After hearing Rowan's words, Erza's gaze flickered slightly.
In truth, Rowan was not the only one who was curious. Even she wanted to know whether the story would deviate because of her intervention.
Thus, the two wandered around the villa while exploring it.
Before long, members of the Lamia Scale Guild finally arrived at the rendezvous point.
A cold-looking white-haired man and a beautiful woman slowly walked in from outside.
Emperor Zero Lyon and Sherry.
It really was the two of them.
Rowan raised an eyebrow and glanced at Erza. Erza also looked somewhat surprised.
The plot had actually returned to its original course.
"Senpai?"
When Gray saw Lyon, his mouth fell open, his face filled with shock.
He had never expected to meet his Senpai here, under these circumstances.
"Gray."
Emperor Zero Lyon glanced casually at his junior disciple and slowly said, "Long time no see, Gray."
"Long time no see, Senpai. I never expected you to join Lamia Scale."
"And you never expected me to participate in this operation to subjugate Oración Seis either, right?" Lyon asked with a soft chuckle.
Gray nodded.
He truly had not expected it.
Sherry raised her head and looked at Rowan and Erza. She waved with a radiant smile.
"We meet again, you two."
Gray froze and looked between Sherry, Rowan, and Erza.
"You know each other?"
Erza calmly said, "We met once before."
"Is that so?"
Gray scratched his hair.
"That's right."
Lyon nodded, looking at Rowan and Erza with a complicated expression.
"Although we only met once, it left a deep impression."
Even now, he could not forget what happened on Galuna Island.
To him, it represented his foolish and shameful past.
While they were talking, the members of Blue Pegasus finally arrived.
Rowan secretly glanced at Erza.
In the original story, Ichiya of Blue Pegasus had fallen in love with Erza at first sight and pursued her for a long time. His passionate pursuit was so overwhelming that even Erza found it difficult to deal with.
That was why Erza always became restless whenever she saw Ichiya.
However, this time, Erza seemed to have prepared herself in advance and showed no unusual reaction whatsoever.
The first members of Blue Pegasus to appear were Hibiki Lates, Ren Akatsuki, and Eve Tearm.
All three were exceptionally handsome.
How should one describe them?
Even in the entertainment industry, they would be considered handsome celebrities. In the modelling world, they would be among the very best.
Yet all three were mages and even belonged to the same guild.
This brought Blue Pegasus an enormous amount of attention.
Hibiki Lates in particular frequently ranked near the top of Sorcerer Weekly's "Mage You Most Want as a Boyfriend" rankings.
Many female mages had joined Blue Pegasus because they were attracted to his sweet appearance. Although he had no true romantic partner, rumours involving women never stopped surrounding him.
He was known as the "Maiden Killer."
Even Lucy was captivated when she saw Hibiki, her eyes briefly turning into hearts.
The destructive power of a handsome man against women truly could not be underestimated.
However, the next second, when their teacher Ichiya made his entrance, Lucy suffered a devastating blow.
Because Ichiya was genuinely unattractive.
Not only was he short, but his appearance was also rather sleazy.
After seeing three handsome men moments earlier, Lucy almost wanted to gouge out her eyes and wash them.
"That man is way too ugly."
Hearing Lucy's comment, Rowan nearly burst out laughing.
Ichiya might have been ugly, but he was undeniably manly.
If Rowan remembered correctly, near the end of the story, Ichiya even entered a romantic relationship with Lucy's ancestor, Anna Heartfilia.
If Lucy learned about that…
Just imagining the scene filled Rowan with anticipation.
Perhaps he should find an opportunity to reveal it to her.
Just as he was thinking this—
"Long time no see, Erza."
Ichiya had already appeared before Erza holding a rose. He knelt on one knee and presented it to her.
Erza's expression did not change.
"Thank you for the rose, Ichiya. Unfortunately, I cannot accept it."
"Why?"
Ichiya looked at Erza in confusion.
Erza grabbed Rowan and wrapped both hands around his right arm.
"Because I'm afraid my boyfriend will become angry."
Ichiya: "???"
Erza had a boyfriend?
Since when?
Why had he never heard about it?
Although Ichiya looked astonished, he did not continue pestering her.
"I see. So you already have a boyfriend. It's our first meeting. I am Ichiya, Erza's admirer."
"I'm Rowan, Erza's boyfriend."
Naturally, Rowan was not Erza's boyfriend. The two had not even established that kind of relationship.
But he understood that Erza was clearly using him as a shield, so he smoothly played along.
He extended his hand and shook Ichiya's, conveniently copying his magic.
Ichiya's magic was Perfume Magic.
By using the small bottles of perfume he carried, he could produce different effects depending on the fragrance.
For example, yellow perfume released a scent that made those who inhaled it unable to fight.
Red perfume also released a scent that rendered people unable to fight.
Green perfume released a fragrance capable of soothing pain.
To be honest, Rowan did not particularly need this kind of magic.
But having one more method available was still useful.
Afterward, he found excuses to shake hands with the other members of Blue Pegasus and copied each of their magic.
Ren Akatsuki used Air Magic, allowing him to freely control the air.
He could also use Telepathy Magic to communicate mentally with designated targets.
Eve Tearm specialised in Snow Magic and could freely manipulate snow.
The most unique magic belonged to Hibiki Lates.
His magic was Archive, an Ancient Magic resembling the internet of the modern world.
It appeared as a thin screen and keyboard covered in magical formulas. It could search for all kinds of information, compress it, and transmit it to selected recipients.
Those screens could also be used for both attack and defence.
The magic was extremely interesting.
Through a mental link, Hibiki could connect his mind directly to a chosen target and transmit any thoughts or information into their brain.
He could also implant knowledge of large-scale magic directly into someone's mind, allowing the target to learn a new Great Magic within a very short time.
Used properly, this ability could produce tremendous results.
A large part of the reason Rowan joined the mission to subjugate Oración Seis was precisely to obtain this magic.
After acquiring it, Rowan stepped aside and began studying it.
Before long, Jura Neekis, the Wizard Saint from Lamia Scale, also arrived.
Only the representatives from Cait Shelter remained.
"Does anyone know the people from Cait Shelter?" Gray asked curiously.
"Not really."
Lyon shook his head.
"But I heard Cait Shelter only sent one person."
"One person?"
Lucy's eyes widened involuntarily.
"Subjugating Oración Seis is such an important mission. Every other guild sent its strongest members, yet Cait Shelter sent only one person. Just how powerful must that person be?"
Hearing this, Rowan's expression became strange.
Because the person Cait Shelter had sent was none other than the Dragon Slayer Mage who would later join Fairy Tail—
Wendy.
It was worth mentioning that Cait Shelter had not sent only one person because Wendy was especially powerful.
It was because Cait Shelter had only one real mage.
Wendy.
Aside from Wendy, every member of Cait Shelter was a Thought Projection created by the Guild Master through illusion magic.
In fact, even Cait Shelter's Guild Master was not human.
He was the ghost of a Nirvit who had died four hundred years ago and had created the magical weapon Nirvana.
After the war to protect it, he believed the balance of the world had been disrupted and activated the forbidden magic Nirvana in an attempt to purify magical beasts.
Instead, it caused the destruction of his entire tribe and transformed him into a ghost.
Later, to care for Wendy, he used his immense power to create Cait Shelter.
He could certainly be considered an extraordinary figure.
Not long after Lucy's comment, Wendy appeared before everyone.
"I'm sorry, everyone! I'm late—Ah!"
The hurried Wendy ran in from outside, then tripped over absolutely nothing and fell flat on the ground with a thud.
Lucy: "Uh… Uh…"
Only a moment ago, she had been wondering what kind of mighty expert Cait Shelter's sole representative would be.
The next second, that mighty expert performed a spectacular fall right in front of her.
And wasn't this expert a little too small?
Judging from her age, she was clearly just a child.
Erza walked over and helped Wendy up.
As a future companion in Fairy Tail, she naturally could not allow Wendy to remain hurt.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Wendy hurriedly shook her head and gave Erza a radiant smile.
"Honestly, it's because you're always so careless that people underestimate you, Wendy."
Suddenly, a voice came from outside.
Lucy was confused.
Hadn't they said Cait Shelter had only sent one person?
Then what was with that voice?
She instinctively widened her eyes and looked toward the entrance.
A white cat slowly walked inside.
"Huh?"
Seeing the white cat, Lucy could not help looking toward Happy, who was sitting on Natsu's shoulder.
How should she describe it?
The two cats looked far too similar.
Although their appearances and colours were completely different, anyone who saw them would feel that the two had to be connected somehow.
They were very likely members of the same species.
"Huh?"
In fact, it was not only Lucy.
Natsu, Gray, and even Happy himself could not help exclaiming when they saw the white cat.
They were too similar.
Far too similar.
Happy immediately flew over.
"Y-Y-Y-Y-You… My name is Happy! What's your name?"