While acting as an unpaid babysitter, I stopped by an Inn, where we'd spend the night, as it was later in the day; I saw no point in walking through the night with them, knowing they'd end up falling asleep. Not to mention, Minerva was still injured.
Buying a large, luxury room for one thousand jewels a night, we headed to the top-most floor, where I opened the door labeled '#3', and when I did, nearly all hell went loose. "Whoa, this is where we're staying!?" "So expensive!" "Huge." "Haha, a great place for a fight!" "Incredible!" Even Rufus, the most well-behaved, at the end of the day, was still a child.
Lacking any homegrown behavior, the five of them rushed through the room, causing me to sigh as I rubbed my head. "Haa, don't you five dare break anything." Not even a moment after I finished speaking, I heard several things break, causing me grab the bridge of my nose. "I truly don't know how you did it, Gramps." While my respect for Gramps soared, I entered a random, untouched room, where I set Minerva down on the bed.
'I should go buy some medical stuff.' Glancing at Minerva's injuries, I exited the room, just in time to see Orga chasing Sting, Rogue, and Dobengal, with a pillow, leaving a trail of feathers. Clicking my tongue, I hit each of them on the end, causing them to stop in their tracks, falling to the ground and hissing in pain. "W-What was that for C-Cooper!?"
Ignoring Orga, I called out to Rufus, who exited the living room area, reading an adult magazine; how he got one, I've got no clue. "You're in charge until I return, Rufus." Snatching the magazine from him, I gave all five of them an intense glare before exiting from the room. "Let's play hide and seek!" "You're counting first, Rogue!" "I always count first."
Pretending I heard nothing, I opened the magazine, reading it while leaping out from a random open window; landing in the alley, I headed out onto the street, walking to the nearest clinic. "Damn. Damn. Damn! Her legs, they're so thick." Ignoring the weird looks I got from passersby, I continued reading the magazine and eventually found a clinic, where I bought everything I thought I might need.
"Hey, want to spend the night together?" As I set everything onto the counter, I leaned against it, eyeing the milf, who was slightly taken aback, but before she could respond, a man suddenly exited from the back room. "A customer this late? What are you doing, dear? Ring him up." "O-Oh, y-yes, sorry." "Tch, cock-blocking bastard." "Hmm, did you say something, Sir?"
With any chance at having some nightly fun canceled, I paid several hundred jewels for the items before leaving, walking back to the Inn; however, while reading the magazine, I happened to sense a familiar magic signature walking past me.
Stopping, I glanced behind, eyeing the cloaked woman entering an alley. 'Who was that?' Raising an eyebrow, I put the magazine on hold and stuffed it between my waistband while I followed her. However, when I entered the alley, she'd vanished entirely, causing me to tilt my head before focusing my magic around my eyes, allowing me to see right through the illusion.
'So a secret underground base.' Taking the stairs down, I knocked on the door a few times, only to break through it after I got no response, only to get pelted with various magic.
"Did we get him?" "Tch, dumbass! Why would you say that!?" "S-Sorry?" Waving the smoke away, I glanced at the several mages surrounding me, though I promptly ignored them when I saw the cloaked woman standing in the distance, eyeing me.
"The hell are you doing here, Ultear? That master of yours must be working you overtime, huh? At this point, you should just become a normal mage." At the mention of her name, the other mages hesitated while I approached her, prompting Ultear to remove the hood, revealing her face.
"What are you doing here, Cooper?" Folding her arms, Ultear met my gaze as I stopped a few feet before her. "I asked you first." "You broke into our secret base." "I'm a mage, you think I would just ignore a dark mage's secret base?" "Tsk, fair… I was merely stopping here to rest. Now you, why are you here?" "Dealing with the Sabertooth guild."
Although I didn't fully believe her, I didn't push the topic; she didn't tell me the first time, she wasn't going to tell me the second or third. "Sabertooth? Were they having dealings with dark mages?" "For the record, I don't only take quests with dark mages, and no, it was something more personal."
There was a brief bout of silence between us as we observed each other before she opened her mouth. "I heard you defeated Jellal; it was something I thought possible, but it still surprised me. Probably only the Four Gods of Ishgar were stronger than him among the Wizard Saints." Seeing the hint of annoyance flash through her gaze as she placed her hands on her waist, I smirked.
"Grimoire Heart wants to unseal the Black Wizard, and Jellal wanted to revive; it seems you two were working closely together. He didn't have a guild mark, though; were you and the guild using him as a proxy?" At my remark, Ultear raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "Huh, I guess that statement about you usually not using your brain is true." Although she didn't directly agree or disagree, it was apparent that they were somehow related.
"A dumbass wouldn't have gotten as strong as me… No, wait, that's not true; Laxus would've been weaker than me otherwise." Rubbing my chin in confusion, I ended up shrugging my shoulders before turning around. "Anyway, since I found this place, I will be reporting it… Oh, wait, the magic council is still in the process of being rebuilt. Never mind then."
Waving my hand at Ultear, I head to the entrance, stopping just before taking the stairs. "Oi, Ultear, I don't know nor do I care why you're a part of Grimoire Heart, but whatever you want the Black Wizard to do, it won't ever happen. You couldn't even get Deliora under your control, what makes you guys think you'll be able to get the Black Wizard do what you ask of him?"
As I looked back at Ultear, she just hardened her gaze before scoffing. "Well, we'll see, won't we?" "Heh, unlikely, I won't just let Grimoire Heart unseal the Black Wizard, but if it happens, yeah, we will see." Flashing her a smirk, I enhanced my leg before stomping down, causing the ground to crack and split, leaving behind a present as I took the stairs just as the ceiling began to collapse.
Glancing at the base, which had caved in, I turned around, leaving the alley and heading back to the Inn.
Arriving at the top floor, I opened the door, and unsurprisingly, I was met with destruction; chairs broken, paintings ripped, vases broken, and holes in the wall. 'I've got no one to blame but myself.' Nodding to myself, I ignored the sound of destruction happening and headed to the room, where Minerva was awake but resting.
"Cooper, w-where are we?" Sitting upright while wincing, I pushed her back down. "At an Inn, now lie down and rest." Sitting down beside the bed, I set the bag down, grabbing several of the items as I began trying to tend to her.
"Um, Cooper, d-do you know how to apply first-aid?" As she hesitantly looked at me, I was using tongs to hold cotton dabbed in water to clean the blood off her. "No, it's my first time… Am I not supposed to use cotton?" "H-How about letting me do it?" Slowly nodding, I handed the tools to her, watching as she cleaned herself before finally ending with bandages.
"Huh, so that's how you perform first-aid." "You've never done it? What happens when you get injured?" "I stay injured until it heals?" Tilting my head in confusion, Minerva blankly stared at me, prompting me to clap my hands before standing up. "Anyway, I'll go order us some food."
Exiting the room, with Dobengal nearly running into me, I left the apartment, heading to the first floor to order some before returning. "The dude said the food should arrive in a little less than an hour." Closing the door behind me while ignoring the destruction, I plopped my butt on the couch and continued reading the magazine where I'd left off.
"Tsk, how'd she get two whole pages by herself? She's all boobs and no butt." Grumbling to myself, I flipped to the next page while ignoring Orga, Sting, Rogue, and Dobengal playing hide and seek.
"Haha, found you!" "Eh, that's cheating, Orga!" "If you're not cheating, you don't truly want to win!" "That's only something a loser said." I nodded in agreement with Rogue's remark, as that's exactly something Laxus has said. 'Couldn't have said it better myself– THE HELL!? Why is Mira on here!?'