Chapter 265: Natsu: Let's Settle This, Mira!
Chapter 265: Natsu: Let's Settle This, Mira!
To the guild members, that familiar domineering aura and the tangible pressure from her magic were clear signs that 'Demon Mira' was back!
Many who had been beaten by her swallowed hard. This made sense; no wonder she had been the one to confess to Loke.
"Oh~~ You’re completely back to the old Mira!"
Natsu was the one who showed his happiness most openly. He shared similar pain with Mira and Elfman, but he was also one of the most hopeful that these two would overcome their struggles.
"Let's settle this, Mira!" Natsu had his own way of expressing himself.
"Right now?"
Is this idiot even aware of the timing? Gray looked at the vines temporarily serving as walls, noting that the matter of the guild being destroyed hadn't been fully discussed, nor had Mira's recovery.
"I’m ready now. I’ve gotten much stronger, and I’m about to beat you and become S-Class!"
Flames ignited on Natsu’s fists, and without waiting for Mira’s agreement, he rushed forward eagerly.
Loke didn’t bother to stop him.
Mira’s figure vanished, and in the next second, Natsu’s head was pressed into the floor.
Mira held Natsu's head down with one hand and gently touched her cheek with the other, asking him softly:
"Sorry, Natsu. Can you please not make me act like that delinquent girl from before?"
Happy muttered under his breath, "You already did."
Natsu’s arms struggled for a moment before lying flat on the floor: "Love..."
Now he was certain, this was the same Mira who used to clash with Erza.
The others confirmed it too; just like Erza, Mira had taken down Natsu in one move. That Demon was indeed back.
Loke, however, felt that Natsu’s fighting strength was quite inconsistent.
Not to mention the hard training he had undergone and the special black flames he had consumed, which should have made him much stronger.
But from Natsu’s performance just now, his strength was even less than when they had fought the demons together last time.
Perhaps Loke’s thoughtful expression made everyone misunderstand something.
Makao and Wakaba patted Loke on the shoulder, shaking their heads in a knowing manner as they left.
Suddenly, many people felt that if it was that Mira, they wouldn’t envy Loke as much.
After demonstrating her magic, Mira returned to her gentle self and walked back to Loke, her steps light:
"In short, that’s what happened. My magic has recovered, and during our training session with Loke yesterday, I accidentally caused this mess. I’m sorry, Master."
"Ahahaha…" Natsu picked up on the key phrase 'training with Loke' and immediately cheered up, "So Loke got beaten up too! Hahaha!"
Loke glanced at him without a word. Laugh all you want; after I got beaten up, I got a knee pillow. You, on the other hand, will just have a sore knee.
"Sorry, Master." Loke apologized alongside Mira.
"What are you talking about? This is good news!"
If the guild had been destroyed by outsiders, they might have needed to investigate who did it, understand the reasons, and decide on the next steps.
But if it was one of their own… it didn’t really matter.
Most of the onlookers had already dispersed. It wasn’t unusual for guild members to cause some damage.
Makarov cleared his throat and announced formally:
"Since that’s the case, I hereby declare that as of today, Mira Strauss will be reinstated as an S-Class Mage!"
Mira’s popularity from before still lingered, and the guild erupted in cheers.
Everyone suddenly realized that the guild seemed to have become even stronger.
Gildarts, Laxus, Erza, Mira, and Mystogan—Fairy Tail now had five S-Class Mages at the same time!
(Actually, Mystogan became an S-Class Mage after Lisanna's incident, so before that, it was just four.)
If you include Natsu, who has been gaining more and more recognition recently, and Gray, who is always on par with Natsu, as well as Loke and Elfman...
It feels like Fairy Tail has become incredibly strong.
Most valuable of all, the majority of these strong individuals are young.
Makao and Wakaba, the older members, couldn't help but sigh with admiration:
"It feels like the younger generation has suddenly grown up."
"Indeed, the future of the guild is even more promising."
However, at the moment, two of these "futures" were miserably repairing the guild.
Loke was actually still a novice at this; he had destroyed the guild fewer times and thus had fewer opportunities to practice.
He wasn't really keen on doing this kind of work either.
Mira, on the other hand, seemed quite enthusiastic. Whether it was sawing wood, stacking stones, or plastering, she did everything with a calm and composed demeanor:
"It's been a long time since I did this. It feels a bit nostalgic."
"You didn't do this very often before, right?"
Loke remembered learning from the guild's photo albums that Mira used to be a problem child.
"Occasionally. Back then, I often fixed walls with Erza. Sometimes, we would start competing to see who could do a better job. Other times, we would suddenly start fighting and have to fix things all over again."
Mira's habitual face-touching gesture had turned her into a little kitten with a smudged face.
Loke reached out to help wipe the mud off her face, but his own hands weren't clean either, so he just made it worse.
So, Loke continued to wipe, and before he knew it, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, you're being naughty!" Mira wiped her hand across his face.
The two of them started to play around like kindergarten kids, suddenly engaged in a silly fight.
Those who had just stopped envying Loke a bit started to envy him again.
Meanwhile, Makarov was going a bit crazy.
He sat on the counter, flipping through stacks of documents, frustration evident as he scratched his thinning hair: "Why is there so much work to do at the beginning of the month?"
Laki, ever considerate, explained to the guild master: "Because the people who usually do these things are now busy making stones form a solid structure."
She meant they were building walls, right?
"…That's true." Makarov realized he hadn't been involved in the guild's affairs for a while.
Apart from meetings and writing reports, he had almost forgotten he was the guild master.
Rather than doing this kind of work, Makarov would prefer to help them build the walls.
He looked out the door that hadn't been fully repaired yet… Were those two really building walls?
"Laki," Makarov sighed, "could you please help with the wooden parts?"
He didn't know how long it would take for those two to finish. Being young was really great.
Speaking of which, would they actually finish?
"Sure~"
Laki was willing to help Mira, but she definitely needed to ask Loke for a favor later.
The guild's courtyard was quite large, and Loke and Mira were still busy by the afternoon, not having finished the wall.
But the guild master called them back early, saying he wanted to stretch his legs and would take care of the rest.
Loke tried to refuse, but after a few words, he was shooed away by the guild master.
He couldn't understand what the guild master was thinking, doing such physical labor at his age.
(End of Chapter)
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