Facing Erza's death glare, even Laxus couldn't help but tremble slightly.
He let out an awkward laugh and hurriedly turned away.
Seeing the three of them quiet down, Erza turned back to her team to discuss who would actually compete.
"Although I don't know what the ga rules are... since it's called Hidden, could it have sothing to do with hiding?" Erza whispered her speculation.
"Wendy! Wendy is very petite!" Lucy snapped her fingers excitedly.
"Wendy is in Team B..." Ultear and the others all looked at Lucy with helpless expressions.
"Oh, right, my brain suddenly short-circuited," Lucy scratched her head and laughed awkwardly.
"The selection for Lamia Scale is confird! Lyon Vastia!"
"Let's play rock-paper-scissors!" Laxus's suggestion received approval from everyone except Wendy.
"Then Wendy is excluded first." Laxus didn't really want Wendy to compete in the first round.
There were too many uncertain factors in this kind of competition. If Wendy got injured, he'd probably face so kind of torture when he returned to the guild.
The loving little fists from his dear grandfather, Ur's Ice-Make, and Raizel's greatsword? Laxus knew exactly how cherished Wendy was as the team's favorite.
As for him? Hah, just the team's punching bag, not worth ntioning.
"Huh?"
"That's right, that's right, let's test the waters in the first round."
"OHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Roaring cheers interrupted Gajeel's words.
The few people looked up to see Kagura's photo appearing on the crystal screen—no wonder the crowd go insane!
"Team A of Fairy Tail has been confird! The competitor is Kagura Mikazuchi!!"
"No ti left, hurry! Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Team B's selection was sowhat hasty—the rock-paper-scissors winner is Gajeel Redfox!" The screen showed Gajeel grinning and flashing a peace sign, having won by throwing scissors four tis in a row.
"Wait a minute, did you guys do that on purpose?"
Seeing the mischievous smiles on Laxus and the others' faces, Gajeel suddenly felt he'd been tricked.
"These guys!!! What improper behavior!!!" Makarov was hopping mad in the audience stands.
Their entire rock-paper-scissors process had been broadcast live to the kingdom!
"It's not so bad, it's very much in Fairy Tail's style," Mavis said with a smile, her eyes narrowed happily.
"Really? Now that you ntion it, that's true," Makarov perford an instant change of expression worthy of an opera.
'If the First Master says it's good, then it's good! Even if a god cos... well, they can discuss that later.'
Everything's negotiable.
"These are the competitors each of the eight teams has sent out. As for the rules of the opening ga, Hidden, that would be..." Chapati Lola paused. "Let's take a quick comrcial break!"
"I'm falling over!"
"I might not be human, but you're truly a dog!"
Shouts and curses ca from all directions, but Chapati Lola demonstrated the excellent composure of a skilled host, ticulously reciting the advertisent script.
Despite all the noise interference, Chapati Lola didn't miss a single word—truly professional.
After finishing, Chapati Lola secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Who knew how many tis he had rehearsed it? Making a mistake would an a deduction from his pay.
....
At the bell tower of Crocus Cathedral.
Two cloaked figures stood atop the bell tower, gazing at the distant venue of Domus Flau.
One figure was tall, the other short; one had blue hair, the other pink.
The blue-haired young man was wrapped up so only his eyes were visible, but the red tattoo on his face was still prominent.
They were Jellal and redy, who had left Grimoire Heart.
Recently, the Magic Council's hunt for them had relaxed considerably. Operating under the principle of hiding in plain sight, they had co to the bustling Crocus.
First, they wanted to join in the excitent of the Grand Magic Gas.
No matter what, redy was still a young girl who loved excitent and fun. Especially after leaving Grimoire Heart, redy had gradually opened up more.
Although they sotis had to hide and move around, Jellal felt that redy had been smiling more lately.
Second, Jellal seed to sense a trace of dark magical power in the city.
It was extrely faint—so faint that he couldn't be sure—but since it involved dark magic, he wanted to investigate.
"The Grand Magic Gas are finally about to begin." A Magic Crystal ball displayed the events inside the venue.
When they saw Laxus and the others playing rock-paper-scissors to decide the participants, Jellal and redy couldn't help but smile.
"Don't you want to go see them?" redy knew that Jellal actually held a fondness for the mbers of Fairy Tail, especially Raizel—though of course, it was purely a friendly relationship between man.
redy felt the sa; she quite liked that blue-haired love-struck Juvia.
Though she thought Juvia's obsession with Gray wasn't ideal, she couldn't think of a better way to describe it at the mont.
"No, it's safer to watch from afar. If we're discovered, we'll have to flee again, and that would be hard on you." Jellal's words made redy blush brightly, though part of her face was hidden by her hood.
Jellal, focused on the crystal ball, didn't notice.
Seeing Jellal intently watching the crystal ball, redy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"How long do you think we'll have to keep hiding like this?" redy's tone was sowhat dejected. She could have lived an ordinary life like a normal person, even without magic.
"It won't be like this forever, I promise." Jellal reached out and gently ruffled redy's pink hair.
"Do you think we could go to Magnolia?"
At the ntion of Magnolia, redy's eyes lit up.
She yearned for Magnolia, for the life of an ordinary mage.
"If you want to go, it's not impossible, but not now. We need to observe a bit longer."
Magnolia was indeed a good place to go—no Council branch, and Raizel had a very good relationship with the town mayor.
It wasn't that Jellal hadn't considered taking redy to Magnolia, but he couldn't be sure why the Council had suddenly relaxed their pursuit of the two.
He needed to observe further.
Even if they went to Magnolia, he couldn't drag Fairy Tail or Raizel into their troubles.
Before going, it was necessary to at least ask Raizel's opinion first.
"Okay!" redy squinted her eyes, smiling as she nodded vigorously.
Although Jellal hadn't given her a specific ti, she knew he never made empty promises and always kept his word to her.
...
Back at Domus Flau...
A figure about the sa height as Makarov, wearing a pumpkin head and a green wizard's hat on top, erged from the passage into the arena.
Dressed in a striped shirt, white gloves, and a green cloak, the pumpkin-headed figure waved and said.
"Participants for Hidden from each team, please co to ."
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