Under a tree, the Three Crows were tied tightly together, unable to move.
Vidaldus's eyes were rolled back in his head. He had already passed out from the impact of Aquarius's indiscriminate flood.
On this point, Lucy who had experience with drowning had significantly higher water resistance. She only suffered minor injuries on her rear, and those were from Aquarius's whip.
Owl's head hung limply. It was unclear whether he was alive or dead.
Only Ikaruga, her clothes tattered, remained conscious. Her eyes were filled with frustration and venom.
"Go on, then. Who sent you to assassinate Chase?"
Demon Mira lifted Ikaruga's chin. Her faint smile carried a dangerous edge.
Since this was an interrogation, she had activated her Satan Soul form.
"This one miscalculated and failed the mission. Spare me the pointless talk. Kill me or cut me up do whatever you want." Ikaruga's voice was cold.
Assassin guilds had their own rules. From the moment she entered this line of work, she had already prepared herself for death.
Not bad. She has principles. No wonder Jellal trusted her to send them after Chase.
"Oh ho. Pretty tough mouth."
Demon Mira chuckled and began flexing her demonic hand.
While she was "interrogating" Ikaruga, not far away, Chase pulled a bottle of strangely colored drink from his cards and handed it to the panting Erza.
"Here. This is Energy Potion · Super Z. It won't heal injuries, but it can replenish depleted magic power."
"Thanks." Erza didn't stand on ceremony. She took the potion and drank it down.
After Aquarius's flood, realizing her comrades were right beside her had made Erza fearless. She no longer relied on her armor. She brought out her Purity Robe and defeated Ikaruga with a single slash achieving a double transcendence over both her enemy and herself!
"Lucy, you used up a lot of magic power too, didn't you?"
Drinking halfway, Erza suddenly stopped and held the demon-shaped bottle out to Lucy.
Looking at the brightly colored liquid, Lucy stepped back half a pace and waved her hands repeatedly. "Ah? I-I don't need it. My magic power hasn't shown signs of being depleted yet."
Erza didn't respond. She kept holding the bottle out, staring at Lucy with a serious expression.
The taste of this stuff is definitely indescribable. Even Erza couldn't finish it!
Lucy was certain of this in her heart. But she simply couldn't withstand Erza's aura. After lasting only two and a half seconds, she gave in and nervously took the Energy Potion.
"It... it's actually good!"
Taking a small sip while pinching her nose, her eyes immediately lit up.
The cool, refreshing liquid went down her throat. Her whole body relaxed. Her fatigue and tiredness noticeably faded.
"When Chase makes something, it's always top quality." Erza finally broke into a smile and gave a thumbs-up.
"Mm! Thank you, Erza!" Lucy nodded firmly and downed the remaining liquid in one go.
"Shouldn't you be thanking me instead..." Chase muttered quietly.
Erza ignored him. She looked at Ikaruga, who was still tight-lipped under Demon Mira's "torture." "So, what are we going to do with these three?"
"I'll seal them in cards and take them back. I have my ways." Chase pulled out some blank cards and grinned.
Seeing his sinister expression, a flicker of fear appeared in Ikaruga's determined eyes.
Having operated in the dark world for years, she had witnessed countless horrifying scenes. Her mind involuntarily conjured up an image:
Dark, damp prison cell. Herself, chained hand and foot, unable to move. A perverted man approaching step by step...
"J-Just bring it on! No matter what torture you use, this one will never give in!"
Ikaruga shouted loudly, trying to cover up the panic in her heart.
"Uh... I think she's imagining something really terrible..." Lucy held her forehead in exasperation.
Do these assassins all have such dirty minds?
Chase isn't that kind of person at all!
"Well then, I'll leave the interrogation to Chase~" Mira, having relieved her Take Over, said with a beaming smile.
Like Lucy, she had complete trust in a certain stinking card addict.
"If Mira says so, I have no objections either." Erza spread her hands.
From an interrogation standpoint, Chase, with his various strange cards, was indeed far more professional than them.
And so, ignoring Ikaruga's increasingly strange expression, Chase sealed the trio into cards and led Lucy and the others back to Magnolia.
After sending off the guild members gathered at the ruined street, he looked at his house — now reduced to rubble — and fell into deep thought.
Capturing the Three Crows early was certainly a good thing. But the cozy little home that had been destroyed was gone forever.
And the compensation for the damaged streets, houses, and public facilities he would obviously have to pay for that too...
These weren't really problems. He had plenty of savings. And turning the wanted Three Crows over to the Magic Council would bring a decent reward.
The real question was: where was he going to sleep tonight?
"Chase, why don't you stay at my place tonight?"
A soft voice —gentle, with a barely noticeable trace of shyness — came from behind him.
"Mira? You haven't gone home yet?"
Chase turned around. Mira in her wine-red dress immediately came into view. The bright moonlight obscured the faint blush on the white-haired girl's face.
"Mm. The town's inns are definitely closed this late. And after something like this suddenly happened, I feel safer if we stay together."
"No worries. If it comes to it, I can just stay in the card space—"
"Then it's happily decided! Let's go!"
Mira frowned and cut him off. She took Chase's hand and started walking toward her house, giving the stinking card addict no chance to refuse.
Through the intimate contact of their hands, Chase vaguely sensed something from Mira's expression.
He thought for a moment. In the end, he didn't say anything.
The walk was silent.
Because she needed to take care of her younger siblings, Mira didn't live in the girls' dormitory like Erza and Levy. Instead, she had settled in a modest two-story house on the outskirts of Magnolia, near the countryside.
The moment they pushed open the door, a surging wave of masculine hormones hit them — Elfman, who had come home earlier, was lifting iron in the living room.
"I'm home," Mira said with a smile.
"A real man! Welcome back, Mira— WHAAAT? Chase?!"
Seeing Chase walk in with Mira, Elfman was so startled he almost dropped the dumbbell in his hand.
Elfman panicked. His muscle-bound brain raced. Just as he was about to say something, Mira came up to him, raised her hand in a knife-hand strike, and softly said, "Good night."
THUD.
Elfman, physically hypnotized, collapsed on the spot into Mira's arms.
"At least let me say hello before you do that..."
Despite his words, Chase helped Mira lay Elfman down on the nearby couch.
"Oh? You're not surprised, Chase?" Mira sat down across from him.
"Bringing me home it's not just to put me up for the night, is it?"
Chase wasn't fussy. He talked while bending down to search for tea leaves under the coffee table.
"I'm just curious. What method will Chase use to make the Three Crows confess?"
Mira saw right through him. After handing him the box where the tea leaves were stored, she emphasized, "I-It's not that I'm worried about you being alone with that woman or anything!"
"Don't worry. Her sword broke during the fight with Erza. She can't threaten me."
Chase took the tea leaves, poured magic power into the Magic Kettle on the coffee table, and started boiling water.
Mira: "..."
The atmosphere suddenly fell into an awkward silence. Only the bubbling sound of the boiling kettle remained.
***
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