What kind of behind-the-scenes conversation Macao had with the purple-haired girl, Kuyali, Ur had no idea. All he could see, vaguely, was the unbroken grin plastered across Macao's face—he looked exactly like a groveling animal licking at someone's heels.
Before Kuyali left, she seemed to have posted another mission in the guild!
Ur, however, had no interest in it whatsoever. Given his current condition, taking on a mission now would very likely lead to… unpredictable consequences.
For example, accidentally destroying a town or something like that.
After all, the guild had just paid a massive compensation fee not long ago. For the sake of the guild's finances, Ur felt he needed to rest for a while.
Besides, during this period, there were plenty of issues he needed to sort out anyway.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
Somewhere in the guild.
Erza watched Ur's departing figure with a sharp, thoughtful gaze, then quietly followed after him. Because there was still a lack of concrete evidence, and also because of the "hope" she harbored deep down, Erza did not immediately report her suspicions to Makarov. Instead, she chose to "get to the truth" herself first.
Luckily for Ur, he didn't know how to read minds or faces. Otherwise, he would probably have already blurted out a heartfelt "Are you out of your mind?" by now.
Erza was strong. Though her tailing skills weren't particularly refined, Ur's muddled, foggy mental state meant he failed to notice her presence entirely.
She followed carefully, eyes wide open, staring intently at Ur ahead.
But just as she was focusing with all her attention, a voice suddenly rang out beside her ear, instantly making the hairs all over her body stand on end.
"Erza, what are you doing here?"
Bang!
"Shh!"
Startled by the sudden appearance of Natsu, Erza instinctively punched him, then immediately covered his mouth and made a shushing gesture.
Already bruised and battered, Natsu took another punch from Erza and nearly burst into tears.
At this point, Natsu and Gray were already pretty scared of Erza, but not yet to the level where fear was carved into their bones.
Still, Natsu was now beginning to truly taste the terror of being dominated by Erza.
"I'll let go in a moment. You're not allowed to speak. Got it?" Erza warned coldly, her eyes flashing.
Natsu nodded obediently with a muffled sound. Seeing this, Erza slowly removed her hand from his mouth.
Glancing at Natsu's black-and-blue face, Erza frowned and asked, "You challenged Gildarts again, didn't you?"
Natsu: "..."
[Obedient nod.jpg]
Erza: "Don't you ever learn your lesson? Instead of fooling around, you should be using that time to train your magic!"
Natsu: "..."
[Obedient nod.jpg]
Erza: [(╬◣д◢)]
Bang!
"Answer me out loud!" Erza exploded in anger and slammed a fist into Natsu's head. Instantly, another lump grew on top of the one already there.
Natsu: "I f*@#￥…!"
Wasn't it you who told me not to speak?
Honestly!
Natsu really wanted to hit someone right now, if not for the small issue that he was no match for Erza.
"So," Natsu asked after calming down, still under the terror of Erza's dominance, hiding with Happy in a corner while peeking at Ur in the distance, "why are you tailing Ur anyway?"
Erza thought for a moment, glanced at Natsu a few times, and finally decided to tell him the truth.
"Natsu, I suspect that Ur… is no longer Ur," Erza said solemnly.
Natsu: "???"
Although Natsu didn't reply, his expression alone perfectly conveyed what he was thinking.
Seeing this, Erza let out a soft sigh. Then she began carefully explaining the whole sequence of events, along with her own speculations.
And then...
Natsu: "...zzZZ"
Erza: "..."
Bang!
A heavy blow landed on Natsu's head, jolting him awake instantly.
"What? What happened?"
Erza suddenly felt utterly exhausted. For some reason, looking at Natsu like this made her feel as if she were bearing a kind of pressure no one her age should have to endure.
"Natsu, do you want to know the secret behind why Ur is so powerful?"
"What? You mean you know, Erza?" Natsu exclaimed in shock.
"No, I don't. But as long as we carefully follow behind Ur, we'll definitely uncover that secret. Well, are you interested?"
"Of course! Leave it to me!"
The moment he heard that they might uncover the secret of Ur's strength, Natsu instantly perked up as if injected with chicken blood. Not only was he brimming with motivation, but his IQ seemed to have grown back.
Seeing this, Erza nodded in satisfaction.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
Next Chapter: Happy Gets Lured Away
Next Next Chapter: The Blacksmith's Shop
Next Next Next Chapter: Does a Weapon Have a Soul?