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The remaining soldiers on the warship secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard their superior compromise, grateful that they didn't have to fight that monstrous middle-aged man.
Dimaria's expression was grim, but she didn't stop Brandish.
Just as Brandish said, Gildarts had been holding back; otherwise, with the destructive power of Crush, she would have been blown to pieces long ago.
Seeing that the other officer also tacitly agreed to release them, several soldiers quickly "invited" Natsu and Lucy out of the warship's brig.
Lucy had actually fared quite well during the seven days of captivity; only her freedom was restricted, and she wasn't mistreated regarding food and drink.
Natsu, on the other hand, due to severe motion sickness, struggled even to drink water, let alone eat, and the intense physiological reactions had pushed his body and mind to their limits.
Looking at Natsu being carried out by a soldier, his weak appearance broke Gildarts' heart; the Natsu in his memory was always a boy full of vitality and passion.
The thought of Natsu, who had clung to him since childhood, being so weak instantly filled Gildarts with rage.
His chilling gaze made the soldier carrying Natsu feel as if he was sitting on pins and needles, and he gently set Natsu down like a precious treasure, afraid that any bump might incur Gildarts' wrath.
Angry as he was, Gildarts knew that the immediate priority was to treat Natsu, so he looked at Brandish again. "Little girl, do you have a doctor on your ship?"
Brandish shook her head; due to her absolute confidence in her strength, she and Dimaria never brought medics when they acted.
In fact, for ordinary injuries, Brandish could handle it herself, using her Command T magic to shrink the wound and make the injury disappear completely.
However, neither Dimaria, injured by Gildarts' Crush, nor Natsu, suffering from motion sickness, could be healed by merely shrinking their wounds.
For the first time in her life, Brandish realized the importance of a healing unit.
Happy lay on Natsu, looking at Gildarts with teary eyes. "Gildarts, quickly use your invincible Crush to save Natsu!"
Lucy couldn't stand Happy's desperate act of clutching at straws, and she turned to see Gildarts looking troubled, seemingly genuinely considering whether Crush could help Natsu.
Lucy sighed helplessly.
Happy aside, how smart could he be, hanging around with Natsu?
But Gildarts, who was known as the "Fairy Tail Strongest" even before Noah, didn't seem very bright either... Fortunately, Cana didn't inherit his brain.
"Brandish, do any of your soldiers have Fire magic?"
Lucy looked at Brandish on the warship; although she had captured her, Lucy's intuition told her that Brandish had no intention of harming her.
Saving Natsu from Dimaria in the brig earlier was the best proof.
Brandish understood what Lucy wanted to do, so she had a soldier who could use Fire magic conjure a few magical flames.
It was only when Lucy had the soldier stuff the flames into Natsu's mouth that Gildarts and Happy reacted, finally remembering that Natsu was a Fire Dragon Slayer mage.
Magical flames were his best remedy.
Sure enough, after swallowing five or six flames, Natsu's pale face visibly became rosy.
His tightly closed eyes slowly opened, and what greeted Natsu's sight was a scruffy uncle's face, followed by a joyful blue cat, and a relieved blonde girl.
"Lucy... Happy..."
"And... Gildarts! It really is you!"
Seeing the person he admired most besides Fire Dragon King Igneel, Natsu shot up, giving off a sense of being resurrected from his deathbed.
Unfortunately, Natsu, having eaten the flames, was truly revived.
After not seeing him for a few years, Natsu was no longer the little brat Gildarts remembered, and facing the grown-up kid who used to follow him around, Gildarts subconsciously wanted to hug Natsu.
But Natsu firmly refused Gildarts, looking at him with a disgusted expression. "Ptooey, scumbag!"
????
Gildarts was utterly bewildered.
Hadn't he just saved Natsu? What was this brat suddenly spouting nonsense about?
A confused Gildarts looked down at Happy, but Happy had the same expression as Natsu. "Gildarts, scum~bag~"
Even Happy...
A bewildered Gildarts suddenly had a flash of insight and instantly understood something; could it be that his past romantic escapades had been discovered? Or had an old flame come to the guild?
Gildarts had been away from the guild for a few years on a mission, so he hadn't met Lucy yet, and he tentatively asked her, "Little girl, your name is Lucy, right? That's a lovely name. Do you know what Natsu and Happy are talking about?"
Lucy twitched her lips; she was, after all, a young lady who had received a good education since childhood and couldn't call Gildarts a scumbag to his face like Natsu and Happy.
"Um, Gildarts."
"Do you know you have a daughter? She's been waiting for you at the guild for almost ten years."
Lucy's words were like a bolt from the blue, exploding in Gildarts' mind.
He actually had a child!!
A huge question then surged into Gildarts' heart: who was the child's mother?
One by one, the women he had dated in his youth surfaced from the depths of his memory, and Gildarts knelt on the ground in agony, his fist slamming heavily on the floor.
"No, there are too many, I can't even figure out who is the mother of my child..."
At these words, Lucy, who had still held some respect for the guild senior, was completely disillusioned with Gildarts. "Just how many girls have you ruined, old man?!"
To her surprise, Gildarts looked up and seriously retorted, "Lucy, you're wrong. I had true love with all of them. I remember each of their names, but I am, after all, an untamed wind that cannot settle."
"Wandering everywhere is my destiny."
"Isn't that still a scumbag?!"
Lucy looked disgusted, clenched her fists, and turned to her two companions, who had already joined forces. "Natsu, Happy, for Cana's sake, let's beat up Gildarts!"
Natsu didn't reply but gave his answer through action.
"Gildarts, go and repent to Cana!"
"Fire Dragon's Claw!"
Gildarts was still immersed in the familiar name spoken by Lucy and Natsu and was caught off guard when Natsu kicked him down, followed by a flurry of kicks, during which Happy and Lucy also secretly stepped on him a couple of times.
Watching the two people and one cat turn around and savagely beat their savior, not to mention Brandish, even Dimaria, who had been enduring the pain in her arm, couldn't hold back anymore.
Is this guild called Fairy Tail specifically for weirdos?