"I'm Erza. Pleased to meet you."
Erza introduced herself, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at Natsu and Gray.
Feeling her gaze, the two of them immediately settled down and acted all friendly again.
"So you're Lucy—the one who defeated that monkey with a single finger. With you joining us, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Defeated the monkey with a single finger?"
Lucy was filled with question marks. Who even spread that rumor?
She hadn't defeated the monkey—Noel had!
She looked toward Noel, who simply gave her an innocent look, as if saying, Don't look at me. I wouldn't spread something that dumb.
Erza and Lucy were deep in conversation, but in the background, Natsu and Gray were starting to get restless again.
"Hey! Stop hanging your arm over my shoulder!"
"That's what I should be saying to you!"
Erza felt something wasn't right behind her. She turned around to check, only to see Natsu and Gray looking perfectly calm and friendly again.
"Is this the legendary 'light-speed mood shift'?" Noel couldn't help but comment internally.
"I... I guess that's true. It's nice to meet you too," Lucy finally agreed, acknowledging Erza's praise after a moment of hesitation.
Then suddenly, Natsu looked at Erza seriously.
"Erza, I'm fine going with you—but I've got one condition."
"Things are getting interesting," Noel murmured, intrigued.
Mainly, he couldn't believe Natsu had the nerve to set conditions for Erza.
Did he forget what her fists felt like?
Gray leaned in and whispered, "Hey, are you out of your mind? That's Erza you're talking to!"
"Condition? Go ahead," Erza replied casually. She didn't mind—unless it was outrageous. After all, she was the one asking for help.
"When we get back, I want to fight you one-on-one," Natsu said confidently.
Noel knew full well—Natsu had never won a single fight against Erza.
And every time, Erza had flattened him without breaking a sweat.
"Don't be reckless! Recklessness leads to doom!" Noel tried to warn him.
Even Happy, flying above, was stunned—his mouth agape.
Apparently, Natsu's boldness shocked even his own partner.
"Hey, don't be rash. Do you have a death wish?" Gray said, draping an arm over Natsu's shoulder.
"You've definitely grown," Erza responded humbly. "Though I'm still not confident, I accept your challenge."
"I'm fired up now!!" Natsu shouted, flames erupting with excitement at Erza's acceptance.
"Don't cause a public disturbance."
BAM!
Erza punched Natsu, knocking him out cold.
"That was a one-hit KO…" Noel muttered, expressionless.
Lucy, Gray, and Happy all covered their eyes as if they'd seen nothing.
"I've got a condition too," Gray suddenly said with a serious tone—something Noel hadn't seen from him before.
Don't tell me Gray also wants to challenge Erza... these two are nuts today… Noel thought.
"I want to challenge you," Gray said, pointing at Noel.
"…You want to challenge me?" Noel asked again, to make sure.
Gray nodded. "That's right. I want to fight you."
Noel didn't really want to accept.
But he noticed Erza staring intently at him from behind.
"…Fine, I accept your challenge," he said at last.
The intense pressure disappeared. Noel let out a quiet sigh of relief.
---
Aboard the train...
Erza, Happy, and Lucy sat on one side.
The others took seats across from them.
Natsu, meanwhile, was lying on a bench—his motion sickness kicking in hard.
Noel did his best to care for him.
But when Erza saw him in that miserable state, her heart ached—so she gave him another punch.
Natsu lost consciousness completely.
"That's way too brutal…" Noel said with a twitching mouth.
Lucy had black lines all over her face, and only Gray remained completely unfazed—clearly used to all this.
"Erza, shouldn't you tell us what the mission is by now?" Gray asked eagerly. He seemed genuinely invested in the task.
"Our enemy is the dark guild Eisenwald. It seems they plan to use a magical item called Lullaby for something terrible," Erza explained calmly.
"Lullaby?" Lucy and Gray exclaimed in unison.
Noel glanced at them. Wasn't that reaction a bit over the top?
Still, he had a vague impression of "Lullaby" too—he'd seen it mentioned in an old storybook.
"It's from last time…" Lucy recalled how, on her way back to the guild, she'd been ambushed—and one of the attackers had mentioned "Lullaby."
Could it be connected?
Were those people from Eisenwald?
"It's only a theory," Erza continued, "but I believe the shadowy figure who dragged them away was likely from Eisenwald's inner circle. They probably wanted to avoid exposing their plan. That much seems certain."
"So... what exactly is their plan?" Lucy asked, her expression uneasy.
Erza explained further:
While returning from a mission, she'd stopped by a mage bar in Onibus Town.
There, a few drunk mages had been blabbering—and let slip some details about Lullaby.
And more importantly, she heard a name: Erigor.
"'Lullaby' means 'cradle song' or 'lullaby', right?" Lucy translated literally.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it—that Lullaby wasn't as innocent as it sounded.
"If it was sealed away, that proves it's an extremely dangerous magic," Erza said. "I was careless not to realize it at first."
"And then there's Erigor. He's Eisenwald's trump card. Even after the guild was disbanded, he refused to give up and kept accepting assassination contracts."
"Eisenwald must be planning something terrible using Lullaby. We have to stop them," Gray said gravely.
"So we're up against the entire guild, huh?" Noel asked, intrigued.
"Exactly. That's why I need your help—to attack Eisenwald head-on," Erza stated clearly.
Gray and Happy were already fired up.
Noel himself could feel his own excitement rising.
Lucy and Plue, on the other hand, were practically melting in terror, sweating profusely.
"Lucy, your liquid," Happy whispered from her side.
"That's SWEAT!" Lucy snapped in frustration.
Author note: We're jumping right into the plot here, so the pacing might be a bit fast.
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