After the sparring match, Lorne and Gray returned to the guild together, attracting attention and discussion from everyone.
"I never thought, Lorne," Mirajane said with a gentle smile, her surprise barely concealed, "not only has your magic form changed significantly, but your strength has also made a qualitative leap."
Lorne smiled humbly, "It's just good luck, some fortunate coincidences."
However, he was thinking about something else.
According to the plot, the next thing should be Natsu and Lucy's first team mission, right?
"Lorne, are you planning to move out of the guild dormitory recently?" Master Makarov suddenly asked.
"Yes," Lorne nodded, "Now that I'm capable of being independent, I can't keep occupying the guild's resources. Besides, I also want to find a quieter place to live."
This was not an excuse; with his increasing strength, he indeed needed a place to practice.
And to prevent unexpected situations that might arise again at any time.
"Young people wanting independence is normal," Makarov said, stroking his beard with a smile, "But if you encounter any difficulties, remember to come back to the guild for help."
"I will, Master."
Lorne had been busy with moving arrangements during this time, but unfortunately, he hadn't found anything suitable; either it was too expensive or it didn't meet his requirements.
After much thought, he decided to take on some missions to save money, and then simply find a scenic spot in the nearby mountains to build his own house.
Just as he was about to check the guild's mission board, Natsu and Happy, holding a mission request, sneaked out the main door with mischievous grins.
"Here it comes," Lorne thought to himself.
Natsu and Happy must have taken the mission to "destroy the book of sunrise." Natsu was clearly drawn to the phrase "hiring a blonde maid" in the mission description.
So he set his sights on Lucy, and now the two of them had gone to trick Lucy into joining.
These two, especially Natsu, who was usually scatterbrained and erratic, could be surprisingly clever and cunning at times.
Lorne shook his head and walked to the mission board to examine it carefully, to see if he could find a high-paying mission.
However, after looking around, all he saw were tedious missions that didn't pay much.
He wondered if he had come too late and all the good missions had been snatched up, or if the number of requests was simply low recently.
"There are so many people in the guild who barely do any missions, yet when it comes to the crunch, all the good missions are gone?"
With these troublesome missions, how was he supposed to save money?
His gaze involuntarily drifted to the second floor of the guild; indeed, the missions on the second floor were more appealing!
Any S-rank mission was worth hundreds, even tens of millions of J; if he took on two such missions, he would be set for life in minutes... He was lost in thought when he suddenly felt a sharp gaze pierce him. He turned his head to see Makarov sitting at the bar, drinking, his eyes fixed on him.
That gaze stared directly at Lorne, conveying a clear message: if you dare go upstairs now, I'll kill you.
Lorne felt a chill down his spine from that stare and quickly averted his gaze, pretending nothing had happened.
Just as Lorne was debating whether to pick a relatively high-paying mission to do first, Levy's trio walked over, with a clear target in mind, but they were disappointed.
"Huh! Was that job for one book worth 200,000 J taken by someone?" Levy searched around but couldn't find that job, so she couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"That mission was just taken by Natsu and Happy," Lorne replied from the side, "They should be going to find Lucy now."
Levy, hearing the confirmed news, said with a look of regret, "Ah! I was still hesitating!"
"Not going might be a good thing, Levy!" Makarov suddenly interjected, attracting everyone's attention.
"The client just contacted me."
"Are they canceling it?" Mirajane asked from the side.
"No, they said they're increasing the reward to 2 million J."
Everyone was astonished when they heard the reward had increased tenfold.
"What?! A single book is worth 2 million J!"
"Isn't that the same reward as a subjugation mission!"
Lorne wasn't surprised by this news, but he was very confused.
Because he knew the client was not wealthy at all and couldn't afford such a huge reward.
His confusion was how the client, who had no money, could post such a high-paying request.
And what mechanism ensured the client could pay the reward?
Only because Lorne knew the plot in advance did he have this question.
But it didn't matter; after all, Lorne hadn't taken this mission, so it wasn't his problem to worry about.
At this moment, just as Lorne was about to casually accept a mission, a familiar whooshing sound, growing from distant to near, and... a cat's meow, came from outside the window?
"Aye! Lorne! Come with me!"
"Bang!"
The wooden window was unceremoniously crashed open, and a blue, winged cat burst in like a cannonball, accurately grabbing him.
"No, Happy! Don't pull my clothes! They'll tear!" Lorne shouted, half-laughing, half-crying, "Hey, I haven't agreed yet..."
"No time to explain! Aye!" Happy flapped his wings, surprisingly strong, and dragged Lorne out of the guild.
"So!... What's Natsu up to now?!"
Lorne's protests were completely ineffective.
Happy's flying ability was developed to its extreme when it came to "recruiting," and he was practically "dragged" out of the room without his feet touching the ground, flying towards Lucy's apartment... Natsu, that guy, always acts like this whenever he gets an impulse... This time he even dragged him along.
Lorne could only sigh helplessly on the surface, giving up the struggle.
He thought resignedly, at least he wouldn't have to walk himself.
He was going to work for free this time; just thinking about it made him feel so ripped off!
By the way, even though I'm not a Dragon Slayer Mage, can I also raise an Exceed cat?
They're quite cute, and they can be used for travel, and you can pet them normally!
Soon, Happy "air-dropped" him at Lucy's apartment.
The room was a mess, clearly the result of Natsu's style of "breaking in."
"Yo, Lorne! You're here!" Natsu greeted him energetically, as if the chaos before them had nothing to do with him.
Natsu slung an arm around Lorne's shoulder and energetically announced to Lucy:
"Alright! The team is temporarily complete! Lucy, Lorne! Let's go complete a super—super simple request! Consider it a welcome team activity for the newcomer! Let's go!"
Without giving either of them a chance to object (Lucy hadn't reacted yet, Lorne knew objecting was futile), Natsu grabbed one with each hand and dragged them out the door.
Happy, meanwhile, cheered from behind:
"Aye~! Let's go!"
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