Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
September 1, x786.
On their way back from Onibus, Alfonzo, Erza, Mirajane, and Sun were riding towards Magnolia in the Escalade while chatting animatedly. However, when they were only a few miles away from the town, Alfonzo's expression changed, a frown making its way onto his face.
"What's wrong, Alfonzo?" Sun, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked curiously after seeing Alfonzo's change of expression.
"*Sigh* We're back to being constantly observed, again." Alfonzo replied in a tired tone. "Seriously, I don't know what those two are after, but can't they give it a fucking rest already?"
"You know that's not possible." Mirajane replied, her expression turning solemn as she spoke. "They're here for a reason. And it's probably to help that arrogant guy, Serena, get revenge on you."
"Actually, I'm not so sure about that." Erza said while cupping her chin in her right hand. "I mean, if they were here to get revenge for that man, why haven't they attacked us yet?"
"But that Brandish girl did attack, didn't she?" Sun asked while tilting her head cutely.
"She did." Erza replied with a nod. "But there was a different reason for that."
"Yeah, that was because of a huge misunderstanding." Mirajane added. "But ever since then, she has been trying to apologize to Lucy and be her friend."
Erza nodded at Mirajane's addition to her comment before continuing her original point.
"Besides, Irene is strong enough that she could take on our entire guild alone." Erza said, getting back to the original topic. "Yet, she has not done anything but come over for a meal every now and then."
"Then, why do you think she's here?" Sun asked in a confused tone. "I mean, what other reason could there be for her to be here than getting revenge for that guy?"
"It feels like she's there to see how I tick." Alfonzo replied before Erza could. "I mean, she always asks all sorts of questions that would dig into my personality or secrets."
"Does she?" Sun asked, once again tilting her head in confusion. "But it just seems like she wants to get to know you, to me."
"Well, that's not wrong." Alfonzo replied as he took a hand off the steering wheel to scratch his head. "But the questions she asks would have me tell a lot more to someone I had only known for a month or so if I were to answer them without thinking."
"Hmm?" Sun hummed, clearly not understanding the subtle manipulations Irene had been trying.
"Don't worry about it, Sun." Mirajane said while reaching forward from the back seat to pat Sun's head.
"Um… okay." Sun replied as she narrowed her eyes thanks to the head patting.
"Anyway, we can think about those two and their plans later." Alfonzo said, cutting off this topic of conversation. "Eventually, they'll get impatient and give away their true motives. Or, one of us will be able to get it out of them in the same way their trying to get information out of us… through casual conversation."
'Actually, I'm pretty sure they wanna know about the boost I get from releasing Riot and Bedlam.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I mean, without that, I wouldn't have been able to beat that dragon douche. But If I had to guess, he didn't give them all the information because of his pride.'
["Yeah, he was definitely too proud to say that in his report to Zeref."] Bedlam replied.
"Hmph! More like he couldn't be bothered to add such a detail."] Riot said disdainfully. ["He probably didn't want anyone too strong to come after you, wanting revenge for his humiliation."]
'Yeah, I could definitely see that.' Alfonzo replied while nodding internally. 'Either way, I'm still in trouble. I mean, I'm pretty sure Irene will try to kidnap me just because I gave her the sensation of taste back.'
["Honestly, I'm still not even sure how that works, despite the fact that I was paying attention to what you did when you cooked that first meal for her."] Bedlam said, sounding somewhat intrigued.
'What can I say, I'm just that good.' Alfonzo said boastfully.
With that, the two [Armament Spirits] fell silent. A moment later, they were both able to react to Alfonzo's boasting. While Riot only rolled his eyes in contempt, Bedlam's reaction was the total opposite.
["Ahahahahaha! Exactly right!"] Bedlam shouted amongst his laughter. ["That's the kind of confidence I would expect as the one whom I was created from."]
[*Bang!*]
["Shut the fuck up!"] Riot shouted in irritation after hitting Bedlam with a weapon version of himself. ["You're too fucking loud!"]
["Oh, so the rabid chihuahua wants to fight, huh?"] Bedlam said after shaking off the effects of Riot's sneak attack. Then, Bedlam manifested his own weapon form as he continued. ["Come on then, let's go."]
With his [Armament Spirits] ignoring him to engage in battle, Alfonzo could only shake his head while focusing on the road and rejoining the girls' conversation.
At the same time, a pair of beautiful women, whose appearances did not match their ages, had just left Magnolia's train station. And because of their beauty, they caught the attention of many of Magnolia's pedestrians as they walked through the town. And those women, Tsunade and Retsu, were headed straight towards Lake Sciliora to meet with Alfonzo for two different reasons.
"I can't believe we had to wait so long between trains." Tsunade grumbled, upset at the amount of time they spent traveling from Cedar to Magnolia. "We spent more time waiting for our trains than actually riding them."
"*Sigh* I know." Retsu replied, her ever present gentle smile still on her face. "Perhaps you were right, Tsuna, we should invest in a few of the new magic vehicles for the guild. Traveling like this is quite the hassle."
Hearing that, Tsunade's eyes lit up. Unfortunately, her mood plummeted right away after Retsu's following sentence.
"That will be the guild's next investment once you finish paying off your debt to the guild, Tsuna." Retsu said while still smiling.
Because of her horrible skill at gambling, Tsunade lost the money Mermaid Heel had raised to pay for the training chambers last year. And since then, she has been working to pay off the debt that Retsu covered. However, because she had to pay not only the guild, but Retsu, as well, Tsunade was still in debt.
And although a year and a few months was enough to pay back Retsu in full, Tsunade was still working on paying the guild back.
"Anyway, we can think about that later." Retsu said with a smile. "For now, let's just make our way to Alfonzo's mansion. Then, after we finish our business there, we'll pay our respects to Master Milkovich."
"Sure." Tsunade replied with a shrug. "And if we're lucky, we'll even get a free meal out of this, too."
Thinking about the prospect of getting a free meal from Alfonzo, Tsunade could not help but smile brightly. Even Retsu's smile widened at the thought. However, before they could move too far, Retsu stopped her steps as her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Is something wrong, Master Retsu?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"It would seem someone with a significant amount of power is visiting Magnolia." Retsu said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "And from what my instincts are telling me, they don't have the best intentions."
"Really?" Tsunade asked in an amazed tone. "For you to say they have a significant amount of power, just how strong are they?"
"So strong that I would have to go all out to have a chance of victory." Retsu said as she licked her lips in anticipation.
Hearing that, Tsunade involuntarily opened her eyes wide. Then, she began to shudder at the overwhelming bloodlust Retsu started releasing.
"Master Retsu…" Tsunade said as she placed a hand on Retsu's shoulder nervously. "Please, you have to calm down. The town wouldn't survive a battle of that magnitude."
While Tsunade nervously, yet frantically, tried to calm Retsu down, many people on the street looked at the pair with fear. At the same time, several of the weaker willed individuals fainted from the pressure. Luckily, someone came along that brought Retsu back to her senses.
*Vroom!* *Screech!*
"Master Tsunade, Master Unohana." Alfonzo said after pulling up next to the current and former masters of Mermaid Heel. "I wasn't expecting to see you here the day I got back. I guess you're here for the motorcycle, Master Unohana. And you must be here because of my letter, right, Master Tsunade."
While Alfonzo spoke in a friendly manner, when Retsu turned her blood thirsty gaze in his direction, he almost instinctively slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
'Holy shit!' Alfonzo exclaimed internally. 'She's almost completely in Yachiru mode. What the fuck happened? Did she somehow feel Irene's power? Fuck, this could be bad. If those two start fighting, the town could disappear from the map… again.'
Not only Alfonzo shuddered at Retsu's blood lust. Erza, Mirajane, and Sun were also completely on guard after feeling it, as well. As a result, they had begun circulating their magic power just in case they had to defend themselves. Luckily, it never came to that. Hearing Alfonzo mention her motorcycle had snapped Retsu back to the here and now.
"Oh, my apologies." Retsu, after reeling in her blood lust, said in an embarrassed tone. "I have no idea what came over me."
Hearing Retsu's elegant tone and seeing the way she covered her mouth with her kimono sleeve, Tsunade, Alfonzo, Erza, Mirajane, and Sun all wanted to roll their eyes. However, the look in Retsu's eyes that said: "If you bring it up, you'll have to deal with me," made them reconsider.
"But yes, you are correct, Alfonzo." Retsu said gently. "I have come to purchase the motorcycle you promised to build for me. I trust it is ready."
"Yup, it sure is." Alfonzo replied as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "It's parked in the garage at my place. If you two would like, we could give you a ride. Though, it might be a little tight in the back seat with four people."
"Although that is not necessary, I appreciate the offer." Retsu said. "Today's weather is lovely. I would like to enjoy it for a bit longer."
"I see." Alfonzo replied. Then, he shifted his attention to Tsunade. "And what about you, Master Tsunade? Would you like a ride."
Although Tsunade wanted to say yes, the smile she received from Retsu caused her to shake her head.
"No thanks, Kid." Tsunade replied, though it was clear she would rather accept the offer. "I'll walk with Master Retsu."
"If you say so." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Either way, I'm sure the girls will want me to cook tonight. So, you're welcome to join us for dinner. I'll just stop past the guild hall for a few minutes before getting back home and starting to cook."
"Thank you, Alfonzo." Retsu replied in a gentle tone. "We'd be happy to join you."
"Yeah, Thanks, Kid." Tsunade added with a smile. "I've been missing your cooking ever since the last time we were in Magnolia. And the girls back at the guild are gonna be so jealous when they hear what they missed."
"Indeed, they will." Retsu said with a smile. "Especially since you made all of them stay back at the guild to train for the Grand Magic Games."
"Well, if we're gonna win, they have to train." Tsunade said unashamedly while puffing out her massive chest. "I mean, If I could participate, I would be right there with them training. But the paper said guild masters aren't allowed. So, what am I supposed to do about it?"
'I don't know, how about supporting the rest of your guild while they give it all they have?' Alfonzo, Erza, Mirajane, Sun, and Retsu thought in unison after hearing Tsunade's shameless question.
"Anyway, we'll go on ahead." Alfonzo said with a smile. "See you at the house."
Meanwhile, as Alfonzo pulled away, Irene, who was at the hotel, waiting for the time to head to Alfonzo's mansion to arrive, wore an intrigued expression on her face. Brandish, on the other hand, was looking in the direction where Alfonzo and the girls had just met up with Tsunade and Retsu with caution.
"What was that?" Brandish asked in a solemn tone. "How does one person give off that much blood lust?"
"I don't know." Irene replied while she shook her head with an intrigued smile on her lips. "I haven't felt blood lust like that in a very long time."
'Not since the Dragon King Festival.' Irene thought, finishing her sentence in her head.
"Either way, it looks like they are an acquaintance of our target." Irene said. "Perhaps, we may meet whoever it may be during tonight's dinner."
Brandish narrowed her eyes in response. If possible, she would not want to meet someone with blood lust so potent. The sheer amount of blood a person like that must have spilled in their life time is horrifying to think about.
Irene, on the other hand, was looking forward to seeing who could produce bloodlust like that. It had been a long time since she felt someone other than Zeref was able to threaten her life. And what she found even more intriguing was the fact that the magic power she could feel from this person was so weak in comparison to her own.