บท 477: Some not so Good News
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May, x786.
In the Escalade, Alfonzo was behind the wheel while Elicia sat in the passenger seat with Marin and Ikaruga riding in the back seat. Currently, the four were just passing through Magnolia's southern gate. And while they did, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Marin had their [Magic Power Detection] extended to cover the entire town.
As soon as the Escalade entered the town, both Alfonzo and Elicia each raised an eyebrow, as they could feel that they had passed through a thin, unfamiliar, dome of magic power.
Quickly exchanging glances, Alfonzo and Elicia both confirmed that the other had also felt the dome of [Magic Power Detection]. Then, after making eye contact for a moment, they decided to talk about it when they reached Ur's office.
"*Whistle* That's a huge magic power." Alfonzo said in an impressed tone. "The other one's not bad either. At least on par with that cock sucker from the Ten Wizard Saints."
"Why do you sound so impressed?" Marin asked in an incredulous tone. "We have no idea what those people want with Magnolia. For all we know, they could be enemies."
"Calm down, Marin." Elicia said as she looked back towards Marin. "Fonzie knows that. But there's really nothing we can do about it."
"On top of that, it's been a few days since they showed up." Alfonzo added. "And from what I can tell, they haven't done anything to hurt the guild or the town."
Naturally, Alfonzo and Elicia were both aware that Irene and Brandish were enemies. However, they were both hoping that they could be swayed to change sides. Although they did not have an ideas how to change Irene's allegiance, they had a pretty good idea of how to make Brandish switch sides.
"I know, but…" Marin said, the anxiety evident in her tone.
"They are right, Miss Marin." Ikaruga said with a smile. "Being anxious over what could happen won't help anyone. Instead, you should simply continue to grow stronger. That way, if it ever comes to a conflict, you can protect that which you wish to protect."
"Considering your background, that was really sweet, Ikaruga." Elicia said with a smile.
["Yeah, and I'm sure she said it while fully intending to say what she said, unlike a certain someone."] Scylla said from Elicia's inner world.
'Scylla~…' Elicia whined internally.
"Anyway, as long as they don't do anything, we won't do anything either." Alfonzo said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic. "But that doesn't mean we won't prepare for what could happen."
'Unfortunately, with Irene's vast amount of magical knowledge, I'm not sure how much any preparations will help.' Alfonzo thought without changing his expression.
["Indeed."] Bedlam replied with a nod. ["She's a lot more than just raw power like Acnologia."]
["Yeah, but she's got a fuck ton of that, too."] Riot chimed in. ["Either way, we'll kick her ass, too, if she gets outta pocket."]
["*Sigh* You're such a brute, Riot."] Bedlam said in a disappointed tone. ["To think of putting your hands on such a beautiful woman like that. It's hard to believe we were created from the same person."]
["Fuck off!"] Riot shouted back.
With that, Riot and Bedlam began another one of their many arguments. And like always, Alfonzo ignored it. Instead, he focused on driving to the guild hall to do something that he would rather not… Give the guild their cut of the profits.
Eventually, the Escalade pulled up to the guild hall. And to no one's surprise, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy were waiting outside with smiles on their faces. And as soon as Alfonzo parked the Escalade, the five women all made their way over to the driver's side door.
"It looks like you guys only missed Fonzie." Marin said as she opened the rear driver's side door. "I think I'm gonna cry."
While Ultear, Mirajane, and Lucy rolled their eyes at Marin's little joke, Sun looked apologetic. Meanwhile, Erza took a step towards the open door and reached into the Escalade's back seat before pulling Marin into a hug.
*Clang!*
"Ow!" Marin yelped in pain.
"I'm happy to see you, Marin." Erza said in a sincere tone. "Separating from family for so long truly makes me feel lonely."
"I really didn't think this through before making that joke." Marin said as her head throbbed.
The reason for Ultear, Mirajane, and Lucy rolling their eyes, as well as Marin's yelp of pain was simple. As soon as Marin suggested that the others did not miss her, Erza was destined to give her a hug to prove the opposite.
And Erza did exactly that. Unfortunately for Marin, Erza was wearing her [Heart Kreuz Armor] when she did. As a result, Marin was smashed face first into Erza's chest plate before she could even step out of the Escalade.
"Still, I'll never turn down a hug from my best friend." Marin said as she smiled through the pain and wrapped her arms around Erza's waist. "I even brought a surprise for you, Erza. But it's in my luggage. So, I'll have to show you when we get home."
Nodding in understanding, Erza eventually released Marin from her hug. Then, she turned towards Alfonzo, who had already exchanged hugs and kisses with Ultear, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy.
"Alfonzo, I missed you." Erza said with a smile as she approached Alfonzo to give him a hug.
Having seen what just happened to Marin, Alfonzo took the initiative to hug Erza, making sure she could not smash his head into her chest plate as well. AS a result, Erza's body was pressed up against Alfonzo's while his arms were wrapped around her waist.
"I missed you, too, Erza." Alfonzo replied before stealing a kiss. "Anyway, let's head inside. I gotta give the guild its cut from my job."
When Alfonzo mentioned giving the guild its cut, everyone could tell that Alfonzo was gritting his teeth, which caused them to giggle.
A few moments later, after Elicia got hugs from all the other girls as well, the group, with Ikaruga following from a respectful distance, entered the guild hall. Then, after greeting all their friends, the group of eight made their way up to Ur's office.
When they arrived on the guild hall's top floor, Gildarts was sitting with Ur while she filled out paperwork.
"The kids are back." Gildarts said with a smile after taking a swig from a bottle of liquor.
"Welcome back, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Ikaruga." Ur said without raising her head. "I trust your trip went well."
"It was going great until we got your letter." Marin replied. "And after feeling those two magic power signatures, I can see why you called us back."
With that, Ur finally raised her head. And when she did, she let her eyes wander over the four new arrivals. They eventually focused on Elicia, who was smiling brightly.
"*Sigh* I don't know what to say about you, Lici." Ur said while shaking her head. "Honestly, I thought Bacchus would almost die on your trip to Quatro Cerberus, but I never thought it would be you who almost killed him.'
Instead of responding, Elicia's smile widened. Meanwhile, Gildarts, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy opened their eyes wide in disbelief. Then, they shifted their gazes back and forth between Alfonzo and Elicia. Because like Ur, the one they expected to take things too far was Alfonzo, not Elicia.
"*Sigh* This time you shouldn't get too mad at Lici, Ur." Alfonzo said while smiling wryly. "Honestly, everything would have ended with that guy just getting his ass kicked. But he said something he shouldn't have."
"Yeah, Lici would have been fine with just beating him up if he didn't say something about killing Fonzie." Marin added, her expression hardening as she spoke.
Immediately, the atmosphere in the office changed as Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy began leaking bloodlust.
"Calm down, girls." Elicia said in a soothing tone. "After I beat him up, Bacchus left Quatro Cerberus to train a martial art that would work well with his [Palm Magic] and didn't need alcohol to be effective. So, I don't' think we'll need to worry about him."
Although the five girls stopped leaking blood lust, they were still unhappy that Bacchus had threatened to kill Alfonzo.
"Besides, Fonzie is exaggerating." Elicia said while maintaining her smile. "I wasn't going to kill Bacchus. I was just going to blind him since his eyes clearly didn't work. I mean, he was always saying stuff about 'seeing' how much I wanted to be with him."
In response to Elicia's explanation, Gildarts, Ur, Ultear, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy began dripping cold sweat. Erza, on the other hand, nodded in agreement, believing that no one needed such a defective pair of eyes.
"That's right." Erza said as she nodded. "We would have only needed to bring that Bacchus to see Miss Porlyusica. Then, she could have created a new pair of eyes for him. Just like she did for me back then."
Immediately, those who dripped cold sweat all turned incredulous gazes towards Erza.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Marin rolled their eyes at Elicia's explanation while Ikaruga smiled and gracefully covered her smile with the sleeve of her kimono.
"Lici, are you seriously saying that?" Marin asked, shooting her own incredulous glare at Elicia. "You were really only going to blind him?"
"That's right." Elicia replied in a confused tone. "I was only going to poke him in the eyes with my fingers."
For added emphasis, Elicia raised the index and middle fingers on her right hand.
"Yeah, but did you forget the threads vibrating and spinning like a drill around those fingers?" Alfonzo asked with his own incredulous glare. "Sure, you would have destroyed his eyes, but you would have probably ground his brain into mush, too."
Hearing that, everyone who did not travel to Quatro Cerberus guild hall opened their eyes wide as they stared at Elicia with disbelief. Even Erza, who originally thought blinding Bacchus was not so bad, could not help but think Elicia was going too far.
Elicia, on the other hand, tilted her head in confusion.
"Did I really do that?" Elicia asked in genuine confusion. "I was really mad back then. So, some of the details are kinda blurry."
Immediately, everyone, other than Alfonzo, made a mental note to never piss off Elicia. Because they could all tell that she was being completely truthful about not remembering exactly what she tried to do to Bacchus.
"Anyway, here's the guild's cut from the job." Alfonzo said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of Jewels.
A moment later, and without hesitation, Alfonzo tossed it towards Ur, who reached out to catch it. However, when she caught the money, Ur, along with her chair, slid back until she bumped into the wall behind her.
"Oops." Alfonzo muttered.
Luckily, Ur was not injured by Alfonzo. In fact, Alfonzo felt bad for what just happened. Because he did not want to deal with handing the money to Ur, he tossed it. And because of his unwillingness to give up the money, he tried to toss it quickly. Unfortunately, that led to him putting way too much force behind the toss, causing Ur to be sent sliding backwards.
Naturally, this caused everyone in the office to widen their eyes in surprise. Then, they all looked at Alfonzo quizzically.
"*Sigh* If I didn't know how unwilling you were to part with your hard earned money, I would have thought you were trying to sneak attack me just now." Ur said as she stood up and pulled her chair back to her desk. "But I know if you really wanted to get back at me or play a prank, you have other means of doing so."
"Yeah, I really am sorry about that, Ur." Alfonzo said in a sincere tone. "I didn't mean to put so much force behind that throw. And you're right. If I wanted to prank you, I naturally have other ways to do so. Especially since I have full control over the entire guild hall and your house."
Hearing that, cold sweat began to slide down Ur's back. Although she was fully aware that Alfonzo had control over all the sigils in the guild hall, as she was present when Alfonzo activated the recording lacrima during that one meeting with lahar and Doranbolt, she had completely forgotten that the same was true for her house.
'Maybe I should stop using the guild as an intermediary for Alfonzo's construction jobs.' Ur thought to herself. 'I can only imagine what he'll do if he ever gets completely fed up.'
"Anyway, I've got something to report about that problem you mentioned in your letter." Alfonzo said, his expression turning solemn in an instant.
Hearing that, Ur's expression changed as well. And when she looked at the group standing in front of her desk, she noticed that Elicia was also wearing an extremely solemn expression, as well.
"What's the matter, Kid?" Ur asked as she took a seat.
Exchanging glances with Elicia before he spoke, Alfonzo took a deep breath after receiving a nod from her.
"Our two visitors can both use [Magic Power Detection]." Alfonzo said, causing everyone other than Elicia to gasp in surprise.
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