Another kid?!
Looking at the dazed, adorable girl before them, an expression of surprise unconsciously appeared on the faces of the allied forces. They could hardly believe that the sole mage sent by Cait Shelter was... this.
Even Minerva—who could wield the Eighteen Demon Gods Lost Magic—had Ur, her guild master, accompanying her!
No matter how they looked at it, this was far too reckless.
"U-um, I'm completely useless in a fight, but I know a lot of support magic."
Wendy noticed the strange looks everyone was giving her. In a pleading tone, she raised her voice, "So, so please don't leave me out!"
The words seemed to have drained all the courage from her body. She lowered her head, her gaze darting away, not daring to look anyone in the eye.
"You're not alone. There's also me."
The soft plap, plap of cat paws on the floor sounded. A white cat—clearly the same species as Happy—walked over slowly.
"And, Wendy! You need to be tougher, or people will push you around!" The white cat crossed her paws over her chest. Her fierce demeanor made it clear she wasn't someone to mess with.
"Charlene? You came too?" A look of surprise and delight spread across the timid Wendy's face.
"Because I couldn't stop worrying about you." Charlene held her forehead with one paw and let out a deep sigh.
It was the most ordinary, natural gesture—yet in an instant, it completely stole the soul of a certain blue cat across the room. Two red hearts appeared in his eyes.
"Hey, Lucy, can you give this fish to her?"
Happy tugged at Lucy's pant leg and pulled a fresh ocean fish from the bundle behind his back.
"Could it be... love at first sight?"
Catching on, Lucy's eyes immediately turned mischievous as she teased him with a smile. "You've got to seize an opportunity like this yourself~"
"Aw, I just can't do it myself, so I'm asking for your help."
Happy kept glacing at Charlene out of the corner of his eye, twisting his body like a tomcat in heat.
Seeing this, Lucy—having often been teased and mocked by Happy—felt a surge of revenge. She leaned down to his ear and, rolling her tongue, whispered, "You're~~in~~~love!"
"Don't imitate me! And you used three times as many trills as I do!!" Happy was completely defeated, finally tasting the bitter fruit of his own actions.
"Tui!" Charlene spat in disgust.
An Exceed who had not only forgotten their mission to come to Earthland to eliminate Dragon Slayers but had also become so chummy with humans here...
What a useless creature!
"Sorry, sorry. We're just a little surprised. We don't think any less of you."
Erza walked over to the cowering Wendy and crouched down, smiling warmly. "Wendy, I look forward to working with you in the coming operation."
"Haha, exactly. Since Cait Shelter sent you, you must be a very capable mage," Ur added.
Wendy gazed up at the two women with admiration, clearly having read news articles about them in magazines.
Charlene, meanwhile, proudly remarked that they were slightly better-natured than she had expected.
"Hello, Wendy. I'm Minerva, a mage from Sabertooth."
Compared to Wendy's reservedness, Minerva—having been raised as a young lady—appeared considerably more mature. She took the initiative and came over to greet her.
Only then did Wendy notice that there was another girl around her age in the room. The tension in her heart immediately dissipated somewhat, and a sweet smile appeared at the corners of her lips.
"Yes! Please take care of me!"
Watching the two little girls' hands tightly clasped together, everyone couldn't help but lamented how wonderful the world of children was.
Even the urgency that had been hanging in the air because of the Oración Seis subjugation seemed to lighten a bit.
Chase stood quietly to the side, watching. In his mind, he was wondering what it would be like to fuse Minerva and Wendy at this age.
Both being ancient Lost Magic users, the combination of Dragon Slayer Magic and the Eighteen Demon Gods Lost Magic would certainly produce many possibilities.
Secondly, their personalities would probably be quite interesting—though thirteen-year-old Minerva was only a year older than Wendy, their vastly different upbringings had resulted in completely opposite personalities and mindsets!
After some thought, Chase withdrew the Polymerization card from his fingertips and abandoned the idea of a "sneak attack."
Regardless, dealing with Oración Seis came first. An exploration like this fusion experiment would be better left until after the incident.
It would also give Minerva and Wendy plenty of time to get to know each other.
"Wendy... that name sounds so familiar. Kuso, where have I heard it before?"
Natsu rested his chin on one hand, staring at Wendy with clear confusion in his eyes.
He felt like he knew this blue-haired girl, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen her.
"Hey, Chase! Help me think—who is she?" Unable to figure it out despite racking his brains, Natsu chose the easiest way out and turned to ask Chase.
"Hey, hey, how is anyone supposed to help you with that?!" Gray said, exasperated, mimicking a Lucy-style rant.
But this time, Natsu had actually asked the right person.
"I'm not sure why, but that child has a similar aura to you," Chase said, vaguely hinting at Wendy's identity as a Dragon Slayer.
Hearing this, the idiot Natsu walked straight up to Wendy, leaned in, and sniffed her intently.
"Not at all! Her smell is nothing like mine!" he declared.
Wendy was rendered completely at a loss by this rude behavior, while a look of vigilance immediately appeared on Charlene's face.
"I see. Identifying someone by their fragrance? Not bad at all, Fire Dragon Natsu!" Ichiya gave Natsu a thumbs-up.
"To have already earned the recognition of Master Ichiya?!" The three hanger-ons exclaimed.
Aroma and aura are completely different things!
How did Ichiya go along with that?!
And your way of addressing him changed way too fast!
Lucy's desire to complain surged. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel somewhat concerned about the upcoming allied operation.
It wasn't that she doubted everyone's strength. It was just that with such a strange group of people gathered together... was this really daijoubu?
"Everyone's here. Mr. Ichiya, please explain the details of the operation."
In the end, it was the bald-headed Jura who spoke up, putting an end to the noisy, chaotic atmosphere and bringing the conversation back to business.
Though this was a joint subjugation of Oración Seis, the fact that the meeting point was Bob's villa showed that Blue Pegasus had gathered more intelligence than the other guilds.
Hearing this, the joking grin on Ichiya's face immediately became serious. He leaped onto a small platform that had appeared from nowhere.
As the garish spotlight shone down, he raised his arm, cleared his throat—but didn't speak immediately.
After a few seconds of silence, having successfully built up everyone's anticipation, he was just about to speak when, with a constipated expression, he suddenly crossed his legs tightly.
"Um, sorry, but I need to use the bathroom. Let my lovely disciples explain the situation to you first~!"
With that, Ichiya jumped off the platform in an utterly flamboyant pose.
As he scurried off toward the bathroom, the guy didn't forget to pull out his special perfume and vigorously spray it all over himself—leaving everyone speechless, their eyes twitching uncontrollably.
***
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