Early morning, at the Fairy Tail Guild hall.
Lucy pushed open the Guild's front door, not to the usual boisterous noise, but to an eerie silence.
"Huh? Why is it so quiet today?" She looked around in confusion, finding all the Guild members standing in a line, their expressions serious.
Master Makarov stood on the bar, holding a wooden sign that read "Spring Cleaning Day," his face so gloomy it could drip water.
"Everyone!" The Master cleared his throat, his voice low, "Given the recent state of the Guild's environment--"
He suddenly pulled back the tablecloth at his feet, revealing a mountain of empty wine bottles, grilled fish bones, Ice Make debris, and... a slipper frozen in a block of ice.
"--I declare today a full-scale spring cleaning!"
The Guild instantly erupted into chaos.
"What?! Spring cleaning?!" Natsu was the first to jump up. "No way!"
"And not everyone is here! Erza and Ikaruga aren't here! Macao and Wakaba aren't here either!"
"Laki, Yukino, Laxus, the Thunder God Tribe, Alzack, and Bisca, none of them are here!" Natsu counted the missing people on his fingers.
"Seconded." Gray lazily raised his hand. "Cleaning damages my image."
Erza punched both their heads: "Shut up and follow orders."
Lucy watched this scene and quietly took a step back: "Um... I suddenly remembered I left my gas on at home..."
"Lucy." Mira stopped her with a smile. "The Master specifically said new members must participate."
Lucy: "..."
The Master divided everyone into four groups:
Natsu's group: Responsible for cleaning windows and ceilings (because Happy could fly with Natsu).
Gray's group: Responsible for mopping and clearing Ice Make residue.
Erza's group: Responsible for organizing the armory and quest board (because "only she wouldn't lose weapons").
Lucy's group: Responsible for the kitchen and bar (because "the only one with common sense").
As soon as the groups were announced, Natsu protested: "Why do I have to clean windows? Gray is clearly better suited!"
Gray sneered: "What? Can't even hold a rag steady?"
Natsu: "You--"
"Enough!" Erza drew her sword. "If you two argue again, you'll be assigned an extra week of toilet cleaning!"
The two instantly fell silent.
Lucy was squatting in the kitchen, scrubbing dishes, when she suddenly heard a loud "boom" from outside.
She rushed out to see Natsu floating in mid-air, holding a burning rag, the window glass in front of him already melted into a sticky liquid.
"Natsu! What are you doing?!" Lucy shrieked.
"Cleaning the window!" Natsu said self-righteously. "But the stains were too stubborn, so I just added a little fire!"
"Is this 'a little'?!" Lucy pointed at the completely warped window frame. "You melted the glass into syrup!"
Happy added, "Aye! Natsu said it cleans better this way!"
Master Makarov's voice drifted down from the second floor: "Natsu... your pay for this month is completely docked."
Natsu: "..."
On the other side, Gray confidently activated his magic: "Ice Make: Super Mop!"
A giant ice mop instantly formed, and Gray swung it with a flourish--
"Crack!"
The floor cracked.
Gray: "..."
Levy, passing by, looked down: "Gray, are you mopping or demolishing the floor?"
Gray retorted: "This is... deep cleaning."
No sooner had he spoken than the mop suddenly shattered, sending ice shards flying everywhere.
Mira smiled and handed him a regular mop: "Gray, just use this. That way, we can at least save one intact floor before Laki gets back."
Gray: "...Tch."
In the armory, Erza was seriously categorizing weapons.
"Longswords go here, battle axes there, magic staves sorted by element..."
Suddenly, she found a pile of strange weapons in the corner—Elfman's weighted gauntlets, Cana's discarded card molds, and even a talking frog (?).
Erza picked up the frog: "Whose is this?"
Frog: "Croak?"
Erza: "..."
She silently put the frog into the "To Be Identified" box.
Lucy thought the kitchen was the safest place until she opened the refrigerator--
"Ahhh! What is this?!"
The refrigerator was crammed with unidentified objects: grilled fish frozen into ice blocks, moldy cheese, and... a whole bunch of unrecognizable things.
"Ugh--" Lucy gagged, pinching her nose as she began to clean.
Cana poked her head in: "Need help?"
"So much!" Lucy was so touched she was almost in tears.
Cana held up a tarot card: "'Fate' says you should handle it yourself."
Lucy: "...You just don't want to work, do you?!"
Cana giggled and ran off with a broom.
Happy was originally responsible for picking up trash, but he quickly found a "shortcut"--
"Aye! Yuumi! Come help!"
Yuumi tilted her head: "Meow?"
Happy pointed at the empty wine bottles on the floor: "Hide all these in Gray's room!"
Yuumi: "Meow!"
So, when Gray returned to his room, he found his bed submerged in wine bottles.
Gray: "...Happy!!!"
In the evening, the Master inspected the Guild's "cleaning results":
The windows had all become abstract art (Natsu's masterpiece).
The floor had more cracks (Gray's "deep cleaning").
The armory had an extra box of "unknown creatures" (Erza's collection).
The kitchen was filled with eerie green smoke and a foul odor.
The Master was silent for a long time, then slowly pulled out a bottle of wine: "...I give up."
Mira comforted him: "At least everyone tried hard..."
"Trying hard to demolish the place?!" The Master sighed, looking up at the sky.
Ultimately, Fairy Tail's great spring cleaning ended with everyone being punished with a week of toilet cleaning.
[A reader previously mentioned they liked more Guild daily life and not too much combat. I'm currently adjusting the ratio. It used to be 2:8, but now I'm thinking of changing it to 5:5. However, I feel that daily life is as hard to write as combat.]
[Combat scenes are mainly difficult to write in terms of battlefield portrayal. For this book's combat scenes, I draw inspiration from various anime with excellent action. And combat scenes, when depicted through text, must be precise; otherwise, readers will find them like a bland, uninspired account. So, I personally find combat descriptions quite challenging, but I enjoy writing combat; I find swift battles very interesting to write.]
[As for the daily life parts, to be honest, I find them even harder to write than fight scenes, because fight scenes don't require too much thought for dialogue. But daily life parts are mostly character dialogue, and if not written well, it can feel like it deviates from the original character's persona. This is also why I wrote very few daily life parts before. Many friends have also suggested writing more daily life, and I can only say I'll do my best.]
[I re-evaluated the plot these past two days, reasonably arranged the protagonist's movements, and will write some daily life plot, because a long combat arc is coming soon. This volume will focus on the Oración Seis's Nirvana arc. I'll try to do double updates recently, but work is indeed quite busy, so I'll try first.]
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