Chapter 31: The Story Begins! The Soul King!
"Ugh! Let me off!"
"I don't want to ride! Let me run!"
On the train, a pink-haired boy with a sickly face was holding a sick bag, retching constantly.
"Erza-san, Natsu looks like he's dying. Is he okay?"
Beside him, a blonde girl looked worriedly at Natsu, whose face was green as he lay on the seat.
"Ignore him. He's always like this."
Sitting nearby, Erza glanced at Natsu. Then, under Lucy's horrified gaze, she raised her arm and smashed a heavy fist onto Natsu's head.
"Erza-san! What are you doing?!"
Lucy stared in shock at the scene before her and quickly curled up in the corner.
Too scary!
"Thank… thank you…"
After Erza's punch landed on his head, Natsu's vision went dark, and he fell stiffly onto the seat, instantly asleep.
Before passing out, Natsu struggled to force out those two words.
*So scary!*
Lucy hugged her knees, screaming internally.
Although Happy and Gray had explained Natsu's weakness to her, looking at Erza now, her eyes were filled with awe and fear.
As expected of the Fairy Queen!
"Just call me Erza. We're comrades from now on."
Hearing the honorific from Lucy, Erza smiled and spoke to her warmly.
In a seat not far away, a young man watched Erza and the others fooling around, a look of disdain flashing in his gloomy eyes.
Just then, a noisy commotion reached their ears.
Erza and Gray frowned, feeling the voices sounded somewhat familiar.
Happy suddenly flapped his wings and flew straight toward the direction of the noise.
"Erza! Gray! Look who I found!"
Before long, Happy flew back, pointing excitedly at a figure not far away.
Looking where Happy pointed, they saw a familiar figure sitting there.
"Ren!"
"Ren! When did you get back?!"
Gray and Erza stood up immediately, looking at the figure with surprise and joy.
"Eh? You guys are here?"
Looking up impatiently from the arguing Prometheus and Zeus beside him, Ren looked at Erza and Gray in surprise.
"Ren, when did you return?"
Erza jogged over to Ren and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Just finished a request. I was getting ready to head back to the guild."
Ren smiled and hugged Erza back.
Watching this scene, Lucy was stunned.
"What's the relationship between Erza-san and that man?"
Lucy stared in shock, unable to believe that the Erza in front of her was the same person who had just knocked Natsu out with one punch.
"Eh? You didn't know? Erza and Ren are a couple!"
Hearing Lucy's question, Happy looked at her in shock, as if he'd heard something unbelievable.
"I just joined Fairy Tail! How would I know?!"
Lucy's face darkened, and she shouted at Happy with black lines over her head.
"Seriously. I was kind enough to tell you, and you yell at me like that."
Happy looked aggrieved, hiding behind Gray and complaining.
"That's right. That wasn't nice, Lucy."
Gray nodded, helping Happy scold Lucy.
Helpless, Lucy turned her gaze to Ren.
"Is that Mr. Ren also a member of our guild? Is he strong too?"
Seeing the shy expression on Erza's face, Lucy asked Happy and Gray excitedly.
"Ren is super strong. He's one of the candidates for our next Guild Master."
Gray crossed his arms, unaware that he had somehow stripped off his clothes again.
"Guild Master candidate?"
Lucy was astonished. She didn't even notice Gray was half-naked. She hadn't expected someone who looked about her age to be that powerful.
Erza brought Ren back to their seats.
"Yo, Gray, Happy. Long time no see."
Ren smiled and raised a hand to greet Gray.
"Ren, long time no see."
Gray smiled and waved back.
Happy flew into Ren's arms.
"Gray, put your clothes back on!"
Seeing Gray stripped down to his boxers, Ren paused for a moment before shouting at him.
"Eh?! When?!"
"Ren, what are you planning to do?"
Pushing Natsu into the corner, Gray sat next to him with a look of disgust, making room for Ren and Erza.
"I just finished a request and was heading back to the guild."
Ren hadn't taken many regular S-Class requests in recent years; most of his jobs were Ten-Year Quests.
Since he'd been away for a long time, Ren missed his days in Magnolia a bit.
Hearing Ren's words, Gray, Erza, and the others exchanged glances and fell silent.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the three people and one cat go quiet, Ren asked, puzzled.
"Ren, this train is leaving Magnolia!"
With a heavy expression, Erza looked up and stared straight into Ren's eyes.
"What? I got on the wrong train again?!"
Ren's expression froze, and he sat there dumbfounded.
"Why did you add 'again'?!"
As soon as Ren spoke, the blonde girl Lucy couldn't help but retort.
"Who is this?"
Hearing Lucy's voice, Ren turned to look at her and asked Erza.
"A new comrade who just joined our guild. Lucy!"
"And this is one of our guild's strongest candidates, Ren."
Hearing Lucy's question, Erza pointed to Lucy sitting on her left and introduced them.
"Wait! I know him!"
Suddenly, as if remembering Ren's name, Lucy's eyes sparkled like stars as she spoke excitedly to Ren.
"You know him?"
Seeing Lucy's excitement, Erza looked at her suspiciously.
"I don't know her!"
Seeing Erza's gaze, Ren quickly shook his head to deny it.
"I mean I saw Mr. Ren's name in the newspaper! Fairy Tail's Soul King, Ren!"
Lucy looked at Ren with starry eyes, like a fangirl.
Ren's face darkened, and he said with black lines on his forehead, "Don't call me by that name!"
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