Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 484: Ways to Restore Magic

Natsu said casually, "Why not? I like Lucy too." novelbuddy-cσ๓

"Huh?" Lucy, who had been sitting calmly on the ground, suddenly jumped up as if struck by lightning. Her face flushed bright red, practically steaming.

"Y-You idiot! Why are you saying that out of nowhere?!"

She covered her face with one hand, flailing the other wildly in Natsu’s direction, but in her flustered state, she only ended up swatting at the air.

"I’m not saying anything weird," Natsu replied, completely unfazed. "I like Lucy, and I like Happy, the old man, Lisanna..."

He started rattling off a list of names, counting them on his fingers. "Anyway, besides Gray, there are a lot of people I like."

"..."

Lucy froze, realizing she had totally overreacted. Her face slowly returned to its normal color.

Rhodes, Wendy, and Lisanna all burst out laughing.

"Pfft," Happy snickered behind his paw. "Lucy, you perv. So indecent."

"That’s not true!!!" Lucy shouted, her voice ringing out through the forest. A flock of birds in the trees took off in panic.

Carla folded her arms with a sigh. "Honestly, we’re fugitives right now. Can you try not to shout like that?"

"S-Sorry..." Lucy mumbled, nearly in tears. Why was she always the one who ended up apologizing?

"I feel like Natsu’s become a lot duller," Lisanna teased, resting her cheek on her hand with a soft smile. "You used to blush like crazy when I said I wanted to be your bride back when we were little."

"I was just a dumb kid back then! You tricked me!" Natsu snapped back, clearly flustered. Then he added indignantly, "And later, I realized you’re just as bad as Mira sometimes!"

Lisanna giggled at the memory. "Oh, right. Didn’t Mira-nee beat you up once and say, ’You’re not allowed to corrupt Lisanna’?"

"That woman..." Natsu muttered before pausing, eyes widening. "Wait a sec. Back then, were you messing with me on purpose?!"

"Who knows?" Lisanna replied with a mischievous glint in her eye and a playful smile that looked a little too familiar, eerily similar to Mira’s when she was in one of her teasing moods.

Rhodes couldn’t help but wonder: were the sisters naturally alike, or had Mira unconsciously picked up Lisanna’s habits over the years out of longing?

The two childhood friends continued their lighthearted banter, swapping funny stories from their early years, sometimes praising each other, sometimes grumbling good-naturedly.

The rest of the group listened with interest, occasionally chiming in or laughing along.

As the conversation went on, the atmosphere grew warmer and more relaxed. Whatever distance Lisanna had felt as a "new addition" to the team quickly melted away.

After a while, Lucy suddenly turned to Rhodes with a puzzled expression. "By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, Mr. Rhodes, what’s up with your magic? Those wolves of yours look seriously terrifying."

"And we were just about to ask you," Natsu added, frowning slightly. "How come you can still use magic?"

"Huh?" Lucy blinked in confusion. "You... can’t?"

"Natsu-san and I, along with Happy and Carla, can’t use any magic at all," Wendy said, her expression troubled. "Rhodes-san can’t even use his Take Over magic."

"Hmmm," Lucy tapped her chin, then grinned playfully. "Maybe it’s because I’m the protagonist in an epic tale. You know, the kind who saves the princess and defeats the evil empire?"

Natsu immediately waved her off. "Not a chance."

"You’re so cold!" Lucy pouted. But then her smile faded, and she grew more serious. "Still... it’s weird, isn’t it? Why can’t we use magic here?"

Lisanna hesitated, but before she could speak, Rhodes stepped in. "I have two theories."

Everyone turned to look at him. "Really? What are they?" Lucy asked.

"It starts with the nature of magic itself," Rhodes explained. "Magic power is essentially a kind of life force, like energy, or a wave. When the energy inside your body aligns or ’resonates’ with the natural world, that’s when magic takes form."

He glanced around at their puzzled expressions. "You’ve all noticed, right? Your magic power hasn’t vanished, it’s still inside you. You just can’t use it. That means you can’t sync with the natural energy of this world."

"So we can’t resonate with the environment here..." Wendy murmured, understanding dawning in her eyes.

Lucy nodded thoughtfully. "Which means I can use magic because I somehow adapted to this world faster?"

"Exactly. That’s my first guess," Rhodes said. "Maybe your body naturally adjusted more quickly than the rest of us."

"What about you?" Natsu asked.

"Me? Maybe I’m somewhere in the middle, more adaptable than you, but not quite on Lucy’s level," Rhodes said with a shrug. He had his own suspicions, though. The pendant he carried, which had reacted to space magic before, might have buffered him against the full effect of this world’s rejection. But if it was protecting him, it was also likely being suppressed.

Lucy immediately puffed up with pride. "Hehe! In the end, I’m still the best! I’m the strongest Lucy there is!"

Natsu turned his head with a grunt. "Yeah, right. Rhodes must’ve gotten it wrong. There’s no way I’m the weakest."

"I actually think brother in law is right," Lisanna chimed in gently. She raised her hand, and with a soft glow, her arm transformed into a snow-white cat’s paw, complete with soft pink pads. "I can use my magic too."

"Wha...Even Lisanna can use magic?!" Natsu cried in disbelief.

"Ah! That’s the same kind of Take Over magic as Mr. Rhodes, Mira-san, and Elfman!" Lucy exclaimed. "Come to think of it... your whole family uses that magic, don’t you?"

Lisanna nodded with a sweet smile. "That’s right. But even though it’s the same type of magic, we each specialize in something different. Mira-nee uses Satan Soul, she takes over demon spirits. Elf-nii takes over beast forms. And I specialize in animals."

"What’s the difference between Beast Souls and Animal Souls?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Beast Souls lean more toward ferocious creatures and magical beasts," Lisanna explained. "Animal Souls are based on ordinary animals, like cats."

She then turned to Rhodes with a playful look. "So what about you, brother in law?"

"Mine’s probably best called Monster Souls," Rhodes replied with a faint smile. "Though the name sounds a bit strange. I’ve experimented with others when I was bored, tigers, cheetahs, even rabbits, but they’re hard to synchronize with. Probably too low compatibility."

"Weren’t we talking about why we can or can’t use magic?" Carla cut in, crossing her arms. "If it’s really about physical adaptation to this world, then Happy and I shouldn’t be affected. We’re originally from here, after all."

Natsu brightened immediately. "That’s right! I knew I wasn’t the worst. So? What’s your second theory?"

Rhodes nodded. "The second explanation is a bit more abstract. It’s something Master Makarov once said, magic is the power of the heart. When your heart is strong, your magic is strong. But when your heart is anxious or shaken, magic becomes unstable."

He looked around at the group. "Lucy arrived not knowing anything and was thrown into chaos, but she adapted quickly. When I got here, I thought I was under attack. Lisanna settled in fast after joining the guild, so her heart wasn’t shaken."

He paused, then looked at the others seriously. "But you three... you saw your entire city vanish. Your guild... possibly your friends... gone in an instant."

He reached out and gently ruffled Wendy’s hair. She looked up in surprise.

"Wendy’s already experienced one loss before, when Cait Shelter disappeared. And then again... Fairy Tail and the city..." Rhodes’s voice softened. "It must have felt like the world was falling apart."

Just imagining the weight she must’ve carried, so young, yet forced to face that much loss, was enough to ache in his chest.

But Wendy smiled brightly up at him, eyes full of determination despite it all.

Rhodes smiled back.

...

Natsu folded his arms and turned his head stubbornly. "Hmph." He wasn’t about to admit that maybe that explanation made sense. No way was he going to say he was scared. He’d rather believe it was the first theory.

"Happy?!" Carla’s voice cut through.

Everyone turned to look, and saw something surprising.

Happy’s wings had sprouted from his back, glowing faintly, and he gently lifted into the air, hovering above the group.

"Happy!" Natsu called out in shock. "You’re flying! How are you doing that?!"

"I’m not sure!" Happy said, casually spinning through the air, his tail flicking. "But when Rhodes said that magic comes from the heart, it kind of made sense. I mean, I’m here with all of you, Rhodes is here, Natsu is here, Lisanna’s back... it just felt like everything was okay."

He flapped his wings a little faster. "And when I stopped being scared... I could fly again."

...

Bonus @2400

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