"Hey, hey, hey! You brats from Sabertooth, don't get so cocky!"
"Pretty boys from the Mage guild, ever seen muscles like these? Huh?"
Ankh glanced over and saw a group of burly men surrounding a table, taunting two young men who were eating.
The restaurant boss hurried over with a forced smile to mediate, but the lead thug shoved him away and roared:
"And you! Why do these two from Sabertooth get a discount, but we don't? Looking down on us from the Southern Wolves, are you?"
The thug was practically spraying saliva as he yelled.
The helpless boss, too intimidated to fight back, explained.
"You misunderstand... These two are regular customers during every Grand Magic Games, so I gave them a personal discount. I meant no disrespect..."
"Southern Wolves... I think they're a mercenary guild, right?" Gajeel mumbled around a piece of meat he'd speared with his fork.
Mirajane nodded. "Natsu and Lucy encountered their members on a mission before. Their attitude was terrible then too."
"The conflict between mercenary guilds and Mage guilds is nothing new," Ankh remarked, crossing his arms as he watched.
"Those Southern Wolves guys are probably jealous of how well Mage guilds have been developing. The kingdom even hosts the Grand Magic Games as a national festival now. They likely came to the capital specifically to pick a fight."
Mirajane hesitated, "Then... should we help? They are fellow Mages after all."
Ankh shook his head. "Those two probably don't need our help."
At the center of the commotion, one of the previously silent young men finally stood up.
His golden hair was striking, his face filled with contempt as he raised his hand. A brilliant white light flashed.
BOOM!
The thug who had been shouting at the boss was sent flying like a broken kite, smashed through the doorway by a streak of white light before crashing onto the street.
The golden-haired youth chuckled, his body glowing with white light before he vanished from sight.
The other mercenaries in the restaurant were tossed out onto the street like trash, and he stood mockingly in front of them, laughing:
"Come on, since you dared to pick a fight on the day when Mage guilds are gathered, let me see what confidence you have."
Inside the restaurant, the blond youth's companion was still leisurely eating his food.
After a short while, this gloomy young man wiped his mouth, placed money on the table, and said to the terrified boss:
"This is for the meal, plus compensation for the door repair. Sorry for the trouble."
The boss stared blankly and responded, "Yes... it's fine."
The gloomy young man nodded, then walked out onto the street, standing beside his companion.
"Quite polite," Ankh commented.
Gajeel felt there was something strange about the scent of those two guys, wondering aloud, "Who are those two? Their Magic Power feels different from those lackeys."
Because his knowledge of the plot from his previous life only extended up to Tenrou Island, Ankh had lost his ability to foresee the future.
From now on, he would need to be cautious with every step.
So before participating in the competition, Ankh had investigated the noteworthy participants in the Grand Magic Games.
He replied, "The 'Twin Dragons' of Sabertooth—White Dragon Sting and Shadow Dragon Rogue."
Gajeel froze for a moment. "Dragon Slayer Mages?"
"They're called the new generation of Dragon Slayer Mages. The entire population of Fiore worships the 'Twin Dragons' combination, and their popularity is no less than yours and Natsu's back in the day."
Ankh chuckled teasingly, seeing Gajeel's face darken.
Never mind why he was being compared to the Fire Dragon, but these two guys calling themselves the new generation of Dragon Slayer Mages?
Ridiculous.
He wasn't dead yet!
Outside, the battle between the Mage guild and the mercenary guild quickly came to an end.
Clearly, in this world, the mercenary warriors' proud martial skills and physical prowess were useless against truly high-level Mages.
The glow on Sting's fist faded as he stepped on the brawny man who had been shouting earlier, sneering:
"Weren't you going to show me how powerful mercenaries are?"
"Bunch of trash."
"Sting-kun! Rogue-kun!"
Just after Sting and Rogue finished the battle, two small Exceeds came running over.
The cat with red fur, looking like a cocky little kid and wearing a small jacket, ran to Sting's feet and said with a laugh.
"Really, Sting-kun, after dinner you should hurry back to the inn. Rufus and the others have been waiting for a long time."
The other one, wearing a frog-like onesie and looking adorably dumb, raised a hand and chimed in, "Frosch thinks so too!"
Seeing Frosch, Rogue's cold facial features seemed to soften. Sting flexed his wrist, preparing to wrap things up and leave.
"What's going on? What's going on?!"
Just then, from among the crowd of onlookers, a young man with cherry blossom-colored hair rushed out and fell to the ground.
When Sting saw the young man's face, his expression froze. Rogue also recognized the other party, exclaiming in surprise:
"Natsu Dragneel?"
Natsu froze for a moment, while Happy beside him was startled by the two cats across from them.
Lector pointed at Happy and said with dissatisfaction, "What's this? There's a cat here with a useless look on its face."
The simple-minded Frosch, following Lector's lead, chimed in with a foolish grin, "Useless."
Happy clutched his head in shock, exclaiming, "They can speak human language!"
Lucy, who was following behind Natsu, felt speechless. "Should I even bother reacting to that?"
Noticing that the Twin Dragons seemed to recognize him, Natsu frowned and asked, "Who are you guys?"
The surrounding onlookers erupted in uproar, finding it ridiculous that a Mage from Fiore wouldn't recognize the Twin Dragons.
"So it's true that you're participating in the Grand Magic Games!"
Excitement flashed in Sting's eyes, though his expression remained arrogant and haughty.
Natsu stood up, dusted himself off, unfazed by the surrounding mockery and the Twin Dragons' imposing presence, and asked in confusion.
"Do you know me?"
"Acnologia."
At the mention of that name, Natsu's pupils contracted.
Sting's arrogant voice rang in his ears: "As a Dragon Slayer Mage, you can't even kill a dragon. And that senior of yours who tried to take on the Black Dragon alone and nearly ended up crippled... How pathetic."
"Natsu Dragneel, with that level of skill..."
Sting leaned closer to Natsu, his eyes taunting as he said, "Do you even deserve to call yourself a Dragon Slayer Mage?"
BOOM!!
Sting, who had only intended to boast about his own dragon-slaying achievements, never expected that after just a couple of sentences, the other party wouldn't even bother asking questions—instead, a scorching iron fist slammed into his face!
Sting cried out in pain as his body crashed into Rogue behind him.
The two of them shot like arrows into a distant wall, sending up a cloud of dust.
Natsu's eyes were icy cold. In the dead silence, he extinguished the flames on his fist and spoke.
"Have you seen for yourself whether I deserve the title of Dragon Slayer Mage?"
"If you can't even react to a punch like that, where does a guy like you get the nerve to insult Ankh?"
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