Fairy Tail: Not the Guild Master This Time

Chapter 954: Lucy: I’m a Freaking Genius

"Fairy Tail?!"

The instant Minerva heard her companion’s description, she knew exactly which guild the newcomers belonged to.

The burly man asked,

"You know them?"

Minerva glanced at him coolly.

"Wouldn’t it be stranger not to know Fairy Tail?"

"I know nothing about the outside world."

"Hmph. Figures. You people are always hiding away."

Despite having joined a Dark Guild, Minerva held nothing but disdain for their methods.

The burly man said flatly,

"It doesn’t matter. Just finish the mission. Those little thieves are trying to escape."

"The thieves are irrelevant," Minerva replied with a smile.

"What matters is Fairy Tail. Little me finally gets her revenge."

Meanwhile, Fairy Tail followed the noise and ran straight into the fleeing treasure hunters.

The trio had rolled up their pant legs and sleeves, dragging their oversized weapons behind them as they ran.

Thanks to the icy ground coating the village, they were able to slide along while hauling the heavy gear.

Only because they could not wear their original large shoes, the soles of their feet felt uncomfortably cold.

Natsu stopped in front of them, staring suspiciously at the three small figures.

"Kids? Kids from this village? Hey, do you know what happened here?"

Unlike how he usually treated children, his tone came out oddly rough.

The trio looked startled. Then, seeing how clueless he appeared, they turned their backs to him, huddled together, and began whispering openly.

Happy fluttered up beside Natsu.

"They can’t be village kids. This is a Giant Village. Even the children should be giants."

Natsu replied seriously,

"Even giants have to grow up from kids."

Happy thought about it and reluctantly agreed.

"But we just saw a dog bigger than an elephant."

Natsu nodded.

"Because it’s a big dog. Big dogs start as puppies too."

Happy felt something was wrong but could not figure out how to argue back.

The trio sneaked a glance over their shoulders and exchanged looks.

Yes. An idiot.

While they were talking, Erza and the others caught up.

Just as they were about to question them, the three "children" turned around and spoke in exaggeratedly childish voices.

"We’re children of this village!"

"Help! A Dark Guild is chasing us!"

"They’re the ones who did this to the village!"

After each delivered a line, they shouted together, "Drive them out, Magicians!"

Natsu cracked his knuckles. Gray mirrored the motion.

Erza’s long sword appeared in her hand. Cana drew her cards.

"What?" Lucy instinctively reached for the whip at her waist.

Then she hesitated and switched to her key ring instead.

Lucy dashed forward a few steps, realized something was off, and stopped awkwardly.

Her teammates had not moved at all. They were staring at the three little figures with unmistakably hostile expressions.

The trio swallowed hard.

This was not how the script was supposed to go.

Just then, a red-haired girl in a red dress rushed out from behind the ice formations.

"They’re lying! Don’t believe them!"

"You..." Natsu stared at her for a moment, then brightened.

"Rhodes’s woman from jail!"

"Pfft." Cana failed to hold back a laugh.

"That spicy?"

Happy helpfully explained,

"Rhodes took Natsu to visit her in prison."

Lucy was the first to remember her name.

"Miss Flare? Why are you here? Oh, right. You have the crest of Sun Village. You said you ran away from home, didn’t you?"

"Yes." Flare’s expression darkened.

"This is my hometown. I was raised by giants.

"After the Council released me, I had nowhere else to go, so I returned. But my family..."

She had run away once and returned full of guilt, only to find her entire family frozen solid.

Self-blame and anger with nowhere to go filled her heart.

She tried everything yet couldn’t melt a single block of ice, so she did her best to investigate the cause.

That day, Flare had spotted the three members of Succubus Eye. While secretly tailing them, she personally witnessed their brief clash with the treasure hunters.

For some reason, Flare had an exceptional talent for stalking. Six people were present, yet none of them noticed they were being watched.

When she saw the three treasure hunters, now shrunken, clearly trying to deceive Fairy Tail, Flare immediately rushed out to expose them.

"They came here to steal the Eternal Flame," she said urgently.

"But another group of weirdos cursed them into this state!"

"I already felt something was wrong," Erza said, her gaze sweeping over their weapons.

"Why would children be dragging around weapons that heavy while fleeing?"

Cana nodded.

"That’s what I thought too. Giant children should..."

She glanced at Flare and realized she might be making assumptions, but her conclusion was still correct.

Gray chuckled lightly.

"I noticed their clothes were wrong the moment I saw them."

Lucy shot back,

"Impressive that you even noticed their clothes."

Gray looked at her calmly, as if to say that was still better than noticing nothing at all.

Lucy wilted under the look. Then she hurriedly asked,

"Natsu?"

Natsu tapped his ear.

"I heard everything they whispered while plotting to trick us."

Lucy’s face stiffened.

So her teammates had either spotted inconsistencies or overheard the plan directly.

Only she had believed the enemy’s act without question.

No. That could not be right.

Lucy forced an awkward laugh.

"Ahaha. Actually, I also..."

"Lucy," Happy said gently. He fluttered over, patted her shoulder, and shook his head with pity.

Lucy slumped.

"Sorry. I didn’t notice anything at all."

Thinking was a luxury Lucy usually reserved for when she was alone or when things became truly critical.

Normally, she could just charge forward alongside her teammates. Overthinking was exhausting.

Seeing the situation collapse, the three treasure hunters tried to slip away.

Three cards suddenly flew in front of them and detonated in midair.

Cana smiled dangerously.

"You boys have something to explain before you leave, don’t you?"

"Yes!"

The three immediately spilled everything. Their origins, their objective, and everything they knew about the enemy.

The woman in the blue qipao, who could trigger explosions out of thin air, felt vaguely familiar to Lucy and Cana.

However, Succubus Eye was a Dark Guild, and it never crossed their minds that it could be Minerva. They assumed it was simply someone similar.

Still, the treasure hunters’ goal left everyone confused.

Gray asked bluntly, "We heard the Eternal Flame is already frozen. That ice is unbelievably hard to melt. Even if you find it, how exactly do you plan to take it?"