"Eh————?!"
Hearing the village chief's request, Lucy and the others were shocked. Destroy the moon? What kind of joke was that? Who could destroy the moon?! Not even the strongest Mages could pull that off!
"Hmm… I've already learned everything about your situation. As for how to break the curse exactly, I'll still need to investigate a bit."
"Then… Sir Mage, when do you think the curse can be lifted?"
"Tomorrow night," Kaien said calmly.
"Tomorrow night?!"
"That's wonderful!"
"Truly wonderful!"
"The curse will be lifted tomorrow night!"…
Hearing such a firm answer from Kaien, the village chief and the villagers were overjoyed. They couldn't stop cheering with excitement. They had been tormented by this curse for so long they were about to lose their minds—and now, finally, they could be free.
Gray leaned in and whispered to Kaien, "Hey! Kaien, we haven't even figured out the curse yet. Isn't it too reckless to give an exact time so soon?"
Kaien replied with a confident smile, "Don't worry. I've got it handled."
With the news that the curse would be lifted the next night, the chief became enthusiastic. "Someone! Escort these Mages to the guest rooms at once. Prepare fruit and food for them to enjoy."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, the group was led by the villagers to their rooms. Even Natsu had been carried in, completely wrapped up like a rice dumpling and covered head to toe in herbal ointments for bruises.
But even like that, he didn't stop eating. Seeing Natsu's energetic appetite, Lucy and the others finally sighed in relief. It looked like Kaien had been right—Natsu had only suffered some surface wounds.
"Ugh… Kaien, you're too cruel! You really went all out!" Natsu groaned, complaining to Kaien. It hurt to even move.
Kaien replied bluntly, "If I hadn't, would you have learned your lesson? Sneaking off to take an S-Class mission—and dragging Lucy with you too? Seriously?"
Natsu muttered under his breath, "Didn't you do the same back then? Tricked Elfman into doing an S-Class mission with you..."
"And most importantly, you didn't just sneak off to do an S-Class mission—you stole my S-Class mission. You're lucky I went easy on you. If there's a next time, I'll break your legs so you can't sneak off again."
S-Class missions were critical to his strength progression. Sometimes Kaien would stake out the second-floor request board for days just to grab one.
That mission being stolen almost delayed him. How could he not be mad?
Natsu flinched at the threat. While Kaien probably wouldn't really break his legs in other forms, once he used Tyrant's Take Over… yeah, he totally would.
But what could he do? There was only one S-Class request posted on the second floor.
"The more I look at that moon, the creepier it gets," Happy said, glancing at the eerie purple moon outside the window.
Lucy quickly warned, "Happy, close the window! Did you forget what the village chief said?"
"What did he say?"
"He said if we stay under the moonlight too long, we'll turn into demons too!"
Happy replied nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? Kaien's lifting the curse tomorrow night anyway. And hey, if I become a demon, I might look really cool!"
"Right, the curse. Kaien, are you really going to destroy the moon tomorrow night?" Natsu asked with eager eyes.
Gray interrupted, "Come on, how's that possible? No human can destroy the moon. Not even Kaien could do that."
"But the request was to destroy the moon, wasn't it? If we can't complete it, wouldn't that hurt Fairy Tail's reputation?"
"Doesn't matter if that's what they asked. We can't actually destroy the moon. If we do, we won't be able to moon-gaze anymore."
"Exactly! That means no more Fairy Tail Limited Edition Moon-Viewing Steak!" Lucy added.
"And no more moonlight-seasoned dried fish!" Happy chimed in.
Lucy sighed. "Why are we suddenly talking about food again? We were discussing the curse! Kaien, since you said you'll lift it tomorrow night, you must've figured something out already, right?"
Kaien bit into an apple and nodded. "Yup."
"That fast?! You already figured out how to break it? What even is this curse?" Everyone turned to him curiously. The curse seemed terrifying—it could turn people into demons. Naturally, they were dying to know how Kaien planned to break it.
"You guys want to do an S-Class mission, don't you? Then I'll give you another chance. I'll be lifting the curse tomorrow night. Until then, you can try figuring it out yourselves. If you succeed, I'll count it as your completed S-Class mission."
"Seriously?!!" The group lit up at once.
"Awesome! If we complete an S-Class mission, we'll get access to the second floor!" Lucy beamed. If she made it to the second floor, her standing in the guild would be on par with Kaien's!
Gray shook his head. "Nope. You can't go up just like that. Even when Kaien completed his S-Class mission, Master didn't let him up there. It wasn't until he became an S-Class Mage that he got permission."
"Still, that's fine! If we become S-Class Mages, our status in the guild will shoot up!"
"Aye~!"
"Haaaah~~~ you guys keep discussing. I'm going to bed." Kaien yawned, lay down, pulled up the covers, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.
—
The next morning, the sun rose high, its warm rays driving away the night's shadows and revitalizing the world.
Kaien stretched with a big yawn.
"That's the stuff~~~!!"
Thanks to the healing effects of Sun Breathing, his body had fully recovered overnight, and his spent magic power had completely recharged. He was brimming with energy.
"Good morning~~"
A weak voice called out behind him.
Turning around, Kaien blinked. "Morning… huh? What happened to you guys?"
The three humans and one cat looked completely exhausted, like they'd been drained of life.
Gray yawned and replied, "What do you think? We spent all night discussing how to break the curse—we didn't sleep at all."
"And did you come up with anything?"
Lucy shook her head. "Not a clue."
Everyone looked baffled. They had all come here with Kaien—so why was he able to figure out the curse so quickly? They tried recalling every detail from the trip, but nothing stood out. Still, Kaien looked completely certain. He wasn't bluffing—he obviously knew how to lift the curse.