"Impossible! That's even more impossible!" Natsu jumped up and stomped his feet, "How could I be anxious? I still have to save everyone! Magic, come back to me! Aaargh, damn it! How come Hapi can do it, but I can't!"
Rhode said, "So you're the first type, then. Just get used to the environment here."
Hapi flew to Natsu's ear and patted his head, "It's okay, Natsu."
Natsu was momentarily stunned, then flew into a rage, "Don't comfort me!"
Hapi looked at Natsu with sympathy.
Natsu got even angrier, "Don't show that look!"
"Pfft..." Hapi suddenly realized he was now stronger than Natsu, so he couldn't hold back his laugh, turning away to cover his mouth.
"You're laughing, aren't you? You laughed, right?!"
"No, pfft..."
"Damn it, stop right there!"
Hapi flew ahead, Natsu chased behind, the two kids ran and flew wildly through the forest.
Wendy asked Carla, "Carla, can you do it?"
Carla frowned and tried, then shook her head, "No, I can't do it."
Wendy picked Carla up and smiled, "It's okay, I'll protect you, Carla."
"You can't even use magic yourself..." Carla snuggled into Wendy's arms.
Uneasy? Is it because she knows more than the tomcat?
Carla's small hand grasped Wendy's collar; she had decided to protect Wendy no matter what, yet she was this cowardly...
Lucy comforted, "Since Hapi can do it, Carla, if you try a little harder, you can definitely do it too."
Lisana chimed in, "Just like Hapi said, once you overcome the unease, you can naturally fly."
Rhode smiled, "It's okay if you can't, because we're here too. Getting rid of our comrades' unease is also our job."
Carla looked up at everyone's smiling faces, "You guys..."
Wendy looked sideways at Carla, "Everyone's with you, let's work hard together, Carla."
"..." Carla was about to show a relieved expression but then suddenly clutched her head in terror, "It...it's happening again!"
Everyone was puzzled, "What?"
"Information, information about Edolas... Ever since coming here, information has been flooding into my head non-stop. This time, 'they' seem to have given me a map."
In Carla's view, it felt like someone was urging her to quickly complete the task and bring people over.
To Rhode, this seemed a bit ridiculous.
Even Hibiki, who specializes in Ancient Document Magic, would always remind someone not to resist when transferring information to a person's mind.
Now doing this without Carla's consent, stuffing information into her head from afar, this magic is too powerful.
Have they created such a mental-type tool?
After being scared for a while, Carla's eyes became firm again, "I'll remind you once more, the tomcat and I are spies from Edolas. If I ever do anything to betray you, please kill me immediately."
"Carla..."
Carla ignored Wendy's voice, looking at Rhode as she spoke.
Natsu and the tomcat are fools, Wendy, Lucy, and Lisana are too kind; at such times, the only person who could possibly do it would be Rhode.
Rhode frowned and stared into Carla's eyes, "The President once said, 'Anyone who dares harm the Guild, I won't let them get away with it.' I'll follow that."
"Hey, Rhode!"
"Mr. Rhode?"
"Brother Rhode?"
"Brother-in-law?"
Rhode raised his hand to stop them from asking further; he felt Carla had a major issue with her mindset, so he just went along with what she said.
So far, he hadn't noticed Carla doing anything strange. That kind of magic shouldn't be able to control one's will; otherwise, Carla wouldn't be feeling so distressing now.
"So where does the route you just received lead to?"
After Rhode agreed to her request, Carla seemed a bit relieved. She recalled the scene she 'saw' and said:
"Out of this forest, head that way, and then..."
"Lisana? Sika City is in that direction, right?"
"Yeah, I was planning to take us that way originally." Lisana looked around, "Are we being watched?"
"What?" Lucy jumped up, surely not, right? So even when she asked Lisana to accompany her for a bathroom break, were they being watched?
How scary!
"We shouldn't be, at least not nearby." Rhode pointed to the ghosts hovering above the forest; if there were people nearby, they would alert us.
Lisana asked, "Are we still going to Sika City?"
"Yes, but let's disguise a bit. Especially Lucy, change your hairstyle and cover the emblem on the back of your hand."
The place is crawling with wild beasts, and they're huge, so living outside is not feasible. Even if we had people take shifts to keep watch, the three strongest fighters would be constantly summoned.
We still have a day's journey ahead and probably battles too. If the beasts wear us out, we're doomed.
Instead, we might as well go to Sika City and see what the enemy is planning.
"Leave the disguises to me!" Lucy stood up energetically and took out the Cancer Constellation key, "Open, Gate of the Cancer Constellation, Kyansa!"
In a flash of golden light, Kyansa appeared before them, holding his scissors, "What hairstyle are we going for today? Shrimp."
"Uh, what should we go with? Let me think..."
Lucy, mindless as ever, was still pondering what style would look nice and how to match it with her clothes.
"Stop thinking, follow my lead." Rhode directly instructed Kyansa, "For everyone here, change long hair to short, short to long, the more contrast, the better."
"That's quite a challenging request, shrimp~" Kyansa not only didn't hesitate but was also quite excited, "Let's start with Miss Lucy!"
"Huh? Huh? Huh~~~I haven't agreed yet!"
The two scissors began to dance over Lucy's head, scaring her stiff.
A few minutes later, Lucy's long hair was transformed into a bob just reaching her chin. Somehow, Kyansa managed to give it a permed effect with just the scissors.
"Done, shrimp." Kyansa put away the scissors and took out a small mirror, "I've always wanted to do this, shrimp!"
"Come on! Is there such a willful Star Spirit!" Lucy grumbled as she snatched the mirror to check herself, finding the result surprisingly pleasing. Her vibe had become a bit colder.
"Next up, I'll choose this blue-haired lady, shrimp." Kyansa aimed at Wendy, giving her a bob-cut too.
Wendy, who originally had cute twin tails, now exuded a hint of a mature woman aura, though her petite frame didn't quite match it.
Then, Kyansa seemed to let loose, giving Natsu long hair tied at the end like Fried's.
"Ahahaha! This feels kind of fun."
If Natsu kept a straight face, he could actually have a bit of a noble air, but his goofy grin ruined it all.
Lisana ended up with a head of white hair, tied up high in a ponytail. She laughed at her reflection in the mirror, "I feel like I've become Sister Mira now."
She mimicked Mira's old expression with a foot on a rock, "Natsu! You took Lisana to catch fish yesterday, didn't you! How's that, brother-in-law, does it look right?"
Rhode chuckled, "Your sister doesn't do that anymore. Well... most of the time."
As they spoke, Rhode's hair gradually got longer, and whatever Kyansa did, it looked like it was all styled together.
Natsu and Lucy burst into laughter at his look, Wendy and Lisana were a bit more restrained but couldn't help snickering too.
Rhode took the mirror to look, and even he laughed out loud—it turned out to be a pompadour: "Is this karma for taking the Rose Sword?"
Hapi flew up to touch Rhode's hair. Rhode grabbed him and tossed him to Kyansa, "Give him an afro."
"I don't want an afro!"
"Shrimp~"