searching everywhere for Gray and Natsu because those two jerks had stolen her cake—her favorite cake, the one she'd been saving for later!
"Gray and Natsu?" The catgirl-outfitted Erza reflexively blurted out the names.
The description was just too familiar.
"Eep!"
Lucy couldn't help but whimper again, making Erza feel incredibly guilty.
She had drilled it into Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy to stay undercover, yet before anyone else slipped up, she had already made the biggest mistake!
'How are we going to get out of this now?!'
Erza wailed internally.
With Marco here, she and Lucy might as well have been stripped bare—there was no way they could hide anything!
"You two..."
Marco opened his mouth, feeling like a stampede of Pegasus horses was trampling through his mind.
These two made it impossible for him to pretend he hadn't noticed anything!
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