Summoner of the Fairy Tail - Chapter 243
After sending Pascal away, the tavern fell into an eerie silence. Erza looked at Calvin with a bewildered expression and asked incredulously, “Did you treat him like this before?”
Calvin shrugged nonchalantly, “I once saw him trying to take advantage of a drunk woman in the tavern, so I made him fly naked in the sky for half a day.”
“You’re a demon…” Gajeel muttered, deciding never to provoke Calvin in the future. His deviousness was not something a normal person could handle.
Happy, standing nearby, showed a sympathetic expression. He had long known that despite Calvin’s seemingly easygoing demeanor, he could be terrifyingly cunning.
“You did that? Pascal isn’t weak at all,” Erza said, feeling a bit resigned. She used to be on par with Pascal in terms of strength but was easily manipulated by Calvin, which was hard for her to accept.
“It’s because he is completely restrained by me,” Calvin said, not wanting to dwell on the topic. He then went over to Mira, putting his arm around her as they continued drinking.
As they drank, Calvin suddenly remembered something and asked, “Who’s going to compete in the event tomorrow?”
“Let me! I’ll solidify our lead!” Natsu, always full of fighting spirit, volunteered first. Having not fought all day, his fists were itching for action.
After exchanging a glance with Erza, Calvin nodded in agreement. While no captain was officially chosen, almost all decisions for Team A were made through discussions between Erza and Calvin.
“If Natsu is competing, I want to go too!” Gajeel quickly declared, that his competitive relationship with Natsu was even more intense than the rivalry between Natsu and Gray.
“I’m a bit worried about Natsu. He often gets too hot-blooded and isn’t the brightest,” Gray commented coolly from the side, but Calvin just smiled slightly.
“Don’t worry. As long as he doesn’t encounter a vehicle, he’s quite strong,” Calvin said softly, clearly confident in Natsu.
As night fell, the gathering finally ended. Everyone slowly made their way back to the inn, with those still sober helping the drunk. Calvin carried Cana on his back as he walked with Mira.
“You got angry just now. It’s rare. But wasn’t that a bit too much?” Mira suddenly asked as they walked.
Calvin replied calmly, “Pascal is a scoundrel. He won’t realize his mistakes unless given a harsh lesson. Anyway, I can’t stand him.”
“You were so angry because of Cana, weren’t you? You care about her,” Mira said softly, her tone seemingly calm but with a hint of impending storm.
However, Calvin didn’t pick up on this and just smiled, “I might have been a bit impulsive, but she’s like a sister to me. If Lisanna were treated like that, you’d be furious too, right?”
“That’s true, but…” Mira said softly with a touch of melancholy, then whispered to herself, “But in the end, you and she aren’t related by blood…”
Mira felt uneasy about the relationship between Calvin and Cana.
In the palace, a knight in armor was reporting today’s results to a foreign envoy and asking if there were any preferences for tomorrow’s duel opponents.
The king expressed his desire to see Pascal fight and specifically requested to see Fairy Tail’s shape-shifting mage, someone named Erza.
After acknowledging the king’s request, the knight bowed and left, a cruel and determined smile forming on his face out of the king’s sight.
“Soon, it will be completed!”
In the early hours, on a high mountain on the outskirts of Crocus, Jellal was talking to his companions.
“Did you find anything?” Ultear asked.
“Nothing. Even Calvin said he couldn’t sense anything. We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” Jellal replied, his eyes reflecting a trace of sorrow in the darkness.
Seeing this, Ultear couldn’t help but advise, “Don’t put all the burden on your shoulders. If you have time, relax with Erza.”
Jellal looked a bit embarrassed but soon reverted to his somber demeanor, self-deprecatingly saying, “Today, I found a former companion I hurt in the past. She’s now with Mermaid Heel. The ridiculous part is, I didn’t even dare to apologize.”
“Mermaid Heel? Then it must be that girl who likes cats. Cater to her interests and give her a cute kitten! Idiot!” Ultear mercilessly mocked him.
Jellal just shook his head with a smile, “If it were that simple to earn forgiveness, I wouldn’t be struggling so much.”
The moonlight was bright, but it only highlighted the depth of his loneliness. Gazing at the full moon, Crime Sorcière seemed to see their past sins reflected at them, plunging them into silence.
The night was quiet, followed by the dawn of a new day, bringing a new competition.
Today’s theme was “Chariot.”
Upon seeing the name, Calvin already had a bad feeling. He wanted to stop Natsu but remembered how stubborn he was. If Natsu decided to compete today, nothing could change his mind.
“Who says a chariot has to be a vehicle? Maybe it’s just a race where we run like chariots!”
This was Natsu’s hopeful speculation before the competition. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but he was only half right.
It was indeed a race, but it took place on moving “chariots.”
At the starting line, seeing the flatbed carriages forming the track made Natsu’s heart sink. Gajeel, who was competing with him, also broke into a cold sweat, filled with dread.
He couldn’t forget the discomfort he felt on the train to Oracion Seis.
“I only got motion sick that time because I wasn’t feeling well. I’m not like Natsu!” But he was just comforting himself, trying to convince himself he didn’t have motion sickness. The race began amidst their worries.
A few seconds after stepping onto the carriages, Gajeel felt a wave of dizziness, his stomach churning as if he would vomit at any moment, his legs weak and his body powerless.
In this state, let alone racing, he could barely stand.
“No way! Am I motion sick?!”
Natsu had similar thoughts, and so did Sting from Sabertooth.
“What bad luck! A vehicle race? I’m doomed!”
As Sting anticipated, he completely failed in this event, withdrawing halfway through, knowing he couldn’t achieve a good rank and choosing to save face by quitting early.
As for Natsu and Gajeel, they managed to finish the race through sheer willpower and bonds with their teammates, securing the second-to-last and third-to-last places.
The first place went to Pascal, who joined today as a substitute, earning significant points for Quatro Cerberus.
After the event, the team scores were as follows:
- Fairy Tail Team A: 22 points
- Fairy Tail Team B: 19 points
- Sabertooth: 16 points
- Blue Pegasus: 16 points
- Quatro Cerberus: 11 points
- Raven Tail: 8 points
- Lamia Scale: 8 points
- Mermaid Heel: 8 points
Despite the setback, Fairy Tail still held the top two positions, but they couldn’t afford to be complacent with Blue Pegasus and Sabertooth close behind.
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