Chapter 81: Giving Another Chance
"Eh—?!"
Hearing the village chief's desperate, impossible request, Lucy and the others were all completely startled. Destroy the moon? What kind of joke was that? Who could possibly destroy the moon? Even the most powerful Mages in the world, the Ten Wizard Saints, couldn't do that.
"Hmm…" Ren, however, didn't even blink. He crossed his arms, his body still aching from the 'Tyrant' transformation's after-effects, but his face was calm and analytical. "I understand the situation you've described. I still need to investigate how to lift the curse."
"Then… Mage-sama," Moka, the village chief, asked, his demonic form trembling with a desperate hope, "When? When can the curse be lifted?"
Ren looked at the terrified, monstrous faces of the villagers, then glanced at the purple moon, his mind already having clicked all the pieces of the puzzle together. He said, his voice flat and indifferent, "Tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?!"
"That's great!"
"This is wonderful!"
"The curse will be lifted tomorrow night!"
The village chief and the villagers, hearing Ren's affirmative and confident reply, all showed expressions of utter, tearful surprise. They couldn't stop cheering, their monstrous voices rising in a chorus of hope. They had been tormented by this curse to the point of madness, and now, this calm, terrifyingly powerful Mage had promised to end it... in one day.
Gray quickly leaned into Ren's ear and whispered, his voice urgent, "Hey! Ren, are you crazy? We haven't even figured out what this curse is yet, and you're just promising them a miracle? Isn't it too rash to give an exact time so quickly?"
Ren just smiled confidently and said, "Don't worry! I have it handled."
Hearing that Ren could lift the curse by tomorrow night, the village chief also became incredibly enthusiastic and hospitable. "Someone! Quickly! Take the Mage-samas to the guest rooms to rest! And prepare fruits and our best food for them to enjoy!"
"Yes!"
Soon, guided by the relieved, still-demonic villagers, the group arrived at the largest guest room hut. Natsu, who was still unconscious, was also carried in by several villagers, covered from head to toe in pungent liniment and wrapped up in so many bandages he looked like a mummy.
But even so, it didn't stop him from eating. The moment food was placed in the room, Natsu's eyes snapped open, and he began to wolf it down, wincing with every chew.
Seeing Natsu's energetic, food-motivated demeanor, Lucy and the others breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Ren was right; Natsu had only suffered superficial (though incredibly painful) injuries.
"Ugh… Ren, you went too far!" Natsu complained to Ren, his words muffled by a chicken leg. He hurt with every single movement. "How could you be so heavy-handed?!"
Ren, who was sitting in a chair, rubbing his own aching shoulders, said irritably, "If I didn't use a heavy hand, you wouldn't learn your lesson. Sneaking off to do an S-Class Quest... and you even tricked Lucy, a newcomer, into going with you. How could you even think of that?"
Natsu mumbled, "But didn't you also force Elfman to go on that dangerous quest with you back then? That was basically an S-Class job!"
"That was approved by the Master," Ren shot back, his voice turning cold again. "But what you did... you stole it. And the most important thing is... it's one thing for you to secretly do an S-Class Quest, but you absolutely, under no circumstances, should have stolen my S-Class Quest."
His eyes narrowed. "I'm already being lenient. If there's a next time, I'll break both your legs. Then let's see if you can still sneak out."
S-Class Quests were crucial to the speed of his growth. They were his gacha pulls. Sometimes, he would spend many days at the guild just waiting for an S-Class Quest to appear.
His S-Class Quest, his ten-pull, was almost stolen. How could Ren not be angry?
Natsu was startled to hear this. He knew Ren was serious. Ren might not break his legs in his other forms, but when he was possessed by the 'Tyrant', he could definitely do something like that.
However, he had no choice. "But there was only one S-Class Quest on the second-floor request board!" Natsu complained.
"The more I look at this moon, the creepier it gets," Happy said, changing the subject. He was looking at the purple moon in the sky outside the window.
Seeing this, Lucy quickly said, "Happy, quickly close the window! Did you forget what the village chief said?"
"What did he say?"
"If we stay in the moonlight for too long, we'll turn into demons too!"
Happy said indifferently, "What does it matter! Anyway, Ren will lift the curse tomorrow night. And if I turn into a demon, maybe I'll be quite handsome! A big, muscular cat-demon!"
"By the way, the curse... Ren, are you really going to destroy the moon tomorrow night?" Natsu asked, his earlier beating already forgotten in his excitement.
Gray retorted, "How is that possible, you idiot? How can humans destroy the moon? Even if Ren is strong, he definitely can't do that."
"But their request is to destroy the moon," Natsu argued. "If we can't do it, won't it harm the reputation of Fairy Tail?"
"If we can't do it, we can't do it!" Gray shot back. "Besides, even if they ask us to destroy the moon, we can't actually do it. If the moon is destroyed, we won't be able to enjoy moon-gazing anymore."
"That's right!" Natsu agreed, his priorities shifting. "In that case, the Fairy Tail limited-edition special moon-gazing steak will also be gone!"
Happy also chimed in, "It's unacceptable if my moon-gazing dried fish is gone."
Lucy complained speechlessly, "How did the conversation shift to food?! Aren't we talking about the curse right now? Ren," she said, turning to him, "since you said you'll lift the curse tomorrow night, you must have thought of a way to do it, right?"
Ren took a bite of an apple and nodded. "That's right!"
"So fast!" Lucy said, amazed. "Ren, you found out how to lift the curse so quickly? What exactly is this curse about?"
Everyone—Gray, Natsu, and Happy—looked at Ren curiously. This curse seemed too terrifying, capable of turning people into demons. They also wanted to know how Ren would lift the curse.
Ren looked at their eager faces, then at Natsu, who was still covered in bandages. He had an idea.
"Aren't you all eager to do an S-Class Quest?" he said, a small, challenging smile on his face. "Then I'll give you another chance. Tomorrow night, I will lift the curse. But... during this time, you all can try to lift the curse yourselves. If you succeed before I do... it will count as you completing an S-Class Quest."
"Really?!"
Everyone immediately became excited upon hearing this, their previous fear and exhaustion vanishing.
"That's great!" Lucy said happily, already thinking of the Golden Key. "If we complete an S-Class Quest, won't we be able to go to the second floor?" If she could go to the second floor, wouldn't her status in the guild be the same as Ren's?
Gray, ever the realist, shook his head. "No, you can't go to the second floor just by completing one. Even when Ren completed his first S-Class Quest, the Guild Master didn't allow him to go to the second floor. It was only after he officially became an S-Class Mage that Ren was allowed on the second floor."
"That doesn't matter!" Lucy said, her spirits high. "As long as we complete an S-Class Quest, won't our guild status, and our rewards, greatly improve?"
"Ah~~!" Natsu cheered.
"Haah~~~! You guys can keep discussing," Ren said, his body finally succumbing to the muscle fatigue from his transformation. "I'm going to sleep first."
Ren yawned, then lay down on one of the cots, covered himself, and rested. Soon, Ren fell into a deep sleep.
In the morning...
The sun rose high, and its warm, golden rays dispelled the darkness—and the purple-tinged light—of the night, bringing the world back to life.
Ren stretched lazily, a loud, satisfied groan escaping him.
"Comfortable~~~!"
The Sun Breathing's inherent healing ability, combined with his own stamina, had fully restored his body overnight. His torn muscles were repaired, his depleted magic power was also completely refilled, and the soreness from the 'Tyrant' form was gone. He was now full of vigor.
"Good morning~~!"
A weak, exhausted voice sounded from behind Ren.
Ren turned his head and said, "Good… Hmm?… What happened to you all?"
He saw that the three people and one cat—Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy—were all listless. Their eyes were bloodshot, they had dark circles under them, and they looked as if they were about to die.
Gray yawned, so hard his jaw almost unhinged. He was extremely sleepy, and said, "It's all because... we were discussing... how to lift the curse... and we didn't sleep all night."
"Did you come up with any results from your discussion last night?" Ren asked, already knowing the answer.
Lucy shook her head, her blonde hair a mess. "No. No clue. We just... argued."
Everyone was very puzzled. They had all come with Ren, so why was Ren able to figure out how to lift the curse so easily, while they were completely stumped? They had tried to recall every detail of their arrival, but no matter how they thought about it, they couldn't find any differences.
Yet, Ren's confident demeanor didn't seem fake at all. It was clear he already knew how to break the curse.
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