Kana, after receiving treatment from Wendy and Sherria, quickly recovered and headed to the tavern full of energy.
——Sherria had originally come to go out with Wendy for some desserts.
Although she got injured today, she has already healed herself.
Her magic power and stamina were severely depleted, but Rhode helped restore her magic power, and Wendy helped recover some of her stamina.
So not only could she come out to play, but she could also help treat some of the injured.
Rhode went to find Mira, and the couple took a pair of little girls out shopping.
Wendy and Sherria held hands and ran ahead, stopping occasionally, while Rhode and Mira followed behind, hand-in-hand at a leisurely pace, stopping occasionally to pay.
The four people with four different hair colors somehow gave off the feeling of a family of four.
Before they left, Elfman wanted to say he was a bit worried about his sister, but looking at the three companions, one was a strong fighter, and the other two were excellent healers, so he had nothing more to say.
Besides, his sister was only a little more than a month pregnant, and she could still pin him down with one hand.
"Do you want to eat this one or this one?"
Mira looked at Rhode's left hand holding a bag of sour plums and his right hand holding a bag of spicy small fish snacks, puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Rhode chuckled: "Sour for a boy, spicy for a girl, a saying without any scientific basis."
Mira thought for a moment and asked: "What if I want both?"
"That's great, twins!" Rhode chuckled as he paid.
Wendy and Sherria stayed away, as the two little girls were afraid of sour and spicy foods.
Carla came over, complaining that Wendy had sneaked out after the competition without saying goodbye.
Wendy enthusiastically introduced Carla to Sherria, adding another cat-eared girl to their group.
The five of them shopped to their heart's content before heading back.
As expected, Fairy Tail was having a celebration, with Kana being toasted by a group of people for her great performance today.
This girl accepted every challenge, holding a barrel of alcohol, and single-handedly faced down more than a dozen people without faltering.
Meanwhile, Gajeel was being laughed at.
The reason for the laughter was 'because his bad luck caused Team B to not maintain a perfect score'.
Gajeel was very depressed.
If they were mocking his strength, he could have countered with the names of Jura and Erza, but mocking luck...
All he could do was chew his knife and fork noisily.
Only Li Li and Reby comforted him, telling him not to mind and to perform well next time.
Macao and Wakaba, these two uncles, were initially fulfilling their duties as elders, chatting with Lucy's father, Jude.
At first, everything was quite serious, but later on, perhaps because they had a few drinks, or because they've been celebrating these past few days, they started treating the place like a guild.
Macao quickly showed his true colors and said sneakily: "Do you know? Today, the guidebook for the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts came out."
Jude was a bit puzzled: "What's that?"
Wakaba explained: "It's a special issue released by Weekly Sorashara during the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, with evaluations of each participating team and contestant."
Jude thought for a moment: "Sorashara… that's the newspaper of the reporter who came yesterday, right?"
He was somewhat looking forward to the evaluation of Lucy.
However, Macao's focus wasn't there. He opened the magazine in his hand like a treasure: "Look here! It's Blue Pegasus Jenny's latest photo on the cover!"
"Oh~ oh~ not bad!" Wakaba's eyes turned into hearts, and even his smoke rings turned into pink hearts.
Jude: "..."
Is this what Lucy meant by reliable seniors in the guild?
Rhode glanced over at the commotion from a distance, thinking it was just Jenny in a swimsuit, nothing special. (The illustration was scrapped)
Mira had mentioned wanting to take him to the magazine office to see Jenny's photo shoot… yet it never happened, liar.
After nightfall, everyone returned to their lodgings to rest.
But the Sin of the Witch was still busy in the night.
"It can't be wrong, they should have been right here just now."
Cobra Eric, along with Ultear, tracked to a small village near the Royal Capital.
But that person had already disappeared without a trace.
They searched everywhere.
At some moment, Ultear suddenly looked up: "It's appeared again! Still in the direction of the Royal Capital!"
She ran while using a crystal ball to contact others, everyone converging from all directions.
"Damn! They run so fast!" Eric complained, hurrying with Ultear toward the Royal Capital.
Kulokas' night wasn't dark; during the festival, many shops stayed open until dawn.
The streets were lit up all night.
Ultear and Eric blocked both ends of a small alley, cautiously moving toward the center.
The figure in the alley seemed to notice someone was following, tugging at their cloak and jogging forward with a slight stagger.
"Don't think about running anymore!" Eric suddenly jumped out, grabbing the person's left wrist, twisting it behind their back, and pinning them against the wall.
"Ah…" The person tilted their head, letting out a cry of pain, sounding like a woman.
Eric saw Ultear arriving from the other side, reaching out to remove the person's hood: "Let me see who you really are!"
A head of golden hair cascaded down like water, leaving Ultear and Eric stunned. "You… how could it be you?"
Eric's hand unconsciously loosened.
This face, unmistakably Lucy! Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail!
Lucy also finally saw their faces: "Ultear? And… Cobra? Why are you…"
A moment later, she seemed to remember something:
"Ah, right, Ultear helped us unlock the Second Magic Source, then asked us to investigate some strange magic power… but why are you with Cobra, did he escape?"
Ultear pressed a crystal ball against Lucy's throat, pinning her back against the wall: "Although I know the method, I never helped Lucy unlock the Second Magic Source! You're not Lucy! Who are you?"
"Cough, cough…" Lucy coughed a few times due to her sudden movement and said, "What are you talking about? Before the competition, you, Melty, and Jellal found us and helped us unlock the Second Magic Source…"
"Not willing to tell the truth?" Ultear frowned, pondering whether to use interrogation methods.
Eric, however, grabbed Ultear's wrist, his face filled with shock: "Wait a minute, I can tell, she's… telling the truth."
Ultear was surprised: "How is that possible?"
Eric asked: "Hey, what's your impression of me?"
"Impression?" Lucy felt something was wrong, but in order to prove her identity, she had to answer, "Poison Dragon, one of the Oracion Seis, imprisoned in the Council's jail after being defeated by the alliance of four guilds."
"Four guilds?"
"Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Cat Transformation Inn."
Eric said to Ultear: "Clearly it's three guilds, but… she's telling the truth again!"
Ultear pondered: "Is it a memory issue?"