In the end, Lucy reluctantly let Natsuhabi stay over.
If you asked her why, the answer was simple because she was too kind.
Normally, Lucy would have kicked the two out without hesitation, but after seeing them still bickering over the whole fusion fiasco, she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.
Unfortunately, that kindness turned out to be completely unnecessary.
The moment they heard they could sleep at her place, Natsu and Happy's faces lit up with joy. Laughing, they raced back into the rental house as if they owned it.
Watching those two carefree idiots curl up and sleep soundly right on her floor, Lucy's expression froze. A slow, dreadful realization sank in
I've been tricked.
Elsewhere
After returning home, Chase didn't head to bed immediately. Instead, he entered his card space to work on the Sky Dragon's God-Slaying Magic.
Calling it "training" was a bit of an overstatement. It was more about familiarization than actual practice.
Since he had learned the magic directly from the Sky Dragon itself, the basics casting and controlling it came naturally without needing extensive drills.
All he really needed to do was keep using it to steadily raise his proficiency.
Of course, figuring out how to integrate this divine-slaying power into his existing card-based combat style was a challenge worth deep thought.
Afterward, with all his card monsters present, Chase decided to test the Fusion Magic Card further.
The results were… limited.
Unlike wizards such as Natsu and Happy, his card monsters couldn't just be fused together freely. They required specific Fusion Monster Cards to work.
It was a slight disappointment, but nothing unexpected.
After all, within the rules of his deck, fusion monsters were a special kind of summon. Without the corresponding fusion card, there was no way to complete it.
Just like the magic card Chaos – Black Magic Ritual, which would be useless without the Magician of Black Chaos to summon.
From this, Chase deduced that more fusion monster cards would likely appear in his deck in the future.
Leaving aside the fact that some cards like Dark Paladin or Dark Magician the Dragon Knight didn't yet have their materials available, there were already powerful possibilities to look forward to such as fusing the King's Knight, Queen's Knight, and Jack's Knight into Arcana Knight Joker.
That was a nine-star monster with high attack power, the kind of card that could completely change the pace of a duel.
Perhaps… this could even be considered an upgraded version of the Duelist's Soul system.
By the time Chase exited the card space and returned to the real world, it was already deep into the night.
He stripped off his sweat-dampened clothes, enjoyed a long, relaxing bath, and then returned to the living room to boil water for tea before bed.
The Dark Magician Girl had wanted to follow him out, but her master, the Dark Magician, had gotten there first off to bury himself in study once more.
Gurgle.
The only sound echoing through the spacious living room was the bubbling of the magic kettle.
"Back to my regular life after all the noise with the Council," Chase murmured, placing tea leaves into a pot. "Without the Dark Magician Girl constantly chattering in my ear…"
He let out a soft sigh, glancing around the empty room. "It's so quiet all of a sudden… I'm not used to it."
At the moment, Chase was dressed only in a pair of leggings, his well-defined muscles on full display.
The rich, mellow fragrance of freshly brewed tea drifted through the room.
"Based on Lucy's personality, she'll probably head back to the Heartfilia mansion as soon as tomorrow," he murmured, eyes narrowing as they reflected the shimmering surface of the teacup in his hands. "It's time to settle the matter with Jude."
The eventual fate between Lucy and her father, Jude Heartfilia, was something Chase had always felt was deeply regrettable.
When the family was still at its peak, Jude had been focused solely on consolidating and expanding the Heartfilia Konzern, neglecting his relationship with his only daughter.
By the time he finally realized his mistake after bankruptcy Lucy had vanished for seven years due to the Tenrou Island incident.
In the end, all he could do was leave behind letters filled with regret and longing, passing away without ever having a proper reunion with her.
That was something Chase had no intention of letting happen.
Ever since Lucy had first called him "Brother," he had made up his mind to change that sad outcome.
After all how could a brother not dote on his sister?
And even putting personal feelings aside, from the standpoint of the guild's interests, establishing ties with the Heartfilia family one of Fiore's most powerful conglomerates would be incredibly valuable.
After all, even Phantom Lord, with its size and numbers surpassing Fairy Tail's, had gone to great lengths to seek the Heartfilia family's support.
As for why the Heartfilia Konzern eventually went bankrupt…
While the original story didn't explain it in detail, Chase could make an educated guess, considering that Fiore's society revolved heavily around magic.
The likely cause was that after Layla's death, the Heartfilia family no longer had a mage of both great power and public renown to uphold the family's prestige.
This might also explain why Jude had chosen to take his wife's surname Heartfilia was a name that had carried influence in Fiore for centuries.
Jude's personal business acumen was beyond question; after all, he had grown the Heartfilia Konzern into one of the kingdom's top enterprises.
But in a world ruled by magic, power was the ultimate guarantee.
Without a strong magical backing, competitors could and would use any underhanded tactic to strike.
Jude had likely realized this, which was why he wanted Lucy to return and marry into a powerful noble family, securing both his company's position and her safety.
There was, in its own way, a genuine paternal desire to keep her away from danger and give her a comfortable life.
But he had overlooked or perhaps never truly understood just how powerful and protective Fairy Tail was.
For both personal and guild reasons, Chase decided it was absolutely necessary to visit the Heartfilia mansion before Lucy did.
The Next Day
With various construction crews and material suppliers arriving on site, the rebuilding of Fairy Tail officially began under Master Makarov's direction.
Inside the broad, fenced-off lot marked with the Fairy Tail emblem, the new guild's frame quickly began to take shape.
The construction site was a bustling sea of movement wooden beams stacked neatly in piles, bricks and steel pipes laid out in order, and iron scaffolding rising steadily into place.
Solid walls were already rising from the ground, extending upward bit by bit, sketching out the basic frame of the new guild.
Even though the site sat right next to a large lake with soft, unstable soil, no one was worried about things like foundation strength.
In truth, there was no point Magnolia's infamous Gildarts Mode would end up shattering any "carefully calculated" layout anyway.
Still, putting aside unnecessary concerns about physical laws, there was no denying it construction in a magical world moved fast!
"Ohhh! When it comes to rebuilding the guild, I'm going to work harder than anyone!"
At the construction site, Natsu hauled a dozen thick beams over his shoulders, scanning the area with a smug, appraising look.
Whether or not he was actually the strongest, his voice was by far the loudest on-site.
"Oh? You think I didn't hear that?"
Gray, his competitive streak instantly flaring, stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, he hoisted twice as much wood as Natsu.
The heavy beams balanced across his bare shoulders like a small mountain. He managed only two shaky steps before collapsing with a thump, the pile of wood scattering and half-burying him in the process.
"Ahahaha! I'm dying over here! That's all you've got, and you were bragging like that?"
Natsu doubled over laughing, pointing at Gray in mock pity. "Gray, you should just carry them one at a time. We're guildmates I'd never laugh at you."
Unfortunately, he was laughing so hard that he lost his own balance, sending his pile of wood toppling down in a chain reaction. A heartbeat later, he joined Gray on the ground in a similar sorry state.
"Idiot you're the one who needs to carry them one by one!" Gray shot back instantly, not missing the chance to turn the tables.
"What did you say, droopy eyes?!"
"Your brain broken or something? How pitiful."
"Asshole! You wanna fight?!"
"Bring it on!"
The two of them squared off, their foreheads pressed together as sparks of ice and fire crackled in the air between them, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
....
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