"My good buddy, are you telling me... after you and Mirajane got together, you just went out for tea in the middle of the night?" Laxus stared coldly at the evasive-looking Ankh.
"Mira-nee, are you saying... after you and Ankh-nii started dating last night, you just went for a proper stroll and had tea?" Lisanna's mouth twitched as she looked incredulously at the sweating Mirajane.
Meanwhile, behind both Laxus and Mirajane, a large crowd was staring at the two with peculiar expressions.
"Wha's wron'? Cannu peopul no' jus' haf tea?" Ankh feigned nonchalance, speaking seriously with incomprehensible pronunciation.
"Heh!" Laxus nearly burst out laughing, pointing at Ankh's mouth. "Then what's with the lisp?"
"None o' yer business!" Ankh rolled his eyes.
"Ah~ Mirajane, the Flower of Fiore, has finally found her heart's belonging after all!"
Macao spoke with particularly tragic tones, prompting Wakaba to immediately retort.
"It's not like this is new. When did these two getting together become strange?"
Gray spread his hands helplessly. "If anything, it's stranger that they only started dating now."
Juvia gazed with envy, excitedly saying: "Miss Mirajane has found true love too. Juvia wants that as well."
Cana took a drink and chuckled. "Don't worry, you'll get yours soon too. Last night it was Gray who carried you back to the inn. Who knows if this guy..."
"Shut up Cana! I didn't!" Gray flushed with anger.
Hearing this, Juvia's brain short-circuited and she fainted.
After everyone learned about Ankh and Mirajane's relationship that morning, aside from the initial shock, other emotions faded quickly.
After all, they were all childhood friends, and nobody in the guild was blind—everyone could see whether this pair would work out or not.
Yet a large group of curious onlookers still swarmed around Mirajane and Ankh.
Upon hearing this news, Erza was initially quite displeased—the delinquent girl who had been coveting her brother for years had finally gotten her way!
But clearly, when Mirajane wasn't feeling shy, she never lost a verbal exchange, coaxing Erza as easily as turning her hand.
With just a few whispered words in her ear, Erza transformed into a high-powered steam engine and conceded defeat.
Ankh didn't catch what they said, but given Mirajane's personality, she'd probably just made up some scary story to frighten Erza.
Natsu leaned close to Ankh and asked curiously, "Ankh, are you really brave enough to marry Mirajane? That's amazing!"
BAM!
Unsurprisingly, Mirajane punched Natsu straight into the wall, embedding him so deeply he couldn't be pried out.
Happy raised a paw and quipped, "Natsu's brain just doesn't get it~"
That guy had been locked down all night by Lucy using submission holds and face-smothering techniques, only getting rescued when Erza and Cana barged into the room early this morning.
They say Natsu couldn't even catch his breath at the time...
The atmosphere in the Fairy Tail guildhall felt strange all morning, but fortunately Makarov coughed a couple times and steered the increasingly derailed conversation back on track.
"First, we should still offer you our congratulations."
Mentioning this made Makarov happy too—watching the children he raised gradually start their own families was what elders most hoped to see.
"But don't get so caught up in romance that you forget about winning the Grand Magic Games! Thirty mil... cough, being number one in Fiore is our main goal here!"
The members raised their fists with full fighting spirit in response.
...
Before long, the gong marking the start of the Grand Magic Games' second day sounded, and a new stone monument rose in the arena center.
The support team hurried back to their viewing stands, each carrying a bucket of popcorn, ready to start watching the matches.
Both Team A and Team B focused intently, beginning to examine the two new characters on the monument.
"Chariot?"
Laxus's face darkened as he looked at the monument and said gravely, "These thing clearly aren't suitable for me."
Mirajane, freshly together with Ankh and sticking to him like glue, tightly hugged his arm and sweetly smiled.
"Since it's 'Chariot', our motion-sick Laxus and Gajeel can't participate then."
"Actually they could still fight to understand the competition rhythm."
Ankh thoughtfully stroked his chin and said.
"Like Gray—he has powerful strength, but might not necessarily score high in competitive matches. This is somewhat our guild's weakness—we're not well adapted to this era's flashy competitions."
Just then, Chapati's familiar voice echoed over the arena after a night's absence.
"Welcome everyone to the Grand Magic Games! What's about to begin are the second day's matches!"
"Allow me to introduce my co-host, still my partner Mr. Yajima!"
"And our one-day guest host—Sorcerer Weekly's famous reporter, Mr. Jason!"
Yajima expertly greeted the lively, packed stadium while Jason couldn't contain his excitement and shouted.
"Cool!!"
Originally, Jason hadn't planned to come—sitting in the commentary booth wasn't as interesting as interviewing Mages down below.
But as a die-hard Fairy Tail fan, when Jason learned Fairy Tail was participating in this year's Grand Magic Games, he felt duty-bound to take this seat.
He wanted the entire kingdom to know how Cool Fairy Tail was!!
"First, for the second day's Grand Magic Games competition segment, the 'Chariot' event announced on the stone tablet—please have all eight teams select their participating members based on the hints provided!"
Since the event name offered some clues, each guild deliberately chose Mages capable of fighting on a moving chariot.
Raven Tail sent Kurohebi, a nimble assassin-type Mage with a lean build.
Mermaid Heel selected Risley, a plump and amiable woman.
Blue Pegasus, aiming to close the score gap, deployed their ace—the great Ichiya!
And due to their defeat on the first day, Quatro Cerberus sent their S-Class Mage, Bacchus!
On the stands, Cana immediately grumbled, "That's the guy who challenged me to a drinking contest at the bar last night!"
The drinking wasn't the main issue—the problem was he started mocking Gildarts halfway through!
Could Cana, a hidden daddy's girl, tolerate that?
She immediately fought Bacchus, but without using Crash, she was no match for him.
Luckily, Laxus promptly threw him out.
Natsu eagerly declared, "I'll avenge you, Cana! I can't wait to get in the arena any longer!"
With that, Natsu dashed toward the competitor tunnel below without looking back, leaving others unable to stop him.
"You idiot! This is 'Chariot'! What are you going to do up there?!"
From the Sabertooth viewing stand far away, Sting jumped up excitedly upon seeing Natsu move.
"Since Natsu-san is participating, I'm going too!"
Rogue: ...
Hopeless.