The recovered Natsu was lying draped over the bar counter, messily devouring his special flame meal.
Munch. Crunch. Buuuurp.
Suddenly, Natsu's nostrils twitched slightly.
He stopped chewing.
He raised his head to look at the guild entrance, narrowing his eyes.
"There's an unfamiliar smell," Natsu frowned.
Ankh, who was standing nearby, followed his gaze to the entrance.
A cute furry little face was peeking out from a low corner near the doorframe, watching them intensely.
"It's a cat!" Natsu exclaimed in surprise, pointing a chicken bone.
The adorable white cat was startled by the shout and quickly pulled its head back.
But Wendy, whose attention was drawn by Natsu's noise, turned around.
She recognized the cat's unique fur pattern and hurried over.
"Carla?!"
Seeing that her identity was discovered, Carla decided not to hide anymore.
She sighed, straightened her whiskers, and slowly walked in from outside the door with dignity.
Carla was dressed in a petite red and yellow dress.
Her cat eyes carried a clever, sharp charm compared to Happy's simple, goofy cuteness.
Her long white tail was tied with a pink ribbon, and she currently stood on two legs with her paws tucked, looking at Wendy with clear dissatisfaction.
"Carla! What are you doing here?"
Wendy quickly ran over and picked her up, hugging her tightly.
Carla maintained her proud posture with tucked paws even while being squeezed. She scolded:
"It's all your fault, child! The Guild Master specifically told you not to travel so far, yet you still ran off!"
"And you didn't even tell me! I was worried sick!"
Wendy hugged Carla apologetically, burying her face in the soft fur.
She whispered: "I'm sorry, Carla... But this time I really found Grandeeney! Thanks to Ankh-san and the others!"
"It's a cat!!"
"Ah! And it can talk just like Happy!"
Only then did the other guild members erupt in delayed excitement, crowding around.
"Another cat?"
Nearby, Happy—who had been eating a fish—spotted the white cat Carla.
Boing!
His simple eyes immediately transformed into two large, throbbing hearts!
"So... so beautiful!" Happy drooled.
Fortunately, Lucy—who loved bickering with Happy—wasn't present at that exact moment.
Otherwise, seeing Happy like this, she would definitely have clicked her tongue and teased him mercilessly about his "springtime of youth."
Carla felt somewhat uncomfortable amidst the guild members' enthusiastic welcome.
Turning her head, she noticed the heart-eyed blue cat staring at her.
"Hmph."
She immediately raised her little face proudly, turning away.
Crack.
Happy, with heart-shaped eyes, instantly turned to stone on the spot, rejected before he even said hello.
Natsu covered his mouth, laughing, "Happy! Looks like you're being disliked! She hates you!"
"Natsu is so mean..." Happy crumbled into dust.
Ankh walked up to Wendy and smiled at the white cat in her arms:
"Hello Carla, I'm Ankh. I was the one who invited Wendy to visit, please don't mind the noise."
Carla looked Ankh up and down with critical eyes.
"You seem decent enough," she judged, her mouth still unable to offer kind words. "But you'd better not have bullied Wendy! If you did..." She raised a tiny paw threateningly.
"Carla! Don't be so rude!" Wendy immediately nervously stopped Carla, her voice trembling slightly.
"Ankh-san is very kind!"
As cats who grew up together since childhood, their relationship was excellent, with complementary personalities—both feeling they were the one taking care of the other.
Though both were just little girls at heart.
As someone who could be friends with the super-tsundere Laxus, Ankh naturally didn't mind a little cat's willfulness.
He then proceeded to give the new guest Carla and Wendy a tour of the guild's layout.
Meanwhile, another pair of eyes watched everything silently from the guild's second-floor railing.
Gajeel coldly observed Carla in Wendy's arms.
He also watched Natsu laughing with Happy.
His muscles tensed slightly as a random, horrifying thoughts flooded his mind!
Fire Dragon (Natsu) = Dragon Slayer Mage = Has cat (Happy)
Air-eating kid (Wendy) = Dragon Slayer Mage = Has cat (Carla)
Himself (Gajeel) = Dragon Slayer Mage... ≠ Has 0 cat.
...
Cold sweat poured down Gajeel's forehead.
'This isn't right!'
'Why?'
They're all Dragon Slayer Mages, yet he didn't even have a cat!
Despite his seemingly mature psychological age, Gajeel still had his childish little stubbornness.
These days, Wendy—also a Dragon Slayer Mage—hadn't rejected him like ordinary people would due to his fierce appearance.
Plus Gajeel knew that his playful fights with Natsu had actually helped him integrate faster into the guild.
During his early days joining, Natsu was one of the few people he could chat with in the guild without being judged.
So in Gajeel's heart, this small circle of Dragon Slayer Mages felt somewhat like his social circle.
And now within this small circle... an outlier without a cat had appeared!
And it was himself.
This instinctively felt wrong and Gajeel panicked.
Having something that friends possessed while he didn't—this primitive jealousy began making him restless.
It was quite a childish thought, but not strange at all when it came to a Dragon Slayer who just wanted to fit in.
While Gajeel was trembling all over in existential crisis, the guild member closest to him besides Natsu came over.
"Gajeel?"
Levy looked curiously at Gajeel's green-tinged face.
She asked, "What's wrong with you, Gajeel? Are you sick?"
Gajeel suddenly turned around.
Bam!
He grabbed Levy's shoulders, shouting at her intensely, "Where did Salamander and that kid's cat come from! Do you know?! Tell me, shorty!"
The petite Levy, whose figure fell somewhere between a loli and a young girl, immediately flushed bright red.
The pressure from this position felt no less intense than being pinned against a wall in a kabedon romance scene.
"I... I... don't know about Wendy's," Levy stammered, her heart racing. "But Happy was... picked up by Natsu! From an egg!"
Levy's eyes never dared to look up at his face.
Gajeel's eyes instantly lit up.
"Picked up?!"
He immediately released Levy, darting toward the exit like a rocket.
"Thanks, shorty!"
If Salamander could pick up a cat, then surely he could find one by actively looking for himself!
'I'm getting a cat! A better cat and stronger cat!'
"Wait a..."
Levy watched as Gajeel rushed out of the guild in a flurry, leaving a dust cloud.
She was unable to help but pout, adjusting her headband.
"Sigh... Where did Gajeel run off to?"
Cana and Lucy walked up to the second floor together and approached Levy.
Cana, holding a barrel of alcohol, asked in confusion.
Lucy, noticing Levy's face as red as a monkey's bottom, teased:
"Levy-chan seems to get along really well with Gajeel. Was that a lovers' quarrel?"
"What are you talking about... He probably went to look for a cat..." Levy covered her small face in a futile attempt to hide her embarrassment.
She quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, Lucy-chan, didn't you go to meet the soulmate Cana divined for you yesterday? How did it go?"
Before Lucy could speak, Cana chimed in with a laugh, slapping the table. "Lucy chickened out! She was supposed to have dinner with him at the bookstore, but she ended up making me go in her place!"
Lucy let out a dejected sigh.
She slumped. "He just wasn't my type... Although he was very polite and loved reading, I just didn't feel that spark..."
"Besides! Cana, you ended up having a pretty good conversation with that guy, didn't you?!" Lucy pointed an accusing finger.
Cana chuckled, happily hugging her alcohol barrel. "Just killing time. My true partner will always be alcohol! Hic!"
...
While the girls upstairs chatted about gossip, downstairs, Ankh looked around for a moment.
He asked in confusion, "Speaking of which, where's the Master? Jason wanted to interview him again."
Mirajane replied from the bar, "He went to attend a Regular Meeting of the Local Guild Masters. Since it was announced suddenly by the Council, he didn't have time to tell you."
Ankh suddenly understood.
'Huh?'
Ankh abruptly turned to look at the guild entrance.
A sneaky figure was lurking there.
A middle-aged man in a shabby suit was secretly peeking at Lucy on the second floor, looking hesitant.
Ankh recognized him instantly.
He had just finished discussing him with Frey.
'Jude Heartfilia.'
'Sighh... so many guests today...'
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