"So that's what you were upset about?"
The corner of Shane's mouth twitched as he looked at Erza's expression of utter heartbreak, as if she had just lost the love of her life.
"We came to take down a dark guild, didn't we? Or are we in Onibus for a picnic?"
"That's not the same thing."
Erza rebutted him with complete seriousness, her crimson hair swaying slightly with the movement.
"You need a full stomach to fight properly. And besides, I only just got that stove recently. Its heat output is much better than an ordinary—"
"Alright, stop."
Shane raised a hand decisively and cut off the girl, who clearly had some kind of bizarre compulsion to drag her entire house with her whenever she went anywhere.
He truly did not have the energy to listen to her lecture him on kitchen equipment.
Ignoring Erza's wounded look, he turned and pushed open the inn's front door.
Creak—
The hinges turned.
After all the travel, night had quietly fallen over Onibus.
Unlike the laid-back evenings in Magnolia, the night life in this city of theaters was only just beginning.
Neon lights flashed. The sound of orchestral music drifting from the distant playhouses mixed with the noise of street performers, wrapping the city in a layer of glittering, gaudy gold.
"There's no need to rush."
Standing on the steps, Shane closed his eyes briefly and answered Mira's earlier question about why he had let the men tailing them go.
In his sensory world, the noisy hum of the city gradually faded away.
That tiny spark of Heart Flame he had planted was now moving quickly toward the edge of the city like a firefly in the dark.
"If we grabbed them in the street, it would cause too much commotion and might bring the city guards down on us."
Shane opened his eyes, his tone unhurried.
"And small fry like that, the kind who just do the watching, usually don't have any worthwhile information. Spending effort interrogating them isn't worth it."
He turned around and beckoned to the girls behind him, each occupied with her own thoughts.
"Now that they've set their sights on us as 'fat sheep,' they'll definitely rush back to report in and claim credit."
"All we have to do is follow them and let them lead the way."
"We trace them straight back to their nest and wipe out all the rats hiding in the gutter in one go… isn't that better?"
The three of them left the bustling main streets and followed at a careful distance in the direction of the signal.
To avoid alarming their prey, they blended into the foot traffic and looked no different from ordinary visitors.
"Hey, Shane."
Mira, who had been quiet until now, quickened her pace by two steps and lowered her voice.
"The inn we picked may have looked fancy, but it's in a part of town where all kinds of people mix together."
"The fact that they have so many eyes planted near the station means they've already infiltrated this whole area."
"This isn't some normal gang of petty thugs."
She raised her head, her tone certain.
"They've already formed a mature system for spotting rich targets and gathering information. This thieves' ring has to be pretty big."
Shane stopped in surprise and turned to stare at her.
The look in his eyes was full of disbelief, like he was looking at a gorilla that had suddenly learned calculus.
"What's with that look? Why are you looking at me like I'm an idiot?"
Mira narrowed her eyes, her tone instantly turning dangerous, like she might attack if he said one wrong word.
"Don't tell me you always thought I was the kind of person who only knows how to fight and has no brain?"
He didn't say anything, but the expression on his face—so you finally figured that out?—said more than enough.
"You bastard…!!"
Mira exploded on the spot.
Grinding her little canine teeth, she bared them and lunged at his face as if she were about to bite him.
"Oh."
Shane had already seen it coming. He calmly and cooperatively held out his right hand toward her mouth, as if nobly offering himself up.
"Ew—"
A look of disgust flashed across Mira's face, like she had just seen something filthy.
"Who wants to bite your dirty hand? You were holding that thing earlier… you haven't even washed it, have you!"
Even though it had been her own sock, Mira clearly had no intention of passing up any chance to attack Shane.
Even if it was the kind of attack that hurt her just as much as it hurt him.
Shane shrugged and pulled his hand back with a look of regret.
But the next second, he twisted his wrist, grabbed Mira's smooth silver ponytail, and began ruthlessly rubbing her head like he was scrubbing down a large dog.
"If you're not going to bite, then it's my turn."
"Huh? Wait! What are you doing?!"
"As your master, of course I'm giving my student some loving encouragement."
Shane flashed a wicked grin.
"That was a pretty decent analysis just now. You've improved. You deserve praise."
"Ahhh! Let go! My hair! You messed up my hair!!"
To his surprise, the girl cared a great deal about her hair, and immediately let out a shriek.
Furious, she tried to fight back, but under Shane's D+ Strength, her resistance was as useless as an ant trying to shake a tree.
Only after rubbing her beautiful silver hair into a complete bird's nest did Shane finally let go, fully satisfied.
"There. That looks much better."
"Shane—!!"
Mira, her hair a complete mess, was now red-faced with rage.
Just as she was about to throw herself at him and fight this worthless excuse for a master to the death—
"Stop moving."
A pair of arms suddenly came around from behind and locked firmly around her waist.
Expressionless, Erza held the flailing Mira in place. No matter how hard the girl struggled, she couldn't move an inch.
"Let me go! You stupid muscle-brained woman! I'm going to kill him!"
Erza didn't even glance down at the girl thrashing in her arms. She suppressed her one-handed and kept her attention fixed sharply on the crowds around them.
"Another group just came this way. They're probably more of the same people."
At that point, Erza had fully entered mission mode. The earlier disappointment about not bringing her luggage was completely gone. Her gaze was calm and professional.
"Well, of course they wouldn't only be watching one inn. Big fish usually swim all over the deep water."
Shane thought that was perfectly normal.
He flicked Mira lightly on the forehead to quiet her down, then quickened his pace.
They wound through one turn after another, following the marker and gradually moving farther from the lively city center.
The buildings around them grew older and more run-down, and the number of pedestrians dwindled.
Eventually, they arrived at the mouth of a secluded alley on the edge of the city.
It was like the ugly underside of the city's glamorous face.
Though the streets outside were still brightly lit, this place was cold, damp, and permanently dark because the towering illegal buildings above blocked out the sky.
"There are lookouts."
The moment they stepped into the alley, Erza frowned and stopped.
Her swordswoman's instincts had already picked up several suppressed breaths nearby.
"It's fine. No need to get tense."
Shane waved a hand casually and pointed toward a few unremarkable corners.
"There, there, and over there."
"Three of them. Triangular cross-positioning."
"How can you tell?"
Mira still hadn't managed to fix her hair, and she sounded unconvinced.
She knew Shane wasn't especially good at this kind of detection magic—and besides, he hadn't even opened those flaming "eyes" of his.
But Erza didn't care in the slightest.
Because she trusted Shane absolutely, the moment he identified the positions, the red-haired girl vanished from where she stood.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Almost at the same instant, three heavy sounds of bodies falling came from the shadows.
A second later, Erza stepped back out, dragging several unconscious men dressed in black like she was hauling out trash.
"There really were people there. Then this should be the entrance."
"There really were?!"
Mira stared in shock, looking from the unconscious lookouts on the ground to Shane's calm expression.
With his hands in his pockets, Shane walked past her and casually tapped the side of his head.
"For things like this, all you need is brains and experience. Why would I need magic?"
He wasn't lying.
Although he was currently in Saber's state, all of Assassin's experience in stealth, assassination, and counter-surveillance had already been carved deep into his mind.
Hideouts this sloppy were practically blinding spotlights in the eyes of someone who was half an "ancestor of assassins."
"Tch…"
Mira curled her lip.
She knew it was only natural for Shane to pull off something like that.
But seeing him look so calm, so effortlessly in control of everything, still rubbed her the wrong way.
"Show-off…"
She muttered under her breath and grudgingly followed along.
After taking care of the lookouts, the three of them moved unhindered to a derelict warehouse at the end of the alley.
There was no one inside—only a gloomy corridor leading underground.
The conditions here were even worse than outside.
Some unknown liquid seeped down the walls, spiderwebs hung from the ceiling, and the air was so stagnant and murky it was hard to breathe.
"This way."
Following the guidance of the Heart Flame, Shane moved through the place with such familiarity it was almost like walking through his own home.
Before long, they stopped in front of a heavy wooden door that hadn't quite been shut.
A thin strip of yellow light spilled through the gap, along with the sound of loud voices inside.
The people in the room clearly had a lot of confidence in how hidden this place was. They hadn't even bothered to lower their voices. Their unrestrained laughter echoed through the corridor.
"Hehehe… Boss, we found some real fat sheep this time!"
A greasy, flattering voice drifted out.
"One guy, two girls! They look like some noble brat who slipped out without permission, and they're spending money like crazy!"
"And those two girls—damn, they're young, but already gorgeous enough to kill for!"
"If we tie them up, the ransom alone… tsk tsk, the brothers could drink for a whole year!"
"So what do you say, boss?"
"Three kids?" another voice rasped, carrying the caution of someone with underworld experience. "Did they have any guards with them?"
"Not even a butler! As long as we do it clean, grab the money, and kill them afterward, who's going to know it was us?"
The atmosphere inside grew more and more heated, but then someone else asked in a quieter voice,
"What if… they're mages?"
"Mages?"
The man called boss seemed to think for a moment, then asked,
"Rat, when you were tailing them earlier, did you notice any obvious guild mark on them?"
"A guild mark?"
The lookout called Rat froze, clearly trying to remember.
"Uh… I didn't really pay attention. I was too busy staring at the wallet…"
"Wait!"
Suddenly, it seemed something clicked for him.
"When that boy paid… I think there really was some kind of mark on the back of the hand holding the wallet."
"What did it look like?!"
The deep voice turned urgent in an instant.
In that line of work, some symbols were absolutely untouchable death lines.
"Uh… I didn't get a clear look. I couldn't tell what kind of creature it was."
"But it was definitely weird-looking. Kind of like a bird… oh, right! The tail! The tail was really long, and it ended in a sharp arrow-like tip!"
Silence.
The room inside suddenly fell into deathly silence.
A full three seconds passed.
Bang!!
Something was slammed violently to the ground.
"Idiot!!!"
The deep voice exploded in rage, roaring so hard the door itself trembled.
"That's Fairy Tail!!"
"The strongest, craziest, most untouchable mage guild in the entire Kingdom of Fiore!!"
"You moron! Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
"Huh? F-Fairy Tail?"
The subordinate was obviously terrified by the boss's reaction and stammered,
"S-so what if they're mages? Boss, you're a mage too, aren't you? There are a lot of us in this guild…"
"And… is Fairy Tail really that scary?"
"They're just three brats who still barely have hair on them. Especially that boy—he looks skinny and weak…"
"Idiot! Shut up!"
The boss sounded like he was about to have a stroke. His voice was shaking with fury.
"Do you never read the news?!"
"Those lunatics tear down mountains when they fight! And—look at this! This was yesterday's headline!"
The rustling of paper sounded unnaturally loud in the dead-quiet room.
"Just two days ago, a boy from Fairy Tail single-handedly defeated Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints! The surrounding forests and mountains were blasted into scorched wasteland!"
The boss read the article aloud, his voice full of fear.
"Fairy Tail has mages who can casually reshape the terrain itself!"
"With all the fat sheep out there, you had to pick the companions of a monster like that and try to drag me into it?!"
Outside the door, Shane couldn't help raising a brow.
Having a reputation was nice, but wasn't this version getting a bit ridiculous?
What did they mean, "blasted into wasteland"? That had obviously been the Black Dragon's doing!
"I'm asking you! Answer me!"
Inside the room, the leader had been yelling for a while now, and when his subordinate still didn't say anything, he shouted again in fury.
"B-boss…"
"What is it?"
The subordinate's voice was trembling like he was about to cry.
Pointing at the close-up photo in the newspaper, he looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"I… I think the monster in the photo… the one who beat a Wizard Saint…"
"Looks exactly like one of the fat sheep I found earlier…"
Silence.
This time, true silence. Complete silence.
The air inside the room seemed to freeze solid.
In the corridor outside, a bright smile slowly spread across Shane's lips.
He shrugged at the two girls behind him, who were both barely suppressing laughter.
Then, in the next second, Shane lifted his leg and kicked.
The heavy wooden door and its frame exploded inward at once, shattering into countless splinters that shot into the room.
Dust flew everywhere.
Stepping over the broken wood, Shane slowly walked inside.
His black eyes instantly lit up with crimson light, and countless red threads of sin interwove through his vision.
"Good evening, everyone."
Looking at the roomful of stunned thugs frozen where they stood, he gave them an incredibly "kind" smile.
"As for that 'monster' you were just talking about…"
"Unfortunately for you, that would be me."
~~~
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