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But George wasn't ready to give up.
"Erza, that's exactly why you need to save your magic. Since you're the strongest here, we can't risk you running low by the time we reach the Iron Forest Guild. That could cause real trouble."
"Don't worry. Even without magic, I'd still fight with a stick if I had to," Erza replied firmly. "Besides, we've got Natsu and Gray with us."
Natsu, with excitement lighting up his face, shot flames into the air. "Hahaha! Just leave it to me, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail! I'll knock them all out!"
"No way—I'm the strongest mage in Fairy Tail!" Gray retorted, throwing off his coat to reveal his eight-pack abs.
"What did you say, you exhibitionist weirdo?"
"You lousy fire-eater, want to settle this right here?"
"Bring it on! Let's finally see who's the best!"
"Oh, enough already!" Erza scolded, removing her driver's bracelet and stepping out of the car. She knocked both of them to the ground with a punch each. "We're all allies here! Try acting like it!"
Taking advantage of the moment, George slipped into the driver's seat. "Look, I may not be the strongest, but my magic restores quickly. If something goes wrong, you can always switch back to me."
Being a wizard, George had a natural advantage with magic power that never fully ran out.
"But George, even if you can channel magic, how will you drive?" Lucy asked, raising her hand slightly. "Your paws won't reach the controls."
George was, after all, a cat about thirty centimeters long. He could fit the bracelet around his paw to channel magic, but operating the controls of the magic-powered car was another matter entirely.
That is, unless George provided the magic while someone else drove.
"That's hardly an issue," George replied with a smirk.
Apparently eager to experience the thrill of driving, he cast a spell that caused a magical circle to glow above his head. Instantly, his small feline form expanded, transforming into a massive golden cat, as large as a tiger.
Settling himself in the driver's seat, George looped the bracelet around his paw. He placed his front paws on the steering wheel, while his hind paws could now reach the accelerator and brake.
"Happy, same cat but such a difference!" Lucy murmured, glancing between the newly transformed George and Happy, who was sitting on Natsu's shoulder, munching on a fish.
Happy, overhearing her comment, looked back and deadpanned, "Lucy, same wizard but such a difference!"
Lucy winced as if struck by his words.
"Hold on tight!" George shouted. With everyone crammed into the car—Erza, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy—he floored the gas pedal. In seconds, the magic-powered car shot off, soon visible only as a green dot in the distance.
"Never thought I'd enjoy the thrill of speeding in another world," George mused, smoothly drifting around a sharp turn to overtake a fast-moving carriage.
The driver of the carriage, dumbfounded, rubbed his eyes. "Did I just see...a giant cat speeding in a car?"
"George, at this speed, can your magic keep up?" Erza poked her head out of the back seat, looking worried.
George swished his tail, assuring her it was fine. "A moment of speeding bliss is worth every bit of magic!"
Half an hour later, near the Gunukis train station, a group of armored soldiers stood stunned as George's speeding car approached.
"Cat—stop! Stop for inspection!"
Erza promptly stepped out of the vehicle to address the soldiers. "We're mages from Fairy Tail. Is something the matter?"
After verifying her magic tattoo, the lead officer explained, "Apologies. The Dark Guild, Iron Forest, hijacked a train here. We're conducting routine inspections."
Once they resumed their journey, the magic car sped along, following the golden arrow's direction as they discussed Iron Forest's motives for hijacking the train.
Trains, after all, are limited to tracks but are much faster than regular carriages and can carry many passengers. The group concluded that Iron Forest might be using the train to transport the Curse Flute to a specific city.
Sure enough, the arrow continued to point along the train tracks, confirming their theory.
They passed through the cities of Gunukis and Oshibana, and soon, they were approaching Clover Town.
"We've found it!"
Not far from Clover Town, they found the train abandoned on the tracks.
But unfortunately, the train was completely empty—no sign of any Iron Forest mages.
"It seems their target must be Clover Town," Erza muttered, her brow furrowing.
Suddenly, George's face grew serious as something came to mind. "If I remember correctly, our guild master and the others are having their annual meeting in Clover Town."
Just yesterday, he had asked Mirajane about the master's whereabouts, and she'd mentioned that this year's meeting was scheduled there.
"George, are you saying their target is our guild master?" Lucy's eyes widened in alarm.
A cold aura emanated from Gray. "It's worse than that. They might be targeting all the guild masters. Imagine if every leader of the legal guilds were killed by the Curse Flute at once."
Erza felt the heat radiating off the train wheels, confirming it had stopped only moments before. "The train's still warm—George, please use your tracking magic again! We have to intercept them before they reach the masters."
"As a member of Fairy Tail, I won't hesitate!" George activated his tracking spell again and sped off in the magic-powered car, chasing after the Iron Forest mages.
Finally, on the streets of Clover Town, they managed to corner Erigor and the other Iron Forest mages.
"Erigor, surrender the Curse Flute. Don't go down this path!" Erza demanded.
"Who are you people?" Erigor asked, eyes narrowing as he assessed the mages stepping out of the magic-powered car blocking his way. His upper body was bare, his hands wrapped in bandages, and he wielded a large scythe that gave him the appearance of a grim reaper. He'd been only moments away from reaching the villa in the northern part of town, where he planned to unleash the Curse Flute and eliminate all the guild masters gathered inside. Yet somehow, he'd been stopped here. But how did they know of his plan? And how did they even know about the Curse Flute?
"We're Fairy Tail mages! Erza!"
"Natsu!"
"Gray!"
"Lucy!"a
"Happy!"
"George!"
Following the others' lead, George instinctively called out his name, feeling an unexpected surge of excitement. But he quickly suppressed this impulsive feeling; as a mage, he preferred not to get too caught up in the heat of the moment.
Charging in while shouting about friendship and loyalty just wasn't his style.
(End of Chapter)