Phew~ finally, it's over.
The group left the forest. Night had already fallen, and a round moon hung faintly above the heavens. Lucy stretched her arms wide, shedding the restraint she'd felt when dealing with the old man. At last, she felt completely relaxed.
"The old guy's a nice person." Natsu rubbed his nose. His energy seemed endless—he was even livelier than before. Marching ahead, he had already forgotten the embarrassment he'd just gone through.
At that moment, Happy fluttered to Lucy's side cautiously, leaning in as if sharing a secret. With the mission completed smoothly, even his mood had lifted. Lucy reached out to scoop the Exceed into her arms, smiling warmly.
"What is it, Happy?"
The little blue cat's face carried a strangely human-like worry.
"Ne, Lucy… don't you think Erza's been acting weird? She hasn't smiled this whole time. You think something's wrong with her?"
Happy glanced toward Erza, who was walking ahead of the group with a faintly downcast look, convinced that maybe he and Natsu had gone too far and upset her.
"Erza?" Lucy blinked, surprised that Happy would ask her of all people. But it wasn't incomprehensible—after all, the other two weren't exactly known for their sensitivity.
She cast a glance at Natsu and Gray. Somehow, they had already returned to their usual state—sniping at each other, even their footsteps radiating gunpowder-like tension.
Lucy hesitated. She hadn't been in Fairy Tail for very long, and truthfully, wasn't that familiar with most of its members yet. She mostly knew the big names—those who were frequent guests in Sorcerer Weekly.
"Maybe… she just has something on her mind?" Lucy said vaguely.
But in her heart, she was already spinning an entirely different story. What could a beautiful young woman like Erza possibly be troubled about?
Of course—it had to be love.
And it obviously couldn't be Natsu or Gray… and not the old man. Otherwise, Erza's attitude earlier wouldn't have been so polite. Plus, their ages were far apart.
Her imagination ran wild: Maybe the one Erza likes has run into some kind of trouble. Or maybe she has gotten tangled in some messy romance.
Within seconds, Lucy had already conjured up an entire melodramatic love drama in her mind.
A dazzlingly handsome man with the word Prince practically stamped across his forehead appeared, a rose clamped between his lips. Against a pink background overflowing with roses, he took Erza—dressed in a flowing white wedding gown—by the hand, and gazed at her deeply.
"Erza, I love you. Please, marry me!"
Erza blushed crimson like an apple, stammering shyly: "N-no… we don't know each other well enough… how could we…"
"It doesn't matter. We can spend our entire lives getting to know each other."
Lucy's imagination grew so vivid that her cheeks flushed more and more, until finally, shaking her head desperately to dispel the daydream, she whispered shyly out loud:
"…Yada yada…"
The moment the words slipped out, Lucy regretted it. As expected, three pairs of suspicious eyes locked onto her instantly. In that instant, she wished she could crawl into a hole in the ground and die of embarrassment.
Thank goodness her inner fantasy hadn't slipped out too—otherwise she'd have suffered true social death.
"Lucy, are you okay?" Natsu asked, genuinely concerned. He was starting to regret dragging her along this time.
"I'm fine, fine!" Lucy insisted, her cheeks burning even redder. The forced denial only made her look guiltier. Even Natsu, dense as he was, caught that something was off.
Suspiciously, he sniffed the air. "Lucy…"
"Eh?"
"You… you weren't affected by the old man's Chaos Magic, were you? Did you go crazy or something?"
"No~!" Lucy's smile froze, her blush evaporating instantly, replaced by irritation. "Why would you say that?"
"Because you've been acting weird ever since earlier. And you're giving off this strange smell. I've only ever smelled it on the older ladies' backs at the guild. They said it's… the smell of maturity."
Lucy's face darkened. A rare chance to change the subject… and you go and compare me to the guild's aunties?! Her fists clenched tightly in frustration.
Before things could spiral further, Happy wriggled free from Lucy's arms and said quietly, "Actually… It's like this…"
Even Gray leaned closer, curious.
"I see. Then why don't we just ask her directly?" Natsu blurted, already striding toward Erza. "Hey, Er—"
He didn't get the chance to finish. Gray clapped a hand over his mouth and yanked him back violently. "Hold it. Stop right there."
"You bastard, what are you trying to pull? You wanna fight?"
Their bickering grew loud enough to draw Erza's attention. She turned, her expression stern.
"What's wrong with you two? Are you about to fight?"
"N-no, not at all! We're not fighting." Gray stiffened, forcing a smile. With one hand still gripping Natsu's shoulder, he released his mouth and waved awkwardly at Erza.
"Eh!" Natsu's voice cracked in protest, his tone weirdly Happy-like.
"Mm. As long as you're not fighting." Satisfied, Erza turned her attention back to the path.
The moment her gaze left, the two boys instantly reverted to glaring at each other, foreheads pressed together, neither willing to back down. Sparks and little fireballs crackled in the air between them, perfectly illustrating their simmering tension.
Lucy, watching, guessed that Gray probably knew something. She lowered her voice and asked,
"Gray, do you know why Erza's acting like this?"
The fiery atmosphere dissipated immediately. As if by unspoken agreement, Natsu and Gray both stopped their squabble at the same time. Gray nodded slightly.
"Yeah. It should have something to do with the old man."
Lucy gasped. "Wait… don't tell me Erza likes the old man? They were in a relationship, and then he rejected her?"
Her little mental drama once again burst forth—but this time she'd spoken it out loud.
The world fell silent.
Three pairs of eyes bored into Lucy, silently accusing: So this is the kind of person you are.
At that moment, Lucy truly wished she could turn into a mudfish and wriggle her way underground.
Gray coughed twice. "Of course not. Erza… doesn't have anyone she likes. Well…" He hesitated, searching his memory. Erza had once let slip that she had a childhood friend, but every time he'd tried to ask more, she always avoided the subject. So he added uncertainly, "At least, I don't think she does."
"Anyway, here's what happened." Gray's expression hardened. "When Erza and I came to drag you two back, the old man showed up. On the way, he turned into someone Erza recognized. Probably her late teacher… or a relative."
At those words, even Gray looked downcast. Putting himself in her place, if the old man had appeared in Ulu's form instead of Rob, his reaction wouldn't have been much better.
"I see…" Lucy murmured. She could empathize. If Pai Pai had taken on the form of her late mother, she too would have been overwhelmed with complicated feelings.
Perhaps the only one who couldn't quite understand was Natsu. Partly because of his thick-headedness, but also because he had never gone through something like that himself.
A heavy silence fell over the little group. If it hadn't already been nighttime, the sun itself might have dimmed just to match the atmosphere.
For a long stretch, no one spoke. Even Natsu, usually the most restless, kept unusually quiet. Together, they walked back to Magnolia in silence, following the dim glow of the streetlamps, until—
What's that?