Bab 150: Flipping the Switch
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
August, x784.
The next morning, Marin was the first of the three to wake up. In a daze, she looked around the room she found herself in before she remembered that she was out on a quest with Elicia and Lucy. After that, she immediately blushed after remembering what she did last night before going to sleep.
'OMG! Did I really do that with two other people in the room?' Marin asked herself while pulling her blankets over her head. 'What is wrong with me? Ever since that night, I do it almost every night. *Sigh* I really either need to go get some or get over it. This is really getting out of hand.'
With the end of that thought, Marin sat up. Then, after noticing how uncomfortable her panties felt against her privates, she quickly got up and rushed into the bathroom with a change of clothes to take a shower before the others woke up.
About an hour and a half later, Elicia, Marin, and Lucy were seated around a table in the hotel's dining room. While Elicia and Marin were eating happily, Lucy continued to put at Elicia while she ate her own breakfast.
"Looking at me like that won't change anything , Lucy." Elicia said with a smile. "You're a perfect example of what happens if you break the guild rules. And I'd rather not have Gramps punish me."
"Then, you shouldn't have brought me with you." Lucy said, her pout intensifying. "What am I supposed to do all day while the two of you are doing the quest?"
"I'm sure it won't be so bad." Marin said in a consoling tone. "I mean, we're in Crocus. There are tons of things to do here."
"Marin's right, Lucy." Elicia added with a smile. "There's all sorts of fun things to do in the capital. Plus, I wanted you here so that you would find out the outcome of the quest at the earliest possible moment. Since you were almost sold away by that creep, Bora, I thought you'd appreciate that."
"*Sigh* And I do appreciate it." Lucy said in a resigned tone. "But I really wanted to help put the people responsible for making those girls go missing in their places, ya know."
"I know what you mean, Lucy." Elicia replied with a nod. "But that's just not possible right now. Unfortunately, this is the best I can do."
"*Sigh* Fine." Lucy said with a pout. "I'll be good and wait in the room."
Smiling in response, Elicia and Marin exchanged glances while they thought the same thing at the moment.
'She's so cute when she's all pouty.' Elicia and Marin thought simultaneously.
After breakfast, just as discussed, Lucy returned to the room. Meanwhile, Elicia and Marin headed to the provided address for the client on foot.
"By the way, Marin." Elicia said with a smile on her face.
"Hmm? What's up?" Marin asked.
"You should learn some word magic to create a silencing barrier, or something." Elicia said, her smile widening. "If not that, then you should be quieter when you're having your alone time while sharing a room with other people."
Immediately, Marin stumbled, almost falling face first to the ground. Luckily, Elicia reacted quickly and wrapped some of her threads around the blonde's waist.
"You…" Marin said in complete shock. "You were awake? But I made sure that you had fallen asleep before I started."
"I probably was asleep when you started." Elicia said as she stood Marin upright with her threads. "But those cute little squeaking sounds you made when you came woke me up."
Hearing that, Marin started to open and close her mouth like a fish out of water.
"I bet that would really turn Fonzie on, too." Elicia said as she wrapped her arm around Marin's shoulders and started walking again. "We can talk about that later, though. For now, we have a job to do."
The rest of the trip was spent in silence. While Elicia was smiling happily, Marin was doing all that she could to get her blush under control. Unfortunately, due to her embarrassment, that was no easy feat.
Eventually, the girls reached the client's house. When they did, however, they noticed a few knights, one of whom they had become familiar with the night before. That being Darkness, of course. And when she saw the embarrassed blush on Marin's face, her eyes lit up as she approached, causing her colleagues to sigh resignedly.
"Elicia, Marin, good morning." Darkness said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting to see the two of you again so soon. And Marin, are you alright? Your face is all red."
"I'm fine, Darkness." Marin replied, trying to brush off her current state. "It's probably just because it's a bit hot this morning."
"Oh, I thought that you might have felt a bit embarrassed or maybe *Pant* humiliated." Darkness said as her cheeks reddened and she began panting. "And if *Pant* anyone had the audacity to try and *Pant* humiliate you on the streets of Crocus, point me in their direction. *Pant* I'd be sure to make them regret doing so."
With that, five sighs sounded simultaneously. Naturally, two came from Elicia and Marin, while the other two came from Darkness' colleagues. And of course, they all sighed with resignation. The fifth sigh, however, was filled with anticipation and longing. So, it did not take a genius to realize that it was Darkness hoping to be humiliated publicly.
"Uh… anyway, we have business with the owner of this house, Darkness." Elicia said awkwardly. "So, we'll have to talk to you later, okay?"
"Oh… *Cough* Of course." Darkness replied with a smile. "I had no intention of holding you up. But if you're here to see the owner of this residence, does that mean you're also looking to solve the case of those missing girls?"
"That's right." Marin replied, her blush finally having disappeared.
"If that's the case, then this case should not take long to solve at all." Darkness replied with a smile. "The wizards from Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus are also looking for the culprits."
"So, that's why they were all in the capital." Elicia muttered.
"And if you add us…" Darkness said while gesturing at the knights who were accompanying her. "… that makes a total of four groups looking for the possible cause of this incident. I'm truly looking forward to finding whoever is behind this. Even if I am somehow charmed or defeated in battle, I know my pride as a knight will help me through this. No matter what they may do to me. *Pant* Whether it be humiliating me publicly, *Pant* or selling me off as a slave or prostitute in a brothel.. *Pant* I know that I will be able to bring this case to a close."
While Darkness was getting lost in her fantasies, Elicia and Marin quietly walked away while looking at the other two knights with pity. The knights on the other hand, looked at the two Fairy Tail wizards with envy. While on duty, even if they wanted to, they couldn't just leave the embarrassment they called Darkness behind.
"*Sigh* Is there really nothing we can do about Lady Dustiness?" One of the knights asked.
"I seriously doubt it." The other knight replied. "*Sigh* We can only deal with this until we are assigned to another squad. Meanwhile, you should pray that she doesn't take a liking to us. Otherwise, we may end up as her partners for a long time."
Once again, the two knights sighed in resignation at the same time while thinking that Darkness beauty was wasted on her.
About an hour later, Elicia and Marin finished their conversation with the client and started their return trip to the hotel.
"*Sigh* He really didn't have much info, did he?" Marin asked in a slightly frustrated tone.
"Nope." Elicia replied while shaking her head.
"Then where are we supposed to even start?" Marin asked. "should we go and talk to the other victim's families?"
"We could, but I doubt that will help much." Elicia said. "Mr. Hamilton said that the knights were unable to find any clues. They're not even sure where the girls had disappeared from in the first place."
"Ugh… This is so frustrating." Marin groaned. "Where are we even supposed to start? This is making my head hurt. I need sugar and carbs!"
Smiling wryly at Marin's outburst, Elicia simply shook her head.
"Well, we do have an advantage over the others who are searching for the girls." Elicia said with a smile.
"Really?" Marin asked in disbelief. "What's that?"
"Well, do you remember the description of all the girls who have disappeared?" Elicia asked.
"Yeah, they were all really beautiful." Marin replied.
"Then~, what do you, me, and Lucy all have in common with the missing girls." Elicia said with a confident smile.
Immediately, Marin's eyes lit up with understanding. Then, she smiled confidently as well.
"We're all, like, uber-hot." Marin replied.
"Exactly." Elicia said with a smile. "So, I doubt we'd have to do much. They'll eventually come to us."
"Lici, you're a genius." Marin cheered happily.
"I do have my moments." Elicia replied.
"But why would we have the biggest advantage?" Marin asked a few seconds later. "I mean, I can understand why Quatro Cerberus wouldn't have a chance. They're all guys, after all. But the knights have Darkness, physically one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Then there's Karen of Blue Pegasus, who, until Mirajane started modeling in Sorcerer Weekly, was considered the most beautiful female wizard in Fiore."
"Well, Karen's disadvantage is that she's traveling with Ichiya and the Trimens." Elicia said with a wry smile. "No matter how you look at it, whoever is causing the girls to disappear wouldn't make a move when she's surrounded by men."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Marin replied with a nod. "That still leaves Darkness though, right?"
"As for the knights…" Elicia replied with a wry smile. "Darkness is Darkness. Even if they kidnapped her, I bet they would send her back within an hour."
*Pant*
Hearing the sound of someone breathing heavily, Elicia and Marin froze. Then they both turned their heads slowly in the direction the panting came from. And just as they feared, Darkness, along with her two colleagues, had just come around a corner and most likely overheard Elicia's last comment.
"Oh my, to think you would so casually insult my character in public, Elicia." Darkness said with stars in her eyes. "That's really quite humiliating. Still, I would appreciate it if you could tell me about more of my shortcomings. That way, I could strive to correct them. Also, since I've been having issues with my hearing lately, if you could do so loudly… the louder the better, in fact, I'd really appreciate it."
Once again, Elicia, Marin, and the other two knights sighed in unison. Then, ignoring Darkness, which seemed to excite her even more, Elicia looked at the other two knights with resolution.
"Please don't arrest me for what I'm about to do." Elicia said in a solemn tone. "but we've got some missing girls to save. And we don't have time to be caught up with her… interests."
Exchanging glances for a moment, both the knights nodded to Elicia's words.
"We understand." One of the knights replied.
"The safety of the citizens must always come first." The other knight added.
Nodding at the approval, Elicia ejected a large number of threads from the tips of her fingers. Then, those threads wove themselves into thick and sturdy ropes before wrapping around Darkness' wrists and ankles. A moment later, Darkness was pulled into the air while her arms were pulled behind her back and her ankles were pulled toward her wrists. In the end, Darkness' wrists and ankles were tied together.
After completing her bindings, and without letting Darkness touch the ground again, Elicia sent the other end of the rope around a light post and hung Darkness from it. Then, Elicia and Marin quickly walked away after leaving Darkness with an enraptured blush on her face.
"Those ropes will disappear in about fifteen minutes." Elicia said to the knights as she and Marin left the scene. "We'll go on ahead to investigate in the meantime."
Receiving a nod from the knights, Elicia and Marin walked away without looking back. Then, when they were close to the hotel, Marin glanced at Elicia, who was wearing a pained expression.
"Lici, what's wrong?" Marin asked with concern in her tone.
"I messed up." Elicia replied in a despairing tone.
"What do you mean?" Marin asked curiously.
"Did you see the look on Darkness' face before we left?" Elicia asked.
"Nope, I tried my best not to look at her." Marin replied.
"I definitely flipped her switch." Elicia replied. "We need to finish this quest quick and get back home. Otherwise, if she finds us again, she'll never leave me alone."
With that, the light of realization flashed in Marin's eyes just as they walked through the hotel's front doors.
"Then, what's the plan?" Marin asked seriously.
"Let's talk about it when we get back to the room." Elicia replied. "We should probably let Lucy know what to expect, too."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
SixthSense1029
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