In Magnolia, 8-Island—
Yajima, whose restaurant business was doing quite well, had decided to open a branch in Magnolia.
For one thing, Magnolia had a large number of residents and tourists, which meant more people would get to taste his cooking.
For another, it was close by, so he could often drop in and chat with Makarov and Porlyusica.
At his age, there were not many old friends still left alive.
Wearing a rabbit mascot costume and holding up an 8-Island sign, Lucy hung her head and muttered gloomily,
"Seriously… why do I have to do this kind of part-time job…"
Dressed in a waitress uniform and carrying a tray, Erza said,
"Stop complaining and get back to work. This is the Magnolia branch's opening day!"
Wendy, Ultear, and Kagura had also come to help. Raizel and Mira, meanwhile, had gone into the kitchen.
Though it could not really be called a back kitchen—this Magnolia branch had an open kitchen, so customers could watch the entire process of preparing ingredients and cooking the dishes.
Anyone sitting inside the restaurant could see Raizel and Mira in chef hats, hard at work cooking.
Never mind the taste for a moment—the chefs were easy on the eyes, and the waitresses were beautiful too, which resulted in both the indoor and outdoor seating areas being packed to capacity…
Yajima had put out a job request, and Erza, after seeing it, had forcibly dragged Ultear, Kagura, and the others into participating…
Lucy, stuck in the rabbit mascot suit, had also been hauled over, along with Levy, who was mostly there to watch the show.
As for Mira, she had more or less volunteered. One reason was probably that she wanted to learn more cooking from Yajima.
During a free moment, Levy came over to Lucy and Wendy and said, "Come to think of it, Jet and Droy are really late."
Lucy nodded.
"Those two were obviously super excited, saying they absolutely had to come see what Levy looked like in a maid outfit."
Hearing footsteps nearby, Wendy turned her head.
"Looks like speaking of them really did bring them here."
Jet and Droy were shuffling toward the restaurant with drooping heads, limp arms, and swaying bodies…
"Levy…"
"What took you two so long…" Levy waved to them as a greeting.
The moment she got a good look at their faces, her expression froze solid…
Erza, Ultear, Lucy, and the others also stared in horror, mouths hanging open.
There was no other reason—
Standing before them were Jet and Droy with Ichiya's face.
"Men…"
"Ahhh!!!"
Everyone clutched their cheeks and screamed in terror.
Even Ultear and Kagura, who were usually calm and composed, could not escape the effect.
"Ichiya… what on earth is going on?"
At that moment, Ultear desperately wished she could use Arc of Time on her own eyes!
She needed a pair of eyes that had never seen this scene…
"Where's my sword? Where's my sword?" Kagura looked around frantically. "I didn't bring it!!!"
Today, she had come specifically to help attract customers for Mr. Yajima, so she had not brought her blade.
Wendy immediately crouched down, covering her face as she cried, while Lucy dropped to her knees with the expression of someone who had seen a ghost.
"This is going to leave psychological scars…"
"What the heck happened?"
Raizel and Mira came to the entrance after taking off their chef uniforms.
"..."
Raizel, still holding a spatula, froze on the spot.
"Back! Back! Back!"
"Don't come any closer!!!"
All of the above came from Raizel.
Mira, on the other hand, held a spatula in one hand, touched her cheek with the other, and narrowed her eyes in a smile…
"Levy…"
Thankfully, Jet and Droy had a clear target in mind…
Levy's retreat was completely genuine—she just kept backing away.
"What a lovely perfume…"
Jet and Droy cornered Levy against a wall, leaning in close and sniffing at her with their noses.
"Don't do this!!!"
"Levy!!!" Lucy tried to rush over and save her, but Wendy and Ultear quickly grabbed hold of her.
"You can't go over there!"
"I think it's better not to get close just yet."
"But Levy…" Lucy struggled against their grip.
"Were you calling for me, Lu-chan? Men…"
Levy's face had also turned into Ichiya's.
"Ahhh!!!" Lucy broke out in goosebumps all over from fright.
Ultear came up with a tentative theory.
"Does getting sniffed mean you get infected?"
Erza tried to move in and stop Jet and Droy, but Ultear pulled her back and shook her head.
"They're not very fast. Let's withdraw first and figure out what happened."
Mira looked worriedly into the restaurant.
"What about Mr. Yajima?"
Through the restaurant window, they could see that Yajima had also already turned into Ichiya…
At the same time, screams began ringing out from all over Magnolia, and more and more Ichiya-faced people appeared in the streets…
The rate of spread was terrifyingly fast.
Some residents were already hurriedly boarding up their doors and windows and hiding inside their homes, trembling in fear.
Kagura made a prompt decision as Anti-Gravity Magic appeared beneath her feet.
"There's no time to waste. Let's go!"
The guild members immediately stepped into the magic circle and withdrew to higher ground.
Using her crystal ball to observe both the nearby area and places farther away, Ultear said, "It looks like this has probably been spreading for a while already."
She rubbed her chin in thought.
"But why? Why Ichiya?"
It was not as though infectious diseases had never broken out on the continent of Ishgar, but a virus that turned people into Ichiya-faced copies after being sniffed was truly unheard of.
Mira, Kagura, and Erza kept watch.
Frowning deeply, exhaustion visible between her brows, Kagura asked, "What do we do? Everywhere is full of Ichiyas."
"Why did this happen?" Wendy clasped her hands tightly, trembling—small, pitiful, and helpless.
There was practically nowhere left to step in the streets.
They were full of people with Ichiya's face.
Forget Wendy—even Raizel was having trouble staying calm right now.
The destructive power of Ichiya's face was simply too overwhelming, especially when it was aimed at you while saying "Men."
Who could withstand that?!
"You're all okay, right?"
Gray climbed onto the rooftop with Ice-Make Geyser and asked.
He had escaped from the guild hall.
"What's the guild's situation?" Ultear asked, turning to Gray.
Gray's brows twitched as he gritted his teeth.
After letting out a sigh, he said, "It's completely unbearable."
Makarov, Lisanna, Elfman, Laxus, the Thunder God Tribe…
Only Ur, who had gone to Mount Hakobe for training, had managed to avoid the disaster.
"So that means we can't go back to the guild either."
Gray nodded helplessly.
"Yeah. And not just them—especially Laxus after turning into Ichiya. He's impossible to deal with."
"Laxus too…" Erza and Kagura's pupils contracted slightly in surprise.
"Yeah. It seems like he changed from normal to Ichiya all of a sudden, and Laxus didn't have time to react."
Raizel rubbed at his brow and let out a long breath.
"If even Laxus got hit, then does that mean only we're left?"
A normal person… suddenly turning into Ichiya?
Something felt wrong!
"Gray—"
Raizel's expression changed instantly.
He immediately activated Take Over: Omegamon and fired an ice bullet straight at Gray, blasting him off the rooftop and down into the street.
The moment Raizel realized something was off about Gray, Gray's face transformed into Ichiya's right before his eyes…
"Get away from here now!" Raizel quickly teleported the others out.
"Let's spread out first!"
After arriving in an open area, Ultear swept her arm out and told everyone to keep their distance from one another for the time being.
Gray had not actually been that close earlier, but no one could guarantee the infection range of this virus.
Estimating the time from when Gray arrived to when he turned into Ichiya, it had been about two minutes.
And judging by the walk from the guild hall to where they had just been, it should normally have taken about five to eight minutes.
Ultear quickly said, "Stay where you are for twenty minutes and keep an eye on each other!"
To be safe, they all moved onto separate rooftops and isolated themselves first.
Everyone waited with unease in their hearts.
Though Ultear had said twenty minutes, they ended up waiting a full thirty without a single complaint.
Fortunately, no one transformed into Ichiya… and everyone let out a silent sigh of relief in unison…
No one wanted to become Ichiya!
That would be an absolute black mark on their life history!
Thinking back to what had happened to Levy and comparing it with Gray's case, Ultear inferred.
"The effective infection range is probably within one meter, maybe even closer."
Lucy, who had not even had time to change out of her rabbit mascot costume, covered her ears and said,
"This is definitely hell. What are we supposed to do?"
"Are all of us eventually going to turn into Ichiya too?"
They had already seen guild members wandering the streets as well…
The more Lucy thought about it, the more terrifying it became.
"And it's spreading so fast… what if it infects all of Fiore, or even the entire continent of Ishgar…"
"Ohhh!!!"
"Looks like you guys are fine!"
Natsu and Happy's voices suddenly reached everyone's ears.
"No!"
"Do not pass!"
Faced with Natsu and Happy's bewildered looks, everyone—including even the usually polite Wendy—raised their hands to stop them from coming any closer…
Ultear was even more direct. She erected a wall of ice between them at once.
"Stop right there! Back up first!"
Natsu was forced to stay where he was for a full thirty minutes before he was finally allowed to come close.