บท 475: Another Letter from Home

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Karakura.

May, x786.

Currently, Alfonzo was sitting in his room at the hotel in Karakura. With his work for the day finished, he was sitting quietly while reading up on [Archive Magic]. In the room with him was Ikaruga, who served tea whenever he asked.

Meanwhile, Elicia was at the Quatro Cerberus guild hall delivering an outfit Yumichika commissioned. Then, she would have a spar with Ikkaku, who had sparred with her every day since the first time they sparred. And lost all of them.

Marin, on the other hand, was waiting in line at a book store. Apparently, the author of one of her favorite books was doing a book signing event. And she was excited to get hers and Erza's copies signed. And as it turned out, instead of wanting to spend time with Alfonzo, that was the real reason she volunteered to come on this trip. Spending time with Alfonzo was just an added bonus.

Like that, the next hour passed in silence. However, the tranquility in the room was eventually broken.

*Bang!*

"Fonzie, I'm back!" Marin shouted excitedly as she burst through the door. "An O.M.G. I got it signed. I really got it signed! She even signed Erza's, too!"

Looking up from his magic book, Alfonzo could not help but smile after seeing Marin's excited expression. Meanwhile, Ikaruga prepared a cup of tea for Marin.

"So, what book was it?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"It was, like, my favorite book of all time!" Marin shouted as she reached into her bag. Then, she bounced over to Alfonzo while pulling out the book she got signed as she continued. "Slippery Girls 2!"

And just as he expected, Alfonzo saw a copy of the same book Marin showed Elicia on the day they met, Saint Slippery's Academy for Girls 2. On top of that, as Marin flopped down in his lap, he caught sight of her hair turning black with a purple tint as well as her eyes turning purple intermittently.

"You're doing it again." Alfonzo said with a smile as he pulled a lock of Marin's hair in front of her face.

Glancing to the side, Marin's smile widened. Then, she held the book to her chest excitedly.

"I can't help it." Marin said in a dreamy tone. "You have no idea how much I love being Shizuku-tan."

Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo smiled as he leaned forward and kissed Marin on her cheek.

"And you have no idea how much I love it when you're being you." Alfonzo said.

Blushing slightly at Alfonzo's words, Marin, instead of replying verbally, wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's neck and pulled him into a deep kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth as she did so.

As the kiss deepened, the couple gradually forgot the presence of Ikaruga, who only smiled at their passionate interaction. Meanwhile, Marin began raising Alfonzo's shirt, intending to slip it over his head. At the same time, Alfonzo's wrapped around Marin's arms back before his hands slid down.

However, just before Alfonzo's hands could reach Marin's butt, the room's door was pushed open.

"*Whistle* Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" Elicia, the one who just opened the door, asked in a playful tone after seeing the position Alfonzo and Marin were in.

Naturally, Elicia's voice drew both Alfonzo and Marin's attention. So, they broke their kiss and looked towards the door. And when they did, they were just in time to see Elicia close the door behind her.

"Oh, don't mind me." Elicia said with a smile. "Continue, I don't mind watching."

"Yeah, we all know that." Marin said while rolling her eyes.

Alfonzo, on the other hand, did not reply to Elicia's teasing. Instead, his gaze was focused on what she held in her hand.

"Where'd the letter come from, Lici?" Alfonzo asked with a grin. "Did you get a love letter from one of the single Quatro Cerberus guys?"

This time it was Elicia's turn to roll her eyes. However, she did not lose her smile.

"Nope." Elicia said as she approached the couch. Then, after flopping down next to Alfonzo and Marin, she began waving the letter in Alfonzo's face as she continued. "This one's for you, Fonzie. I didn't know you had a pen pal."

Meanwhile, Alfonzo's eyes narrowed as he continued to watch the waving letter in Elicia's hand.

'The last time I received a letter like this was when I visited Lamia Scale.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'And only a few minutes later, Lahar and Mest showed up. But there's no way the Magic Council will show up again, right?'

In the next instant, Alfonzo shivered.

'Damn it, I just raised a flag for myself, didn't I?' Alfonzo asked himself.

["In the name of everything sacred, I hope not."] Bedlam replied. ["Dealing with the Magic Council is nothing short of annoying."]

["I swear if the Magic Council pops up, I'm gonna drag your ass into your mind scape and beat the shit outta you!"] Riot shouted angrily.

"So, who's it from?" Alfonzo asked with his eyes still narrowed.

"It's from Ur." Elicia replied.

Raising an eyebrow at the unexpected response, Alfonzo picked up Marin from his lap. Then, he sat er on the couch next to him, opposite Elicia. A moment later, he reached out for the letter in Elicia's hand.

Not playing any tricks, Elicia handed Alfonzo the letter, as she was interested to know what was so important that Ur could not wait two more weeks for Alfonzo to return. Like Elicia, Ikaruga was also curious. Though, as a maid, she did not show her curiosity in her expression.

Marin, on the other hand, crossed her arms while pouting. She and Alfonzo were just getting to the good part. However, they were interrupted.

As soon as the letter was in Alfonzo's hand, he created a small metal blade on the tip of his right index finger. Then, he used it to cut open the seal on the envelope. After that, he pulled the folded letter out of the envelope, unfolded it, and began reading.

By this point, the room was in total silence. On top of that, Elicia, Marin, and Ikaruga were all focused on Alfonzo. Because of that, they all watched as his expression changed from curious to solemn while reading the letter.

"Fonzie, what's wrong?" Elicia asked, her expression changing along with Alfonzo's

"Did something happen to the guild?" Marin asked anxiously.

Meanwhile, although Ikaruga did not say anything, everyone knew exactly what she was thinking as they noticed her beginning to pack the trio's luggage.

"*Sigh* The guild is fine." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "However, Ikaruga is right. It would probably be best if I hurried along with my work. There's a situation back in Magnolia."

"What do you mean?" Marin asked. "Did someone attack the guild again?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Alfonzo replied. "But someone did manage to bypass my barrier around the town without setting off any of the alarms."

Hearing that, Elicia's eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, Marin wore a confused expression.

"If someone managed to bypass the barrier, then how did Master Ur find out?" Marin asked in a confused tone.

"It's because I hid a string of sigils in the barrier that would report to Ur if someone tampered with the barrier." Alfonzo replied. "So, even though the alarm didn't go off, it let Ur know."

"Oh~~~~! I get it." Marin replied while nodding her head in understanding.

"Was there any information about the one who did it?" Elicia asked in a solemn tone.

"See for yourself." Alfonzo replied while handing the letter to Elicia.

Receiving the letter, Elicia began to read quickly. However, as she did so, her eyebrows rose higher and higher. Eventually, she looked at Alfonzo with a questioning gaze. To which, Alfonzo could only shrug his shoulders.

"Lici, is it that bad?" Marin asked in an apprehensive tone.

"Not really, I guess." Elicia replied while shrugging. "Well, if exclude the fact that one of the intruders has more magic power than Gildarts, anyway."

"What!?" Marin asked as she opened her eyes wide. "How does anyone have that much magic power?"

"Don't be so surprised, Marin." Alfonzo said as he started combing his fingers through Marin's hair. "The world is big. And I refuse to believe that Gildarts is its strongest wizard."

"I guess…" Marin said as she started calming down. "So, that means the people who showed up aren't from Ishgar? I mean, Gildarts is probably the strongest wizard on the continent, right?"

"Who knows, just because he's the strongest known wizard, doesn't mean he's the strongest among those who live in solitude."

"I guess that's true." Marin replied as she began to snuggle into Alfonzo's side.

Naturally, the fact that someone with more magic power than Gildarts had shown up in Magnolia was not what surprised Elicia and caused her to raise her eye brows or look at Alfonzo questioningly. Instead, it was the descriptions of the two who entered Magnolia.

'A bombastic figure… Braided scarlet red hair… revealing witch-like clothing… Green hair… Black and Gold bikini… long over coat…' Elicia continued to think while staring at Alfonzo.

["That's definitely Irene and Brandish, right?"] Scylla asked. Though, her question was more of a statement than a question.

'Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too.' Elicia replied after Alfonzo shrugged off her inquisitive stare.

"So, how soon will we be leaving?" Marin asked curiously.

"Probably the day after tomorrow." Alfonzo replied.

Nodding in response, Marin then crawled back into Alfonzo's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Good." Marin said with a seductive smile. "Then, we can pick up where we left off."

With that, Marin pulled Alfonzo into another deep kiss.

That was enough to pull Elicia out of her thoughts. Seeing Marin's passion, eventually, she decided that she could think about what would happen later. Instead, she began taking off her clothes, intending to join in on the fun.

'Since they're probably planning something on Zeref's orders, they probably won't leave before we get back.' Elicia thought to herself as she slipped her shirt over her head. 'And that something they're planning probably has something to do with Fonzie, too. Especially after he beat up that traitor two months ago.'

Eventually, before things in the hotel room got too hot, Alfonzo broke his kiss with Marin and looked in Ikaruga's direction.

"Ikaruga, you can call it a night." Alfonzo said as he raised his arms over his head so that Elicia and Marin could remove his shirt. "There will be plenty of time for you to pack our stuff tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Elicia sealed Alfonzo's mouth with her own. Meanwhile, Ikaruga bowed politely. Then, after moving the luggage out of the way, she left the room. Before she did, however, she looked at Elicia and Marin with a hint of jealousy.

'I am definitely not romantically interested in him.' Ikaruga thought to herself as she opened the door. 'But I'm a woman, too. And I have needs. Seeing them like that almost every night for the last six, or so, weeks is like torture. Especially since I'm not getting any. Maybe I should ask Mistress Elicia if she would let me join them. As a maid, it would be proper to help serve the master and mistress, right?'

Smiling wryly at her thoughts, Ikaruga shook her head to get rid of them. Then, she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Fortunately for Ikaruga, she never actually put those thoughts into fruition. Because if she had, Elicia might have had a bout of PTSD from the incident with Yoruichi and done something both women would regret.

The next day, upon arriving at the Quatro Cerberus guild hall, Alfonzo explained to Goldmine that he would be hurrying to complete the training chambers. Luckily, he did not have much left to complete. And while Goldmine was a bit confused, he did not argue. In the end, the only thing that mattered was that the training chambers were completed.

Goldmine also mentioned that if Fairy Tail needed help with anything, they could always count on Quatro Cerberus.

'Well, I'm not surprised he could tell something was wrong.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he got to work.

["Yeah, experience will do that."] Bedlam replied with a shrug.

["Whatever, just hurry up."] Riot ordered. ["If anything has happened to the others when we get back, we're gonna kick those broads asses… regardless of how hot they are."]

Nodding in response, Alfonzo continued to work. All the while, he wondered if he could resolve the issues between Erza, Irene, Lucy, and Brandish before the Alvarez Empire invaded. And if he was lucky, he might even be able to get them to change sides.