Early the next morning, Chen Fan got up and paced around the guild hall, drawing curious stares. By now, everyone knew he was notoriously lazy, usually just sitting next to the Master without moving.
Seeing him so active today was strange, but no one wanted to ask.
Suddenly, Natsu ran over to him. The other guild members watched closely. As expected, that impulsive kid can't hide anything. He says whatever's on his mind. They all pricked up their ears to eavesdrop.
Natsu asked excitedly, "Chen Fan, are you finally going to play with us today?"
Thud.
Several people actually fell over. Natsu, you can't be that much of an idiot. There's no way he's here to play with you. Chen Fan's "mature" personality was well-established by now.
Chen Fan was feeling irritable. Why is my order taking so long? He waved Natsu away dismissively. "Go, go. Kids shouldn't pry into adult business. Go play in the mud or something."
"What? You're not exactly an adult yourself!" Natsu barked back, though he didn't try to start a fight. Chen Fan's physical "fragility" was famous throughout the guild.
Just then, a voice called out from the entrance. "Is Mr. Chen Fan here? I have a delivery for you."
Hearing this, Chen Fan ignored Natsu and ran to the door. "That's me! Is everything here?"
The deliveryman looked at the young boy doubtfully, but seeing no one else coming forward, he said, "Are you Mr. Chen Fan? Please sign here."
Chen Fan signed his name with a flourish and took the packages into the guild.
The deliveryman looked at the signature and grimaced. What the hell is this? The two characters were so crooked and messy they looked like a cockroach had crawled across the paper. He crumpled the slip into a ball, tossed it in a bin, and left without a word.
Once inside, Chen Fan picked a corner and set up a table covered with a white cloth. He pulled a white lab coat out of one of the packages. It was a standard doctor's coat, but it had the Fairy Tail emblem on the back below the collar. Underneath the emblem were two large words:
"MERCY."
The words took up almost the entire back of the coat. Then he unpacked several items: a stethoscope, some surgical tools, and a decent amount of disinfectant. Soon, a miniature clinic was ready.
Finally, he set up two banners. One read "Miraculous Cure," and the other read "Hand Touches, Illness Vanishes."
He put on a pair of glasses from his bag and sat down, waiting for "patients." He looked exactly like a quack doctor selling fake medicine.
The guild members had stopped what they were doing to watch him set everything up. Now that he was finished, they were still baffled. As usual, everyone looked toward Natsu. And as expected, the boy wandered over. The others were touched; He really is the type to take the lead in every situation. They leaned in to listen.
Natsu walked up and asked, "Chen Fan, what are you doing? And what do those words on your back say?"
"Can't you tell? I'm a doctor. If any of you get injured, I can treat you. As for the words on my back, they say 'Mercy.' Don't you know anything? You really are uncultured," Chen Fan said, looking at Natsu with utter disdain.
His gaze clearly said: You're an idiot.
Natsu was furious but held back the urge to punch him. He roared, "Uncultured?! Look at how you wrote those words!"
Chen Fan took off the coat and looked at it. Seems fine to me. Great, actually. It has its own style.
In truth, the writing on the coat was just as crooked as his signature. No wonder the deliveryman had been so disgusted.
Natsu grabbed a pen from Chen Fan's table and wrote "MERCY" with a few swift strokes.
It had to be said, Natsu's handwriting was actually quite good at least compared to Chen Fan's. Putting the two side-by-side, Chen Fan felt his face turn red. Comparisons really are cruel!
He used his superpower to calm his flushed face and said expressionlessly, "This is art. Do you understand? Do you even know what art is, huh?" He ended with a questioning tone.
The words stunned Natsu. He really didn't know what art was. Question marks practically appeared over his head. He thought so hard that smoke actually started drifting off his head.
Seeing the smoke, Gray jumped over from nearby and cast a freezing spell on Natsu's head, making the boy shiver uncontrollably.
Natsu whirled around. "What was that for?! You want to fight?" He threw a punch.
Gray struck back. "Your head was smoking! I was saving you!" His punch sent Natsu flying into a group of guild members.
Natsu scrambled back and punched Gray. "I'm not afraid of fire, let alone a little smoke! You just wanted a fight!"
And so, they began brawling. Before long, the entire guild was caught up in the chaos, and a full-scale fight broke out.
Makarov was frantically trying to record who was breaking what so he could charge them for repairs later.
Meanwhile, Chen Fan was huddled in his corner, chuckling to himself. Heh. I didn't expect business to come so quickly. Kaka. He grew more excited the more he thought about it, eventually letting out a truly hair-raising laugh.
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