Natsu and Happy had just come back from the East Forest, and for some reason, neither of them had been infected.
Natsu and Happy looked at each other.
"Really? So Levy, Laxus, and the others all got taken down too…"
Happy's fur stood on end.
"An Ichiya-version of Laxus? That has to be terrifying!!!"
Mira pointed down at the street below.
"We should move somewhere else first. This place isn't very suitable."
More and more Ichiyas were gathering beneath the house they were standing on, and some were even trying to climb up.
After scanning the area with his super-ancient grimoire magic, Raizel said, "Let's go to the guild warehouse first. There's no one there."
The group gathered in a circle inside the guild warehouse and began a full brainstorming session—
Ultear rubbed her chin.
"Anyone turned into Ichiya will infect others just by smelling them. No exceptions…"
Lucy's expression instantly became a little strange.
"So… that really does make it an Ichiya Virus, huh?"
Natsu's tone grew heavy.
"We tried really hard just now to track everyone down by scent, but we were already too late."
Even though Gray had already given them the news earlier, hearing it confirmed again still left them feeling down.
Natsu voiced his guess.
"It seems like the Ichiya-fied people are also following scents."
Mira asked, "You mean the people who haven't turned smell different to them?"
Natsu nodded.
Happy said with lingering fear, "We ran into Ichiya-fied Bisca and Alzack just now, but we didn't turn into Ichiya ourselves."
"Scent…" Erza had the faint feeling that she had just touched on the truth.
Why were Natsu and Happy fine?
Erza turned to Wendy.
"Wendy, is there anything unusual about Natsu and Happy's smell?"
This was not something they could ask Natsu himself.
His nose was sharp when it came to other things, but even if he went two days without bathing, he still would not think he smelled bad.
"I'll try."
Wendy closed her eyes and sniffed a few times.
Frowning as she tried to remember, she said, "There's a faint, fresh scent… I feel like I've smelled it somewhere before."
"I've smelled it lots of times, but…"
"Is this it?"
Erza pulled out a bottle of deodorizing spray from her Requip space and sprayed a little into the air.
It was a magical item specifically made for removing odors. It could be used on both people and objects.
Since Erza had so many clothes and suits of armor, and because she stored so many things, she often used this kind of stuff.
She always bought plenty of it, so there was a whole stockpile in her Requip space.
"That's it!" Wendy nodded vigorously.
"Oh, right, this stuff!" Natsu said as he also remembered.
Originally, Natsu had been planning to go to Yajima's opening event today too, but since he had not bathed for two or three days, Erza had been disgusted by him and handed him a bottle of deodorizing spray, telling him to go wash up before coming over.
After all, while the spray could remove odor, it could not remove dirt.
Ultear raised an eyebrow.
"So… this deodorizing spray works against the Ichiya Virus?"
"Let's test it. I'll go."
Raizel took the deodorizing spray from Erza, teleported out of the warehouse, and found a lone Ichiya nearby to spray—
"It works. How much more do you have?"
After hearing Raizel confirm it, Lucy and Wendy both let out long sighs of relief.
"Phew…"
Turning into Ichiya, and facing that many Ichiyas, really was nightmare fuel…
Erza took more than a dozen bottles out of her Requip space and placed them on the ground.
"A whole bunch. And if that's not enough, Magnolia still has more for sale."
...
The group split up and flew over Magnolia, spraying deodorizing mist through every street and alley—
At long last, the Ichiya crisis was resolved.
Only later did Raizel and the others learn that it was not just Magnolia that had encountered the Ichiya Virus.
Cities around Blue Pegasus had also been affected…
Erza let out a helpless sigh.
"It seems Ichiya developed some kind of 'handsome-man' potion, and it leaked out through the sewers…"
Carla said with lingering dread, "I didn't expect it would actually threaten Magnolia too."
"This time, we really have Erza and Natsu to thank!"
Wendy smiled softly.
"I guess you could call it the persistence of a handsome man?"
Yajima climbed out from under a table.
"It's already been classified as a prohibited magic drug! So everyone can rest easy now."
Ultear continued, "As for Ichiya… he's been temporarily detained by the Magic Council."
Ichiya had not done it on purpose, but he had still endangered public safety.
At the very least, he would probably be locked up for ten days to half a month so he could reflect on it.
Gray crossed his arms and nodded.
"Well, that's only natural."
"If we hadn't had deodorizing spray this time, it really would have been terrifying."
Actually, that was not entirely the case.
Later on, Raizel tested other things too—like perfume—and found that anything capable of driving away or masking the scent of Ichiya's magic potion could cure the Ichiya Virus.
Deodorizing spray was just the cheapest option.
Raizel looked teasingly at Makarov and Laxus, the grandfather and grandson pair slumped over at the bar.
"Once some people learn they turned into Ichiya, it'll probably take them a long time to recover from the pain."
Laxus and Makarov presented the group with two mournful backs.
Makarov was so depressed he would not even drink anymore.
"It left emotional scars…"
"I'll never be able to get married now!"
Levy and Lily lay across the table, looking like they were on the verge of tears.
…
"From now on, I'd rather die than work another job with this idiot."
"Even if you got down on your knees and begged me, I still wouldn't go, moron!"
Natsu and Gray both looked like they were ready to spend the rest of their lives never speaking to each other again.
The cause of all this was that the two of them had been specifically named for a monster-subjugation request.
They had dealt with the monster right at the start—
But then the two of them got into a fight.
Other than eating, sleeping, and relieving themselves, they had spent every moment they were together brawling, and somehow dragged it out for three days and three nights…
In the end, Lucy got worried that something might have happened to them.
Natsu had said the request was simple, and not far from Magnolia, so Lucy went to find Erza and the others.
Together, they knocked Natsu and Gray out and dragged them back.
"You two really are unbearable."
"You're not three-year-old children."
With Elfman taking the lead, the guild members played peacemaker and gathered around them trying to calm them down.
Makarov looked at them with a speechless expression.
"Those two are way too childish. Even for something as small as driving off a monster, they still can't be serious."
Laxus let out a faint laugh.
"If you ask me, they just have too much energy. Maybe they're trying to follow your example."
Just as Raizel was about to say something, Mira's voice interrupted him.
"Master!"
Mira had just gone to collect the mail.
"Hm?"
Including Ur, who was at the bar, all four of them turned their attention to Mira.
"An urgent request letter came in."
"Again?" Laxus looked puzzled.
There had been way too many urgent requests lately. He had already taken quite a few named requests himself.
"Ever since the Grand Magic Games, there have been more and more requests naming specific wizards."
"Another named one?" A bad feeling rose in Laxus's chest. "Don't tell me it's for me?"
"No. Look."
Mira placed the request letter on the bar.
Written clearly on the request sheet were the words: Ur, Natsu & Gray!!!