Sabertooth's open-air café—
A giant stone tiger statue towered over the guild's rooftop, and a flag bearing the Sabertooth emblem fluttered in the wind.
The residents of Mandrake Town, where Sabertooth was located, had also noticed Sabertooth's new changes.
The current Sabertooth seemed full of life and prosperity.
The guild's open-air café was now open to residents and tourists as well.
Previously, Jiemma had said that ordinary people were not worthy of drinking coffee in their guild.
"What status do you have to drink the same coffee as me?"
That was what Jiemma had said.
Now, the residents drinking coffee there dared to openly discuss Sabertooth.
"Even though some time has passed, I still can't forget the excitement of the Grand Magic Games!"
"Right? After that, Sabertooth really changed a lot!"
"Exactly. Because Jiemma believed strength was everything, he always ruled with pressure, making everyone keep their nerves tense. But now everyone is smiling."
"Because the current guild master is Sting."
"Thanks to him, Sabertooth's atmosphere in this city has become much better."
"If you ask me, that Fire Dragon Natsu was right. This is what a guild should be like. Before, it felt more like an army—and an especially strict one at that."
"Sting-kun! Sting-kun!"
While the Sabertooth members were playing around at the guild's outdoor swimming pool, Lector's shout drew everyone's attention.
"No, Guild Master."
"Don't call me Guild Master, Lector," Sting replied helplessly with one hand on his hip.
"What happened? Why are you so panicked?"
Lector's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
"This is bad! Frosch and I went out shopping, but he disappeared halfway!"
"What?!"
Rogue clenched his fists and suppressed his anger as he said, "What did you say, Lector? Weren't you with him?"
"I'm sorry. I only turned around for a moment…" Lector covered his ears and trembled.
"Hey, Rogue, how can you blame Lector for this?" Sting placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder, signaling for him to calm down.
"But Frosch is an extreme direction idiot!" Rogue angrily shook Sting's hand away.
"Even so, that doesn't mean Lector caused it!"
The two pressed their foreheads together and started pushing against each other.
Minerva grabbed their heads and separated the two.
"Calm down! The first thing we should do is go out and find Frosch!"
Although Sting was the guild master in name, the young lady's authority was clearly higher.
Sting and Rogue immediately calmed down.
...
Lector brought Sting, Minerva, and the others to the stall where he had lost Frosch.
"Was this where you got separated from Frosch?"
Sting stood with his hands on his hips and looked around. The place was crowded, and there were many food stalls, so the smells were mixed together.
It really was not easy to distinguish Frosch's scent.
"Yes! Because there were so many people, I lost sight of him right away."
"Frosch! Frosch! Where are you?!" Rogue shouted at the top of his lungs in the street.
"I already went around asking people earlier, but there are so many people here…" Lector lowered his head. "Even finding witnesses is difficult."
"Don't worry! We'll definitely find him!" Sting rubbed Lector's head to comfort him.
"That's…" Minerva had been checking the surroundings, and she spotted someone else.
Rogue and Sting also followed Minerva's gaze.
"Oh? This thing isn't bad."
Gajeel knocked on a large axe.
The sound it made was pretty good. Just hearing it, he knew it would taste delicious.
"The price is cheap, and the quality isn't bad either, boss," Lily said while swinging a weapon suitable for his own size.
"Well… These are all ceremonial antiques. From the decorations to everything else, they're made of iron. They're heavy, so they're not very practical."
Gajeel grabbed the heavy axe the boss mentioned with one hand and began eating it in large bites.
"He actually ate it!!!"
"Gajeel!" Sting waved and greeted Gajeel.
"I'm asking you! Have you seen Frosch around here?!" Rogue arrived first and shouted loudly.
"Brat, why are you yelling so loudly? You looking for a fight?!"
Sting hurriedly pulled Rogue back and quickly apologized.
"Sorry. It's like this: Frosch got lost just now, and Rogue is really anxious."
"Frosch? That frog?"
"He's a cat!"
"Strictly speaking, he should be an Exceed. I see, so he got lost?"
Lily pointed toward the park.
"About ten minutes ago, I saw him in the park around that corner."
Sting, Rogue, and Minerva hurriedly ran toward the park.
"We owe you one!" Sting shouted without looking back.
"Honestly, what a bunch of reckless kids. They're still children."
"Exactly."
"Frosch!!!"
A loud shout reached Wendy's ears while she was shopping.
Mandrake Town had a gathering today, so Wendy and Carla had also come after hearing about it.
"Huh? That sounds like someone from Sabertooth, right?" Wendy felt the voice sounded familiar.
"What happened? Why are they shouting so loudly?"
"Wendy, Carla, perfect timing. Have you seen Frosch?"
"You mean Frosch?" Wendy looked at Minerva and asked.
Minerva nodded.
"That's right. A cat wearing a pink frog onesie."
"Now that you mention it, we saw him up ahead just now," Carla said, pointing forward.
"Thank you. You're welcome to visit Sabertooth anytime."
Sting and Rogue ran off again in the direction Carla pointed.
"There are so many people here! I can't smell Frosch's scent!"
"Found him!" Minerva pointed in Frosch's direction.
Frosch was currently looking up at a map of Mandrake Town.
"Wait!" Rogue grabbed Sting, who had been about to go forward and call out to Frosch.
"Look."
"Mm… He's looking at the map," Lector said.
Rogue's eyes filled with tears, and he said with deep self-moved emotion,
"That's right! That guy is working hard to find his way back to the guild! He wants to rely on his own strength to return to the guild!"
"I think we should harden our hearts and quietly watch over him! This is also for Frosch's sake!"
A strange expression appeared on Sting and Lector's faces.
"Let… Frosch return to the guild by himself…"
"That's impossible, aye."
Rogue puffed up angrily.
"He can definitely get back!"
Minerva placed one hand on her hip and looked at Frosch with interest.
"Isn't it rather interesting? I also want to see whether Frosch can walk back by himself."
The moment Minerva finished speaking, Frosch turned and walked to the right.
"He took a step!" Rogue was extremely excited.
"The direction is actually correct," Lector said, nodding as he looked at the direction Frosch was going.
"Good, Frosch!"
Rogue had not even been happy for two seconds before Frosch's attention was caught by a butterfly, and he started chasing it.
"He got distracted that quickly… It's impossible," Sting said, feeling that this was purely a waste of time.
"Do your best, Frosch!"