In the bustling main hall of Fairy Tail, Lucy stood before the request board with a troubled expression, carefully selecting a mission.
Just then, Natsu swaggered over with his trademark wide grin, hands clasped behind his head as he said cheerfully.
"Lucy—hurry up and pick a mission already!"
Lucy pouted and snorted: "What's it to you... Why do you care which mission I choose?"
Happy popped his head out and explained innocently.
"Because we're a team and i was the one picked the mission last time, so it's Lucy's turn this time!"
This only made Lucy angrier. She put her hands on her hips and frowned.
"We are not a team at all!"
"For you guys, any blonde woman would do, right?!"
Lucy's tone was quite harsh, but she couldn't really be blamed.
Previously, Natsu and Happy had taken on an easy mission - they just needed to retrieve a book from a place called the Everlue Mansion and burn it, and they would receive substantial compensation.
However, after entering the mansion and obtaining the book, Lucy and the others accidentally discovered the book's secret, which led to the original owner deciding not to destroy it as requested.
Thus, the stubborn Natsu didn't accept the payment, and aside from obtaining the Virgo key from Everlue, Lucy didn't earn a single penny.
Another month's rent payment had gone down the drain...
But this wasn't what upset Lucy the most.
What truly angered Lucy was that she initially thought Natsu wanted to team up with her because he valued her abilities...
Little did she know it was only because Everlue was a blonde maid enthusiast, and the two schemers Natsu and Happy just wanted to use Lucy's blonde hair to sneak in!
And to make matters worse, she ended up being looked down upon by Everlue, failing even at using her looks as a bait...
This series of blows nearly brought the sensitive Lucy to tears.
Hearing Lucy's irritated voice, Natsu laughed carefreely and explained.
"That's not the only reason I chose you..."
"It's because you're such a nice person!"
'Ding—nice person card acquired...'
Seeing Natsu's sincere smile, Lucy hesitated to speak further and stopped complaining.
Nearby, Gray who was drinking with Cana overheard them and mischievously joined the conversation.
"Don't worry Lucy, you don't have to force yourself to team up with them. Plenty of people would be eager to work with you."
The coolly drinking Cana suddenly spoke up: "Gray, your clothes."
Gray immediately jumped up from his stool, shocked: "Dammit! When did that happen?!"
"So annoying!"
With his sharp hearing, Gray easily caught Natsu's comment about him.
In an instant, another red-and-blue confrontation erupted between the two.
"Was it you who called me annoying just now, you stinky flame?"
"You're seriously annoying, you boring pervert!"
"You bird's nest head!"
"You fluffy-haired weirdo!"
Happy's feline face was half-hidden in the shadows as he murmured, "They're at it again," against the backdrop of the two confronting each other.
Meanwhile, Lucy found herself pestered by Loke once more.
However, it didn't take long for this previously elegant show-off to flee in terror upon learning Lucy was a Celestial Spirit Mage!
Lucy watched in bewilderment as Loke scrambled away, muttering incoherently.
"Strange, what's he so afraid of?"
Mirajane emerged from behind the counter, smiling as she explained.
"It seems Loke had some unpleasant history with a Celestial Spirit Mage girl before, which is why he acts like this."
Wiping sweat from her forehead, Lucy muttered, "He really is that kind of person..."
When Lucy turned back, the two were still bickering like elementary school kids.
After catching their exchange, she couldn't suppress her inner critic.
"Ugh... their insults are so childish."
"They've always been like this," Happy suddenly chimed in again.
Just as the guild was enjoying the lively spectacle of Natsu and Gray's argument, the recently repaired guild doors were violently kicked open once more!
Everyone turned to see Loke—who had fled earlier—returning for some unknown reason.
His face pale with panic, he shouted the moment he burst through the doors:
"Something terrible has happened!!"
"Erza... is back!"
As Loke uttered these words with grave seriousness, the expressions of everyone in the guild visibly transformed!
Fear, panic, unease, and anxiety.
The atmosphere felt akin to the terror of getting lost in a morgue at midnight, only to discover the corpses were reanimating.
Had Ankh cast a Terror spell at that moment, the entire crowd would have been done for.
Among everyone present, only Mirajane—also an S-Class female Mage—and the newcomer Lucy showed no signs of fear.
Lucy looked curious. "Erza... is that the one Natsu mentioned earlier..."
Mirajane stood nonchalantly behind the counter, polishing a glass as she smiled.
"Basically, Erza is currently the strongest female Mage in Fairy Tail."
Cana, whose face had turned pale with fright, couldn't help glancing back at Mirajane upon hearing this.
'That's putting it mildly...'
'When either of you two lose your temper, neither is someone to trifle with...'
The crowd's panic couldn't stop the large, backlit shadow gradually approaching through the wide-open guild entrance.
Steady, heavy footsteps echoed, hammering against everyone's consciousness like a mallet.
Sensing the tense atmosphere around her, Lucy recalled the descriptions Natsu, Gray, and Happy had previously given about Erza...
"A beast? A monster? More like a demon..."
"If it's Erza, she could probably kick three mountains flying with a single light kick..."
"Three mountains is exaggerating. Maybe two..."
The Erza described by the duo and the cat sounded like a demonic giant.
Staring at the approaching figure, Lucy couldn't help but exclaim.
"How terrifying!"
Even the guild's veteran members nodded in unanimous agreement with Lucy's remark.
She was manageable as a child, but the stronger Erza grew, the more formidable she became.
She was a serious queen who couldn't tolerate the slightest flaw, and no one in the entire guild could escape Erza's criticism and guidance.
Of course, as usual... there was one exception.
When Erza, clad in armor and a blue miniskirt, entered the guild, she squared her shoulders and unloaded the item she had been carrying.
It was a massive monster tooth, its height... roughly equivalent to over two hundred Happys stacked together.
Only after Erza set down the enormous monster tooth did Lucy emerge from its vast shadow to see her true appearance.
'Unexpectedly... she was stunningly beautiful!'
The turmoil in Lucy's heart instantly settled the moment she saw Erza's face.
'How could such a lovely young woman possibly be the giant monster Natsu and Gray had described?'
'Surely, Erza must have offended them somehow, and Natsu had deliberately spread lies!'
Yet, Lucy had underestimated Erza's intimidating presence within the guild.
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