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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Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May, x786.
After Alfonzo dropped the bomb about the visitors being able to use [Magic Power Detection, Ur's office fell into silence. However, that silence was broken quickly enough.
*Bang!*
"How is that possible?" Ur asked as she slammed her palms onto her desk. "This is an exclusive spell of our guild. Does that mean someone betrayed us?"
Hearing Ur's assumptions, Gildarts, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy narrowed their eyes dangerously. Like any other member of any other guild, the one thing they could not tolerate were traitors.
"Okay now, let's calm down, everyone." Elicia said while speaking in the most soothing tone she could muster. "Let's not jump to conclusions."
"What are you talking about, Lici?" Ultear, sounding just as fiery as her mother, asked in a reprimanding tone. "This is a big deal. We need to find out who is leaking guild secrets!"
"Seriously, Tear, calm down… please." Elicia said as she pulled Ultear into a hug and began combing her fingers through her friend's hair.
However, Ultear struggled fiercely against Elicia's embrace, wanting to find who betrayed them immediately. And Alfonzo and Elicia had a pretty good idea why the mother and daughter flew off the handle so quickly.
Ur and Ultear were separated for years because someone, brain of the Oración Seis, betrayed their trust when Ultear was a young child. And because of that, they are both very sensitive to betrayal.
Luckily, the other wizards in the room, though suspicious against treachery, were much calmer. So, while Elicia tried to calm Ultear, Gildarts did the same to Ur. Though, Ur's resistance was much fiercer, resulting in Gildarts being punched in the stomach and chest several times.
"Lici's right, you know." Alfonzo said in a casual tone. "You two are jumping to conclusions."
"How can you say that." Ur growled. "Someone gave out guild secrets. Do you know how important that skill has been for the guild's development."
"Yeah, I think I know better than you, Ur." Alfonzo said while glaring at Fairy Tail's fourth guild master. "Or did you forget? I was the one who invented that technique."
Immediately, Ur and Ultear froze. As a matter of fact, they had both forgotten that fact. They had also forgotten that Alfonzo had personally taught both of them how to use it, too.
"Well, it's true that Alfonzo doesn't seem to be worried about traitors." Mirajane said while examining Alfonzo's facial expression. "But why is that?"
"It's simple, actually." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "It's because [Magic Power Detection] isn't a difficult technique to learn."
Hearing that, almost everyone looked at Alfonzo with confused expressions, Gildarts' expression being the most confused.
The reason for Gildart's' expression was simple, however. And that was because of the property of his magic power. Thanks to his [Crash Magic], Gildarts' magic power destroys just about everything it comes in contact with. Even the small amount he releases passively. So, if he actively spread it, it would more than likely cause a disaster.
The exceptions to the confusion were Elicia, Marin, and Lucy. However, all their reasons were different. Elicia did not find the technique difficult because she had seen similar techniques in anime, manga, light novels, and web novels in her previous life. Marin, on the other hand, had extremely fine magic power control thanks to her innate [Transformation Magic]. Then there was Lucy, who had no issue learning how to use [Magic Power Detection]. Rather, she had power increasing her magic power control to make the technique more effective.
In fact, just like Lucy, all the others, minus Gildarts, had the same experience at the beginning. However, they've all been using it for at least three years by now. So, they only focus on the difficulty of increasing their magic power control, no longer thinking about how easy it was to get the basics of the technique down.
And Alfonzo explained exactly that.
"I get what you're saying, Kid." Ur said as she calmed down by a significant margin. "Still, how can you say there are no traitors? All of us had to have the technique explained to us before we could even begin using it at an elementary level."
"That's not exactly true, Ur." Alfonzo said while wagging a finger in front of Ur. "There's one of us who never had to have anyone explain it to them, right?"
Hearing that, not only Ur, but just about everyone looked at Alfonzo in confusion. The only exception, Elicia, pointed a finger at Alfonzo, dispelling the confusion from the others.
"Lici's right, it's me." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Though, I'm pretty sure Lici was on the verge of figuring it out, too."
In response, Elicia smiled sweetly at her husband.
"And if their magic power control is strong enough, they would have no problem improving their usage of the technique, either."
"That still does not explain how they learned it." Erza pointed out.
"I was getting to that." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "And with strong enough control and magic power sensitivity, they would be able to feel the thinly spread out magic power of someone using [Magic Power Detection], provided the user's control isn't better than theirs."
At that moment, everyone's eyes flashed with understanding. A moment later, however, Ur's mouth fell open in shock.
"Does that mean… It's because of… me?" Ur asked in a shaky tone.
Naturally, Ur was referring to the time when she first felt Irene's magic power. Thinking that no one would detect her magic power because of how thinly she had spread it, she never considered that someone could be that sensitive to external magic power.
"Probably." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Not that it's a big deal. I mean, I expected it to get out sooner or later, anyway."
'It probably doesn't help that Irene is a dragon.' Elicia thought to herself while feeling sorry for Ur after seeing her forlorn expression. 'I mean, dragons are basically masters of magic power. So, it's not surprising at all. In fact, despite the fact that Brandish is stronger than Ur, I would bet she didn't even notice it.'
"Anyway, there's nothing to worry about." Alfonzo continued casually. "But if you are still worried, you should start working on your magic power control. That way, nothing like this will happen again."
In fact, Alfonzo was somewhat glad that this happened, and Ur realized that it was her magic power that was most likely detected. Because, he had noticed that Ur had been much laxer in her training ever since she became guild master. And although that was normal, with all the extra responsibilities she now had, that did not mean it was okay. He did not want Ur to lose the drive to improve, after all.
And just as Alfonzo hoped, he saw the flames of determination start blazing in Ur's eyes only a moment after his words fell.
Anyway, I'm tired." Alfonzo said as he stretched his body with a smile stretching across his face. "So, I'll leave it to you to tell Laxus and Freed about this information, Ur."
Hearing that, light flashed in the eyes of all the girls. Then, they all bid Ur and Gildarts goodbye as they filed into the elevator.
A few moments later, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Ikaruga left the guild with Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Lucy following them. And to their annoyance, Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, and Rika also followed them back to the mansion, wanting to take a dip in the hot tub and talk to Alfonzo after a month and a half. Now, with the four extras, they could not carry out their plan to have some fun with Alfonzo in the hot tub.
Meanwhile, Irene, having followed Alfonzo and the others until they disappeared behind the barrier covering the mansion wither [Magic Power Detection] finally decided to call it a night.
Around twenty minutes later, Ireen had returned to the hotel suite she was sharing with Brandish. And when she arrived, she found Brandish still lounging on the couch. However, instead of just lying there, Brandish was reading a novel.
"Saint Slippery's Academy for Girls." Irene said curiously while reading the title of Brandish's book out loud. "I don't believe I've ever heard of that book. What is it about?"
So engrossed in her book, Brandish did not notice the sound of the door opening. However, when she heard Irene's voice, she panicked. Then, at a speed rivaling her top speed, she quickly snapped the book shut before shrinking it to the size of a dust mite with her [Command T Magic].
Brandish's magic, [Command T], allows her to manipulate the mass of an object. Whether it be reducing an object's mass, which makes the things she uses her magic on to shrink, or increasing its mass, which causes the object to expand. [Command T] is even effective on the magic of others, allowing Brandish to shrink a spell until it is no longer a threat before catching it and throwing it back at her opponent. Then, restoring it to its original size or even expanding it to make the spell more destructive.
"Irene, you're back." Brandish said, her eyes darting around the room without making eye contact with Ireen as she spoke. "So, did you find out who those new arrivals were? I even noticed another four strong magic power signatures entered the town not too long ago. Were any of them our target?"
While Brandish continued to bombard Irene with questions, Irene only stared at her with a smile. She was curious about the book that Brandish hid, after all. And Brandish knew it, too. However, she also knew that if Irene was determined to get the book there was nothing she could do about it. So, she tried to draw Irene's attention away from the book.
Shaking her head at Brandish's antics, Irene smiled, deciding she would see what kind of book Brandish felt the need to hide, later. Instead, she answered Brandish's previous questions.
"No, I was not able to identify any of the magic power signatures that arrived in the afternoon." Ireene replied as she walked towards the chair she sat in before she left the suite. "But I do believe our target has returned to Magnolia."
"*Sigh* That means we'll have to work, doesn't it." Brandish muttered in an annoyed tone.
"More specifically, you'll have to work, brandish." Irene said with a smile, enjoying the suffering of her companion. "But don't' worry, I'll always be nearby in case you need help."
"Well, considering I didn't feel anyone who had more magic power than me, I don't think I need to worry." Brandish said uncaringly.
"Don't be negligent, Brandish." Irene said, softly reprimanding her comrade. "Remember, that boy beat Serena. So, he's stronger than you."
"Either that or Serena is an idiot." Brandish replied in a proud tone. "Losing to someone with that much less power than himself is pathetic."
"Did you forget?" Irene asked as she poured herself a glass of wine. "That report said that he could raise his magic power in the midst of battle. Unfortunately, Serena was too incompetent to include the specifics in his report. So, we have no idea by how much he will be strengthened if he uses that ability."
'On top of that, we're not sure he's the only one with that strange power, either.' Irene continued in her thoughts as she sipped from her wine glass. 'And if there are more that can do the same, this may be a much more dangerous mission than even His Majesty expected.'
Though she had that thought, Irene decided to keep it to herself. Getting Brandish to take the mission she was assigned seriously was hard enough. However, if she made it known that the mission could be much more difficult, Ireen was unsure if threats and torture would be able to change Brandish's mindset.
"Anyway, you'll start tomorrow." Irene ordered. "Although they are probably wary of us due to our level of power, they have no idea why we're here. So, this shouldn't be too difficult."
"*Sigh* I hope so." Brandish replied as she sank into the couch's backrest. "I really don't wanna work too hard for this."
"Well, I saw that the target was surrounded by beautiful women." Irene said as the smile she had been wearing for the beginning widened. "So, he's probably quite the lover of beauty. So, if you use your feminine wiles, I'm sure you could end this mission quite quickly."
In response, Brandish glared at Irene as her cheeks flushed deeply, causing Irene to chuckle in amusement. And if you add the fact that Brandish had just been reading Slippery Girls, a few, rather explicit, images appeared in her head, causing her blush to deepen more fiercely and Irene's chuckle to turn into full blown laughter.
Unable to stand the embarrassment any further, Brandish stood up from the couch before rushing into her bedroom, the sound of the door slamming behind her signifying that she did not want to talk about it anymore.
Meanwhile, Irene spent the next few moments laughing uproariously. Then, once her laughter calmed, she wiped a tear from her eye as she got her breathing under control.
"Well, that was fun." Irene said as she swirled her wine. "Still, I wonder what that book was about."
Shrugging in response to her own question, Irene took another sip from her wine glass.
"I'll just take the book from her later." Irene said after swallowing her wine. "I'm sure the expression on her face when she sees me reading it one day after she comes back from investigating will be priceless."
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