Just as Statiw was in complete agreement with Cana's divination explanation, an arm suddenly hooked around his neck, dragging him out once again.
"Demon?" Looking at the person who dragged Statiw away, Cana immediately understood. She turned her head to look at Erza, who was disciplining Natsu and Gray, and murmured, "Knight?"
Finally, she picked up the third card Statiw had flipped over from the table and said with pity, "Poor Statiw, the Demon is followed by the Knight. As expected, he's doomed to lose."
On the other side, at the edge of the same mountain forest near the guild, Statiw sat on the ground at this moment, raising his head speechlessly to look at the person who had dragged him over.
"I heard people in the guild say that you plan to leave Team Mirajane and defect to Team Erza?" Mirajane stared at him with a dark expression, asking fiercely.
"No, that's not it. Mirajane, let me explain." Although he knew those guys in the guild would spread rumors, he didn't expect them to be so outrageous. The current Mirajane was like a volcano about to erupt; if he didn't appease her, he would definitely get a severe beating.
"You speak, I'll listen. If your answer doesn't satisfy me..." she raised her fist and made a threatening gesture.
"It's not what you think; I'm just learning how to use various weapons from Erza," Statiw immediately explained upon seeing her gesture.
However, Mirajane didn't seem satisfied. She grabbed his collar, pulled him in front of her, and said with a half-smile, "Are you saying I can't teach you how to use weapons?"
"No, I just thought that by doing so, our team would be taking advantage of Team Erza. That's all, nothing else." Seeing that she wasn't buying it, Statiw's survival instinct kicked in, and his brain immediately raced, coming up with a new reason in an instant.
"What do you mean?" she was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding how they were taking advantage.
"Think about it, I learned how to use weapons from Erza. But the guys in the other team haven't learned hand-to-hand combat techniques from you. Isn't that our team taking advantage?" Seeing that she didn't understand, Statiw immediately explained.
"Now that you mention it, there is some truth to that." Mirajane thought about it according to his words and found that, indeed, their side was taking advantage. However, after saying this, she immediately landed a heavy punch on his head.
"Ah, that hurts! What are you doing?" Clutching his head, Statiw immediately glared at her.
"What? Do you have an opinion?" Mirajane glanced at him, asking with a gloomy expression.
"No, I just wanted to ask why you hit me. There has to be a reason, right?" Seeing her expression, he immediately chickened out.
"Hmph, that punch is to make you remember to notify me first next time before you go taking advantage," she explained with a sour face. "And, given how terrible you are at combat, I've decided to frequently give you practical combat training from now on."
"What?" Statiw was stunned when he heard this. In the afternoon, Erza had said that she would give him practical combat training whenever she had time. He didn't expect Mirajane to do the same. Being bombarded by two intense people in turns, his future days... he shivered at the thought.
After being disciplined by her under the guise of practical combat training, Statiw returned to the guild with a pair of panda eyes, following Mirajane. His appearance immediately caused a burst of laughter from the guys in the guild.
Looking at these guys who were laughing at him and enjoying themselves, he was filled with indignation. If it weren't for these guys spreading rumors, he wouldn't have been dragged out and disciplined. Moreover, and more importantly, in addition to Erza, he would also have to frequently undergo practical combat training with Mirajane. Of course, to put it plainly, it meant getting beaten up.
"You all just wait for me..." The indignant Statiw had already decided that if he ever got the chance, he would definitely retaliate twofold.
Dragging his tired body, he slowly sat down, slumping onto the table.
"What's with that Mirajane? It's just Lisanna playing with Natsu, why is she so angry?" Macao, dressed in white, sitting near him, complained.
Macao Conbolt, full name, primarily uses 'Purple Flame' magic, a type of flame that cannot be extinguished by water or wind. In addition to 'Purple Flame,' he also uses 'Transformation' magic, capable of transforming himself or parts of himself into other people or objects, making him a very powerful Mage.
"Yeah, and what's with the Team Erza and all that? The competition looks fierce," Wakaba, smoking a pipe, chuckled in response.
Wakaba Mine, full name, is Macao's good friend and uses 'Smoke' magic, fighting with various types of smoke.
At this moment, Statiw, who was slumped on the table, heard their conversation and was stunned. He looked up and asked the two, "You just said, what happened after Mirajane found out Lisanna was playing with Natsu?"
"Oh, Statiw. You must have been badly beaten by that fiery Mirajane, right?" Hearing someone ask, Macao turned his head and realized it was him with a black eye, so he said with a grin, "In the afternoon, Mirajane heard us say that Lisanna had been playing an egg-hatching game with Natsu in the park for the past few days, and they even built a secret base-like place there and were having so much fun that she hadn't come home for several days. So she was very angry and smashed the table without a word..."
As Macao explained and Wakaba added details, Statiw finally understood one thing: he had been beaten unfairly. It was entirely because Mirajane was angry that Lisanna hadn't come home for several days, but she didn't want to be angry with her own sister, so she took out her anger on him.
"Damn it, that Mirajane." He was very annoyed. Anyone who is made a scapegoat and beaten for no reason would be annoyed. But what could he do when he couldn't win a fight and couldn't reason with her?
"Statiw, are you okay? Sister Mirajane, really, why is she so intense?" A moment later, his friend Elfman rushed back from outside. After looking around, he immediately ran towards him.
"I'm fine, Elfman." Statiw shook his head.
Although Mirajane had an excuse to beat him up, it only looked bad; in reality, he was perfectly fine.
"That's good," Elfman breathed a long sigh of relief when he said he was fine.
"By the way, where were you today? I didn't see you at the guild all day." Seeing Elfman no longer tense, Statiw suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen him since he arrived at the guild today and asked curiously.
"This morning, my sister found a simple mission for me to complete alone, saying it was to train me..." Elfman then began to explain his day's activities to his friend...