"Doing great? And yet you're lying here alone?"
Nulpudding did not believe him at all.
People could not imagine things beyond their own understanding.
In Raven Tail, he often bullied and abused his own guildmates.
If someone like Gajeel were in their guild, he would definitely be the target of bullying, isolation, and mistreatment.
"Hah?"
Gajeel looked completely baffled.
He was just lying here sunbathing.
Who had he offended?
Was he supposed to play together with others every moment of the day?
"You guys came here looking for trouble, didn't you?"
Gajeel sat up from the beach chair.
Now he understood. These bastards were clearly here to deliberately stir things up!
The moment Gajeel sat up, people outside had already begun gathering around.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
Natsu planted his hands on his hips and glared at the four people surrounding Gajeel.
The other Fairy Tail members wore similar expressions. They had all noticed the situation and hurried over to help.
"..."
Being surrounded by Fairy Tail members staring at them like predators, the Raven Tail members' momentum clearly weakened.
There was no helping it. Far too many Fairy Tail members had gathered at once, blocking off even their escape routes.
"We..."
Nulpudding had just opened his mouth, intending to bluff his way through it.
"We just can't stand you Fairy Tail bastards!"
The wine-red-haired girl, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
Her face was wild and deranged, as though she had completely lost control.
The moment those words came out, Nulpudding, Kurohebi, and Obra's expressions changed.
"Flare!"
Nulpudding turned a vicious glare on Flare as she spoke.
The look in his eyes was so savage that it seemed as if he wanted to swallow the girl whole. It was not the gaze one gave a guildmate at all.
Flare shrank back in fear and closed her mouth, looking terrified, as if she knew she had said the wrong thing.
Although Flare's acting was convincing, Nulpudding remained certain in his heart that she had done it on purpose.
This bitch Flare absolutely wanted to see them embarrass themselves, even if it meant getting beaten together with them!
"Good, good! So you want a fight, huh?!"
Hearing Flare's words, Natsu immediately grew excited.
This time, they were not the ones causing trouble. Someone had come and picked a fight with them!
"You're Raven Tail's people, right? You actually dared come here looking for trouble with us!"
Gray stood beside Natsu, also looking excited.
Before they came here, Marco had specifically emphasized the guild called Raven Tail, telling everyone to avoid interacting with them as much as possible.
After all, it was a guild with a history involving Fairy Tail, and it had previously been a Dark Guild.
If the two sides met, there really was a possibility of conflict, so avoiding contact was best.
Because of that, when the Raven Tail members had come over, Fairy Tail's people had ignored them and continued playing as usual.
Who would have thought these guys would take the initiative to provoke them?
"Jump them! Beat them up!" Natsu shouted excitedly, calling everyone to attack together.
Even he knew that if they made a move now, they had a proper reason.
"Go!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the Fairy Tail members immediately charged in.
A crowd surrounded the four Raven Tail members and beat them down, all kinds of magic flashing around them.
"Wait! Watch where you're aiming!"
Gajeel, who was still in the middle, shouted in a hurry.
He had almost been caught in the crossfire.
"...Should we stop them?"
Not far away, Mirajane watched the lively beating and asked Marco.
"Wait a little longer."
Marco wore a smile as he raised a hand, stopping Erza, who had been about to move.
If the opponents were Raven Tail, and they had been the ones to start trouble first, then it wouldn't hurt to let everyone vent a little.
"..."
Erza looked at Marco helplessly.
And he still claimed he didn't hold grudges.
His attitude toward Raven Tail was clearly different.
"All right, all right. Go stop them."
Under Erza's strange gaze, Marco finally spoke with some resignation.
He admitted that he did indeed have a strong bias against Raven Tail, but that was unavoidable.
After all, it was that man's guild, and it had specifically targeted Fairy Tail. This was no ordinary enemy. Heavy strikes were necessary.
"Hmph!"
Erza, Fairy Tail's disciplinary committee chair, rushed forward.
Magic power burst from her body, immediately suppressing the crowd locked in "battle."
"Erza's here! Run!"
Before Erza could even make a move, Natsu and Gray, who had led the attack, immediately shouted and bolted.
The others scattered like birds and beasts in an instant as well, leaving only the four Raven Tail members lying on the ground.
Strictly speaking, making a move this time was not that big of a problem.
The other side had started it first, after all.
At most, Fairy Tail had been a little impulsive.
Even so, the moment Erza appeared, everyone chose to scatter first.
The suppressive power of the disciplinary committee chair was obvious.
"..."
Erza did not chase them.
Instead, she looked at the four Raven Tail members who had been beaten down.
Those four were actually not weak, but under Fairy Tail's group attack, they had not been able to display their strength at all.
They had only managed to protect themselves as best they could.
Among the four, Nalpudding, who had been leading them, had taken the worst beating.
His face had been completely swollen into that of a pig's head, and Erza almost failed to hold back her laughter.
Fortunately, she barely managed to restrain herself.
"Marco, what should we do with these people?"
Erza looked toward Marco.
The four Raven Tail members could only groan where they lay.
From the look of it, they would not be leaving on their own anytime soon.
"Call their Guild Master over to collect them." Marco's reply was brief and direct.
He wanted Ivan Dreyar to come in person.
"Even though they were the ones who provoked us first, it's still true that we hit them. We should at least apologize properly, shouldn't we?"
Under Erza and Mirajane's puzzled gazes, Marco offered an explanation.
But in truth, he simply wanted to give Ivan Dreyar a headache.
Even if he had to pay Raven Tail's people some medical compensation, Marco accepted that.
He still wanted Ivan Dreyar dragged over here to embarrass himself.
"I'll go!"
Jet sprang out, excitedly taking on the task.
He was fast.
He could take responsibility for informing Raven Tail's Guild Master in no time.
After asking where Raven Tail was staying, Marco nodded to Jet and let him go notify Ivan Dreyar.
As for these few, they could continue lying here for a while.
"Nice beating! Raven Tail's people don't look like good guys at all!"
"As expected of Fairy Tail. They beat Raven Tail so badly they couldn't even fight back!"
Soon, a crowd gathered to watch the show.
Some people praised them, while others muttered in private that Fairy Tail's methods were too domineering.
Of course, such criticism was nothing to Fairy Tail.
Compared to the past, the current Fairy Tail was already much more restrained.
At the very least, they no longer casually destroyed half a city.