Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, draping the quiet forest in a hazy silver veil.
A refreshing floral scent drifted faintly in the night air, adding a touch of mystery.
On a hill on the north side of Karna Island, a figure sitting cross-legged on the ground opened his eyes as a silver-white flower bloomed silently before him.
The flower displayed a soft moon-white color, its petals layered one upon another, with faint fluorescence emitting from the edges, giving it a holy and ethereal beauty.
"So this is the moonlight flower."
Recalling the knowledge Granny Polyushka taught him about harvesting magical herbs, the difficulty of picking a moonlight flower was that it 'blooms when meeting moonlight, dies when leaving the soil,' so the picking action must be swift.
Hope carefully dug out the moonlight flower along with the soil beneath it. The moment it was unearthed, he quickly placed it into the special container Porlyusica had prepared for him.
Looking at the small glass bottle engraved with freshness-preservation and isolation runes, Hope breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the moonlight flower showed no signs of wilting.
He didn't know if he was just talented, or if harvesting magical herbs wasn't as difficult as he had imagined.
With the task complete, Hope had intended to go to the village to stay for the night, but looking at the full moon in the Sky, he suddenly froze; the silver-white moon had somehow turned purple.
In an instant, Hope associated this with the curse the villagers mentioned.
But if the purple moon was the problem, he, who was also being illuminated by the purple moonlight, hadn't undergone any changes.
Was it a lack of time? Or perhaps other factors?
Hope shook his head slightly; thinking more was not as good as taking action. It seemed that only by carefully examining the villagers' bodies could he possibly find clues about the curse.
Thinking of this, he immediately activated 'Gods Foot' and rushed toward the village on the south side of the island.
Just at an intersection near the village, a figure suddenly flashed out from a corner. Moving at high speed, Hope couldn't stop in time and collided solidly with the other person.
Seeing stars, Hope lay on the ground, feeling a splitting headache, as if he had crashed head-on into a hard iron plate.
Supporting himself against a tree, he stood up unsteadily, shook his head, and looked at the person he had bumped into. This look made him gasp in cold air.
Across the intersection, a red-haired girl in knight's armor stood up using her sword for support, but the part of her breastplate that should have protruded was now actually dented inward.
Is my head actually that hard?!
Hope gave himself a slap; now was not the time to be proud of his hard head. If that lady across from him flew into a rage, she might just cut him down.
"Um... Erza, are you okay?"
Her chest was almost crushed; how could she be okay? Erza was in so much pain she felt like drawing her sword to slash Hope, but their 'car accident' was clearly an accident.
Her hand on the sword hilt tightened and then loosened, then tightened and loosened again. Erza was a reasonable person after all. She caught her breath and said, "Hope, why are you here? Did Natsu drag you along?"
"Natsu? He's on Karna Island too?"
Hope looked bewildered and quickly explained, "I was asked by Granny Polyushka to come here and pick a magical herb."
Seeing Hope's expression, Erza understood that this guy knew nothing, so she could only explain the reason for her own arrival.
It turned out that Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had stolen an S-class request. Makarov sent Gray to chase them, but there had been no news for a long time. Speculating that Gray had also joined them, he sent Erza to the S-class request location—Karna Island—to apprehend them.
After learning the ins and outs, Hope's expression became complicated.
No wonder he felt something was off during his previous conversation with the village chief; as it turned out, upon hearing his identity as a Fairy Tail Mage, the chief thought he was the one who had accepted the request.
And Hope had thought that Porlyusica had spoken to the village chief beforehand, which was why the other party was so easy to talk to.
What a misunderstanding... Erza changed out of the dented armor—otherwise, it would hurt her chest—and then, without another word, she held her sword against Hope's neck.
Knowing that Hope had come to pick herbs and that the herbs were already in hand, she immediately dragged Hope into the operation to capture Natsu and the others.
To this, Hope dared not say anything except to nod in agreement.
After all, Erza already had her sword at his neck; it would be too impolite not to agree... Arriving at the village again, Hope led Erza to the village chief's house with practiced ease. If Natsu and the others were on the island, they would definitely come to find the requester, the village chief, first.
Sure enough, when Hope pushed open the door, he saw three people and a cat feasting around the dining table.
"Eh, it's Hope!"
Lucy looked at the sudden arrival of Hope in surprise, then reacted, "So it turns out the Fairy Tail Mage the village chief mentioned was you."
Beside her, Natsu had a drumstick in one hand and bread in the other. With his mouth stuffed full, he said indistinctly, "Hope, have you eaten? The food here is super delicious."
"Aye! That's right!" Happy nodded repeatedly while holding a salted fish.
Gray also nodded to Hope in greeting.
Facing the enthusiastic greetings, Hope only sighed in his heart and silently stepped aside, revealing Erza hidden in the shadows behind him.
When that red figure came into view, the laughter and chatter at the dining table came to an abrupt halt. Natsu and the others opened their mouths wide, frozen in place as if they had been instantly petrified.
Erza drew her long sword, her gauntlet rubbing against the blade to create sparks, her voice extremely cold: "I am very angry right now. Are you ready to die?"
The three people and one cat, who had just been scared colorless, were snapped back to their senses by Erza's words and collectively turned their tearful eyes toward Hope.
To them, the smile on Hope's face at this moment was as warm as the sun, as if as long as he spoke up to plead for them, your majesty the queen would let them off for his sake.
You want me to persuade Erza?
What's the difference between asking a low-level lackey to deal with the Monkey King?
Hope, reading their eyes, was speechless. He then politely escorted the awakened village chief out and, under the desperate gazes of Natsu and the others, thoughtfully closed the door for Erza.
Bang! Pow! Thud!
Hearing the sounds of fists hitting flesh inside the house, the confused village chief instantly woke up and asked Hope beside him in a trembling voice, "Are the Mages of your guild... always like this?"
"No."
"Erza is only like this with them, probably..."
Saying things he didn't truly mean, Hope looked up at the purple moon in the Sky and observed three seconds of silence for Natsu and the others.
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