Chapter 251: The Plan
"So, what is your plan?" Jude asked. He had his own contingencies, of course—this was his daughter—but he wanted to hear what Noah's team, and more importantly, Lucy herself, wanted to do.
Now that Lucy was a guild wizard, she would face many dangers. As her father, he wanted to see how she handled them.
"I want to solve this," Lucy said, her expression serious.
Before, she had naively thought that another major guild wouldn't do anything untoward. But with her father and her guildmates all warning her, she wasn't going to be stubborn. If there was a problem, she wanted to fix it.
"Good," Jude said, smiling. "How do you propose we do that?" He was pleased to see his daughter's courage. But the opponent was likely the second-strongest guild in the kingdom. Lucy couldn't handle them alone; she would need Fairy Tail.
"We're planning to use your visit as bait," Noah explained. "When you come to the guild, don't hide your identity. Make it a normal, public visit. Then, we'll leak the information to Phantom Lord. We want to see how they react."
He paused, then continued, "Given Phantom Lord's history, once they know, they'll almost certainly make a move against Lucy. That will give us the chance to gather evidence of their illegal activities, which we can use to have the Council sanction them. Ideally, we'll provoke Master Jose enough that he attacks our guild directly. If he does that, we'll have full justification to counterattack with everything we have."
Noah took a sip of water. "Of course, there's a chance they won't do anything. In that case, we'll just have to stay vigilant, and Lucy will need to keep her guard up. But knowing Jose... it's unlikely he'll sit still."
"If Jose finds out that Uncle Jude and Auntie Layla visited Fairy Tail, he'll definitely act," Ultear said. "He's exactly that kind of person—evil, greedy, and jealous."
She had studied Phantom Lord thoroughly. Jose would see a visit from the Heartfilia family as a sign that the kingdom's wealthiest conglomerate was partnering with Fairy Tail. Knowing Lucy had joined would only confirm his fears. Such a partnership would catapult Fairy Tail far beyond Phantom Lord, cementing their status as the number one guild. Jose's ego would never allow that. He would walk right into the trap.
"But what about Lucy's safety?" Natsu asked. "If they attack, she'll be in danger. Why don't we just go beat them up now so they're too scared to try anything?"
"Because we need to maintain order in the magical world," Mirajane explained patiently. "The Council forbids guild warfare. Without evidence, if we strike first, we become the aggressors. It could get our guild disbanded. We have to wait for them to make the first move. As for Lucy's safety... we'll handle that."
She gestured to herself, Ultear, Erza, and Sorano.
Natsu looked at the four S-Class wizards and nodded. He knew how strong they were. If they were guarding Lucy, she would be safe.
"What about Uncle and Auntie?" Sorano asked, raising a critical point. "What if Jose goes crazy and attacks them?"
Lucy grabbed her mother's hand, looking worried.
"Don't worry about that," Noah said. "I spoke to Auntie Ur. She's coming back in a couple of days."
"Mom is coming back?" Ultear asked, surprised.
"Mhm. I'll ask her to protect them. With Ur there, they'll be perfectly safe."
"Then there's no problem," Ultear said, relaxing. With Ur involved, Jude and Layla were untouchable.
"I'm not completely defenseless myself, you know," Layla said with a smile, pulling out several silver keys.
"Mom, you're a Celestial Spirit wizard again?" Lucy asked, surprised. Then she remembered the gift. "Wait! You can't give me all the Gold Keys! You should keep them!" She tried to hand the Zodiac keys back.
"I only picked up the magic again for self-defense," Layla said gently. "We're rarely in danger here. You're the one facing the risks. These keys will be much more useful in your hands." She pressed the keys back into Lucy's hands.
Lucy couldn't argue with her mother and accepted them.
"Seeing those keys gave me an idea," Noah said to Layla. "We can make the plan even better."
"Oh? How?"
"One of the keys you gave Lucy is Gemini, right? We can use that."
"Ah, I see what you mean. That's a good idea," Layla nodded, understanding immediately.
"What are you two talking about?" Lucy asked, confused.
"You'll understand once you make a contract with Gemini," Layla said with a mischievous smile.
"Aww..." Lucy pouted slightly. Layla just smiled, enjoying her little surprise.
"Alright, we can discuss the finer details later," Jude said. "For now, let's do something else. We've prepared a feast to welcome you all. Please, follow us."
"Food!" Natsu perked up instantly. With his friends safe, his stomach took priority.
Jude and Layla led them to the dining room. The table was laden with steaming, exquisite dishes—steaks, roast chicken, grilled fish, soups, and desserts. The aroma alone was enough to make their mouths water.
"Please, dig in," Layla said warmly. "This is all for you."
Natsu didn't need telling twice. He grabbed a roast chicken. "Th-Thanks! This is awesome!" he said between bites.
"So uncivilized," Gray muttered.
Then, Gray felt a chill. He looked up to see Ultear glaring at him.
"Gray. Where are your clothes?"
"CRAP!" Gray looked down and realized he was in his boxers again. "I don't know when that happened! I'll put them on right now!"
"Hmph. Hurry up." Since they were guests, Ultear let him off with a warning.
"So lively," Layla laughed. Lucy blushed, not knowing what to say about her chaotic guildmates.
"These dishes are delicious. Thank you for the hospitality," Ultear said, elegantly enjoying her meal.
Erza and the others also dug in. Erza was particularly enamored with the desserts, praising them endlessly. Layla suggested she ask the chefs for the recipes later, which sparked the interest of all the girls. They decided to have a group cooking lesson after the meal.
After eating, the girls went to the kitchen to learn from the chefs, dragging Natsu, Gray, and Happy along as taste testers.
Noah stayed behind with Jude and Layla to finalize the plan. Jude assured them that if Phantom Lord dared to hurt his daughter, he would use every ounce of his influence to destroy them. Once they agreed on the safety measures and the method of leaking the information, the planning was done.
Jude then took Noah to his warehouse to collect the books and materials he had gathered. After storing them, Noah headed to the kitchen.
He found Natsu and Gray looking green, on the verge of throwing up. Happy wasn't much better. They looked at Noah with pleading eyes.
Noah ignored them and joined the girls. However, he wasn't heartless; he waved a hand, dismissing the boys. They bolted from the room, presumably heading for the nearest bathroom, with Happy flying close behind.
Noah and the girls continued their lesson. The Heartfilia chefs were masters, and they learned a lot. Wendy and the younger girls, meanwhile, were in heaven, stuffing themselves with sweets.
Time flew by, and evening came. Erza and the others had mastered several recipes. Natsu and Gray, having recovered, spent the rest of the time sparring in the estate's training hall.
When it got late, Ultear and the others intended to leave, but Jude and Layla insisted they stay the night.
Lucy excitedly took the girls to see her room and her collection of books and dolls. Levy was mesmerized by the library. Lucy promised to lend her some books, and Levy smiled for the rest of the night.
The boys, obviously not interested in dolls, went outside. Noah, Natsu, and Gray had a spar in the courtyard, with Jude, Layla, and Happy watching. Seeing Natsu and Gray's strength reassured Lucy's parents. If these were the non-S-Class members, their daughter was in good hands with the S-Class wizards protecting her.
After the spar and some training, it was time for bed.
Noah and the boys went to the guest rooms. The girls all piled into a massive room Lucy had prepared, with ten beds set up so they could have a slumber party. They talked late into the night.
The next morning, Noah, Natsu, Gray, and Happy finished their morning training and were about to eat breakfast when the girls finally emerged, yawning and looking exhausted.
"What happened to you guys? You look dead," Noah asked.
"We talked too late... didn't get enough sleep... yawn..." Ultear rubbed her eyes and shuffled toward the bathroom. The others followed like zombies.
After breakfast and lunch, they spent the morning playing at the estate. In the afternoon, they said their goodbyes.
Lucy bid her parents farewell and joined them. Noah teleported everyone back to Magnolia.
Upon returning, Lucy immediately wanted to make contracts with her new spirits. The others were curious to see how it worked, so they all went to Noah's house, which had enough space for everyone to watch.
Noah, meanwhile, went to report to Makarov.
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