"Alright, alright, I want those horns too… and those spikes…"
The atmosphere instantly became even more awkward.
The others immediately wanted to distance themselves from Natsu — this could practically be considered social suicide.
"Don't worry. We'll take care of it," Noel quickly reassured them.
Still, he didn't feel entirely confident about this job. But comforting the client was one of the essential skills for any mage.
The village chief warmly arranged a house for them to stay in.
Due to limited resources, the four people and one cat had to share the same house.
Everyone decided to rest well that night and leave the exploration of the island for tomorrow.
Natsu and Gray fell asleep the moment they lay down, but Noel tossed and turned, unable to sleep, too many thoughts running through his mind.
Before long, snoring filled the room — the kind of sound that made it feel like an evil dragon was roaring right beside him.
Already unable to sleep, Noel found it even harder under this racket. Lucy clearly felt the same.
" Noel-san, you're still awake?" Lucy suddenly asked.
"I can't sleep. I've got too much to think about… this island is just too strange."
Noel actually had some clues in his mind — though scattered, if he could connect them, they would definitely lead to an answer.
"I'd better get some rest now. We still have to explore the island tomorrow," Noel reminded her.
He was right, of course — but with that snoring, sleeping was easier said than done.
So Noel and Lucy both ended up doing the same thing: dragging their bedding into the corner of the room.
At least over there, the sound was a little quieter. Eventually, in the second half of the night, exhaustion took over and they fell into a dazed sleep.
Early the next morning, the commotion of villagers outside woke Noel up.
Lucy woke at the same time — but Natsu's snoring was still just as terrifying.
Lucy gave everyone a knock on the head — partly as payback for her poor night's sleep.
"What's going on?" Jolted awake, Natsu sprang up — was it an enemy attack?
"Ow…" Gray groaned, holding his head.
Happy, disturbed by the noise, mumbled, "My grilled fish…"
There was drool at the corner of Happy's mouth — clearly he'd been dreaming about eating before being woken. Poor cat.
The villagers were quite hospitable and had prepared breakfast. It wasn't bad at all — the group devoured it in no time before setting out to work.
After breakfast, only Lucy and Noel looked alert. The others were still bleary-eyed, clearly not fully awake.
"Open, Gate of the Clock! Horologium!"
With a silver key, a door opened, and a giant clock descended from above.
Noel had never seen this type of Celestial Spirit before — it was one of the more unusual kinds.
From his first impression, it was probably meant as a means of transportation, helping to conserve stamina.
The group chatted as they went — though "chat" here meant talking about the job.
"Isn't there any way other than destroying the moon?"
"The moon can't be destroyed. Doing so would cause all kinds of trouble — and besides, we can't destroy it anyway," Noel replied, quickly quashing Natsu and Gray's idea.
"Good… otherwise I'd be really upset if we lost moonlight grilled fish," Happy said.
"And I'd be upset if we lost moon-viewing mooncakes," Lucy added.
Somehow, they'd all linked the moon to food. Truly, a bunch of gluttons.
As they talked, the group couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. Maybe it was just their imagination.
Noel turned around — and saw a massive mouse, taller than the surrounding trees.
It was a bizarre sight: the mouse was wearing clothes, as if it had been deliberately raised by someone.
When it came close, it blocked out the sunlight. The sight was terrifying.
"This is… a terrible sense of style," Noel muttered under his breath.
Why in the world was a mouse wearing a maid outfit?
The mouse regarded them like playthings it had just discovered.
It inhaled deeply and exhaled a foul, murky breath — wherever it passed, trees began to corrode.
"Ice Shield!"
A massive ice barrier appeared before the group.
Noel was unimpressed. "How is this going to help? The enemy's using air attacks."
"Micro Cyclone!"
A small whirlwind dispersed the foul gas, blowing it right back.
But Natsu collapsed — the stench had overwhelmed him.
"Natsu's sense of smell is way too sharp. You can't blame him," Happy explained quickly.
Horologium's effect wore off, leaving Lucy exposed in the jungle.
Being the closest to the mouse, she became its target, and it charged after her.
Noel slashed at it with several enhanced wind blades, leaving bloody gashes.
The wounds only made the mouse more frenzied.
The group was now being chased by the massive creature. Gray felt humiliated — after all, they were Fairy Tail mages. Since when did they run like this?
"Ice-Make: Floor!"
From Gray's position, a sheet of ice spread across the ground ahead. The giant mouse, seeing the ice, tried to stop — but couldn't. It skidded and fell.
"You should have done that from the start," Lucy complained.
"What are you grumbling about?" Gray shot back.
With the mouse down, Natsu and Gray, still unsatisfied, landed a few extra punches on it.
"Happy, interested in this mouse? Might make a good meal," Noel said, pointing at it.
"I'm not eating that," Happy said quickly, covering his nose.
The smell from earlier was simply unbearable.
"Honestly… you call yourself a cat and you can't even handle a mouse?" Lucy teased.
"That's a size issue!" Happy protested.
After running for so long, the group had gotten far from the village — they weren't sure where exactly they were anymore.
The trees here were even denser, suggesting they'd reached the island's interior — a place rarely visited.
There were no signs of logging or gathering. Noel had a feeling they might discover something unusual here… something possibly linked to the island's curse.
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