"Rent for this place is only 70,000 Jewels? That's so cheap. You really found a great spot, Lucy," Gray said. He was sitting shirtless on the sofa in Lucy's room, startling her just as she finished writing in her diary.
"Illegal entry!! And stop taking your clothes off in other people's houses!" Lucy shouted, giving Gray a punch.
"Wait, it's a misunderstanding!" Gray argued as he turned around. With a serious expression, he added, "I took them off before I came in."
"Get out!" Lucy roared, pointing at the door.
"That thing we talked about is happening today. I was afraid you'd forget, so I came to tell you," Gray said.
"That thing?" Lucy asked, confused about what he meant.
Gray turned his head. "You really did forget. Didn't we talk about it before we left? The duel between Natsu and Erza!" Lucy finally remembered and rushed with Gray toward the site of the duel.
"Go for it! Go for it!" Wakaba shouted from the sidelines. He was immediately shoved aside by the arriving Lucy.
"Wait, are those two for real?" Lucy asked in shock.
"Oh, it's Lucy," Mirajane said, greeting her from nearby.
"Of course they're serious. If they weren't, they wouldn't be men," Elfman added from the side.
Mira looked back at him. "Erza is a girl, Elfman."
"She's a female monster," Macao interjected.
"But if the strongest team is clashing..." Lucy started, but Gray interrupted her. "Strongest team? What's that?"
Lucy continued, "You know, Natsu, Erza, and you. The top three of Fairy Tail."
"Ah... how boring. Who says things like that?" Gray said, turning his head away, though he looked secretly pleased.
Suddenly, Mira covered her face and began to cry. Gray panicked. "Mira-san!"
Elfman spoke up, "I acknowledge Natsu and Gray's strength, but if we're talking about the strongest, I can't stay silent. Fairy Tail has many powerful mages. There's me, for instance, and my boss, Chen Fan."
"And there's Laxus and Mystogan."
"Chen Fan! That pervert? Is he really that strong?" Lucy asked, stunned. She had already defined Chen Fan as a total pervert, causing Mira's brow to twitch. Mira wondered what Chen Fan had done on the road; she'd have to interrogate him later.
"Achoo!" Chen Fan rubbed his nose, wondering which girl was thinking about him. My charm is just too great, he thought, flamboyantly tossing his hair.
"Well, in a sense, he could be called the strongest in our guild," Mira explained to Lucy.
"In a sense?" Question marks appeared over Lucy's head, unsure of what that meant.
By then, Erza and Natsu had begun their fight. Erza used Requip to don her Flame Empress Armor, while Natsu's hands erupted in flames. They exchanged testing blows as the crowd cheered.
Just as Erza and Natsu were about to clash head-on, a loud clack rang out. A man with a toad-like face pushed through the crowd.
"Everyone, stay where you are! I am a messenger from the Magic Council."
"The Magic Council?" Levy said in surprise.
"Why is a messenger here?" Droy added.
"Seriously, is no one going to mention how rough his appearance is?" Lucy muttered to the side.
"Regarding the Eisenwald incident from a few days ago, Erza Scarlet is under arrest for property damage and eleven other charges."
Before Erza could speak, Natsu shouted excitedly, "What? What did you say?"
Ignoring Natsu, the messenger placed handcuffs on Erza and led her away.
The atmosphere in the guild grew heavy. Makarov sat on the counter with his eyes closed. No one else spoke; a weight pressed down on everyone's heart.
Gray slammed the table in anger, stood up, and shouted, "Where's Chen Fan? Where is he? When we actually need him, he's nowhere to be found! Say something! Where is he?"
"Be quiet, Gray," Makarov said, opening his eyes. "He isn't the guild's nanny. Those who make mistakes must take responsibility."
"But Master," Mira started, but Makarov held up a hand to stop her.
"Let me out! Let me out!" a small lizard shouted from inside a bottle.
"If I let you out, you'll just go cause trouble," Makarov said.
"But we've done so much in the past, and Boss Chen Fan always settled it for us. Even if he isn't speaking up for us now, they shouldn't be coming after Fairy Tail this quickly," Elfman analyzed. It was clear he had grown much sharper.
"There's definitely more to this," Lucy said, leaning against a table.
"Let me out! Let me out!" the lizard continued to yell.
"Are you sure you want to be let out?" Makarov asked with a playful look.
"Uh..." the lizard went silent.
Makarov waved his hand, and a flash of light shattered the bottle. With a pop, Macao fell onto the floor.
"Sorry, I owed Natsu a favor," Macao said, rubbing his head sheepishly.
Everyone was shocked. They hadn't expected that it wasn't Natsu in the bottle. So where had Natsu gone?
Meanwhile, Erza and the toad-faced messenger were walking down the corridor toward the trial chamber. Suddenly, Erza spotted someone standing by a pillar. She gasped and took a defensive stance. "Siegrain!"
The frog-faced messenger immediately dropped to his knees.
"Yo, it's been a long time, Erza. Don't be so excited. This is just a Thought Projection. My physical body is still in Era. The people behind those doors are all Thought Projections as well. For a minor case like this, there's no need for everyone to show up in person," Siegrain said.
Erza stared at him sternly. "I see. Is this all your doing?"
"It saddens me to hear you say that. I'm actually defending Fairy Tail. But those old men are afraid of the responsibility falling on them, so they had to find someone to take the blame for everything. Therefore"
"Shut up!" Erza turned her head away.
"Fine. I didn't come here just for the trial." Siegrain reached out a hand toward Erza's face.
Suddenly, an icy voice rang out in Siegrain's ear. "Try touching Erza if you dare." The tone was so cold the very air seemed to freeze.
Siegrain's body trembled, and his projection flickered. Though a look of humiliation crossed his face, his hand stopped.
Erza didn't know what had happened to Siegrain or why he was making that face. She looked at him in confusion.
Siegrain regained his composure and walked toward the doors. With his back to Erza, he said, "I'll be waiting for you behind those doors... as one of the council members." With that, his figure vanished.
"I didn't realize you knew such a great person," the frog-faced messenger said to Erza, a look of fear on his face.
"He's just an evil man," she replied, stepping toward the trial room and leaving the bewildered messenger behind.
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