After setting down the colossal monster tooth, Erza's sharp, heroic eyes swept over everyone in the guild like a drawn sword.
Then, her red lips parted.
Though her voice wasn't loud, inexplicably, a collective shiver ran through the room.
"I've heard plenty of rumors on my way here!" she declared.
"They say Fairy Tail members are constantly causing trouble all day long!"
"Even if the Master has forgiven you, I won't!"
With that, Erza spun around and fixed her gaze on Cana, who was drinking directly from a barrel, and rebuked her sternly.
"Cana! Is that how you always drink?"
"Vijstar! If you want to dance, take it outside!"
"Wakaba, your cigarette butts are littering the floor!"
"Nab! Are you still just loitering in front of the quest board?! Go find some work!"
"And Macao!"
Macao's face tightened nervously, but Erza furrowed her brow, struggling to find words for a long moment.
Finally... as if her thoughts had traveled back to the origin of the universe's big bang and found no starting point, she let out a resigned sigh...
Seeing her like this, Macao was nearly scared out of his wits!
Erza narrowed her eyes, massaged her forehead and sighed.
"You're all just a bunch of children who never grew up..."
"I'll let you off for today. No more lecturing."
But... hadn't she already lectured them extensively?
Standing beside Mirajane, Lucy felt both fearful and curious.
She leaned down and whispered to Happy.
"Is she the discipline committee member?"
Happy: "Aye! That's Erza for you!"
'Still, even though Erza seemed prone to nagging, she appeared quite normal, didn't she?'
'Why was everyone so afraid of her?'
The innocent Lucy hadn't figured it out yet, but she would soon understand on her own.
The title "Queen" wasn't merely a nickname like Natsu's, earned solely through strength.
It referred to Erza's inherent personality—her formidable willpower and relentless drive to win, which often enabled her to surpass ordinary limits.
Moreover, Erza possessed exceptional leadership and respect among the guild members, something even Laxus and Mystogan couldn't match.
In essence, Erza wasn't striving for the title of "Queen" as some honor to be earned.
Rather, the crown representing responsibility and destiny was meant to be placed upon its rightful owner—Erza's head!
Throughout the entire guild, only Erza deserved the title of Fairy Queen.
Just at that moment, Erza glanced around and suddenly asked.
"Are Natsu and Gray here?"
"Aye~"
Everyone followed the strange sound and looked over, only to see Natsu and Gray forcing smiles, each with one arm wrapped around the other's neck while their other hands were tightly interlocked, looking like a pair of extremely close brothers.
Gray's smile was quite strained, his voice trembling slightly: "Ah... Erza, we're getting along really well today, see?"
Natsu squeezed out a voice in agreement: "Aye!"
Lucy covered her face in horror: "Why does Natsu sound like Happy now?"
Anyone could tell there was something off about their relationship, yet Erza seemed quite satisfied, nodding with a smile.
"Even good friends argue occasionally, but I really enjoy seeing you two getting along so harmoniously. You're doing great!"
Gray, "It's not that great really..."
Natsu, "Aye—"
Lucy exclaimed in disbelief: "I've never seen Natsu like this before!"
Mirajane snickered nearby and explained: "That's because Natsu once challenged Erza to a duel and got beaten half to death!"
Cana, never one to miss out on stirring up trouble, laughed: "When Gray was wandering around naked and she caught him, he got beaten half to death too."
"Oh right, and Loke - when he tried to pursue Erza, he also got beaten half to death..."
Later, a certain unwilling-to-be-named individual heard about this incident, rushed back, and gave Loke another thorough beating.
It nearly sent Loke to the afterlife...
"That Natsu actually lost too..." Lucy was beginning to grasp Erza's strength.
As a newcomer, she didn't know about others' capabilities, but she had personally witnessed Natsu's power.
And a girl who could easily defeat Natsu must be a formidable Mage not to be underestimated.
"Natsu, Gray, I need to ask you for a favor."
Erza looked at the "close brothers" clinging to each other, her smile fading as she spoke seriously.
"There's a troublesome matter that I originally planned to report to the Guild Master, but he's not here now..."
"So we'd better resolve this immediately. I need you two to lend me your strength."
Hearing Erza's words, Natsu and Gray froze in place.
A mission that even Erza couldn't handle alone and needed help with?
It must be unimaginably difficult...
And why did they have to team up with this guy!
Natsu and Gray glared at each other with clear displeasure in their eyes, both feeling extremely reluctant.
"This is quite an unexpected combination," Mirajane propped her chin, smiling meaningfully:
"If they form a team together, they might just become the 'strongest team' in the guild."
Hearing this, Lucy nodded in deep agreement.
In her preconceived notion, she indeed believed these three were the strongest in the guild.
Having been in the guild for only a short time, Lucy's only benchmark for strength was Natsu, whom she knew belonged to the top tier in the guild.
Happy had told her that Gray was a Mage of the same level as Natsu.
And just now, Mirajane had said that Erza was the guild's strongest (female) Mage, surpassing both of them.
Thus, Lucy, who mistakenly believed all three to be the strongest, ended up with this beautiful misunderstanding...
But in Mirajane's view, the term "strongest team" actually referred to the most excellent combination of Mages, not necessarily meaning every member was the guild's strongest.
If they really wanted to form the strongest team, they could simply lump together those S-Class Mages.
However, each of them had their own distinct personalities, making the probability of them teaming up extremely low...
Therefore, guild Mage combinations willing to cooperate and demonstrating perfect synergy were exceedingly rare - these individuals together truly formed an exceptionally powerful team.
Currently in the guild, the only team that could rival or even surpass Erza's team was probably just Laxus and his Thunder God Tribe...
Seeing that Natsu and Gray didn't (dared not) oppose her proposal, Erza nodded in satisfaction.
"Prepare yourselves, we depart tomorrow."
When Erza's gaze swept over them, Natsu and Gray quickly threw their arms around each other's shoulders and responded in unison.
"AYE!"
Cana couldn't help but reveal a gleeful smile seeing Erza looking at the two boys with satisfaction.
"There's something I need to tell you, Erza!"
Erza turned back curiously, asking: "What is it, Cana?"
Struggling to contain her laughter, Cana said cheerfully.
"Ankh has returned and wants you to go and see him."
Hearing this, Erza's face visibly paled...
The speed of her expression change was no less dramatic than when Natsu and Gray had seen Erza earlier...