"Marco? Are you going too?"
Mirajane looked at him.
She had not originally planned to go, but when she saw Marco move as if he intended to follow the others, she asked curiously.
"Yeah. I'm going to keep an eye on them."
Marco nodded and voiced his concern.
"Oh, I thought you wanted to go look at all the beauties in swimsuits."
Mirajane covered her mouth, her eyes curving into a smile as she spoke.
Although there was laughter in her tone, Marco sensed danger behind it.
"How could that be? Right now, all I want is for those bastards not to completely destroy Ryuzetsu Land. Otherwise, I really won't know how to explain it to Hisui or King Toma. This is one of Crocus's most famous attractions."
Marco's expression was serious. There was not the slightest hint of joking in it.
Seeing that, Mirajane lowered her hand and stopped teasing him.
"Isn't that a little exaggerated? Everyone knows how to behave."
Erza looked doubtful. She felt Marco was exaggerating far too much.
Everyone was simply going there out of curiosity to have fun. And since it was a resort, a place meant for leisure, there would be no need to fight.
How could they possibly destroy it?
"It's not certain there won't be a fight. And even if there aren't any enemies, those guys might start fighting among themselves and drag other people into it. It isn't as if that's only happened once or twice."
Marco shook his head and rejected Erza's view.
Fairy Tail did not need enemies in order to cause destruction.
That was not a necessary condition. This group could go mad over anything and ignite themselves over the smallest spark.
Most importantly, it was not guaranteed that there would be no enemies.
Marco had carefully checked the list of participating guilds, and among them, the name Raven Tail had appeared.
For a moment, that had made Marco suspect that something was wrong with his eyes, because he remembered Raven Tail clearly being an unregistered Dark Guild.
Only after asking around did he learn that Raven Tail had actually managed to secretly become an official guild.
That had happened not long after Fairy Tail defeated the Oración Seis.
Clearly, Raven Tail, which claimed to stand on the same level as the three great guilds of the Balam Alliance, had felt tremendous pressure from Fairy Tail's defeat of the Oración Seis.
Raven Tail claimed to be a guild created specifically to oppose Fairy Tail, a guild meant to target Fairy Tail in every way.
Yet under the overwhelming pressure of Fairy Tail at the height of its power, they had secretly chosen to legitimize themselves.
Ivan Dreyar had truly become afraid.
He was afraid Marco would wipe them out.
In truth, Fairy Tail defeating the Oración Seis was not the only reason Raven Tail had gone official.
Laxus being expelled from the guild had also been one of the triggers.
In Ivan Dreyar's eyes, Laxus being kicked out of Fairy Tail undoubtedly meant that Marco, an outsider, had completely taken control of the guild's future.
He had even manipulated the old fool Makarov into exiling his own grandson.
It was simply absurd.
And that was the real source of Ivan Dreyar's fear.
His relationship with Marco was genuinely terrible.
When Ivan had been forced to leave the guild, Marco had still been young, but Marco had been precocious since childhood.
Ivan could clearly feel Marco's disgust toward him, just as he himself despised that brat.
So Ivan Dreyar had no doubt that, given the chance, Marco would absolutely make a move against him and his Raven Tail.
In fact, Ivan Dreyar's thinking was not wrong at all.
When Marco learned that Raven Tail had secretly gone official, his first thought had been: What a shame.
Of course, Marco did not truly want to kill Ivan Dreyar.
The man was certainly guilty and certainly not a good person, but his crimes were not enough to warrant death.
Otherwise, Raven Tail would never have been allowed to become an official guild in the first place.
How to put it...
Over the years, Ivan Dreyar had spent all his time researching how to deal with Fairy Tail, and had genuinely not had the chance to do much actual evil.
"Are there really going to be enemies?"
Seeing Marco's reaction, Erza and Mirajane exchanged looks.
They really could not imagine what enemy they might encounter in Crocus.
And right now, Crocus was truly packed with powerful mages. What kind of person would be foolish enough to cause trouble here?
"We'll see. Maybe we won't run into them."
Marco shook his head and did not explain further.
When Erza and Mirajane had joined the guild, Ivan Dreyar had already left Fairy Tail.
They did not know the history behind all of this.
"Then we'll go too."
Erza immediately made her decision.
Since there was a chance enemies might appear, she had to go. She had to protect everyone properly.
"We're free anyway, so let's go take a look."
Mirajane nodded in agreement.
The two of them did not even plan to change into swimsuits. Instead, they prepared themselves directly for possible combat.
For Erza, that hardly mattered. She could use Requip instantly anyway.
But right now, she was fully alert and had no mood to play. Marco's attitude left her unable to relax.
"There's really no need to be that tense..."
Seeing how vigilant they were, Marco did not know whether to laugh or cry.
It was only Ivan Dreyar and Raven Tail. Marco truly did not take them seriously.
The only reason he wanted to follow was that he feared his guildmates might clash with them over there and end up destroying Ryuzetsu Land.
After all, Makarov and Laxus had both gone off to play as well, and neither of them knew Raven Tail had secretly become an official guild.
If they saw Ivan Dreyar, they would definitely be shocked.
Erza and Mirajane both shook their heads, firmly insisting on following along as bodyguards.
Marco had no choice but to bring them with him.
All he could say was that with the two of them at his side, it would be difficult to properly appreciate the scenery.
The key issue was that neither of them had changed into swimsuits, so he had nothing to look at there either.
...
Before long, Marco, Erza, and Mirajane caught up with the main group and arrived at Ryuzetsu Land.
As expected, the place was extremely lively. It looked just like a famous tourist spot during peak holiday season.
At a glance, the vast theme park was packed with people everywhere.
"So many people."
Erza sighed in admiration.
At the same time, she became even more alert.
With a crowd this dense, if an attack really happened...
"There are a lot of mages too."
Mirajane added from beside her, her expression also turning serious.
Even with a casual glance, she could see quite a few familiar figures.
Aside from Fairy Tail, members of Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, and other guilds were all here.
Sure enough, every guild had someone who had done their research in advance.
They all knew that Ryuzetsu Land was extremely famous and one of the must-visit attractions in Crocus.