The next day.
"Hahaha! The air outside is definitely fresher! Freedom feels amazing!"
Inside the Fairy Tail guild, Natsu was as happy as a child, on fire and running around everywhere.
Wherever he passed, sparks flew, instantly drawing the ire of countless members, who loudly cursed him.
"Locked up for one night, you'd think he'd be a bit quieter. Ha! A fire fly is still a fire fly."
Gray, legs crossed, mocked him with disgust.
"Damn droopy eyes, you unwrapped popsicle! Who are you calling a fire fly?!"
Hearing that, Natsu was instantly charged over, pressing his forehead against Gray's face.
"In this guild, the only one who runs around yelling and breathing fire like a fly is you, damn."
Gray wasn't intimidated. He tossed his held clothes into the air and directly clashed with Natsu.
Their scuffle spread like wildfire.
Soon, most of the guild had descended into their beloved chaos.
In a far away corner, Lucy lay on a table, silently glacing at Natsu, who was now in an all-out brawl.
"So it really was just a formality... I worried for nothing all night..."
"Those Council bastards only care about their own reputations."
Chase sat across from her, raised his beer, took a gulp, and laughed. "Speaking of which, the accommodations were pretty nice. If you're interested, I can take you there sometime."
"Where?" Lucy asked tentatively.
"The prison cell."
"...Who would be interested in a place like that!!"
Lucy's voice instantly shot up several octaves.
"But I'm really glad you and Erza made it back safely."
A faint fragrance of burgundy dress wafted over. Mira, a sweet smile at the corners of her mouth, gently placed the beer and snacks she was carrying onto the table.
Lucy looked up and noticed Mira's hair was a mess, her clothes covered in torn fabric scraps from who knows who.
She pointed at the brawling crowd and remarked, "Mira-nee, navigating through that monster brawl must have been tough, right?"
"It's fine. I've gotten used to it over the years. I actually quite like this job." Mira smiled.
Seeing nothing urgent, she set down her tray and sat across from Lucy.
This strength and bravery almost moved Lucy to tears.
But the feeling came and went quickly.
She recalled Mira-nee's demon form that had intimidated Chase and Laxus.
Was it really just out of genuine love for the job?
As Lucy mused, Chase had already pulled out a Magic Card and handed Mira a miniaturized Lightforce Sword.
"Here, fix your hair."
As he spoke, he casually cleaned the fabric scraps from Mira's clothes.
Mira didn't refuse, nor did she thank him. She simply smiled, silently took the mini light sword, and began combing her hair.
Witnessing this, Lucy thought: Chase, your card magic can be used for THIS?!
The guild rookie felt distinctly redundant sitting here.
"Chase, they seem to be having fun. Aren't you going to join?"
Mira, her hair now tidy, rested her cheek on her hand and glanced sideways at Elfman, who was raising his arm and shouting "Manly!" before being sent flying by Wakaba's pipe.
"Not interested. Still digesting yesterday's fight with Erza."
Chase pulled out another mini light sword, then speared a piece of grilled meat and popped it into his mouth.
Lucy's mouth twitched: Digesting a fight? Bro Chase, you're not a Combat Dragon Slayer, are you?!
Was there even a dragon whose power was based on combat and destruction?
A Destruction Dragon?
Pondering Chase's words, Lucy suddenly had a thought and looked puzzled. "Speaking of which, shouldn't Erza be stopping them by now?"
"Erza might not have time right now. She just ordered a strawberry cake." Mira explained.
So the setting was that dessert trumps discipline?
Lucy quickly scanned the room and soon found Erza sitting alone near the noisy crowd.
Erza, knife and fork in hand, eyes sparkling, was eagerly staring at the cake slice on her table.
The next second, someone's flip-flop flew out, tracing a beautiful parabola through the air.
SPLAT.
The flip-flop hit the strawberry cake with precision, splattering cream all over Erza's face.
"Ah!" Lucy was stunned, petrified in place with an exaggerated expression.
"Oh dear. She has time now." Mira covered her mouth, laughing gleefully.
"Hahaha! Natsu and the others are screwed." Chase's schadenfreude was even less concealed.
Terrifying killing intent erupted from Erza as she slowly rose, bringing an bone-chilling chill that enveloped the entire guild.
The brawlers immediately sensed something wrong and froze.
In an instant, the whole guild fell dead silent.
What followed, naturally, were screams of agony.
"These kids really can't stay quiet, can they..."
Makarov sat at the bar, watching Erza systematically discipline the troublemakers, and yawned unconsciously.
"Strange... why am I suddenly sleepy?"
Over at their table, Lucy and Mira were also inexplicitly affected. Their eyes drooped weakly as they yawned in succession.
An endless drowsiness struck, spreading through their bodies instantly.
"This feeling... it can only be him... he's... here..."
Mira's voice grew weaker until she finally gave in, collapsing onto the table alongside Lucy.
The same happened to everyone else in the guild. One by one, they fell.
In the end, even Erza, clinging to a table corner, swayed and gradually succumbed to sleep.
In the blink of an eye, only Makarov and Chase remained barely conscious.
Clack. Clack.
The steady, slow sound of footsteps on the floor approached from the entrance.
Fully wrapped, Mystogan walked forward, weaving through the strewn bodies, turned a corner, walked to the request board, and casually tore off a request.
Here's the thing:
After watching Chase and Erza's fight yesterday, although he knew the Council probably wouldn't punish them too harshly, he had stayed in Magnolia out of worry.
His purpose now was mainly to confirm their safety.
The request was just an afterthought; otherwise, he would have headed upstairs.
"Master, I'm leaving."
Without any hesitation, Mystogan showed the request to Makarov, then turned to leave.
"Hey, Mystogan."
Chase shook his dizzy head and called out.
"Chase, you're here too. Something on your mind?"
Mystogan stopped, folding the request and putting it away.
He wasn't particularly surprised that Chase could resist his sleep magic.
It had happened a year ago, though back then Chase could barely keep his eyes open, unlike now.
"I heard some information while on Guiltina. I wanted to confirm it with you."
Chase rubbed his temples, his tone serious. "Do you know about Anima?"
At these words, Mystogan's usually calm pupils abruptly contracted, his expression drastically changing!
***
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