The match between Minerva and Millianna had both the commentators and the audience very interested.
"This is a wonderful match between two beauties!"
'It could barely be considered a match,' Raizel thought.
"Who do you think will win, Mr. Yajima?"
Yajima pinched his chin, pondered for a moment, and said, "Millianna is a bit older and more experienced, so I might lean slightly towards her."
The same question arose on the Sabertooth spectator stands, with Frosch asking Lector.
"Is that even a question?! Of course it's Lady Minerva!" Lector answered indignantly from the Sabertooth stands.
"How can you not understand something so obvious!"
"Frosch thinks so too."
...
The battle between Minerva and Millianna was decided very quickly.
Millianna's iron fans and close-combat skills were superb.
Her fans concealed lethal hidden weapons, which she used to ambush Minerva at close range with devastating speed.
But unfortunately, she was fighting Minerva. The magic Minerva used was a high-level Spatial Magic called Territory, allowing her to manipulate the space around her at will.
Millianna's hidden weapons were teleported away before they could even touch Minerva.
She also used her confining spatial pockets to rapidly drain Millianna's magical reserves.
Thus, Mermaid Heel's ace, who relied heavily on magical power to enhance her strikes, suffered a crushing defeat.
Sabertooth had finally bared its fierce fangs for the first time in the tournament.
Raizel wasn't very interested in the match itself, but he made an unexpected discovery.
The young lady's personality didn't seem to have been twisted by her abusive father, Jiemma, yet.
At least for now, she wasn't ruthlessly cruel.
She merely rendered Millianna incapable of fighting, securing victory without resorting to the brutal torture she was known for in the original timeline.
Mavis commented, "She's quite skilled for her age, and her magic is very rare."
"The second day's matches have concluded! First and second place are still held by Fairy Tail! Originally third-placed Blue Pegasus has been overtaken, the Croix Knights are now in third place! Sabertooth currently has 22 points, ranking fourth!" Chapati Lola announced.
"The competition is getting more and more interesting."
"COOL!!! The matches are so COOL!"
...
At the Tavern —
Members who didn't have to compete tomorrow were thoroughly drunk, some even sleeping directly on the sticky floor.
Others were talking in their sleep.
Besides them, there were two 'uninvited guests'—Bacchus, who came over to drink with them, and Jenny, who was currently pestering Laxus with all sorts of questions at a corner table.
Jenny seemed very eager, while Laxus drank casually and chatted with her loosely.
To call it a chat was generous, mostly, Jenny asked rapid-fire questions, and Laxus gave one-word answers.
For the questions he ignored, Jenny would just answer them herself.
Who knows how her obsessive fans would feel if they knew Jenny sought him out at a dive bar right after her match.
As for Raizel and Ultear... they were all ears, blatantly eavesdropping.
'Gossip is delightful.'
Bacchus proceeded to drink the guild's old drunks under the table, successfully taking out Macao, Wakaba, and Makarov.
"The soul is always WILD!" Bacchus took a massive swig of his drink and raised his head.
"FOUR!!!" Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and even Wendy shouted in unison.
They were shouting with great enthusiasm, completely caught up in the drunken moment!
Bacchus was quite satisfied with their energy. "Hahaha!!! You guys are really fired up!"
"They're really noisy..." Raizel dug at his ear and shook his head helplessly. T
he yelling was affecting his ability to listen to Laxus's gossip.
"Well, as long as they're happy," Mira replied with a squinting smile.
"I should head back now, Kagura. You're strong—I look forward to our next match." Bacchus turned around, gave a thumbs-up, and staggered drunkenly out of the tavern.
Kagura didn't drink alcohol.
Influenced deeply by Raizel, she usually preferred tea. Unless it was a special occasion like Christmas, she generally avoided the booze.
Knock knock knock.
While they were chatting, the tavern door was knocked on. Appearing before everyone were Jura, Lyon, Sherry, and Sherry's cousin, Sherria.
"Sorry to disturb you so late at night. Our apologies."
"Not at all, you're welcome. Please, have a seat."
"So you finally decided to come back, Lyon." Gray walked straight up to his rival.
Lyon had only returned briefly last night to see Ur before leaving again.
When he arrived yesterday evening, the group was already completely drunk, so he didn't bother greeting anyone.
After taking a sip of tea, Jura looked toward Ur. "We came here tonight because we have something we'd like to ask you, Lady Ur."
"Oh?" Ur looked puzzled.
"You see, my Rock Magic allows me to freely harden and soften objects. It involves certain control techniques and secret methods. Lyon has incredible talent in this area, and I'd like to teach him. But he insisted that he must first get permission from his teacher—that is, you, Lady Ur."
Lyon, who had been catching up with Gray, turned his gaze toward Ur.
Ur immediately nodded. "I agree. Why wouldn't I? There's nothing wrong with him learning from you, Master Jura."
Jura stroked his beard and laughed heartily before raising his teacup.
"Hahaha, I toast to you, Lady Ur."
Jura and the others didn't stay long—after chatting for about half an hour, they left.
During the visit, Juvia's heart and eyes were completely focused on Gray, while Sherry's heart and eyes were entirely on Lyon.
At first, the two women thought they were rivals in love and regarded each other with hostility.
But as they watched the boys interact, they felt like they should have met sooner, and even wished they could become sworn sisters on the spot.
Eventually, they started whispering and scheming together in the corner.
Sherria and Wendy got along quite well, and when it was time to leave, Sherria seemed reluctant.
She even invited Wendy to visit her at Lamia Scale whenever she had time.
Sherria was nine years old this year and had already mastered Sky God Slayer Magic—a promising talent for the future.
Raizel observed Sherry and Juvia, then Sherria and Wendy, and suddenly noticed a similarity.
"You know, their hair colors are also red and blue..."
"That's true," Ultear and Erza nodded in agreement.
"Our character designs are overlapping!!!" Juvia belatedly covered her cheeks and exclaimed in horror.
...
"The Grand Magic Games have finally reached the third day!"
On this day, Chapati Lola had changed his hairstyle again—this time to long, flowing golden hair.
Raizel could only comment that it didn't really suit him at all.
Of course, Chapati Lola had no way of knowing Raizel's opinion, and he continued enthusiastically.
"We're now entering the mid-game battles!"
Yajima continued with a laugh, "I wonder what kind of fiery spectacle we'll get to see today."
"Our guest for today is Mr. Laharl from the Magic Council! Let's welcome him!"
"It's been a while," Yajima turned to look at Laharl.
Laharl gave a slight, formal nod. "I look forward to working with both of you."
"Mr. Laharl serves as the captain of the Forcible Detainment Unit, is that correct?"
"Yes, and I won't tolerate any illegal activities during the tournament," Laharl joked dryly.
The audience caught on to his deadpan humor.
"HAHAHA!!!"
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