After throwing up all over the deck, Natsu finally managed to catch his breath. Just as he was about to go hunt down the guy pretending to be him, the sound of a door opening cut through the air.
"You guys are—"
Natsu began to speak, but froze the moment he saw who walked in.
"It's Su Mo!"
Happy, the little flying cat mascot, immediately lit up and zipped over excitedly, circling around Su Mo midair.
"It's been days! What are you doing here?" Happy asked curiously.
"Wait, don't tell me… the Fairy Tail member people were talking about—was that you?"
They had assumed someone was misusing Fairy Tail's name to cause trouble. But now… had they misunderstood everything?
Natsu looked over as well, frowning in confusion.
"Of course not," Su Mo replied, shaking his head.
"There was someone using the guild's name to traffic people here, but I've already taken care of him."
"That bastard!" Natsu and Happy were instantly furious upon hearing that their suspicion had been right all along.
But after the rage passed, Happy gave Su Mo a pitiful look.
"Yeah, he deserved it for sure. But to think he ended up in Su Mo's hands... that guy's probably in real trouble now."
"Mhm!" Natsu nodded seriously.
"Su Mo must've wrecked him completely!"
"..."
Su Mo sighed, clearly speechless.
"Why do I feel like you two have the wrong impression of me? Do I really seem like the violent type?"
"You're not?" Natsu asked, scratching his head innocently.
"…What was that?" Su Mo's eyes sharpened, a smile spreading slowly across his face—but there was nothing gentle about it.
"..."
"..." Natsu and Happy exchanged a glance. Their bodies stiffened, and then, in perfect sync, they both shook their heads.
"No way! Su Mo is super kind and gentle!"
"Yeah! That's exactly what I was thinking too!"
The two of them put on their most sincere faces, but Lucy couldn't help blurting out from the side, "That was so fake."
By now, she had already recovered her Celestial Spirit keys.
"Who's that?" Happy asked, looking curiously at Lucy.
"She's a new companion—a Celestial Spirit Mage," Su Mo introduced her.
"Oh! The nice lady who treated us to a meal!" Natsu immediately remembered.
"Uh…"
—Wait, those two freeloaders are actually mages from Fairy Tail?
Lucy was stunned.
After everyone got acquainted, the ship finally arrived at Hargeon Port. But the scene waiting at the dock wasn't a warm welcome.
A dense line of soldiers had completely surrounded the port.
"They're from the Magic Council—and there's so many of them!" Happy's expression turned anxious.
But upon seeing Su Mo beside him, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness Su Mo's here. In Natsu's current condition, there's no way we'd be able to escape otherwise."
Lucy was surprised. "Aren't the Magic Council supposed to be the ones who uphold order? Why would we need to run from them?"
She still didn't fully understand how things worked with the Magic Council.
"It's… complicated," Happy mumbled, unsure how to explain.
"They've always had it out for us, constantly nitpicking and looking for trouble—even if we didn't cause any damage this time."
"Knowing those guys, they'll still find a reason to make things hard for us!" he added bitterly.
Now that the ship had stopped moving, the seasick Natsu finally managed to pull himself together.
"Stuff like this? I'm used to it. I'm just surprised at how fast they got here this time."
Normally, the Council only showed up after he had wrapped things up and made his escape.
This kind of swift response was a first.
"Yeah, this time was fast," Happy echoed in agreement.
Just then, Su Mo's voice cut in.
"I'm the one who called them. Of course they got here fast."
That single sentence dropped like a bomb.
"You called the Magic Council?!" Happy and Natsu were completely dumbfounded.
"Why? Aren't you worried they'll come after you too?" Happy asked.
After all, whenever Natsu or Gray took on missions, they always did their best to avoid the Council altogether.
This was the first time they'd seen anyone voluntarily invite the Magic Council over.
Su Mo just scoffed at their reaction.
"Worried they'll come after me?"
He shook his head.
"They should be worried that I'm coming after them."
"A washed-up third-rate mage, expelled from 'Titan Nose' Guild, had the audacity to traffic humans right under their noses—and yet the Magic Council didn't know a thing?"
"They didn't even bother conducting a basic investigation into something this serious. It's a disgrace."
"They're not just incompetent—they're useless."
"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if someone high up in the Council was deliberately covering for the traffickers."
"If the Council has the nerve to show up here and cause trouble after all that, then honestly—who even needs a Magic Council like that?"