The next day, the annual Magnolia Cherry Blossom Viewing Event arrived as scheduled.
Early in the morning, Natsu and Happy came to Lucy's rented apartment to fetch her, just as Lucy had requested to prevent herself from oversleeping.
"I say... isn't Lucy being a bit too formal?" Happy hovered in the air, not knowing where to begin with his complaints.
For just a casual cherry blossom viewing event, Lucy was actually wearing an elegant formal dress—it looked way too upper-class for a guild picnic!
"Carrying biscuits while wearing a formal dress is even more worthy of criticism..." Natsu covered his mouth and 'whispered' loudly under his breath.
Standing nearby with a dark shadow looming over her face, Lucy couldn't help but complain.
"I say... I can hear you perfectly fine..."
Under the disdainful, judging gazes of Natsu and Happy, Lucy couldn't take the embarrassment anymore.
"Alright! Alright! I'll change back into my usual clothes!"
....
Rainbow Park.
Rainbow Park was another popular park in Magnolia, easily as famous as South Gate Park.
Aside from its beautifully sculpted artificial hills, it was entirely filled with cherry blossom trees.
The park was famously named for the radiant, rainbow-colored glow the trees emitted at night.
A gentle breeze brushed by, and pink cherry blossom petals drifted gracefully to the ground with the wind.
The Guild members who arrived at Rainbow Park couldn't help but marvel at the sight.
"What's going on here!"
"There's so much delicious food!"
"Grrrrrr~~"
Looking at the incredible variety of delicacies, Natsu's stomach had already started growling, and drool was dripping down his chin.
"Ah!!! Good thing I came here without eating this morning!"
Having been reminded by Kagura yesterday to save her appetite, Lucy had only drunk some water before coming.
Her eyes widened at the feast. "Dumplings! Fried chicken! Sushi!"
Raizel and the others who had gone shopping yesterday had arrived early to arrange for the staff to set up the venue and take inventory.
Originally, Raizel had asked Ultear and the others to purchase various foods, fruits, drinks, and desserts from different vendors in large quantities.
However, on the way, Ultear suddenly had a better thought: with Raizel's arrangement, they might as well just look for a catering buffet.
They quickly agreed and went to survey several buffet restaurants in Magnolia, choosing the most delicious one to be today's official food supplier for the Food BINGO.
Of course, it was the paid kind, but compared to Raizel's original plan of buying from everywhere individually, it was still much cheaper and highly efficient.
Over a dozen long tables were set with around a hundred types of food, featuring all the kinds of dishes you'd crave when hungry.
Raizel picked up a microphone and signaled the arriving members to draw lots from the box placed in front of Mira.
"Members who have just arrived, please draw lots and then take your seats."
"What a strange dining table. It's one thing to have partitions on both sides of the table," Lucy said, puzzled as she looked at the square grids formed by the crisscrossing wooden partitions on the table's surface.
She counted them carefully—thirty-six square grids in total.
Wendy, who had drawn the same group as Lucy, pointed at the massive spread of food on the long tables and said.
"I think they're probably for placing those foods."
Before long, all the members had arrived at Rainbow Park and taken their assigned seats.
As Mira took her seat, only one spot remained empty.
Raizel glanced over—to his left was Happy, and to his right was Macao.
Raizel picked up the microphone and tapped it twice before announcing, "Alright, I'll now explain today's BINGO game for everyone!"
"First, members whose drawn numbers end with 0 or 5, please come forward. From the 108 different food options available, select exactly 36 dishes you'd like to eat and bring them back here."
"The next group with numbers ending in 1 or 6 will go choose after them."
"However, you're not allowed to discuss what you've selected with anyone else!"
"After choosing your food, cover it with a cloth and return to your seat to arrange it yourself within your table's grid."
The guild members eagerly rushed to the buffet.
Kagura and Ultear mostly picked fresh fruits, while Natsu, unsurprisingly being a massive carnivore, immediately grabbed a huge fried chicken leg.
"Hmm, soufflé!!!" Erza kept nodding enthusiastically, piling sweets onto her tray.
Lucy, who was extremely hungry by now, kept exclaiming in amazement, her sounds of delight and her reaching hands never stopping.
"Ahhhhh!!! Sweet potato balls!"
"Good, all members have finished selecting!" Raizel declared once everyone was seated. "This game is called Gourmet BINGO."
Everyone had pretty much guessed the premise already, so they weren't too surprised, but they were still wildly excited about having so much food and cheered loudly.
"Now everyone can arrange your chosen 36 dishes according to the grid space on your table. Complete two BINGO lines to win. After getting two BINGO lines, shout 'BINGO' and you can step aside to the picnic area."
After speaking, Raizel quickly took his seat.
The pink cherry blossoms scattering over the dining tables added a unique, tranquil charm to the bustling atmosphere.
"Can BINGO be played like this now?" Macao marveled while meticulously arranging his dishes.
"I need to arrange them properly! Let's go!" Levy cheered herself on, analyzing her grid.
...
"Number one, Kagura, you may start eating." Makarov wasn't officially participating in the game, but that certainly didn't stop him from eating on the sidelines.
"If Kagura eats something that I also have, can I eat it too?" Gray raised his hand to ask.
"Yes!" Raizel shouted in response.
"Please give me some soy sauce!" Kagura raised her hand formally before even starting to eat.
"Um... we need some soy sauce over here." Makarov indicated they would fulfill all condiment requests, and soon the staff members brought it over.
"I want soda here!"
"Give me some chili sauce!"
The Guild members' orders suddenly multiplied as they prepared their dishes.
"I choose sashimi sushi!" Kagura announced, selecting the sashimi sushi she had strategically placed in the very center of her grid.
"Sashimi sushi!" Raizel also raised his plate and shouted, taking a bite. "After finishing the dish, you can put your empty plate down to mark the spot."
Quite a few people hadn't chosen sashimi sushi, groaning in disappointment.
"Spare ribs!" Natsu, who had drawn second, raised his meat-heavy plate.
There were many excited responses for spare ribs across the tables.
"What? So many people chose spare ribs?" Natsu was somewhat surprised that his favorite was so common.
"What are you talking about? How could anyone not eat such delicious spare ribs?" Gray said while happily swallowing a piece of rib.
"My turn! Grilled eel!" Third was Wakaba.
"Excellent!" The men all raised their hands and cheered, digging into their eel.
"Golden pomfret!" The fish specialist Happy applied for battle, holding up his prized catch!
"Ah... I don't like fish." Lucy looked around her table—she hadn't picked a single fish dish.
"Seafood ramen!" Raizel took his turn, first choosing the seafood ramen that was in the same column as his previously selected dish.
"Seafood ramen!" Laxus, who was sitting far away, also raised his bowl.
He commented that Raizel was too predictable, as Raizel frequently ate seafood ramen, especially the hellishly spicy kind.
"Bell pepper!" Macao raised the green pepper in his hand and shouted.
Macao's choice immediately provoked public outrage.
"Hey! Who eats bell peppers in this kind of contest?!"
"Will you stop at nothing to win?!"
Macao completely ignored the public resentment he caused. "Sorry, for Romeo, I must win!"
"Grapes!" Ultear chose next.
"Ehh?! Who starts with grapes right away!" Natsu yelled, expressing that he had absolutely no idea what fruit was doing in a feast.
Raizel, Erza, and Kagura, however, gladly began eating their grapes.
It was soon Erza's turn.
"Soufflé!" Erza wasn't aiming to win strategically at all; she was simply choosing her favorite dessert first.
"With so much meat available, you're still going for sweets?" someone yelled. "Do our tastes really differ that much?"
Wendy, much like Erza, chose a sweet treat next.
But considering it was the adorable Wendy, everyone collectively decided not to comment.
"My turn! Strawberries!" Lucy picked her strawberries.
"Finally, someone did!" Levy was overjoyed, having actively avoided all heavy sweets to maintain her figure.
Erza trained daily with high intensity, so sweets didn't make her gain weight, whereas Ultear had to watch her intake regularly.
"Quite a few people chose strawberries," someone observed.
"Aren't regular strawberries enough? You're still picking them now!" Laxus crossed his arms and complained from his table.
"Prawns!" Gray chose his next seafood.
"Your turn, stop complaining, Laxus!"
"Beer!" Laxus raised the massive mug he had placed right in the center of his grid.
"Are you insane?!"
"Starting with beer?!"
"There was beer there all along?!"
Laxus's bold choice drew even more outrage than Macao's bell peppers.
"Beer!" Macao, Wakaba, and Makarov—the three seasoned drinkers—raised their mugs in celebration, with Cana happily joining in.
"Raizel, you definitely don't have any, right? And I bet you've got coffee over there." Laxus downed his beer in one go and started mocking Raizel from across the park.
Raizel had no retort because Laxus was spot on—Raizel had indeed placed a cup of coffee on his board.
"I'll have chocolate." Lisanna picked up a piece of chocolate.
"Why are your food choices so weird!"
"You're supposed to be thinking about completing a line, not just picking randomly!"
"Can you stop just choosing what you feel like eating?!"
Lisanna was laughing so hard at everyone's exasperated complaints that tears nearly welled up in her eyes.
"Aye! Sashimi!" Happy stayed true to form, picking another fish.
"Sashimi!"
Sashimi was a highly popular choice; being a coastal town, Magnolia had many sashimi lovers.
After one full round of turns, Raizel was only one spot away from completing a line in the top left corner.
"Everyone, we've got to have this one! Fried chicken leg!" Raizel held up a crispy drumstick.
He wasn't particularly keen on choosing it, but he was just one square away from a BINGO.
"Fried chicken leg!!!" Natsu and Gray expressed their loud approval, devouring their meat.
"My turn, something everyone likes! Lettuce!" Mira chose to go the herbivore route.
"Lettuce!!!" Mostly the girls picked it, like Juvia, Bisca, Levy, and Ultear.
The guys, for the most part, had zero lettuce on their cards and groaned.
Ultear chose tomatoes next.
Raizel scratched his cheek; he wasn't fond of tomatoes and had guessed Ultear would pick them, so he ultimately gave up on trying to complete that specific line.
"Steak!"
"Steak is great! Thanks, Erza! Now that's real food!"
The carnivores thanked Erza enthusiastically as they bit into their beef.
"Tamagoyaki!" someone shouted from the back.
"This time, I'll go for something common, something everyone likes," Laxus made his grand declaration on his next turn.
"Red wine!"
"Nani?!"
"You call that common!"
"No one has that, red wine!"
Despite the complaints, Laxus looked thoroughly satisfied as he took a sip.
"Everyone loves it! Grilled beef skewers!!!" Natsu raised his meat skewer triumphantly.
"Is it my turn again? Coffee!" Raizel checked the board before making his choice.
With coffee selected and finished, he only needed two more items to complete a different line.
"Prawns!" Ultear called out, finishing her dish and effectively completing a row.
"Prawns!" Raizel nodded, pleased he'd guessed correctly that Ultear would pick them, as she often ate prawns.
"Roast duck!!!" Erza shouted.
As soon as she finished the dish, she jumped up.
"I got BINGO!" Erza was the first to complete two lines—one diagonal and one horizontal.
"Even luck requires training to obtain! Where's the prize, where's the prize?" she asked eagerly.
Raizel had bought the prizes separately, so even Erza didn't know what they were yet.
"You'll have to wait until the top three winners are determined."
"Tuna!!!" Happy chose fish yet again.
"Tuna! I got BINGO too!" Raizel finished his tuna and immediately completed two BINGO lines.
Even if Happy hadn't chosen tuna, Raizel's board was set up so he could have completed his lines with other choices.
"I'll forfeit the second-place prize, so third and fourth place can move up. Everyone, hurry up!" Raizel announced, stepping away from the table.
"Pizza! BINGO!!!" Wendy cheered happily after eating her slice of pizza.
...
Thus, the top three winners were officially determined: Erza, Raizel (who forfeited), and Wendy.
The game could continue, however, as the person in last place would face a dreaded punishment.
The three BINGO winners kept eating for fun, gathering their remaining food and selecting a few more items from the buffet before spreading out a picnic blanket under a cherry tree to watch the others struggle.
"This spectator perspective isn't bad at all," Raizel nodded approvingly, taking a sip of his coffee.
"BINGO!" came a shout from Laxus.
"I don't want the prize either, pass it along," said Laxus, who was technically fourth but chose to forfeit the prize just like Raizel had.
"What a pity, I really wanted to see Laxus get punished," everyone expressed their collective disappointment.
Laxus had successfully provoked collective annoyance once again!
"If I'd known you'd be like this, I wouldn't have forfeited!" Laxus grumbled.
"Apple! BINGO!"
After getting BINGO, Mira happily joined Raizel's spectator group.
"I'll choose... fried rice! BINGO!" Natsu hesitated briefly between two possible BINGO options before settling on the fried rice to secure his safety.
"Tomato pasta! BINGO!" Ultear breathed a heavy sigh of relief—at least she wouldn't face punishment now.
Who knew what twisted ideas Makarov might have for the loser?
Makarov was sweating nervously... there weren't many players left on the field now.
"My turn! Pineapple! BINGO!" Kagura, who rarely showed such outward excitement, raised her arms triumphantly after completing her board.
Happy, who had stubbornly chosen many types of fish, now faced a career crisis as his board was a mess.
"Bacon! BINGO!" Carla announced calmly.
The final two players remaining were one human and one cat: Makarov and Happy.
Makarov suddenly felt a lot less nervous, mainly because he'd had an epiphany.
Originally, Makarov had decided the loser's punishment would be cross-dressing and dancing for the guild, but since he hadn't formally announced it yet...
He was the Guild Master; he could say whatever he wanted!
He could definitely come up with a punishment that wouldn't be so embarrassing if he lost.
"BINGO!" Makarov claimed victory at the absolute last moment, wiping his brow.
"Why did it have to be me who ended up last..." Happy muttered gloomily while drawing depressed circles in the dirt in the corner.
"You're the one who chose so many specific fish," Carla shook her head helplessly.
Raizel, having eaten his fill, stood up from the picnic blanket and walked over to Makarov, taking the microphone he offered.
"Alright, the top three have been decided: Erza, Wendy, and Kagura!"
"The final prize is a custom-made outfit from Magnolia's most famous clothing store!"
Raizel didn't keep everyone in suspense, nor was it any impossibly extraordinary prize.
He knew the prize needed to suit men, women, young, and old alike.
After much thought, Raizel had decided that high-end custom clothing would be the simplest and most universally appreciated reward.
"Now, please enjoy the rest of the food and drinks, and admire tonight's Rainbow Cherry Blossoms!!!"
---------
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