After checking into an inn, everyone split into pairs once again and scattered throughout the city to gather information.
Mira and Ultear wandered through the streets together, chatting casually as they looked around as though they were simply out shopping.
'Those two... They're the female Mages from Fairy Tail. I can't believe they actually found their way here...'
Sai, the Gold Owl member Mira had encountered in the Dogramag Labyrinth, was hidden among the crowd, watching the two women from a distance.
...
Lucy planted her hands on her hips and sighed helplessly.
"Seriously, how did Natsu manage to get lost?"
Happy raised one paw.
"Maybe we're the ones who got lost, Lucy."
Lucy clenched her fist and briefly considered punching him, but eventually restrained herself.
"Whatever. Let's just gather information for now. Natsu isn't exactly suited for this kind of thing anyway."
"What kind of information are you looking for?"
A tiny old woman suddenly appeared in front of Lucy and Happy.
She wore a hooded coat and carried an oil lamp, while her withered body barely reached Lucy's waist.
Everything about her face looked unsettling.
Her lips seemed almost as though they had been stitched together, and whenever she smiled, the result was somehow even creepier.
Happy immediately grabbed Lucy and tried to pull her away.
"Let's go, Lucy! She looks way too suspicious!"
"I'm an information broker in this city. Is there something you wish to ask?"
"Um..."
Lucy hesitated for quite a while before finally speaking.
"Do you know the alchemist guild Gold Owl?"
The old woman nodded as though the answer were obvious.
"Of course. They are the greatest alchemist guild on the continent of Guiltina."
"Then... is there someone named Athena in that guild?"
"..."
The old woman fell into a long silence.
Then her mouth stretched into a grin, revealing the few teeth she still had left.
The sight was thoroughly unnerving.
"My, my... You certainly are an interesting customer."
...
"Happy! Lucy!"
Natsu wandered through the streets while shouting their names.
"Seriously, how did those two manage to get lost?"
He sniffed the air several times before frowning.
"This town has a weird smell. I can't pick up Lucy or Happy at all..."
"Eh, whatever."
Natsu decided to keep walking and figure things out as he went.
Two suspicious men wearing headscarves and carrying mining pickaxes had been following him from behind for quite some time.
Several others were moving nearby as well.
Natsu had noticed them ages ago.
He simply had not bothered calling them out.
The two men suddenly leaped into the air and attacked him from behind.
Flames wrapped around Natsu's right fist as he swung backward.
There were several people surrounding him altogether, but Natsu knocked them all down within moments.
"Who are you guys?"
He looked down at the burly men sprawled across the street.
A towering, heavily bearded man appeared in front of him, carrying an enormous shovel over one shoulder. One of his arms was thicker than Natsu's waist.
"I'm Iwasta of the coal miners' guild, Frenzied Rock. You're from Fairy Tail, aren't you?"
Natsu frowned.
"Huh?"
Iwasta looked him up and down disdainfully.
"You Mage guild types are all built like twigs. One good sneeze and you'd probably get blown away."
"Twigs...?"
Images immediately flashed through Natsu's mind.
Laxus.
Elfman.
Orga.
Tyrant of the Rune Knights, each of them striking ridiculous bodybuilding poses.
And then there was Droy, who had practically become a ball while gnawing on a chicken leg.
Natsu decided not to argue.
"More importantly, how do you guys know what guild we're from?"
Iwasta suddenly raised his enormous shovel over his head and shouted,
"A COAL MINER'S CODE MUST BE DEFENDED BY HIS OWN HANDS!"
"YEAH!!!"
His followers pumped their fists into the air.
Iwasta shook his head from side to side like a rattle.
"Rule Number One! Never neglect safety—above, below, left, or right!"
His men shook their heads in exactly the same way.
"Your life is yours to protect!"
"Rule Number Two! Never forget to inspect your tools!"
"Tools are a worker's greatest partner!"
"Rule Number Three! Dig, dig, and keep on digging! If we aren't digging, then we have no value!"
By this point, Iwasta and all his men were glaring at Natsu.
"Rule Number Four!"
"REMOVE EVERYTHING THAT GETS IN THE WAY!"
Iwasta swung his enormous shovel down at Natsu with all his strength.
Unfortunately, he was far too slow.
Natsu casually stepped aside and avoided the attack.
He tilted his head and pointed at himself in confusion.
"Did I do something?"
Iwasta suddenly began digging at the ground.
As he worked, he shouted,
"It's heating up! Heating up! Behold this Heat Shovel forged through alchemy!!!"
Natsu stood there with a deep frown, forced to watch the entire performance.
"Lucy's always telling me I don't read the room and end up making people angry without realizing it."
"But apparently there are people even worse at reading the room than me!"
"Damn it, Lucy isn't here to see this!"
"And besides, if somebody comes looking for a fight, I can't just turn them down!"
"IT'S HOT ENOUGH NOW!!!"
Natsu's expression darkened.
"Hey."
"Shouldn't I be the one saying I'm all fired up?"
"Die, you damn brat!"
Iwasta swung the shovel directly toward Natsu's head.
One of his followers hastily reached out from behind him.
"Wait, aren't we supposed to bring him back alive? Killing him would be bad!"
This time, Natsu did not dodge.
He simply stood there and allowed the sharpened edge of the shovel to come crashing toward his head.
The instant the metal touched the intense heat radiating from his body—
it began to melt.
"?"
"???"
Iwasta and his men stared at Natsu, sweat pouring down their faces.
Some of it was because of the heat. Natsu's body temperature had already made the surrounding air unbearably hot.
The rest was cold sweat born from fear.
"Huh? Ah... I think I'm gonna sneeze."
"Achoo!"
Natsu genuinely sneezed.
Flames exploded outward from his body.
BOOOOM!!!
Raizel stared at the distant explosion.
Then he looked down at Wendy beside him.
"Fire. Think that was Natsu?"
He immediately started toward it.
"Come on. Let's take a look."
At the center of the explosion, Iwasta and his followers lay completely charred.
Their weapons and most of their clothing had already been burned to nothing.
...
"Hm? What was that?"
A man elsewhere in the city glanced toward the distant explosion before shaking his head.
"Whatever. I don't have time for that."
He had disguised himself as someone offering to take photographs for tourists and approached Erza and Kagura, planning to trap them under the pretense of taking a picture.
Unfortunately, Kagura's vigilance was far too high.
No matter what he said, she refused to pose.
Eventually, she even drew her sword.
The blade stopped barely a centimeter from the lens of his camera.
Kagura narrowed her eyes.
"If you come any closer, this sword won't stop next time."
...
"Someone's following us."
Ultear quietly spoke while pretending to browse a display of jewelry.
Sai, meanwhile, remained convinced that he had gone unnoticed.
Mira picked up a piece of jewelry with a smile and held it against herself as though trying it on.
"I know. And I recognize him."
"He's Sai from Gold Owl. I met him in the Dogramag Labyrinth."
Ultear placed the jewelry she had been examining back on the display.
"Then let's try capturing him. I have Magic-Sealing Handcuffs with me, and I also brought one of Cana's sealing cards."
Mira smiled and nodded.
"Sounds good. Let's lead him somewhere less crowded first."
The two women continued acting exactly like ordinary shoppers.
Mira even purchased the accessory she had been looking at.
"I'll take this one. Could you wrap it for me, please?"
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