In the end, Lucy half-heartedly and reluctantly set off with Natsu.
The reason, according to Hapi: "Love~ Lucy doesn't trust Natsu to meet other women."
Lucy's rebuttal was ignored.
Now, three people and a cat were setting off on two River Crabs, Rhode with Hapi, and Lucy with Natsu.
Hapi was telling Rhode about their training and interesting missions over the past two months.
In the past, when they talked about these topics, it was always about what Natsu had destroyed, what else he had destroyed, and once again what he had destroyed.
Now, it's a bit better, it has become: just about to destroy—stopped by a cash-strapped teammate—successfully got the money—trained alone—destroyed—Hapi unsuccessfully tried to stop.
Of course, when teammates try to stop Natsu, there's a chance of failure, or sometimes even causing more destruction.
But thanks to the team's strong abilities, they still managed to earn quite a bit despite the ups and downs.
Wendy and Carla earned the most because they didn't go every time.
Moreover, when they were around, Carla often foresaw some future events, proving to be very worthy of credit.
Rhode said to Hapi, "I have a deep question to ask."
"We'll try our best to answer it."
Hapi looked seriously at Rhode, and Rhode also looked seriously at Hapi. The atmosphere was so solemn, it seemed like the conversation was vital to the guild's future.
Rhode slowly started, "In these past two months... how many times has Lucy been seen by Natsu?"
"Don't ask such questions~" Lucy's voice faded into the wind because Natsu was racing the River Crab with her.
The purple Void Swift Crab made Natsu feel very fresh, and before, when doing tasks with teammates, they always traveled by carriage, train, flying ship, and magic four-wheeled vehicle...
Now, Natsu dearly missed Rhode's big crab, constantly urging it to use the acceleration skill, running back and forth joyfully.
The thrill of racing a River Crab made him temporarily forget they were heading to the Council next.
Lucy was miserable, clinging to Natsu's shoulder with effort, often getting lifted up by the unusual speed boost.
Moreover, they could hear Rhode and Hapi's scattered conversations, inserting comments here and there.
"It's indeed a difficult question." Hapi lowered his head, thoughtfully resting on his chin, "I have to count them, like in the bathroom, in the mixed hot spring, and during training when Lucy's clothes accidentally got burned..."
Hapi quickly found that his four-fingered paws were not quite enough.
Lucy floated past, shouting, "You don't have to answer seriously!"
The quarreling continued all the way until they reached the entrance of the Council, and then it quieted down.
Rhode explained their purpose, and the guards at the door reported to their superiors, resulting in their visitation request being easily approved.
The prison of the Fiore branch was built underground, and the Council sent two Frog People with staffs to guide them.
Rhode was calm and collected, as if visiting a friend's basement.
Natsu and Lucy were much more nervous, looking around as they descended the stairs.
But their nerves quickly adapted, curiously looking at each cell they passed.
The two Frog People seemed even more nervous than them.
Though they were no strangers to guiding people on visits, guiding Ten Wizard Saints and notorious dangerous individuals was a first.
As they walked, they were reminded of important rules: "Please don't make loud noises, don't talk to prisoners other than your visitation target, don't use magic without permission..."
Before the words were finished, Natsu raised his right hand, a small flame flickering on his index finger: "It's so dark, this is much better."
"Idiot! They just said not to use magic!" Lucy scolded loudly, immediately hugging Natsu's arm to extinguish the flame.
Nearby, some noise came, a prisoner saw them and stood up excitedly, angrily stating, "You guys..."
Hapi stopped: "Ah, Ailiger! Hey, do you remember us? Natsu is here too."
Bang, bang, bang!
Rhode tapped three times with his right hand, making two people and a cat crouch and cover their heads in defense, apologetically saying to the two Frog People:
"Sorry, these three idiots didn't hear what you just said, really sorry, I'll make sure to keep an eye on them next."
"It's, it's okay..." The fact that a Ten Wizard Saints lowered himself so much made them somewhat flattered.
The two were also too embarrassed to pursue the three who violated the rules further.
Only one raised his staff, letting the tip emit light to illuminate the surroundings. The other pointed with his staff at Ailiger.
"Waaah..."
Ealiiger's handcuffs and leg irons emitted a strong electric current, making it too painful for him to stand upright.
Although the other party was an assassin, Lucy still felt a little pity: "Do all prisoners get punished like this?"
The Frog People said, "No, only unruly ones are punished."
That's the rule, but deciding what counts as unruly is up to them.
Soon, they arrived at Freyja's cell.
This red-haired girl's situation seemed slightly better than Ailiger's.
Although she also wore handcuffs and a prison uniform, she had no leg irons, and her cell came with a desk unlike Ailiger's.
Several books were placed on the desk, one with "Law Knowledge" written on its cover.
Besides that, there were several newspapers, but a bit too far to see the small print clearly.
The Frog People voluntarily explained the reason: "Ailiger is a heavy offender, she has less than a month left till release."
At that moment, Freyja was sitting in the corner of her bed, hugging her legs, her long red hair loosely spread out, reaching the middle of the bed.
Her chest no longer bore the Raven's Tail emblem, replaced by another red emblem, but only half was visible.
—Even in prison garb, this girl really likes leaving her collar open.
Perhaps it's cooler this way.
Rhode was curious about which guild her emblem represented and when it was printed, but first, he glanced at Natsu: "So, have you seen her before?"
Natsu looked seriously at Freyja, tilting his head in deep thought.
Freyja lifted her head to look at them, and upon seeing Rhode, her expression turned somewhat fearful, so she quickly buried half her face on her legs, exposing only her eyes.
"I can't recall at all." Natsu felt like he didn't know her.
But Lucy said, "I don't know why, but I have a familiar feeling seeing her, like someone from the guild."
Hapi guessed: "Erza?"
"No... it's Jubia." Lucy shivered, feeling that Freyja had a gloomy aura, much like Jubia's.
Rhode greatly trusted Lucy's words, because she was always being stared at gloomily by Jubia, certainly having a strong voice on this matter.
"Hey, do you know me?" Natsu directly clung to the cell door, asking inside.