The next day, the guild seemed to have returned to its usual self. There was drinking, playing, rowdiness, and the occasional settling of scores. Under the combined threats of Mirajane and Erza, Chen Fan had been forced to put on a pair of cat ears.
The two women were deathly excited; they had originally planned to force him into a dress and a skirt, but Chen Fan would never agree to that. If he wore something like that, where would his dignity as a man go?
However, his overbearing aura didn't last long before he was subdued by Mira and Erza. The two of them were completely shameless, standing at the door and shouting, "Help! Indecency! Harassment!"
Just as a crowd of guild members was about to rush over in righteous indignation, Chen Fan quickly begged for mercy. He was forced into the cat ears and even had a few photos taken. Now, Chen Fan was slumped over a table, sobbing. Seeing him so heartbroken, the others actually found it quite satisfying.
Still, appearances had to be maintained. One by one, they walked over to him, giving him encouraging looks, which only made Chen Fan cry harder and the others laugh louder.
Of course, not everyone was there to mock him. Lucy sat in a chair, her arms on the table and her face resting in her hands, her pout reaching high. Cana was even more extreme, hoisting a massive wine barrel and guzzling it down non-stop.
"Alright, that's enough messing around," Erza said, clapping her hands. Despite her words, everyone could see the smug satisfaction at the corner of her mouth. Realizing she needed to maintain her image, Erza cleared her throat. "Ahem. Luckily, no one was too seriously injured this time, and the city was protected. This is thanks to everyone's hard work."
"Yeah!" Erza's words triggered a wave of cheering.
"But under these circumstances, are we really going to hold Fantasia?" Lucy asked from the side.
"It's the Master's wish," Mira explained. "He believes that because of the situation, we need it more than ever."
"Juvia also hopes to see Fantasia," Juvia added.
"You're part of the performance too, young lady," Cana remarked. Her face was flushed red and she was talking nonsense; it seemed she had drunk too much too quickly and was a bit tipsy.
"Oh...?" Juvia was startled.
"That's right, it's decided," Macao and Wakaba, the two old lechers, scurried out.
"But Juvia only joined the guild recently." Juvia retreated to a corner, drawing circles on the wall with her finger. "I really can't tell if she's worried or happy."
"It's all the same anyway."
"How cute."
Happy appeared out of nowhere, a fish clamped in his mouth, mumbling, "There are a lot of injured people, so everyone who can still move has to participate."
"Does that mean me too...?" Lucy pointed at herself, looking a bit excited.
"I can't tell if you're happy or worried either. Well, those guys certainly can't participate," Gray said, pointing at Natsu and Gajeel.
"True!"
Natsu and Gajeel were currently sitting in chairs, covered head-to-toe in bandages. They had some terrible luck; while running out of the guild after Chen Fan, they had stepped right into one of Freed's Jutsu Shiki. The trap, combined with their old and new grudges, led to a fight that left them in their current state.
Hearing Gray, Gajeel snapped, "Don't say it like that!"
"Mmmph... mmmph..." Natsu tried to speak, but with his mouth wrapped in bandages, no one could understand a word.
"I have no idea what he's saying."
"Well, I bet it's nothing important," Lucy and Happy said in unison.
"Impossible. How can trash like you participate?" Gajeel sneered at Natsu. Natsu responded with a muffled "Mmmph!"
"That has nothing to do with it! Are you a demon?" Gajeel argued back.
Watching the two of them "converse," black lines appeared on Lucy's forehead. "How can he even understand him?"
"It must be because it's an unimportant conversation," Happy deadpanned.
"You make these cold-hearted remarks so often, it's scary," Lucy complained.
Seeing everyone joking around, Erza felt relieved. She thought to herself that the guild's internal strife was finally, temporarily, resolved.
Suddenly, the guild went silent. Laxus was walking down the stairs from the second floor. The tap-tap of his footsteps echoed as everyone watched him descend.
"Laxus!" someone shouted. It was like a stone dropped into a calm pond, sending ripples through the room. Everyone rushed toward him, yelling, "You still have the nerve to show your face!"
"Look at the mess you made of the guild!"
"So many people were hurt because of you!"
Laxus acted as if he couldn't hear them.
Swish! Natsu suddenly lunged in front of Laxus, pointing his finger and mumbling through his bandages. The sight of it silenced the people who were scolding Laxus, leaving them petrified.
Gajeel hobbled over on his crutch. Lucy turned to him. "Alright, you translate."
"He says the battle isn't over yet."
"Mmmph mmmph!"
"He says his luck was bad and he didn't make it in time, but he'll definitely do it again. He claims the title of Fairy Tail's strongest belongs to him. Tsk, he sure talks big," Gajeel muttered the last part under his breath.
Natsu heard him and lunged at Gajeel. "Mmmph mmmph!"
"You dare say that again?!"
"Mmmph!"
"You want to fight?!"
"Mmmph!" The incomprehensible argument resumed.
Laxus looked around the room. Because his behavior was so uncharacteristically quiet, no one spoke. Seeing Chen Fan still "playing dead" on the table, Laxus gave a helpless smile. That single smile stunned everyone into silence. Even Natsu and Gajeel stopped their bickering. Everyone watched Laxus walk toward the door step by step. With his back to them, he raised a hand in a wave and left.
Once Laxus was gone, the guild became rowdy again, as if the last few minutes had been an illusion. In truth, they simply didn't want to believe what they had seen.
Clap, clap! Erza clapped her hands and announced, "Alright, everyone, start preparing for Fantasia tonight!"
"Yeah!" came the collective response.
Erza suddenly spotted Chen Fan still crying on the table and felt a surge of irritation. Thwack!
"Ow!"
"Get up and help everyone prepare! Stop crying, you're annoying me!" Erza roared at him.
"Waaaah! Erza, if I can't get married because of this, you have to take responsibility for me!" Chen Fan sobbed.
"Res... Responsibility?! What responsibility should I take for you? I haven't even asked you to take responsibility for me yet!" Erza shouted at the top of her lungs. The moment the words left her mouth, Chen Fan realized things were about to go south.
Sure enough, the guild hall went deathly silent. Chen Fan buried his face in his hands. At a time like this, there was only one thing to do: use the best of the thirty-six stratagemsrun.
Swish! Chen Fan vanished from the guild. It took a moment for the others to react. Boom! Someone kicked a table over and roared, "What the hell did that bastard Chen Fan do to our Queen to make her talk about 'responsibility'?!"
"I'm going to kill him!" Everyone began charging up their deadliest moves. A mob armed with kitchen knives rushed out the door, looking more terrifying than the guild's internal war had.
The citizens on the street were startled, but no one dared complain, fearing the wrath of the rampaging mages.
Eventually, Erza stopped them, using the preparations for Fantasia as an excuse. Combined with the fact that no one knew where Chen Fan had hidden himself, they eventually let it go.
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