No one at the table noticed the flicker of sadness that had flashed through Cana's eyes.
After all, the ones sitting with her were either a hot blooded idiot like Natsu, or the Strauss siblings who were seated a little farther away and still not really familiar with them yet.
Among them, Mira kept her head lowered and hardly said a word the whole time. Even so, her ears were quietly pricked, secretly listening to every conversation happening in the guild.
On one hand, she was judging whether this guild was worth entrusting Elfman and Lisanna to, whether it was a place they could stay.
On the other hand, she was deeply curious about that boy whose body was as different from normal people as her own.
'If it is him, maybe he would understand how I feel.'
Mira thought this to herself in silence.
Elfman and Lisanna, who had always followed their sister's lead, were getting anxious in their own way. Seeing big sis looking so gloomy every day, they desperately wanted to make her smile again, yet had no idea how.
Suddenly, Natsu, who had been loudly boasting about how he was going to beat Kabe, Erza, Gray and the others one by one, stopped talking and sniffed.
In an instant, his face lit up. He stared excitedly toward the guild doors and shouted,
"I smell him, that is Kabe's scent!
Kabe, come and fight me one on one!"
In a heartbeat, everyone in the guild, including the three Strauss siblings, turned to look at the entrance.
Sure enough, the next moment the doors were kicked open with a bang.
The kick was so strong that one of the door panels flew clean off its hinges and smashed straight into an unlucky guild member.
Fairy Tail might have people who were not that strong, but after years and years of brawls, every single one of them could take a hit.
The unlucky guy with the rooster comb hairstyle who got flattened by the flying door panel jumped up, clutching the rapidly swelling lump on his forehead, and pointed at Kabe.
"Kabe, you little brat, what the hell are you doing! Smashing the guild doors and attacking your seniors. You looking for a beating, you damn brat?!"
He knew perfectly well he was no match for Kabe, but when it came to starting a fight, Rooster Head was not the type to chicken out.
Today, though, Kabe was in a very bad mood, so it was not going to be business as usual.
Wearing a brand new pair of shorts and a short sleeved shirt, Kabe cracked his knuckles one by one. He had not grown much taller than two years before, still short, but with the gloomy look on his face and the sharp glint in his eyes, the pressure he emitted made Rooster Head's back prickle.
"You want a fight? Great, I happen to be in a foul mood. If you dare tell me you were one of the bastards who tore down the boys' dorm, I promise I will kindly make sure you cannot get out of bed for the next three months."
A chill swept through the air. In an instant, Rooster Head and all the men in the guild who had been laughing, ready to watch a show, broke out in cold sweat down their backs.
Only now did Cana remember that she had completely forgotten to tell Kabe the boys' dorm had been wrecked.
She gave the guild's group of men a sympathetic look, then quietly pulled the three Strauss siblings to one side, away from the blast zone.
As for Rooster Head, who had just been shouting about how he wanted to fight Kabe, he instantly threw both hands up in a soldierly salute and shook his head like a rattle, trying to wash his hands of the whole affair.
"D-don't look at me. I moved out half a month ago to live with my girlfriend. This has nothing to do with me, I really did not..."
He did not even get to finish before Kabe thrust out his palm. A burst of ki blasted him, slapping Rooster Head straight into the wall.
"Girlfriend? Living together? That just makes you more guilty."
Kabe said this with a blank face, then turned his gaze on the rest of the guild.
The moment everyone met those icy eyes, they frantically scrambled for excuses. Some claimed they had been drunk that day and knew nothing. Others insisted they had been out on jobs and were not at the scene at all.
In short, they all tried to paint themselves as victims, just like Kabe, and joined him in condemning the real culprits.
Aside from the women, the only ones completely at ease were the likes of Macao and Wakaba, the married uncles who had long since moved into town and could safely stand back and watch the show.
Still, everyone pointing fingers at each other was not going to solve anything. The dorm was gone, someone had to take the blame.
Just as the men were glancing around, calculating which poor soul to push forward as scapegoat, a "hero" stepped out on his own.
"Oi, Kabe, stop ignoring me. The boys' dorm thing was me and Gray. That means you have no excuse to run away from our duel."
The moment those words left Natsu's mouth, the men looked at him with tear filled eyes.
In their hearts, they were all roaring, 'A hero... Natsu, just carry this pot properly. We will take care of your funeral.'
Hearing this, Kabe only looked like his suspicions had been confirmed. He let out a cold laugh.
"Of course. Any time something gets smashed up in this guild, you are always involved somehow. Natsu, it has been a while since we had a proper match, right? Come on, go all out. Let us have a real fight."
Having his challenge finally accepted, Natsu, the brainless one, actually bounced twice on the spot in excitement. Flames burst into life around his fists as he swung them up into a fighting stance.
Pulled over to the corner with Cana, Mira watched this and could not help asking,
"He... he is using magic inside the guild. Is that really allowed?"
"It is fine. He won't be able to use it in a minute anyway."
Cana answered as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Mira's heart lurched. She thought Natsu was about to get killed by Kabe, her eyes filling with panic.
"Watch this, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Shouting the name of his spell, Natsu charged at Kabe.
The flaming punch, however, was just a little sparkly and still soft. Kabe did not even bother dodging. He simply opened his hand and caught Natsu's fist in his palm.
Out loud, though, he still gave praise.
"Not bad. Now it is my turn."
Before Natsu could even process that sentence, Kabe grabbed his arm and spun him around like a human top.
"You like fighting, like smashing things, like taking the blame? Then you little idiot can get lost and go wash that pig brain of yours in the lake before you come back!"
With that shout, Kabe hurled Natsu with all his strength toward the lake behind the guild.
Accompanied by a long, shrill scream, Natsu blasted through the wall and shot out into the night sky like a falling star, disappearing into the darkness.
It was a long time before a distant "splash" drifted back to them.
Everyone in the guild felt their hearts leap into their throats at Kabe's brutal way of handling things.
Falling at that speed, even into water, was not going to be pleasant. Thanks to his Dragon Slayer body, Natsu would not die, but he was definitely going to be flat on his back in the infirmary for a while.