Frosch had actually walked for an entire day, all the way from Mandrake Town to Magnolia…
While Sting and Rogue were still arguing over whether they should come out and take Frosch back, Lisanna and Yukino, who had finished packing up, also walked out of the guild.
"Fro… got lost…" Frosch said, tears welling in his eyes as he choked up.
Gray and Juvia happened to return from completing a job at that moment, so they told Raizel the whole story and, while they were at it, brought over the suspicious trio plus one cat hiding outside.
Mira crouched down and gently patted Frosch's frog hood, speaking softly.
"Frosch, when you go out in the future, you have to stay close to everyone. Even if you get lost, don't panic and don't run around randomly. Sting, Rogue, and the others will definitely find you."
"Fro… thinks so too."
There were no trains running this late, so in the end, the matter concluded with Raizel using teleportation magic to send them back to Mandrake Town.
At the guild—
"Oh!!!" Natsu and Happy opened their mouths wide in curiosity.
"So it's this thing. Where did this come from?"
Raizel patted the four billiard tables Gray had just brought in.
There was still quite a lot of open space on the first floor, so they had casually placed them there.
They had actually considered buying these when the guild was being built, but in the end, they had not done so.
One reason was that not many people in the guild knew how to play.
As far as Raizel knew, Laxus seemed to know a little. As for Raizel himself, he did not.
Another reason was that it could be rather noisy.
Since the original guild had not had billiard tables, the mayor had not added them either.
Unexpectedly, they had still ended up appearing in the guild after all.
Juvia smiled gently.
"This was a thank-you gift from the client."
Gray carried a cue stick over his shoulder and smiled.
"It was given to us by an old man who absolutely loves billiards. When we went to collect the reward after finishing the job, he insisted that we play with him. After that, we ended up getting hooked too."
"So this is your reward?" Lucy asked curiously.
Juvia shook her head.
"No, this is a thank-you gift in addition to the reward. The old man said it was thanks for playing billiards with him."
"He said we should put them here so everyone can enjoy playing."
"Alright, I'll break first!"
Gray took his stance, and in an instant, his clothes disappeared.
"I mean… why did you have to take your clothes off?" Lucy's face filled with a strange expression.
"To show that I'm full of fighting spirit!"
"Even when you aren't full of fighting spirit, you still strip anyway," Natsu said with his head tilted, wearing an expression that clearly said.
"Who are you trying to fool?"
"You're really annoying, you know…"
Gray actually had no way to refute him.
Gray's billiard skills were quite good.
After several shots, every ball he aimed for went in.
Judging from the surprised voices of the onlookers, Gray probably really did know how to play.
Raizel did not really understand the rules. He had lived for so long and had never touched this thing before.
One ball after another, Gray successfully cleared the table in front of the gathered spectators.
"I see you in a whole new light, Gray!" Lucy said, clapping.
"Love rival…" Juvia narrowed her eyes and stared fixedly at Lucy.
"…"
Lucy felt her scalp go numb under that stare.
"Alright! Next is my turn!"
No one knew what kind of magic Natsu used, but he stacked all the billiard balls into one pile.
Then he held the cue stick like a baseball bat, ready to swing.
"Natsu-san, I think the way you're holding the cue stick isn't quite right…" Wendy said, cold sweat forming on her forehead.
"I feel like there are a lot of things that can be criticized here…" Carla stared blankly at the scene.
"How did he even stack them like that???" Raizel asked the question from the depths of his soul.
"Have you seriously never played billiards before?" Lucy placed her hands on her hips, raising her brows slightly as a strange expression appeared on her face.
"Nope. But I remembered everything from watching just now!" Natsu looked completely confident.
"About that… I really don't think you did," Lucy sighed helplessly.
"Natsu, do you really understand? You're supposed to knock the balls into the pockets," Happy said, holding up the white cue ball.
"I know already! Hurry up and throw the ball!" Natsu urged. "Don't throw a curveball!"
"You're talking about a completely different sport," Lucy said from behind him, black lines practically covering her forehead.
"I'll hide first."
Raizel silently hid behind Lucy.
"You're so tall! What's the point of hiding behind me?!"
Her fist tightened.
Lucy was speechless as she watched Raizel, who was more than a head taller than her, pretend to hide behind her.
"I just need to crouch, right?" Raizel said shamelessly with a calm smile. "Have you never played dodgeball?"
"Forget it. With this kind of game, as long as you enjoy yourself, it's fine."
Gray, wearing only a pair of shorts, sat nearby with one leg crossed over the other.
"As expected of Gray-sama. So mature."
"I have a feeling it'll be safer if we move farther away," Carla said, tugging Wendy's sleeve.
"I'm throwing it, Natsu! Five balls decide life and death! Go!"
Happy even spun once using a discus-throwing posture before throwing the ball.
"Home run!!!"
Natsu roared and swung with all his strength.
Thud!
The white cue ball collided with the billiard balls.
The balls scattered at high speed, knocking the onlookers into complete chaos.
Meanwhile, the white cue ball blasted a large crater into the wall.
'Just one centimeter…'
Lucy felt that the cue ball had missed her head by only one centimeter!
"Wait, where's Raizel? Wasn't he hiding behind me?"
Lucy searched for Raizel's figure.
"How did you run away so fast?!"
Lucy saw Raizel behind the bar, wiping glasses together with Mira.
The bar was very far from the billiard table. Raizel had never needed to hide at all.
"Second ball, two outs, bases loaded!"
Natsu swung five times.
The total result: five large craters in the wall, Lucy trembling under the billiard table while holding her head, and a group of guild members collapsed on the floor.
"Natsu, not even one ball went into a pocket, aye."
"This really is hard. But it's pretty fun!"
"Please learn the rules first, I'm begging you!"
"What are you all making so much noise about? We could hear you from upstairs."
Ultear, Erza, and Kagura, who had been playing games upstairs, walked down the stairs.
"It's billiards. Erza, do you want to play too?"
Lucy only wanted the cue stick to leave Natsu's hands as quickly as possible, and only Erza could take it away from him.
"Billiards…"
Erza looked at the white cue ball, her eyes seeming to fill with memories.
"Erza, have you played before?" Happy flew over and lay on Lucy's head.
"I have. Thinking about it, that was already several years ago."
The corners of Erza's lips curved into a smile she could not suppress.
...
X781—
Ultear, Erza, and Kagura had gone out to do a job.
Because Erza wanted to eat the caramel mousse that had appeared in a gourmet magazine, she led them to a billiards tavern instead.
After destroying one billiard table, Erza and Ultear's guild emblems were discovered by the customers.
The moment those customers saw the Fairy Tail emblems, they immediately scattered in all directions.
Some, in their panic, crashed into pillars, while others crouched down, covered their heads, and began pleading for mercy, shouting.
"Spare us, heroines..."
This left Erza, Ultear, and the others staring at one another in complete confusion.