Chapter 355: FTG Chapter 352: Night Fishing at the Pond

"No way, no way?"

"You didn’t actually believe that, did you?"

Seeing Happy turn deathly pale from being tricked by the "Water Ghost Fish" he had randomly made up on the spot, Gajeel burst into uncontrollable laughter, repeatedly pounding the table.

"Gihehehe..."

"How can someone really be stupid enough to believe such nonsense?!"

Happy felt as if he had been struck by lightning, the entire cat frozen on the spot. A thick, large, yellowish-white strand of snot hung below his left nostril, wobbling precariously.

"Fa... Fake?"

After a brief moment of absolute daze, a wave of intense fury instantly surged into his heart.

He was already sad enough that the fish he caught last night had vanished into thin air, and now Gajeel had used it to deceive him, scaring him so badly that he almost didn’t dare go back to the pond to fish...

When had he, the grand Lord Happy, the number one flying genius of the Exceed, ever suffered such humiliation?

"Gajeel, you bastard...!!"

Happy took a leap, lunging toward Gajeel with a roar.

Gajeel gave a casual wave of his hand.

Smack—

Happy fell flat onto the tabletop. He scrambled back up a few seconds later, but turned around to lunge straight into Natsu’s embrace instead: "Waaaaah... Natsu...!!"

"Aaah!! Damned Gajeel!! How dare you take advantage of Happy, I am absolutely not letting you off today!!"

Seeing his best partner being taken advantage of, Natsu found it unbearable. Baring his fangs and brandishing his claws, he lunged at Gajeel.

Gajeel wasn’t afraid in the slightest, sneering as he cracked his knuckles: "Tch, as if I’m scared of you? If you want to fight, bring it on!"

The two immediately began brawling as if no one else were around.

The commotion quickly caught the attention of everyone in the guild. They didn’t care what the reason for the two brats’ scuffle was today; anyway, clapping, cheering, and fanning the flames was the correct response!

An hour later...

Under the physical education of Descartes’ fists, Natsu and Gajeel each had a massive lump on their heads, lying side by side on the ground, panting for breath.

Happy ran over on his padded paws: "Natsu, are you okay?"

"Don’t worry, there’s no way I’d lose to a guy like Gajeel!" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

As Natsu spoke, he flipped himself up into a sitting position and reached out to pet Happy’s head: "Tonight, I’ll go with you to the academy pond. We’ll catch that fish-stealing bastard together!"

Happy was deeply moved: "Mmh!!"

...

Nightfall.

A few uninvited guests arrived at the academy pond.

It was Natsu, Happy, as well as Gray, Erzi, and Gajeel, who had tagged along to join in the fun.

"I say, what did you guys follow us for??"

Gray chuckled: "Naturally because we also want to see who that fish thief is!"

Erzi tightly clenched a fist, speaking with an abundance of loyalty: "No matter who the opponent is, since they made our Happy cry, I, Erzi, won’t let them off!!"

Gajeel’s answer was much more straightforward: "I just purely want to see you two idiots fall flat on your faces."

Natsu, Happy: [○･｀D´･○] Furious

"We are not idiots!"

"A guy who got so scared by randomly made-up nonsense that he couldn’t stand up—how is he not an idiot?"

Happy found it hard to argue back. He just glared at Gajeel huffily, then snapped his head away: "Just you wait, I am definitely going to drag that fish thief out tonight and teach them a harsh lesson!"

Natsu patted Happy’s head and said confidently: "No need to be sad, Happy, I’ll be right beside you to help tonight! No matter if that fellow is a human or a ghost, as long as they dare to show up here, they absolutely won’t escape my nose!"

A Dragon Slayer’s nose was even more sensitive than that of the Exceed, so Natsu had plenty of confidence in tonight’s operation.

Soon, the few of them sat down in a row by the pond.

In order to lure that damned fish thief out, Natsu had specially brought fishing gear tonight, sitting by the pond with Happy—one human and one cat—patiently angling.

Gray, Gajeel, and Erzi had no desire to fish. They had only come tonight to watch the fun, so they spread a blanket on the grass behind them, sitting down to play a strategic card game that Erzi had brought from home.

"What kind of card game is this? How come I’ve never seen it before?"

Gajeel examined the cards in his hand with great curiosity, discovering that it was a strategic game based on controlling guild companions, equipping items, and using magic to battle. He had never played anything like it before and couldn’t help but find it highly amusing.

Gray actually knew a bit about it. After a couple of glances, he said: "This... I think I heard my old man and old lady mention it. It’s a game card that used to be popular in the guild a very long time ago, it’s just that nobody plays it anymore."

Erzi nodded and said: "These are game cards collected in my house. Don’t look at how well-kept they are; in reality, they might be older than my grandfather!"

"Your grandfather?"

Gajeel wasn’t sure who Erzi’s grandfather was, having never heard of him in the guild either, but he knew the man was guild master Descartes’ father, so he had to be at least sixty or older.

"Something from so long ago, and your family still kept it so well-preserved?"

"Mmh... the material does feel very special to the touch. Could it be a mystical item like a Celestial Spirit key?"

Gajeel knew that the Celestial Spirit keys in Erzi’s hands had been passed down from her ancestors’ generation. Since the deck of cards before them also had a long history, maybe it was some sort of powerful item too.

However, Erzi’s next words directly shot down his theory.

"No, they’re just cards used for gaming, it’s just that the production materials are a bit special, they aren’t any kind of mystical item."

"The reason they’ve been preserved all this time is because they were passed down from my grandfather’s grandfather."

Grandfather’s grandfather??

That was simply too long ago!

Gajeel was secretly amazed but didn’t say much else, simply starting to read the game rules and playing with the two of them.

Time passed minute by minute, and in the blink of an eye, it was two o’clock in the morning.

Erzi, Gray, and Gajeel had already battled for over a hundred rounds, completely immersed in the card game and unable to extricate themselves.

By the pond, Natsu and Happy’s upper and lower eyelids were also fighting due to sitting still for too long.

Perhaps because Happy had caught too many fish yesterday, the fish in the pond had wised up, resulting in a poor harvest today. The human and cat had sat still for so long, yet they had only caught three fish.

Right at that moment, a chilly wind and a thick fog suddenly whipped up by the pond.

The chilly wind caused ripples to roll across the pond, and the thick fog blocked out the bright moon and numerous stars, making it impossible to see anything beyond ten meters.

"There’s a movement!"

Natsu suddenly cried out as if he had sensed something.

The people nearby were startled, stopping their actions one after another to look around.

Gajeel craned his neck, thrusting his nose—which was studded with iron iron bolts—into the wind to sniff intensely, but he smelled absolutely nothing.

"Idiot flame-brain, what are you doing..."

Just as he was about to bark an insult at Natsu, his voice got stuck in his throat the next second.

Because within the thick fog, a figure that looked neither human nor ghost was slowly approaching.