Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
July, x784.
More than a month has passed since Eisenwald's plan failed and Lullaby was defeated. In that month, Ultear finally moved in with Alfonzo and Elicia, Lucy found a permanent spot on Natsu's team along with Gray and Erza, and Cana decided to remain as a solo wizard. However, if Alfonzo or Elicia asked her to, she would join them on quests without hesitation.
Another thing to take note of was that Erza accepted a challenge from Natsu when they returned from Clover. Unlike in the Canon version of events, it was not stopped partway by the Magic Council coming to arrest Erza. Instead, it came to a conclusion.
And that conclusion was Natsu's defeat. Something that Gray mocked him relentlessly for. In the end, it turned into a brawl in the guild hall.
On the other hand, Erza was rewarded for her victory. While the brawl was going on, she could be seen sitting on Alfonzo's lap with a blissful smile on her face while he fed her a strawberry shortcake that he baked specifically for her.
After that, things went on as usual. Quests were taken and completed, brawls took place several times a day, And the number of complaints the guild received from clients and the Magic Council declined in number as the days went by.
Today, Alfonzo and Elicia were both on the second floor of the guild hall, checking the available S-Class quests. At the same time, Laxus was also on the second floor. Though he did not say anything, he was glaring at Alfonzo with enough intensity to set him ablaze.
More than twelve years have passed since they first fought. And in all those years, Laxus has managed one draw and more losses than he cares to count. However, in the last year, he has not challenged Alfonzo even once. Once Alfonzo learned [Electromagnetism Magic], he could not even touch the younger wizard with his lightning. So, until he came up with a counter measure, he backed off significantly.
"So, what kind of quest are we gonna take this time, Fonzie?" Elicia asked as she looked over all the normal S-Class quests. "Maybe we should do a monster subjugation quest. I haven't done one of those in a while."
"If that's what you want, I'm fine with it." Alfonzo replied. "Lately, all I've done is Dark Guild Subjugation. So, the change of pace would be nice."
"How are there so many Dark Guilds with so many A-Class wizards, anyway?" Elicia asked, tilting her head. "I mean, where do all those strong wizards come from?"
"Who knows." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "But getting rid of them is good for the continent. I mean, the last one I took out was experimenting on kids to increase their magic power reserves by splicing magical beast DNA into them. Their lead researcher even used his wife and daughter, turning them both into chimera in the process."
"That sounds a lot like Shou Tucker from FMA." Elicia muttered after hearing what Alfonzo had to say.
Instead of responding verbally, Alfonzo simply stared at Elicia with a grim expression.
"Seriously?" Elicia asked in surprise. "What happened to him?"
"He's the only one I didn't capture." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone.
"You let him get away?" Elicia asked. However, when she watched Alfonzo's expression closely, she knew that was not the case.
"No, when I raided the base, he was the first to run." Alfonzo replied with a shake of his head and began his explanation. "When I saw his face, I knew exactly who he was. So, I marked him with my [Magic Power Detection]. Then, after I finished subduing the other dark wizards, I left the base and took aim."
Listening with rapt attention, the concern in Elicia's gaze was evident.
"Then, I fired a [Railgun]." Alfonzo continued without a change in his expression. "By the time I found his corpse, there was a basketball-sized hole in his torso, the wound was cauterized, and the horror etched on his face was so deep."
Immediately, Elicia wrapped her arms around Alfonzo's waist and hugged him tightly.
"That was your first kill, right?" Elicia asked in a concerned tone. "I usually sleep too deep to notice, but have you been sleeping well since then?"
"Yeah, I didn't feel any negative repercussions." Alfonzo replied. "Killing someone like that didn't feel like I killed a human. It was more like killing a monster."
"I'm glad to hear that." Elicia replied, letting go of Alfonzo. "*Sigh* It's hard to believe someone could treat their own wife and child like that."
"The worst thing about it is that I doubt they even knew he was a dark wizard." Alfonzo replied. "I mean, he lived in the most normal two story home in the nearby town that I had ever seen. Anyway, that's enough about such a gloomy topic. Let's pick a quest."
Nodding in response, Elicia turned back to the quest board. A few moments later, she pulled a quest sheet off the board.
"Let's do this one." Elicia said, holding the quest sheet in front of Alfonzo.
"Hmm… let's see." Alfonzo said as he started to read the quest sheet.
Kill the Magical Centipede King
Rank: S
Client: Moka, Village Chief
Objective: Kill the Magical Centipedes and their king that have been attacking the village.
Location: Galuna Island
Notes: For the past week, our village has been under attack from a group of Centipede Magical Beasts. And in those attacks, we have lost almost a quarter of our residents. We've known that these centipedes were on the island for decades. However, they have never attacked our village before. We don't have the means to leave the island en mass. If we don't receive help soon, our entire village will be wiped out.
Reward: 1,500,000 Jewels and a Golden Celestial Spirit Key
"Galuna Island, huh?" Alfonzo asked n surprise. "I always wanted to check that place out. And that reward is the reason why. But I never thought there would be a quest to do so."
"I know, right?" Elicia replied. "Anyway, what do you think?"
"I'm down." Alfonzo replied. "Not really looking forward to fighting some big ass bugs, though."
"Still got that phobia, huh?" Elicia asked with a snicker. "I still think it's cute how afraid of bugs and insects you used to be."
"You wouldn't think it was cute if you woke up covered in carpenter ants when you were a kid." Alfonzo said while rolling his eyes in annoyance.
In their past life, Alfonzo and his family moved into a new house when he was eight years old. Unfortunately, the home inspector missed the fact that the house was infested with carpenter ants. Alfonzo, on the other hand, found out the hard way. One day, he fell asleep on the floor of the living room while watching TV. And when he woke up, he was covered head to toe in carpenter ants. He hasn't done well with insects and bugs ever since.
Continuing to bicker about Alfonzo's former phobia that has improved from complete fear to mild discomfort over the years, Alfonzo and Elicia eventually reached the first floor of the guild hall.
As soon as they did, Ultear and Erza approached.
"If you two are going on an S-Class quest, mind if I tag along?" Ultear asked with a smile.
"Indeed, I would like to join you as well." Erza said with a nod of her head.
"Well, that depends." Elicia said with a smile. "How are you with bugs? More specifically, centipedes?"
"They don't bother me." Ultear replied.
"Me neither." Erza added.
"Well, what do you think, Fonzie?" Elicia turned toward Alfonzo and asked.
Before the girls could get too excited, a mist seeped into the guild hall from under the front entrance. As it passed over the members of the guild present on the first floor, most of them started falling asleep. Even Cana, Erza, and Mirajane were no exception. In the end, only Alfonzo, Elicia, Makarov, and Ultear remained awake after the mist washed over the entire first floor.
A moment later, a hooded figure with a few staves strapped to his back entered the guild hall through the main entrance. Then, he strode through the guild hall, completely unbothered by all the unconscious people.
"Damn it, Mystogan." Makarov said, struggling to stay awake. "You don't have to do this every time you come to take a quest."
'I never understood why Mystogan's spell affected Gramps so much when I watched the anime. I mean, he's gotta have more than enough magic power to resist, or even outright ignore, Mystogan's magic, right?.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he glanced at Makarov. 'But, Now that I think about it, Gramps is eighty-eight years old, or some shit. He's just not what he used to be."
Ignoring Makarov's words, the hooded figure, Mystogan, walked toward the stairs to the second floor.
"Gramps is right, Mystogan." Alfonzo said with a wry smile while supporting Erza's unconscious body on his chest. "It wouldn't kill you to interact with the rest of the guild."
Stopping for a moment, Mystogan turned toward Alfonzo.
"I'm not good at interacting with others." Mystogan replied in a deep voice.
Two years ago, when Mystogan joined the guild, he was surprised that Alfonzo recognized him from that one time they met after Mirajane took her siblings on the S-Class quest to subdue the Beast. Still, the number of times they interacted with each other since then could be counted on one hand.
"Maybe if you actually tried, you'd find it's not all that hard." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
"I'll… consider it." Mystogan replied as he started walking again.
Then, he climbed the stairs, ignored Laxus, much to Laxus annoyance, picked a quest from the S-Class board, and walked back down the stairs.
"They'll wake up soon…" Mystogan said as he passed Alfonzo, Elicia, and Ultear. Then, he started counting down as he walked toward the front door. "In… five… four… three… two… one…"
Ever since Mystogan entered the guild hall, the doors stayed open. However, after counting down to one, he walked out and the doors closed themselves on their own. Then, his voice echoed throughout the guild hall. Though, there were only a few people awake to hear it.
"Zero."
In the next instant, Everyone affected by Mystogan's magic began to wake up. At the same time, Alfonzo picked Erza up I a princess carry.
"Let's get going." Alfonzo said as he started walking toward the guild hall's main entrance with Erza in his arms.
Nodding in response, Elicia and Ultear followed along while Erza was regaining her consciousness.
"You… Can put me down now, Alfonzo." Erza murmured with a blush when she realized that she was being carried.
"Nah, I'm good." Alfonzo replied with a teasing smile. "I like the feeling of having you in my arms. It would feel even nicer if you weren't wearing that armor, though."
Embarrassed to be seen in this position by others, Erza quickly hid her face in Alfonzo's chest. But considering that she was an M on the inside, Alfonzo knew she was enjoying it deep down. And that was made even more evident when Erza [Requipped] out of her armor into her casualwear. Meanwhile, Elicia and Ultear could not help but giggle at Erza's behavior.
Like that, the four left the guild hall, heading to the mansion to prepare for the quest. Meanwhile, Cana, sitting with the rest of their group, watched them leave with envy.
"Cana, are you okay?' Sun asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cana replied, clenching her fist under the table.
"Hey, do you guys know what put us all to sleep?" Natsu asked, annoyed at how easily he was affected by the [Sleep Magic].
"Mystogan must have showed up to take a quest." Mirajane replied. "According to Alfonzo and Elicia, he does that every time he shows up at the guild."
"Damn, that's so annoying." Gray muttered. "Does that mean they don't fall asleep when that guy shows up?"
"That's right." Mirajane replied with a nod. "Anyway, I should get back to work."
As she spoke, Mirajane patted some of the dust off her wine red dress and headed behind the bar.
"Who's Mystogan?" Lucy asked curiously.
"He's one of the guild's S-Class wizards." Levy replied. "He's really mysterious, though. So, I can't tell you much about him."
"Yeah, I don't even know what he looks like." Natsu said in a frustrated tone. "The one time I did see him, during the S-Class promotion Exam two years ago, he was wearing a hood that hid his face."
"Ha!" A laugh of derision sounded from the second floor.
Looking up, the group could see Laxus looking down at them.
"That's because you're all weak." Laxus taunted. "I know what Mystogan looks like. I've even seen under his hood."
"What was that?" Natsu asked, flying into a rage. "Why don't you come down here and Say that to my face."
"Hmph!" Laxus snorted. "Why don't you come up here and make me?"
"Gladly." Natsu growled as he leapt onto the table before jumping at Laxus.
With his fist reeled back and covered in flames, Natsu only made it halfway before a giant hand stretched from the bar and caught him in its grasp.
"Argh! Gramps! Let me go!" Natsu shouted angrily.
"Natsu, you know only S-Class wizards are allowed on the second floor." Makarov said, putting Natsu down on his seat.
"Hmph!" Laxus snorted once again. "Someone who can't even come up to the second floor isn't even worth my time."
With that, Laxus turned into a yellow bolt of lightning. Then, he disappeared from his spot on the second floor. In the next instant, he appeared in front of the guild hall's main entrance.
"Laxus, stop provoking the weaker members of the guild." Makarov said in a reprimanding tone.
Makarov, unaware that his words hit some of the younger wizards much harder than Laxus' taunting, did not notice the determination to do something stupid burning in Natsu's eyes.