Fairy Tail: My Magic is Yugi Muto's Card Deck

"Hey, Ches! Tell me what that dragon looked like right now!"

Natsu's loud voice jolted Lucy out of her sulking spiral.

She looked up just in time to see Natsu rush straight toward Ches in a blur, grab the collar of his shirt, and start shaking him like a ragdoll.

"Tell me! Tell me! Tell meeeee!!"

Spittle flew in all directions. Ches winced, his expression twisting in pain and irritation.

Why does this flame-brained idiot have to be so hands-on?

"Oi, knock it off already!" he snapped, peeling Natsu off like a stubborn sticker.

To shake off the persistent pest, Ches made his way over to the bar and sat down with a dramatic sigh, surrounded by curious guildmates.

With a resigned look, he began recounting the events of the encounter carefully choosing his words.

He downplayed certain parts and conveniently omitted the name Ignia, but made sure to emphasize one thing very clearly:

The dragon was terrifying beyond imagination.

Most of the guild members were left wide-eyed and stunned, cold sweat dripping down their backs.

But not Natsu.

The moment Ches finished his story, Natsu's eyes lit up with excitement instead of fear.

He clenched his fist, turned on his heel, and hollered, "Happy! Let's go! To the Kilteana Continent! That Fire Dragon has to know something about Igneel!"

"Aye, sir!"

Without even asking for details, Happy spread his wings and zoomed after him.

The guild members gawked, stunned by the sudden outburst.

"Wait, wait, wait Natsu! You can't just run off like that!"

"Didn't you hear what Ches just said?! It's crazy dangerous out there!"

"You'll die, flame-brain!!"

Mira, Gray, Lucy, Elfman, and even Macao all rushed to block the door as Natsu charged forward, full steam ahead.

But Natsu was already halfway out the door, his voice echoing behind him:

"If there's even a sliver of a chance that he knows about Igneel, I have to go!"

Rushing off to face such an incredibly dangerous monster without any preparation was nothing short of suicide.

But Natsu, driven by his desire to find his father, didn't care in the slightest and ignored everyone's warnings.

"Hey, Natsu," Ches called out calmly.

"Ches, are you trying to stop me too?" Natsu shoved off Elfman's grip and turned back with a fiery gaze.

"I wouldn't do that. Where you want to go is your choice."

Ches shrugged casually. "But the Kilteana Continent is huge. Don't you want to know the exact location where that Fire Dragon appeared?"

Hearing that, Natsu, who had already reached the doorway, skidded to a stop and immediately turned back.

Just as he opened his mouth to ask, Ches under everyone's confused stares stooped down, plucked an ant out of a crack between the floor tiles, and placed it on the bar counter.

"Ask it."

The Fairy Tail members: {shocked}

The ant biting a breadcrumb: a little sad or pitiful expression

"What kind of joke is this?! You bastard, Ches! Are you messing with me? That's just a normal ant!"

Natsu looked genuinely furious. He shouted, and with a swift backhand, sent a blast of scorching flames burning the poor little ant to ashes.

"That was the answer it gave you, Natsu."

Seeing Natsu fall for the bait, Ches stood up slightly straighter.

He blew the charred ant remains into dust with a light breath, then looked up, meeting Natsu's enraged eyes without flinching.

"That ant was me, back then. And you? You're that Fire Dragon of unknown origin."

"A monster with such overwhelming power wouldn't even let a weakling like an ant speak much less hold a conversation."

"I don't know what kind of person this Igneel you talk about really is… but that thing I encountered short-tempered and brutal was definitely not someone who could ever live peacefully with humans."

Listening to Ches's words was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. The veins bulging on Natsu's forehead gradually faded, and his mood instantly deflated.

He really wanted to argue, to resist but his actions just now had left him with no ground to stand on.

Unless he was completely insane, it was indeed impossible to imagine himself calmly sitting down to have a conversation with an ant...

Seeing that his intended message had sunk in, Ches smiled and stood up, raising a hand to gently pat Natsu on the shoulder.

"Instead of running around like a headless fly, it's better to focus on getting stronger."

"When you can beat me, I'll tell you the exact location where that red dragon appeared."

With those words, Ches no longer paid attention to the downcast Natsu, who had lowered his head in frustration, and started walking away, intending to return to his residence in Magnolia.

Just as Makarov had noticed earlier, after the clash with Ignia and two straight days of travel, Ches was undeniably exhausted.

But before he could get far, a scorching aura surged from behind him, instantly raising the surrounding temperature by several degrees.

"Hehe, so all I have to do is beat you now, right!!!"

Natsu had already bounced back, that ever-familiar, fiery grin spreading across his face. His right fist ignited with blazing flames as his fighting spirit surged.

"Mr. Ches said all that... and the only thing you took away was the last sentence..."

Lucy sighed deeply, her palm pressed to her forehead. Natsu's single-track mind was working overtime again.

Burning alongside the flames of Dragon Slayer Magic was the invisible fire of Lucy's exasperation.

"Natsu always does things in such a cute way~"

A gentle voice chimed in beside her. Lucy turned, startled, and found Mira standing next to her, smiling serenely as if enjoying the show.

"C-cute?"

Lucy's eye twitched. That was definitely not the word she'd use.

"Yup!" Mira nodded brightly, her expression sweet and unshaken.

Glancing at Natsu, who looked ready to throw a blazing punch at any moment, Lucy asked nervously, "Are we really not going to stop him? If this turns into a real fight, won't the Guild get completely leveled?"

This wasn't like the light-hearted scuffle from when Mr. Ches first walked in this time, she could feel it. Natsu was serious.

She still hadn't recovered from the memory of what happened at Harujion Port…

"No need," Mira replied calmly, her gentle smile unwavering. "Natsu may be strong, but he's still a long way from being S-Class. Ches won't let him go too far."

Her voice was full of quiet confidence.

"Speaking of S-Class... Mira, you went up to the second floor earlier, didn't you?" Lucy blinked her big brown eyes, curiosity sparkling inside them.

If she remembered right, Master Makarov said only S-Class Mages could access that floor… so that meant the sweet and harmless-looking Mira was

"That's right," Mira nodded with a small laugh, tilting her head. "Don't be fooled by appearances. I'm also one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages."

She added playfully, "Though compared to Ches and the others, I'm not really much."

"Huh?!!!" Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin.

"But Lucy," Mira leaned in with a knowing smile, "you're still new here. It's a little early to be aiming for S-Class. You should focus on doing more missions first."

"...So I really look that ambitious to you?!"

Lucy pointed at herself, face full of confusion and embarrassment.

Boom!

A sudden explosion cut off their conversation.

They looked up just in time to see the side wall of the Guild burst apart wood splinters flying in all directions as a huge hole was blasted open.

Out on the street, amid the wreckage of broken tables and chairs, Natsu lay sprawled out like a crushed pancake, eyes spinning and soul half gone.

One hit. Just one hit from Ches, and he was totally out cold!

"So fast… he lost that fast?! And "

Lucy glanced at the ruined Guild interior and couldn't help but cry out, "Isn't this way too much?!"

Natsu really didn't get a chance to go wild but Mr. Ches? He was the real Guild-wrecker they needed to keep an eye on!!

As soon as those words slipped out of her mouth, Lucy realized something was off.

She clamped her hands over her lips, but it was already too late.

Behind her, the sound of choked sobs filled the air.

"Waaah! Ches hasn't been back in so long… I totally forgot what he was like… I'm sorry, Lucy, I should've stopped them earlier...!"

Mira had buried her face in her hands, tears spilling down between her pale fingers as her shoulders trembled with guilt.

"N-No, Mira! This isn't your fault at all!"

Lucy panicked, flailing her arms in a rush to comfort her, caught completely off guard by the sudden waterworks.