While the three were discussing the S-Class Exam, Cana, having reported her mission to the Master, walked over and sat down in front of Statiw, beginning to fiddle with her cards.
At this moment, Gray, who had once again taken a heavy blow from Erza due to Natsu's antics, temporarily lost interest in continuing to fight him.
He staggered over and sat down next to Cana to rest.
"Yo, you're back. How was the mission?" Gray propped up his arm and asked her after sitting down.
"It was simple, just performing some acts at a banquet," she took out her magic cards, laying them face down on the table, practicing her magic.
"You say that easily, but that wasn't an ordinary banquet. If you messed up, the trouble would be significant." Gray knew the difficulty of the mission she had taken.
Usually, such missions were only C-class. However, the one she received was a B-class mission, indicating its considerable difficulty.
"Pick a card." Cana paid no attention to what he was saying. The mission was over, and the client was very satisfied, so what was there to worry about?
"What did you say?" Not hearing her clearly, Gray asked.
"I said, pick a card and flip it over," she pointed to the cards in front of her and said to him.
"Oh, then this one," Gray casually picked a card and flipped it over.
At this moment, Statiw, who had been sprawled on the table opposite her, sat up and turned to look around the guild: "Huh, I was wondering why it felt so quiet. Where's Natsu?"
"I don't know. He ran off right after getting down from the wall," Gray shook his head, then thought for a moment and said, "I think he probably went to that place."
"That place?" she picked up the card he had chosen, pondering the meaning of the image on it, when she suddenly heard this and turned her head, asking with a puzzled expression.
"It's Natsu's training spot." The boys were very familiar with his usual whereabouts.
Seeing that she didn't know, Statiw spoke up: "It's said that there are portraits of Erza, Mirajane, and Gray, drawn by Natsu himself, and he hangs them up every time he trains…"
"Are you serious?" No sooner had he finished speaking than someone behind him suddenly asked.
"Of course, but usually it's mostly portraits of Erza and Gray. Mirajane's is rarely put up," he replied with absolute certainty, turning his head to see who was behind him.
When he saw who it was, a drop of cold sweat immediately ran down his forehead, and he greeted with an awkward smile: "Hi, Mirajane."
"Hi your big head, that Natsu boy actually dared to…" she raised her clenched fist, her face full of anger, then suddenly grabbed his collar and roared, "You knew about this all along and didn't tell me…"
"Don't be angry, Mirajane. He rarely puts up your portrait; it's usually Gray and Erza," he quickly grabbed her hand, pulled her to sit beside him, and advised, "Besides, it's not like you're losing a piece of flesh, what's there to care about…"
"How could I not care?" Before he could finish, Gray, sitting opposite, immediately stirred up trouble: "Mirajane, I support you. You must make Natsu pay."
"You, guy…" he turned to look at Gray, and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Just then, Lisanna walked over, humming a tune, and came to his rescue: "Sister, didn't you say you wanted to ask Brother Statiw to go fishing with you?"
"Fishing?" he was stunned for a moment, looking at her somewhat confused.
"What? You don't want to?" she asked with a gloomy face.
"How could that be? I just didn't expect you to be interested in fishing," Statiw smiled and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go together."
With that, he pulled her and started to walk out.
"You two go, I still have things to do…" Seeing him pulling her out, Lisanna smiled and shook her head, refusing.
"Lisanna has something to do, but what about you two?" he turned back to look at Cana and Gray.
"I'm divining, I don't have time. Gray needs to assist me with the divination…" she was currently looking seriously at the card he had chosen, deep in thought.
"Alright." he nodded and said to her, "Then let's go find Elfman. I'm sure he'll be willing to come with us."
"No need, Elfman still has a mission to complete," she said as soon as he finished speaking, "Just the two of us."
He was taken aback, then nodded and said, "That works too. It'll be perfect for you to cook the fish after we catch them. Speaking of which, your cooking is exceptionally delicious; even restaurant chefs can't compare."
"Hmph, at least you're sensible." Hearing his praise, her expression brightened, turning from gloomy to cheerful, and with a slight smile, she led the way out of the guild.
Seeing her walk out, he immediately jogged a few steps to catch up. Walking beside her, a hint of doubt arose in his heart.
It was well known that Mirajane, despite her fiery temper, wasn't unreasonable, but she would certainly resort to direct action if things didn't go her way.
Yet, just now, when she heard that Natsu had used her portrait as a target and pasted it on a tree, she didn't run off to confront him in a fit of rage, nor did she angrily smash the table; she merely looked gloomy, which he found quite strange.
The two soon arrived at a large rock by a clear water lake on the edge of town and stopped. This was the fishing spot she had chosen.
"Mirajane, dig up some bait nearby, and I'll draw some fishing tools," he materialized a shovel and handed it to her.
Taking the shovel from him, she nodded: "Besides fishing tools, also kitchen utensils and a campfire."
"No rush, we'll talk about that after we catch some fish," he took out his drawing board, laid out the paper, and replied unhurriedly.
He picked up his pen, just about to start drawing, when she, holding the shovel, came to a spot not far from the big rock and was about to start digging, when a loud shout came from the direction of the distant town: "Mirajane, Statiw…"
Hearing the sound, he turned to look back, only to see Natsu sprinting towards them, with Happy closely following, using his Aera magic.
Seeing that the newcomers were them, he turned to look at her not far away. Sure enough, as he had expected, her face was now so gloomy that water could practically drip from it.
Seeing her expression, he could only shake his head helplessly and smile bitterly.
After they arrived, he asked, "Why are you two here?"
"Statiw, Mirajane, you're too mean. You went fishing without calling us," Happy was the first to speak, complaining to him right away.
"We heard from Gray that you two were coming here to fish, so we ran to find you," Happy finished, and Natsu immediately followed, explaining.
"Is that so? It seems you're not dying in vain," Hearing that Gray had deliberately told him, he smiled bitterly again.
"Huh?" Natsu, however, showed a bewildered expression.
At this moment, she had silently arrived behind him…