After the commotion, the heavy atmosphere Laxus had brought completely dissipated.
The group gathered around the temporary request board, began picking suitable jobs, and gradually immersed themselves in their long-missed work.
The newly formed "Strongest Team" was no exception. Led by Erza, they set off full of fighting spirit to take down a Magic Cult operating covertly in the Rubinas Underground City.
Soon, the noisy scene quieted down, leaving only the clanging sounds of construction workers laboring outside the fence.
"Hey, Chase, aren't you going to find a request to do?"
Mira brought over a cup of black tea and a cup of juice, placing them in front of Chase and Dark Magician Girl respectively.
"I took a quick look. Didn't see anything I particularly wanted to do." Chase accepted the black tea.
Probably out of safety and stability concerns, Makarov had ordered that all S-Class and above requests be suspended until the new guild hall was completed.
Below S-Class, nothing really appealed to him. Combat jobs would be way too easy. Daily life jobs didn't interest him at all.
As for high-reward but troublesome jobs that require a lot of time—those were even less appealing.
Come on. With assets of several hundred million, does he really need that kind of mosquito meat?
"So there's nothing that lets you go all out in battle~" Mira said, smiling as she revealed the truth.
"Haha. You know me best."
With that, Chase took a sip of the black tea. The rich, mellow flavor spread through his mouth and throughout his body.
"Weird. Is our guild's tea leaves usually this fragrant?" he asked doubtfully.
"This is a collection that the tea supplier gave to the master. Because funds are so sufficient now, he plans to gradually improve everyone's quality of life—including tea, drinks, ingredients, that sort of thing," Mira said quietly.
She looked at Chase, a faint, barely perceptible flicker of anticipation in her eyes.
"I see. So that billion Jewels has given the master quite a lot of confidence." Chase nodded.
At the same time, he lamented in his heart: Sure enough, even in a magical world, social graces are unavoidable. This so-called collectible is absolutely top-tier stuff!
Maybe it was the environment, but he thought it tasted much better than what Jude had served.
Hearing this, the anticipation in Mira's eyes faded. She sat back down in her seat, a little unhappy.
What the—the point should be that I risked getting scolded by the master to secretly give you this tea!
"Hey, hey, Mira-nee! Speaking of requests, when are we going to do another photoshoot for Weekly Sorcerer Magazine?"
Whether she suddenly understood or just stumbled into it by accident, Dark Magician Girl rested her cheeks on her hands and said, "The photos from last time were so good!"
With everything that had happened on Demon Ruins Island, the promotional posters themed around that island had naturally been scrapped and never published.
Bringing this up drew Mira's attention. She sighed regretfully.
"Well, they did contact me. But with the new guild hall construction and everyone's requests to handle, I have a lot of work. I can't find any free time right now."
"Then why don't you let Master do it for you!" Dark Magician Girl immediately thought of her own cheap master.
But soon, she shook her head like a rattle-drum. "No, no. Master is an idiot. He definitely can't do it!"
"Hey, hey, you've been getting pretty full of yourself lately! Want to go back to the deck and find your master?" Chase raised his hand and flicked her on the forehead.
"Ow—"
Dark Magician Girl shrank her neck, clutching her head and not daring to talk back.
"Chase!"
Seeing her cute little sister get hit, Mira frowned, and her expression immediately turned.
Dark Magician Girl seized the opportunity, turned into a pink streak of light, and quickly hid behind Mira, sticking out her tongue and making faces at Chase.
Is that how flight magic is supposed to be used?!
If Lucy were here, she'd definitely complain about that.
Having nothing better to do, after finishing his tea, Chase went to the construction site to carry some bricks and check the quality of the new guild hall's construction.
After all, he was a bona fide civil engineering major—even if that wasn't particularly useful in an unreasonable magical world.
Time quietly passed. Soon, night fell.
Chase said goodbye to Mira, left the construction site, and walked home with Dark Magician Girl.
The two chatted casually about guild matters.
When they were still a short distance from home, Chase's gaze suddenly sharpened. His brow furrowed slightly.
Quiet. It's too quiet around here.
Not the kind of silence typical of late at night. Not far from the river, a fishing boat was passing by, several boatmen sitting on the deck drinking and boasting.
Nor was it the cautious, guarded silence of Magnolia's residents avoiding him. Just moments ago, someone had been cursing from a second-floor window.
Rather—there were no animal or insect sounds at all!
The small noises he could normally catch even when sleeping in his room had eerily vanished!
"Master, something's not right..." Dark Magician Girl had also noticed the abnormality.
Although she was usually careless and rash, even in battle, she was still a genius girl who had immersed herself in magic for many years. Her perception of her surroundings was quite keen.
It was practically instinct for her.
"Seems like we have guests at home," Chase said, his gaze sharpening as a smile tugged at his lips.
From the guild all the way here, this strangeness only appeared around his house. The target was obvious.
He just didn't know which clueless idiot it was.
Phantom Lord remnants? Sabertooth? Old enemies?
Chase pondered as he walked normally toward his home, silently chanting a Trap Card.
Backing down was not an option. Turning tail and running at the first sign of danger wasn't his style.
A simple exchange of glances, and Dark Magician Girl understood Chase's intention. She continued chatting casually as if nothing were wrong.
The moment they arrived at their door and Chase took out his key to open it—the attack hidden in the darkness came instantly!
It was a blade of light, sharp to the extreme. The moment it struck, it felt as if even the air itself was severed. It carried an unstoppable, piercing coldness!
Chase's pupils contracted. Despite being on guard, the opponent's attack was simply too fast. Almost instantaneous.
Whoosh.
As if someone had forcefully hit the pause button, the sharp blade, reflecting a cold gleam, stopped less than a finger's width from Chase's calmly composed face.
The glow of a magic circle illuminated the dark living room. Golden rays of light intertwined, outlining the pattern of a hexagram.
Thanks to this, Chase could clearly see the face of his would-be assassin.
It was a woman wearing an off-shoulder white kimono. Her pink long hair fluttered in the wind stirred up by the sudden attack.
Securely bound by the Hexagram Curse, her cold, icy eyes now held a trace of surprise.
"Oh? The emblem of the assassin guild, Skeleton Guild."
Chase glanced at the pattern on the bottom of the woman's kimono and smiled. "So... who put a bounty on my head?"
***
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