章 368: A Failed Sneak Attack

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Cedar.

June 2, x785.

At about noon, instead of working on the Mermaid Heel training facilities, Alfonzo was standing on a train platform, at the train station in the town of Cedar. However, he was not alone. Instead, Marin, who had to leave for a modelling job with Sorcerer Weekly, was clinging to him while they waited for her train to arrive.

"*Sigh* If I knew all that stuff with Yoruichi and Sui-Feng was gonna happen, I would have never taken these jobs." Marin said with a rather pronounced pout on her face. "Having you all to myself was, like, really nice. I should totes stand them up."

"Yeah, right." Alfonzo replied while rolling his eyes. "Even if you did that, you wouldn't have me all to yourself anymore. And is it really worth it to cut off any avenue for future work with Sorcerer Weekly over that?"

"Yeah, I know." Marin replied, her pout deepening as she did so. "I just don't wanna go. I wanna stay with you."

"You make it seem like we won't see each other when I get home." Alfonzo said with a wry smile while combing his fingers through Marin's hair. "Besides, if you really wanted to, couldn't you just drive back out here when you're done with the photo shoots?"

"Nope!" Marin replied quite strongly. "If I had to make such a long trip by myself, I'd definitely take the train. I hate driving that far by myself."

"Seriously?" Alfonzo asked in disbelief. "So, you'd rather sit on a train for that much longer?"

As he spoke, Alfonzo shook his head uncomprehendingly.

"Yeah, If I'm not the one driving, I can fall asleep whenever." Marin replied. "But if I drive, I have to stay alert the whole time. No thank you."

"I guess that's something I'll never understand." Alfonzo replied while smiling wryly.

{"Attention Passengers."} A female voice said over the station's P.A. system. {"The train to Shirotsume will arrive on platform four in two minutes. Please make sure you have all your belongings and wait behind the yellow line. I repeat…"}

"*Sigh* And that really means my little vacation is over." Marin said dejectedly.

"Stop being so dramatic." Alfonzo said with a chuckle. "Besides, you were actually out here to work, remember?"

"If you call acting like a housewife taking care of her husband, her daughter, and her daughter's cat, that for some reason can talk, working, then I wouldn't mind working all the time." Marin replied

"Yeah, right." Alfonzo shot back while rolling his eyes. "We both know if you had to stay home for too long, you'd go stir crazy."

"I know, right." Marin replied with a smile. "Still, it was nice. In small doses, anyway."

Like that, Alfonzo and Marin spent the rest of the time until the train arrived chatting about everything and nothing. Then, after the train pulled up, it took a few more minutes for the passengers to exit. And after that, Marin and the other passengers headed to Shirotsume, and the other towns in that direction, were able to board.

"I'll see you when you get back to Magnolia." Marin said before kissing Alfonzo goodbye. Then she made her way to the open train door. "I'm gonna miss you!"

"I'll miss you, too." Alfonzo replied with a wave of his own. "And have fun."

"Thanks, Bye~~~!" Marin said as she disappeared into the train.

Less than a minute later, the train doors were closed. And only a few moments after that, the train pulled away from the platform and was on its way.

"And there she goes." Alfonzo muttered as he turned to leave the station.

However, once he left the station, Alfonzo's instincts flared and warned him of incoming danger.

"I found you." A happy female voice said from behind Alfonzo.

At the same time, Alfonzo activated his [Metal Magic], stopping a knife from piercing his back.

"Aww… I thought I got you." The female voice said in a sad tone.

At the same time, the people nearby who saw what just happened began to panic. Which led to the area around Alfonzo and his attacker being cleared rather quickly.

"So, that crazy bitch broke you out of prison again, huh?" Alfonzo asked in a cold tone while his right hand sparked with violet electricity. "*Sigh* How many pieces does she have in all these countries? Mind telling me, Himiko toga? Or would you prefer if I called you Draculina?"

"OMG! He knows my name!" Himiko exclaimed excitedly while cupping her flushed left cheek with her left hand. A moment later, however, she answered Alfonzo's question in an infatuated tone. "It's okay if you just call me Himiko. Unfortunately, I can't tell you that. Not even if you were to let me cover you in your own blood before fucking me silly."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo replied as he swung his right hand back at Himiko, who was still trying to push her knife into Alfonzo's back. "I would never do either."

Reacting quickly, Himiko Limboed under the lightning clad back hand. Then, she summersaulted away from Alfonzo, leaving the knife behind.

"That's such a pity." Himiko said with an unhinged smile. "But I know it will happen eventually. Love can make anything possible, after all."

Before Alfonzo could reply, Himiko's appearance and clothing started to melt away into a grey, viscous liquid. A moment later, she had transformed into Mest Gryder/Doranbolt.

"Damn, when the hell did she get his blood?" Alfonzo asked himself with a frown on his face.

Unbeknownst to Alfonzo, after getting out of prison a few days ago, Himiko attacked Doranbolt and drained a large amount of his blood, almost killing him in the process. Luckily, she was driven away before she could finish the job.

"Anyway." Himiko said while taking on Mest's appearance. "I was just taking a little break. I actually have to get back to work. Otherwise, my boss will dock my pay. And if she does that, I won't be able to look so pretty for you, Darling. So, I'll see you later. Bye~~~~!"

As she spoke, Himiko smiled brightly while waving at Alfonzo. Then, before Alfonzo could say or do anything, she used [Teleportation Magic] to leave the scene without a trace.

"She said she had to get back to work." Alfonzo muttered as he dispelled the lightning arcing around his right hand. "Just what is that Junko up to this time? Last time she wanted to get her hands on Zeref. But he should be back on Alakitasia by now."

Taking a deep breath, Alfonzo did his best to calm down. Then, once he was calm, he shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

"I don't think I can make fun of Lici for her group of weird admirers anymore. Well, at least I know her magic power signature, now. So, she shouldn't be able to sneak up on me again." Alfonzo muttered while making his way towards the Escalade that was parked nearby. However, when he got close, he could not help but frown. "Damn it, is this an old mafia movie? She actually put an explosive under the car that would go off when I started the engine."

Instead of an actual explosive, what Alfonzo felt was a lacrima with very volatile magic power stored within. And due to this unstable magic power, Alfonzo would not be able to remove the lacrima by manipulating the metal of the engine with his magic. And starting the engine would have the same result, an explosion that would destroy the entire vehicle. Though, the chances of him being harmed in an explosion of that scale would be minimal at best.

Not long after that, the knights responsible for policing Cedar arrived to see what the reason for the commotion was. And unfortunately for Alfonzo, they asked him to return to their barracks with him for questioning.

Four hours later, Alfonzo was finally released by the knights.

"In any world, I only have one thing to say about the cops." Alfonzo said as he made his way back to the train station. "Fuck the police. Not only do they always show up after the incident is over, But how many fucking times do I have to give the same statement. It's not like the fucking story would change depending on who asked me about it."

While grumbling and cursing the knights, Alfonzo eventually made it back to the train station. More specifically, to the side of his Escalade. Then, while making sure to keep his magic power a safe distance from the unstable lacrima, Alfonzo floated the entire Escalade off the ground. At the same time, using his [Electromagnetism Magic], he also flew up into the air and returned to Mermaid Heel's HQ.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Mermaid Heel Headquarters

"Did that kid just ditch his work all day?" Tsunade asked in a frustrated tone while Wendy, Carla, and Ritsu were sitting in her office.

While Wendy was reading a medical textbook, Carla was reading a book of her own. Meanwhile, Ritsu was sipping a cup of tea with a gentle smile on her face.

"Alfonzo would never do that." Wendy said, looking up from the book before closing it. "He takes his work very seriously."

"Indeed, he likes money too much to possibly mess that up." Carla replied sharply.

"Carla…" Wendy muttered. Though, she did not know how to retort. "Anyway, I'm sure something must have happened."

"I agree with Wendy." Ritsu added. "I've seen his work ethic for the past few days. He doesn't seem like the type to slack off."

"If you say so." Tsunade replied. "Either way, he's gonna have some explaining to do when he gets back."

At that moment, Wendy, Carla, and Ritsu's eyes widened in surprise as they caught sight of something strange through the window behind Tsunade.

"What's with those faces?" Tsunade asked in a curious tone. "Is there something on my face?"

"I think you should look behind you, Tsuna." Ritsu replied calmly as she got her expression back under control.

Skeptically, Tsunade turned around to look out the window of her office. And just like the other three, when she caught sight of what drew their attention, her expression turned strange, as well.

"What the hell is he doing?" Tsunade asked in a bewildered tone.

What the ladies saw was Alfonzo flying over the Mermaid Heel headquarters with the Escalade in tow, which was undoubtedly a strange sight.

"I wonder what happened?" Wendy muttered while watching Alfonzo draw near.

"I'm not sure." Carla replied. "But someone must have done something to his magic vehicle. I mean, look at his face. He looks pretty upset."

While Tsunade and Ritsu agreed with Carla's assessment, they could tell there was more to it due to their years of experience. So, instead of guessing at what happened, they decided to leave Tsunade's office and wait for him at the guild's entrance.

Naturally, when Tsunade and Ritsu got up to leave, Wendy and Carla followed them.

Eventually, the four ladies, while drawing the attention of the rest of Mermaid Heel, passed through the main hall and waited just outside its entrance. A few moments later, Alfonzo landed in front of them with the Escalade right behind him.

"What happened, Kid?" Tsunade asked as soon as Alfonzo landed. "And why the hell are you flying your magic vehicle around like that?"

"*Sigh* It's a long story." Alfonzo said in a disgruntled tone. "But the short version is, after Marin got on the train, this crazy bitch tried to sneak up on me and stab me. And when that didn't work, she turned into someone else before [Teleporting] away. Then, I got questioned by the dumb ass Cedar knights for four hours. On top of that, my fucking car was rigged to explode if I started the engine. And what made it worse is that I couldn't use my magic to remove the explosive, either. And what makes all that even worse? I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm fucking starving."

"Could you please watch your language in front of Wendy?" Carla said in an admonishing tone.

"Carla, I'm not a little kid anymore." Wendy complained.

"Not now, Carla." Alfonzo said, sounding quite exhausted. "I really don't need that right now."

Surprisingly, Carla did not insist after hearing Alfonzo's tone. She did, however, fly behind Wendy in preparation to cover her ears, just in case.

"Carla…" Wendy whined in protest.

"Yeah, it sounds like you had a pretty terrible day." Tsunade said in a tone filled with schadenfreude. "But we need to talk about you just leaving your work like that."

To Tsunade's surprise, Alfonzo shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Well, if there's an issue, I don't mind removing all the work I've done and putting everything back the way it was." Alfonzo said as he stepped forward to enter the guild hall. "I mean, it's not like I took a down payment for this job. So, we can just pretend like none of this ever happened and I was just here to accompany Wendy while she learned under you."

Hearing that, Tsunade could only grit her teeth. By bringing that up in the manner she did, it was obvious she was hoping to get some benefits out of Alfonzo's little disappearing act. However, she did not expect him to fire back the way he did.

'Although I'm still younger than you, Tsunade.' Alfonzo thought to himself with a smirk forming on his face. 'If you add up both of my lives, I'm forty-seven years old now. I'm not some inexperienced kid you can take advantage of.'

"Anyway, Lucy should be here soon to take Marin's place." Alfonzo said as he made his way over to the bar. "And when she shows up, you'll definitely know it's her. Her magic vehicle has a very distinct sound. Plus, it's painted hot, metallic pink."

Hearing that, Tsunade and Ritsu exchanged glances. Then, they sent the information about Lucy's magic vehicle to the ones looking over the main gates to their HQ. After that, Wendy, Carla, Tsunade, and Ritsu sat down with Alfonzo to hear the details of his day, while he waited for his dinner to be served.