Lisana suddenly became the team's guide, taking charge of the map Rhode got from 'Reby'.
After all, she's been living here for two years, so she knows more about it than Rhode and the others.
And she's more reliable than Carla, whose knowledge relies entirely on 'input'.
Lisana pointed at the map to arrange the journey: "Go a bit further, and the nearest city is Lu'en City. We can rest there, have something to eat and then head out again. We should reach Sika City before dark."
Rhode asked, "How long to reach the Royal Capital?"
"At today's pace, it might take three to five days."
Rhode knew that he had slowed them down today: "We'll find a way to speed up tomorrow. We'll definitely get there within two days."
Tomorrow, they would need Shadow Wolf to serve as their transport.
On the way, they encountered a beast that looked like a cross between a lion and a tiger, but seeing how many they were, it didn't dare approach.
Everyone carefully entered Lu'en City, and Rhode was almost able to walk on his own.
They planned to buy some simple food and water before heading out again.
But just after buying the supplies, a squad of soldiers suddenly ran past them.
They were startled, ready to make a move, but realized the soldiers weren't coming for them; they didn't even glance their way.
"Catch her!"
"Hurry, support her; don't let her escape!"
"Be careful, it's the most dangerous woman from Fairy Tail—Lucy!"
The soldiers were shouting as they ran ahead, causing the few who stood aside to be shocked.
Lisana was surprised, "Lucy? Did she come with us?"
From not far away came a soft shout, "Open, the door of the Aries Constellation! Alyes!"
Natsu exclaimed joyfully, "It's Lucy from our Guild!"
Wendy worriedly said, "Oh no, Miss Lucy doesn't know she can't use magic here!"
"Let's go check it out!" Rhode ran ahead, and everyone followed.
Suddenly, around the corner, a mass of pink woolen balls, like a spiral of cloud, filled the alley, enveloping all the soldiers who rushed through.
Each person hit by it had a strange blush on their face, showing a comfortable expression, accompanied by murmurs like 'so gentle', 'so comfortable', 'yeah-huh-ha'.
Soon after, Lucy squeezed out through the gaps between the pink woolen balls.
"Really now, why suddenly say I'm a criminal? I didn't do anything..." she complained while she ran.
Rhode and the others stopped with a screech, shocked: "Magic?"
Natsu and Wendy couldn't use their magic, Carla and Hapi couldn't fly, and Rhode's Receiving Magic, Requip Magic, and Text Magic were all unusable, even Summoning Magic had issues. How was Lucy completely unaffected?
Seeing them, Lucy was stunned too, then delighted, "Natsu! Mr. Rhode, and Wendy! Hapi and Carla are here too! Where is this place? What's happening?"
Rhode said, "No time for questions. Let's get out of here first."
"Eh? Aren't we going to cause some trouble?" Lucy rarely faced such injustice; normally, Natsu would have torn down two buildings by now.
The pink woolen balls gradually disappeared, and new soldiers came from behind: "Catch them!"
"It's Fairy Tail, and their numbers have increased!"
"Quick, request reinforcements, seal off the city!"
"Trouble, Summoning, Shadow Wolf!" Rhode summoned six Shadow Wolves, "Quick, get on!"
Each of the five people rode one, with the two cats sharing one.
Before getting on, Lucy retorted, "Mr. Rhode, why have your wolves turned like this? Scary!"
Natsu was incredulous at Rhode: "You really ate them!"
"Who ate them?"
"Their tails are down to bones! And their feet too!" Natsu gave a disgusted look, "So you weren't joking back then!"
Back then?
Rhode tried to recall; it seemed he mentioned eating wild beasts to Natsu over a year ago.
This fool has quite the memory.
He helplessly explained, "These aren't the old ones! They originally look like this!"
Lisana laughed. With these people, even escaping felt lively.
"Don't think about running!"
"Stop right there!"
A small squad suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path.
"Leave it to me!" Lisana drew her Rose Sword, grabbed the wolf's mane with her left hand, leaned her body to the right, and let the sword lightly scrape the ground.
The soldiers blocking them tilted to the side and began to sink down. They struggled but found the road beneath them had turned into a swamp; the more they struggled, the more they sank.
The six wolves nimbly leaped over their heads, quickly making their way out of the city.
"Shugboy's Rose Sword is as the rumors say; it makes things soft, and it's very effective!" Lisana showed the sword to Rhode again, "Brother-in-law ~ any regrets?"
Rhode smiled, "As long as you like it, that's good. I wouldn't know how to use it if it were in my hands."
"Amazing..." Lucy admired, "But who are you? Why call him brother-in-law?"
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Lisana. I think you should know Sister Mira and Brother Elf, right?"
Lisana didn't feel unfamiliar with Lucy at all, even though the two Lucys clearly had different personalities.
Lucy was surprised, "You're Miss Mira's sister? But I heard..."
After explaining Lisana's identity, they'd run quite a distance and took a brief rest in a wooded area.
Everyone found a place to sit, drink water, eat, and chat.
Natsu, with a mouth full of food, mumbled, "So, why is Lucy here?"
"Because a big vortex suddenly appeared in the sky; it seemed to swallow the city all at once. At that moment, the Horologium Constellation's Hologram saved me.
"He said he sensed spatial distortion or something, and temporarily took me to another space to hide. By the time he brought me back, everything around was gone.
"Then Mystogan appeared suddenly, briefly told me about Edolas and Anima, and sent me here."
A pleasant surprise that Mystogan was still around and had the ability to send people here; he must know how to travel between the two worlds.
Rhode quickly asked, "Mystogan sent you? Where is he?"
"I don't know; he didn't tell me anything else and didn't even ask for my opinion before sending me over." Lucy pouted, clearly having some complaints about his actions.
After thinking, she excitedly added, "Oh, right, you might not know! Mystogan without his mask looks exactly like Jellal; I was shocked!"
Rhode nodded, "I know."
Natsu was also calm, "Yeah, I know too."
Wendy shyly raised her hand, "I promised to keep it a secret, so..."
Hapi and Carla also looked un-surprised.
"Eh?" Lucy widened her eyes, pointing at herself, then at others, "What's this now, am I the only one who didn't know? Even though Wendy and Carla joined the Guild after me!"
Lisana warmly comforted, "It's okay, Miss Lucy. I joined the Guild earlier, but I didn't know at all, and I don't even know who Jellal is."
"...Not knowing Jellal makes it pointless." Lucy habitually retorted, then realized she wasn't that familiar with Lisana yet, and speaking so casually seemed impolite.
Lucy hastily apologized, "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean it that way..."
"It's okay, Miss Lucy only met me today, but I've known about you for a while now."
Lisana wasn't bothered at all and even smiled while explaining that there's another Lucy here too.
Listening to everyone talk about the Fairy Tail over here, Lucy reacted with various exclamations. This world truly is full of wonders; she really wanted to see everyone here firsthand.
And also...
"Me? Bullying Natsu every day?" If it weren't for everyone witnessing it, Lucy wouldn't believe it.
This other her, what kind of person is she?
Lisana laughed and said, "It's not completely bullying, I think... Lucy likes Natsu, you know."
Lucy's face turned crimson, "No, no way! I-I-I... Natsu? Absolutely not!"