The next morning, at the Fairy Tail Guild.
Lucy pushed open the guild doors, and sunlight streamed into the hall, carrying the faint scent of ale and baked bread.
She looked around and saw only a few people in the guild—Mirajane was wiping glasses behind the bar, Cana was in a corner flipping through tarot cards, and Natsu and Gray were, as usual, fighting, this time seemingly over the last piece of roasted meat.
"Good morning, Lucy!" Mira smiled gently and waved at her.
"Morning, Mira!" Lucy walked over and sat at the bar, taking the juice Mira handed her. "It's so quiet today, where is everyone?"
"Where are Happy and Yuumi? They're gone too?"
Natsu, with his foot on a chair and a large skewer of roasted meat in his hand, said, "Happy and Yuumi went fishing. I don't know about the others."
"Levy and Jet went on a job," Mira explained. "As for Ezreal and Ikaruga..."
"They both ran out early this morning," Cana interjected without looking up, a tarot card between her fingers. "Last night, Ezreal received intel that the Eisenwald Guild was conducting some kind of sacrifice ritual, and he immediately took Ikaruga to investigate."
"Huh? A sacrifice ritual?" Lucy blinked. "That sounds a bit dangerous..."
"Don't worry," Cana waved her hand. "Even though Ezreal usually seems lazy, his strength is very reliable. Plus, with Ikaruga, there won't be any problems."
"Exactly! Exactly!" Natsu suddenly popped up from the side, his mouth full of roasted meat, saying indistinctly, "Ezreal is really strong! And Ikaruga is super—duper—reliable, just like Erza!"
"Hey! Natsu! That meat is mine!" Gray roared, rushing over and punching Natsu on the head.
"Huh?! I got it first!" Natsu wasn't to be outdone and immediately spewed a blast of fire.
"You two idiots! Don't set fire to the guild!" Lucy couldn't help but complain, quickly dodging backward.
"Lucy, ignore them." Cana sighed and patted the seat beside her. "Come, sit here, I'll read your fortune."
"Huh? Tarot card reading?" Lucy leaned in curiously. "Is it accurate?"
"Of course it is!" Cana shuffled the cards confidently. "I'm the best fortune teller in Fairy Tail!"
"Then... can you tell me my fortune for today?" Lucy asked enthusiastically.
Cana drew a card, looked at it, and suddenly showed a meaningful smile: "Hmm... 'The Wheel of Fortune' upright. It seems you'll encounter something unexpected today."
"Unexpected?" Lucy tilted her head. "It's not Natsu and Gray's fight affecting me, is it?"
"Hey! Lucy! What do you mean by that!" Gray shouted, displeased.
"Exactly! We wouldn't accidentally hurt our comrades!" Natsu said righteously, and the next second, he was frozen halfway up his leg by Gray's Ice-Make magic.
"You two... that's enough..." Lucy massaged her forehead, sighing helplessly.
Mira chuckled softly beside them: "Lucy, you'll get used to it. They've always been like this."
"Sigh, I get it now. The first lesson of joining Fairy Tail is learning how to survive in chaos." Lucy spread her hands, but a smile couldn't help but curl on her lips.
Just as Natsu and Gray were about to unleash powerful magic, Mira walked over with a smile: "Everyone, there's a simple job. Anyone want to take it?"
"What kind of job?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Helping Aunt Jerra's flower shop move a new batch of flowerpots. The reward is free bouquets and 5000 Jewel," Mira said.
"5000 Jewel?!" Lucy's eyes lit up. "I'll go!"
The money didn't really matter to Lucy; what she mainly wanted was to experience what a Mage's life of taking jobs was like.
At this stage, Lucy had completed the courses Jude had arranged, and their relationship had become much more harmonious. Additionally, with the Heartfilia Merchant Guild collaborating with Fairy Tail, business was booming.
The Heartfilia Merchant Guild ranked among the top ten within the entire Fiore Kingdom.
So, Lucy wasn't short on pocket money.
"I'll go too! I'm just sitting around anyway." Cana raised her hand.
"Hmph, I can handle such a small task by myself." Gray confidently stuck his head out.
"Huh? I said I'd go first!" Natsu protested.
Gray stiffened his neck, "When did you say that?"
Natsu stared, lying, "Just now!"
"You two..." Lucy massaged her forehead. "Fine, let's all go. The request form says there are a lot of flowerpots anyway."
Half an hour later, the four stood at the entrance of the flower shop, looking at the mountain of flowerpots, falling into a brief silence.
Aunt Jerra, a woman around forty in a floral dress, smiled at them from the doorway. "Thank you for your hard work, children."
"...This is too many, isn't it?" Cana blinked.
"Hahaha! Piece of cake!" Natsu immediately hoisted a stack of flowerpots. "Watch me!"
"Hey! Natsu! Be careful! The flowerpots will break!" Lucy quickly shouted.
"Don't worry! I'm very careful!" Natsu said, and as he turned, his elbow accidentally hit a nearby shelf. With a crash, a row of flowerpots fell to the ground.
Aunt Jerra's face instantly darkened.
"Natsu!!!" Lucy was frantic.
"Uh... sorry!" Natsu gave a dry laugh.
"Let me do it." Gray sighed, clapped his hands together, "Ice-Make: Porter!"
Ice magic solidified into several ice carts, steadily carrying the flowerpots.
"Wow! Gray is amazing!" Levy exclaimed.
"Hmph, now this is efficiency." Gray raised an eyebrow proudly.
"Tch! What's so special about using magic!" Natsu pouted.
"So, breaking flowerpots with brute force is special?" Lucy retorted.
"Lucy! Whose side are you on?!" Natsu protested.
"I'm on the side of common sense!" Lucy put her hands on her hips.
Cana laughed loudly nearby.
After some commotion (mainly Natsu almost breaking a few more flowerpots, only to be sternly stopped by Lucy), they finally completed the job.
Aunt Jerra smiled and handed them their reward: "Thank you for your hard work. Here's the promised 5000 Jewel, and a bouquet for each of you."
"Thank you!" Lucy happily accepted a bouquet of sunflowers.
"I want this!" Natsu grabbed a bouquet of... cacti.
"Natsu, those are for decoration, not a bouquet..." Lucy massaged her forehead.
"What does it matter! They look cool!" Natsu said righteously.
Gray chose a bouquet of white roses, and Cana took a bouquet of violets.
The four bid farewell to Aunt Jerra and returned to the guild.
The guild was still lively in the evening. Natsu paraded around with his cactus, while Gray kept his distance from him with a look of disgust.
Cana placed the violets in a vase in the guild. Lucy sat by the bar, placed her sunflowers aside, ordered some food, and then bid farewell to everyone, returning to her rented room.
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