A wave of drowsiness washed over the guild mbers. Thump, one by one, they collapsed into sleep.
Mirajane, in Finn’s arms, was the first to fall asleep. Unable to use magic, her resistance was no different from a normal person’s.
Finn gently placed Mirajane on a seat, leaning her against the bar.
Erza’s eyelids grew heavy, her body swaying. Just as she was about to fall, Finn caught her. Elfman, however, being more robust, was left to fall on his own. He wouldn’t be hard by a simple fall.
Having secured Erza in a seat, Finn turned towards the entrance, where a heavily cloaked figure was entering the guild hall.
"Yo, Mystogan, welco back!" Finn greeted him.
"Ah, Finn. Long ti no see. How was the Ten-Year Quest?" Mystogan asked.
Finn smiled. "It’s done."
"As expected," Mystogan said, exchanging a few more pleasantries before heading upstairs to the mission board. He selected a mission request, registered it with Makarov, and prepared to leave.
"Don’t rush off. Have a drink," Finn said, tossing Mystogan a cup filled with liquid.
Seeing Mystogan’s hesitant expression, Finn chuckled. "Don’t worry, it’s not milk; it’s juice. I rember you couldn’t handle the milk last ti," Finn shook his head.
"You know about that?" Mystogan removed his mask, raising his cup in a silent toast.
Finn raised his cup and drank it down. Catching the cup Mystogan tossed back, he said, "Good luck with your mission!"
"Thanks," Mystogan turned, waving, and disappeared.
"You’re closest to Mystogan. Rember, you once held your sword to his throat," Makarov said, taking a sip of his drink.
"Yeah, he’s shy. He needs to feel like he belongs," Finn smiled.
After Mystogan left, the sleep magic wore off, and people started waking up, except for Natsu.
"That feeling? It’s Mystogan," Macao said, rubbing his head.
"Powerful sleep magic, as always," Levy said, being helped up by the Shadow Gear mbers.
Lucy asked, "Mystogan? Who’s that? I’ve heard that na twice."
"One of Fairy Tail’s strongest candidates," Gray replied.
"Along with Finn, Laxus, and Erza, he’s one of Fairy Tail’s four strongest candidates, a true man," Elfman said, his fist clenched, his face full of longing.
"Strongest candidate? How strong is that?" Lucy thought. She’d seen Erza and Finn fight, but not much.
Over the past few days, Lucy had ford a Fairy Tail strength ranking: Makarov at the top, then Finn, Erza, etc. Now there was Mystogan.
Then Laxus, followed by Natsu, then everyone else.
"Mystogan doesn’t want people to see his face, so he puts everyone to sleep," Mirajane added.
"That’s weird," Lucy said.
"Except for the Master, no one’s seen Mystogan’s face," Gray said.
"No! I have!" A boisterous voice called from upstairs.
Lucy looked up to see a man with yellow hair, a coat, and a lightning bolt scar.
"That’s the last strongest candidate, Laxus," Gray said gravely.
Laxus looked at Finn. "Finn’s seen him too. Mystogan’s shy; don’t pry."
Natsu woke up, looking at Laxus excitedly. "Laxus, let’s fight!"
"You were just beaten by Erza," Lucy facepald.
"Natsu, when you get stronger," Laxus shook his head.
"What? I’ll be up there soon!" Natsu ran towards the stairs.
A giant hand grabbed Natsu and threw him down.
Makarov’s voice bood, "Natsu, not yet."
"Haha, he got scolded," Laxus chuckled.
"Laxus, be quiet," Makarov said after stopping Natsu.
"Co down, Laxus," Natsu yelled.
"Tch! Boring. I’m going. Oh, Finn, I want to see how strong you are now," Laxus said, eyes filled with battle intent.
"We’ll fight again. You, Mystogan, Erza—you’ll all lose to . I’m the strongest," Laxus declared confidently.
Finn smiled. "I’ll be waiting."
That evening, at the Fairy Tail bar, Lucy asked Mirajane, who was polishing dishes, "Miss Mirajane, what did the Master an about not going upstairs?"
"Why couldn’t Natsu go upstairs?" Lucy rembered Natsu being stopped by Makarov.
Mirajane smiled. "It’s too early for you, but...the second floor has a different mission board."
"Those are life-threatening missions. One mistake, and you die," Mirajane said, her voice slightly low. A subtle hint of sadness underlay her words.
"They’re S-class missions."
"S-class?" Lucy was shocked.
Mirajane nodded. "The rewards are high, but only the Master-approved S-class mages can do them."
"Currently, that’s Finn, Erza, Mystogan, Laxus, and two others."
"So others can’t go upstairs," Mirajane put the last dish away.
"Lucy, you have to work hard. I hope you reach that level soday. Don’t think about it now," Mirajane smiled at Lucy.
"I haven’t even thought about that," Lucy smiled weakly.
"Mirajane, are you done? Let’s go," Finn and Erza called.
"Wait, I’m coming," Mirajane replied, then turned to Lucy. "I’ll go now. Get so rest."
"Okay, see you tomorrow," Lucy said goodbye.
"Are we going straight ho?" Mirajane asked Finn.
"Erza wants strawberry cake. Let’s go," Finn said. Finn, Erza, and Mirajane left the guild.
"Finn’s close to them," Lucy muttered.
"Aaah!"
That night, a scream echoed from Lucy’s small apartnt.
Lucy, arriving ho, switched on the lights to find a figure sitting on her sofa. She initially thought it was a burglar.
Upon closer inspection, she realized the intruder was Natsu.
"Aye! Lucy, you’re back," Happy jumped up.
Lucy facepald. "This is my room!!" She grabbed a nearby cup and threw it at Natsu.
Bang! The sound startled a bird perched on the windowsill.
"How did you get in?" Lucy demanded angrily.
Natsu, clutching a bump on his head, pointed at the wide-open window. "From there."
Lucy shook her head, sighing. "So, what do you want?"
Natsu pulled out a request form. "Work! We chose a high-paying job."
Lucy took the form, her eyes widening at the large ’S’ symbol.
"An S-class mission? You can’t take those!" Lucy thought they were crazy.
Natsu scratched his head. "We got it secretly. Let’s go as a team."
"Aye, Lucy, let’s go," Happy agreed.
"No, I’m not going. S-class missions aren’t for us," Lucy refused.
Natsu waved. "Lucy, let’s go! Seven million Jewels!" He pointed at the reward.
Lucy remained unmoved, turning away. "No. I’m not going."
Seeing her resolve, Natsu sighed. "Fine, we’ll go." He jumped out the window with Happy.
"Use the door, you idiots!" Lucy yelled.
Shaking her head, Lucy, preparing to wash up, noticed the request Natsu had left behind. "Those two actually forgot this. Seriously."
Lucy picked up the request and exclaid, "It’s an S-class mission! Seven million Jewels! Hmm? What’s this?" She noticed so small print at the bottom.
"A Golden Key is included... A Golden Key!!!" Lucy’s eyes widened in disbelief. This was the very key she had always longed for!
Her heart pounded excitedly. Honestly, she suddenly felt that an S-class mission might not be entirely impossible after all.
With newfound determination, Lucy dashed out the door, her voice ringing out into the night. "Natsu~~ Wait for ! I’m coming too!"
From outside, Natsu let out a sly chuckle, a glint of mischief in his eyes, clearly pleased with the success of his little sche.
...
The next morning, Finn woke up and left his room. On the table in the main hall, bread, cake, and a glass of milk were already laid out.
Finn smiled. "Mirajane is so thoughtful."
Finn went downstairs, sat at the table, and took a sip of his favorite milk. It was cold, but his heart was warm.
Every day, Mirajane woke up early and carefully prepared breakfast for three. Because Finn liked to sleep in, she left the breakfast on the table and went to the guild first.
After all, Mirajane handled many things at the guild.
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