"What?!"
"Loke is leaving the guild?"
"You must be kidding!"
The news Gray brought instantly caused a stir.
Natsu, who had been noisy, stopped, and even Cana put down her barrel.
Everyone's eyes focused on Gray.
Erza's brows were tightly furrowed, her face full of shock and confusion. "Did something happen? Why would he suddenly want to leave the guild for no reason?"
Leaving the guild? This was no small matter.
In Fairy Tail, companions were family, and leaving voluntarily meant severing ties with this home.
"I'm not very clear either." Gray gasped for air to calm his rapid breathing.
"I only know that two days ago, a group of girls ran to the guild, crying and asking where Loke had gone. Ever since then, he's been a bit off."
Everyone discussed, guessing various possibilities.
"Could it be that he owes a love debt and is being hunted down?"
"Very likely. Given Loke's personality..."
"No, even if he owes a love debt, it wouldn't be enough to make him leave the guild, right?"
In the midst of the clamor, only Ryoma's expression remained largely unchanged. He roughly understood the reason in his heart.
The Celestial Spirit Leo, it seemed, could no longer hold on.
Under normal circumstances, humans cannot survive in the Celestial Spirit World, and Celestial Spirits likewise cannot stay in the human world for long periods.
Loke, who was Leo, had been exiled to the human world for almost three years as punishment for indirectly causing the death of his previous owner, Karen.
Even though he was the leader of the Twelve Zodiacs and possessed powerful vitality, he was now on the verge of his limit, his body about to dissipate. That's why he wanted to draw a clear line with Fairy Tail in his final moments, not wanting his companions to see him disappear.
Ryoma's gaze turned to Lucy, who also had a complicated expression among the crowd.
As a Celestial Spirit Mage, Lucy's intuition seemed to make her sense something fishy about the situation, especially Loke's recent attitude towards her, which made her feel strange and uneasy.
Plus, some scattered information she had found out of curiosity about why Loke always avoided Celestial Spirit Mages...
"Lucy."
Ryoma's voice wasn't loud, but in the somewhat quiet environment, it was exceptionally clear.
"You go."
He looked calmly at the girl. "Bring Loke back."
"Ah?"
Lucy suddenly snapped back to reality, like a student whose name had been called by a teacher, a little flustered.
"Oh... okay. I'll go right now."
She didn't even have time to think about why Ryoma had specifically called her name. She responded and immediately turned around, running out of the temporary guild in a flash.
Watching Lucy's departing back, the flames in Natsu's simple mind ignited.
"I'm going too!" He punched his palm. "Can't let Loke run around by himself."
Ryoma looked at the restless Natsu and Gray and said calmly, "If you're worried, you can go look for him too."
"Let's go, Gray!"
"Bastard, don't order me around!"
"Happy, let's go!"
"Aye!"
Immediately, a temporary team consisting of Natsu, Gray, and Happy spontaneously formed, rushing out noisily in different directions, tracking Loke's whereabouts.
Several people were instantly gone from the guild, and the atmosphere gained a hint of worry.
Erza and Mirajane remained in place, not moving.
Mirajane walked over to Ryoma with an empty tray, her gentle eyes full of curiosity. "Ryoma."
She asked softly, "Do you know something?"
Erza also cast an inquiring gaze.
Indeed, Ryoma's behavior just now was too calm, and he directly assigned Lucy to search, as if he knew something.
Mirajane tilted her head and continued, "Why specifically send Lucy? Could it be..."
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and a bold idea formed in her mind.
"The two of them have gotten together recently?"
"Wow!"
Mirajane exclaimed to herself as if she had discovered a new continent.
"If those girls who came looking for him two days ago find out, they'll probably be heartbroken."
"Pfft—"
Ryoma almost choked on his own saliva. He helplessly held his forehead.
"Mira, your imagination is too wild."
"It's very reasonable." Mirajane, however, felt her deduction was flawless and began to analyze it seriously. "Think about it. Loke is usually so afraid of Celestial Spirit Mages, hiding whenever he sees Lucy. But recently, I've seen them chatting together several times."
Her imagination grew wilder, and her tone became more and more certain. "So the truth must be this."
Mirajane clapped her hands, reaching a final conclusion.
"Loke was led on and then abandoned by Lucy. That's why he's heartbroken and wants to leave the guild, go far away, and never believe in love again."
"..."
Ryoma and Erza fell silent simultaneously.
Both of their foreheads had a clear line of black.
This plot... wasn't it a bit too bizarre?
Looking at Mirajane's confident expression of "I've seen through the truth," Ryoma felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.
It was too much trouble to explain now, so he decided to keep them guessing.
"Ahem." Ryoma cleared his throat. "Uh... when they come back, you'll know."
He didn't want to be led astray by Mirajane's unique thought process.
Although Erza also felt Mirajane's guess was a bit outlandish, seeing Ryoma's mysterious demeanor, her doubts only deepened.
—
A secluded cemetery on the outskirts of Magnolia.
In front of Karen's tombstone, Loke's figure appeared particularly lonely in the moonlight. The weakness caused by the loss of vitality made him unable to exert any strength.
He stood silently in front of the cold tombstone, a complex smile on his face, tinged with both relief and reluctance.
"Karen..."
"Finally... it's coming to an end."
In his mind, the vivid faces from Fairy Tail involuntarily appeared.
The always noisy Natsu, the Gray who always stripped off his clothes, the Cana with astonishing drinking capacity, the always elegant and powerful Erza...
And... the Celestial Spirit Mage, Lucy, whom he both wanted to approach and had to keep away from.
"Seriously... the last ones I thought of were those guys." Loke smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached from a distance.
"Loke!"
It was Lucy's voice.
Loke's heart jumped. He stood up straight, wanting to escape as usual, but his legs were as heavy as lead, unable to take even a single step. His physical weakness had reached its limit.
At this point, he could only turn around and face her calmly.
"Everyone's looking for you." Lucy's voice carried a hint of sadness and sorrow. "This is Karen's grave, isn't it?"
These words startled Loke, his expression filled with disbelief.
"The Celestial Spirit Mage Karen was your owner, right?"