— — — — — —
The next morning, inside the Fairy Tail guild—
"Miss Cana, I heard from the others in the guild that you're really good at fortune-telling."
"Could you do a love reading for me?"
Juvia approached Cana, who was already drinking, her eyes shining with hope. Today, she was planning to go on a date with Kazuma.
"Oh? Juvia, aren't you head-over-heels for Kazuma?"
"Don't tell me you finally discovered his flaws and decided to dump him for someone better?"
Cana set her barrel of booze down and raised a brow.
"No! Of course not. Juvia loves Kazuma the most!"
"I just… wanted Miss Cana to predict whether today's date will go well."
Juvia waved her hands frantically. As if she would ever leave Kazuma. She'd already decided—this lifetime belonged to him alone.
"I mean… I can do it, but—"
"I'll pay for all your drinks today."
"Deal. Let's start."
Cana instantly pulled out her deck and began. The first few cards looked fine, but when the final result appeared, her face stiffened.
"How is it? It should be good, right?" Juvia stared at her with glowing anticipation. She'd prepared so much for the date—it had to go perfectly.
"Well… Juvia, just so we're clear, my readings can sometimes be wrong."
Cana felt enormous pressure under those sparkling eyes. She licked her lips and spoke carefully.
"Mhm!"
Juvia nodded rapidly, her expectation rising even more. Today would definitely be a great date. She was sure of it.
"And sometimes the cards show small obstacles. But with effort, they can be overcome."
Just imagining Juvia's face if she said it would be bad made Cana's chest tighten.
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Juvia still didn't notice anything was off.
Cana sighed. "Alright… the reading says your date today will go terribly. Basically, trouble at every step."
She finally gave up trying to soften the blow.
Juvia froze on the spot. Her mind echoed only one word—unlucky.
Dark clouds gathered outside as if the sky itself shared her mood.
"Juvia, I'm sorry. A reading is a reading… I can't control the results. You don't need to pay me anymore. I'm really sorry."
Cana bolted from the scene. Poor girl had finally gathered the courage for a date, and here she was telling her it'd be a disaster.
Ah… this is why she hated random fortune-telling requests.
Cana sat elsewhere and reached for her flask, but before she could take a sip, Lucy walked over.
"Cana… what a coincidence. I was about to head out anyway—can you tell me if my day will go smoothly?"
Lucy had promised Kazuma they'd go gift-shopping today. It sounded fine yesterday, but when the moment came, she felt a little nervous.
"A day trip? You're not going out for something critical, right?" Cana became alert.
"Nope, just shopping." Lucy tried to act casual.
"Good. I'll do it. But if the result is good, you owe me a drink."
Cana relaxed. If it wasn't important, the outcome didn't matter.
She drew the cards, and the answer revealed itself quickly.
"Hm. Lucy, you shouldn't go shopping today. The reading says your whole day will go badly. Just pick another day."
Cana sighed. There went her free booze. Her luck was pretty bad today.
"Unlucky…"
Lucy drooped. She'd been excited to browse shops with Kazuma… but apparently not today.
"Cana, do one for me too! I want to know if I'll finish the new dish I'm trying today." Mirajane walked over next. Girls loved fortune-telling—no matter how trivial.
"Sure."
Cana drew the cards and blinked in confusion. "Weird. Another unlucky result. That's three in a row."
Her instincts as a fortune-teller screamed that something was wrong.
She immediately began drawing cards for herself, then for other guild members.
"All misfortune!"
"Everyone is getting misfortune! Don't tell me this is the end of the world!"
Cana's eyes widened. One unlucky person was normal. But everyone?
Besides a world-ending catastrophe, she couldn't think of another explanation.
"Maybe your cards are wrong?" Lucy asked.
"No way. One person could be mistaken, but not the entire guild with the exact same result! This means something involving all of us is about to happen!"
Cana grew serious. She had to warn the master.
"This is indeed serious," Mira said, noticing Lucy's confusion. She explained briefly, then went to contact Makarov.
"I—I just wanted to know if going outside would be lucky today! How did that turn into a disaster prophecy?!"
Lucy wanted to cry. Her cheerful day was collapsing around her.
While Mira used a lacrima to call Makarov, a group of girls walked into the guild.
"Excuse me, is Loke here?"
"Where did he go?"
"Why did he suddenly break up with me? Did something happen to him?"
"Was it something I did? Did I upset him?"
"I don't want to believe it, but…"
The girls all spoke over each other anxiously.
"Who… who are they?" Lucy whispered to Cana.
"Loke's girlfriends."
"…That's a lot.." Lucy stared. "Hmm... by the way, which one is the current one?"
Lucy was shocked that Loke had dated this many women. And now all these ex-girlfriends were showing up… don't tell her one of them was pregnant or something.
"All of them," Cana said flatly.
Lucy went blank. 'All of them.' Meaning these weren't exes at all—they were all his current girlfriends.
That was… honestly kind of impressive.
Nearby, Mira struggled to deal with the crowd of upset women, but after failing to calm them down, she turned desperately toward Cana and Lucy.
"Run!"
The moment Cana saw Mira's expression, she bolted. No hesitation at all. Pure survival instinct.
"Huh? What—"
Lucy had only just recovered from her shock when—
"Lucy, please help me!" Mira shouted.
Every girl in the group turned at once, eyes locking on Lucy before swarming toward her.
"Don't dump this on me! Mira, Cana, you're both terrible!"
Lucy panicked and ran. She couldn't handle a mob of heartbroken women. They were basically zombies at this point.
---
Outside the guild, Makarov was having tea with Kazuma when Mira contacted him.
"First Loke suddenly sends me a letter saying he's leaving the guild," Makarov muttered.
"And now Mira tells me Cana's fortune-telling says everyone in the guild is in danger today."
"You kids never let me have a single peaceful day."
He sighed, then told Mira about Loke's resignation letter and instructed her to share it with the others.
"If he wants to leave, he should walk through the front doors like a man. Dropping off a letter and vanishing… what kind of behavior is that? That brat is really asking for a beating."
Makarov hung up and glared at Kazuma.
"What? Don't look at me, old man. I haven't caused any trouble today."
Kazuma felt like that "brat asking for a beating" line was aimed directly at him.
"I wasn't talking about you this time," Makarov said. "Anyway, stop sitting around. Go find Loke. I'm leaving this situation to you…"
"I'm too old to keep handling everything myself." He tossed Kazuma the letter.
"Oh? You're finally ready to retire and pass the torch? Great news."
"Get lost!"
Makarov snapped a kick at him. Kazuma dodged easily.
"That kick? A snail could dodge that."
Kazuma taunted him as he sprinted out of range before the second kick could even leave the ground.
"That little brat… infuriating."
Makarov grumbled and sat back down, sipping his tea and thinking about how Kazuma would deal with the situation.
The more he thought, the worse he felt. 'Was this really a good idea? Could Kazuma handle this?'
---
When Kazuma returned to the guild, the others had already gone out to search for Loke. Only Mira remained to manage communications.
"Kazuma, Loke is missing," Mira said.
"I know. I was just with the old man. Here." Kazuma sat at the bar and tossed her the envelope.
Mira opened it, read the contents, and frowned deeply.
"Loke has been acting strange for days. He broke up with all those girls, and now he wants to quit the guild."
"This doesn't feel like trouble. It feels like… like he's getting ready to die. Like he's putting his affairs in order."
A shadow passed over her expression. She hated losing guild members more than anything.
"Pretty much. His energy's almost gone. Today's probably his last day." Kazuma briefly explained that Loke was a celestial spirit, then ordered a bowl of Fairy Ramen.
"This is extremely serious! Why are you still so relaxed?" Mira stared at him, baffled.
"Returning to the Celestial Spirit World isn't a big deal. I can handle that."
"The real issue is whether I can convince the Celestial Spirit King to accept him again. And whether Loke himself even wants to live."
"He's our companion, but he never asked for help. He chose to leave quietly and die alone to atone for his past."
Kazuma's eyes were calm. Some people didn't seek help even when they needed it. Or rather… they believed they didn't deserve it.
Mira couldn't answer.
"I can help him," Kazuma said. "But if Loke doesn't want my help, then I won't force it."
"Respecting his choice is also part of being a companion."
"My dear Master~ What if we make the request?"
A magic circle appeared beside them. Virgo stepped out, her face expressionless as always. "The Zodiac wishes to officially request your help. Please save Leo. As payment, we will offer treasures from the Celestial Spirit World."
The Twelve Zodiac Spirits had entrusted this task to her. They wanted to save their comrade too.
Kazuma paused. He had been waiting for Loke to ask him personally or save him when he was in real danger… but a request was a request.
So should he accept?
"I already filed the job request for you. Um… did I do it too fast? Want me to cancel it?" Mira asked with an innocent look.
"Cancel what? If I've taken a job, I'm seeing it through. You have a request, I give a response. That's how it works."
"Just wait for me to come back." Kazuma grinned, accepted the task, and headed out to find Leo.
"We leave everything in your hands," Virgo said softly.
She bowed. As a celestial spirit, she couldn't defy the Celestial Spirit King or interfere directly in the human world.
This was all she could do.
"Don't worry," Mira said. "Kazuma never fails a mission. He'll pull it off."
Virgo nodded once.
At a waterfall, before a solitary grave—Karen's grave, his former contractor—Loke knelt weakly.
"So this is finally my atonement… though it's a shame. I wanted to see the night sky one more time."
He didn't even have strength left in his limbs. His body flickered, turning more transparent by the minute.
He wouldn't last much longer.
Footsteps approached behind him. Loke turned and saw Kazuma.
"Loke… or should I say Leo of the Zodiac."
Kazuma walked up with a smile.
"Kazuma… Virgo must have told you, right? I knew I couldn't hide it much longer." Loke sighed.
"She didn't tell me. I figured it out myself. Just like the rest."
"You really think we're all as clueless as Happy? Or that the old man has dementia? I wasn't the only one who noticed you were acting weird. We just didn't pry."
"Human or celestial spirit, it doesn't matter. You're still a member of Fairy Tail."
Kazuma sat beside him.
"I was going to wait until you came crying to me for help. But lucky for you, someone hired me to save you. So when I'm done, you can cry later and thank me properly."
"Kazuma… I've been happy in Fairy Tail. You all treated me like a companion, and I was grateful."
"But it's fine. I don't need saving. The Celestial Spirit King personally exiled me. Without his permission, I can never return. And I accept that. I deserve the punishment." Loke lowered his head.
"So you mean... my job is to convince the king."
"Uhh Kazuma... The Celestial Spirit King will never appear in the human world."
"Then I'll go to the Spirit World myself."
Kazuma pulled a celestial key from his Treasury. Virgo's key.
.
.
.