Lucy held her head, her expression full of frustration. She was worried that because of her, something bad might have happened.
Erza had repeatedly warned her not to interact too much with everyone in the guild. A time paradox could cause enormous destruction, completely altering both their present and their future.
If, because of her, the future collapsed or the world changed drastically, Lucy would never forgive herself.
Now that she had managed to "escape" from the guild hall, she finally let out a long sigh of relief in her heart. Without Brother Moen's help, she had absolutely no confidence she could have escaped everyone's enthusiasm, nor any confidence she could keep herself from being exposed.
"Thankfully Brother Moen was already so willing to help others at this age."
Lucy sighed emotionally. Seeing Moen at this age made her truly excited—after all, he was the idol she had admired since she was little! Childhood admiration wasn't something one could fake.
Of course, after truly getting to know Moen later on, she felt deceived—terribly deceived!
"A powerful Celestial Spirit mage? That was totally a lie!"
Lucy gritted her teeth. As someone who had loved Celestial Spirits since she was young, learning the truth had genuinely shattered her illusions.
Because before she learned the truth, she had always believed Moen was a powerful Celestial Spirit mage!
"Forget it, finding them is more important. I can't let Natsu, Gray, and Happy cause trouble. The three of them are just too unreliable!"
Putting aside all her excitement, Lucy told herself to quickly get back to business—very important business!
Walking down the lively streets of Magnolia, Lucy looked a bit lost. She wanted to search, but she didn't know where to even begin.
As she walked, she suddenly heard a familiar voice—Erza's voice.
"This is impossible! I totally can't figure it out!"
Erza's cry of despair made Lucy's mouth twitch. It seemed returning to the future was going to be a bit difficult.
Inside an empty roadside tent, Erza was lying on the ground with her butt raised, and behind her, a white cat tail was swaying back and forth so quickly it was almost leaving afterimages!
The speed of the cat tail's movement clearly reflected its owner's anxious mood.
Holding the magic book that had caused them to travel through time, Erza had carefully studied it for a long time, until she finally let out a cry of despair—she simply couldn't understand its contents at all.
Erza suddenly thought of Levy. Even Levy at this age might be able to help decipher the magic book.
Just as Erza was completely distressed, bunny-girl Lucy arrived at the tent and instantly widened her eyes.
Because outside the tent, she saw another small armored figure— a tiny version of Erza!
"Er—! Mm!"
Lucy originally wanted to call out to warn Erza, but she immediately covered her mouth. Calling out her name now would be a disaster—this disguise could be exposed instantly!
Under Lucy's horrified gaze, young Erza walked toward adult Erza.
At this moment, Lucy felt unimaginably tense. No exaggeration—it felt like the world was about to end.
"Hey, cat lady."
"Hey, bunny lady."
As Lucy watched, young Erza spoke to adult Erza. But for some reason, Lucy thought she heard an echo and a male voice at that.
And she wasn't the only one who heard it. Both little Erza and cat-lady Erza turned their heads at the same time, looking toward Lucy's direction.
"Moen? Why did you come over?"
Seeing who had spoken, young Erza asked with confusion.
Inside the tent, cat-lady Erza immediately crawled out, the cat tail behind her swaying even more rapidly.
"Moen?"
Cat-lady Erza's eyes were full of curiosity. The moment she saw Moen, she seemed to instantly recall everything that happened during this time.
"Ah?!"
Lucy turned around in surprise and indeed saw Moen. She instantly understood that Moen must have chased after her.
"You two strange women—one cat lady, one bunny girl—is this style popular recently?"
Looking at the two mature and sexy women before him, Moen made a jab. He had already figured out that the red-haired cat-lady was clearly Erza after growing up.
"They are indeed dressed very strangely, two really weird people."
Young Erza agreed with a nod. She also found the two of them very strange, having never seen such outfits.
"…"
Moen stared at Erza—who was acting totally normal—with disbelief in his eyes.
Seriously? She can't tell? Isn't it super obvious?
Moen looked at little Erza, then at adult cat-lady Erza, and remained silent.
This disguise… truly wasn't very good.
"A-haha—yeah, you could say it's… kind of trendy, haha."
Lucy let out two awkward laughs, trying desperately to brush off the topic. It wasn't like she wanted to dress this way!
"Sorry! We'll be leaving!"
Erza leaped up from the ground—nearly a meter high. She grabbed Lucy and tried to flee immediately. She didn't dare look at Moen at all.
"Wait!"
But young Erza blocked their escape. Her expression was full of suspicion—she felt these two were definitely up to something.
"Ugh!"
Both Erza and Lucy let out a pained whimper but obediently stopped. They absolutely couldn't hurt young Erza.
"You two—have you seen a pink-haired guy with a scarf and a shirtless pervert nearby? They look like they're always fighting."
Young Erza asked. She had been searching everywhere for Gray and Natsu because the two idiots had eaten her cake—her favorite cake that she had saved for later!
"Gray and Natsu?"
Cat-lady Erza responded reflexively. She knew that description too well; the answer slipped right out.
"Uuugh!"
Lucy couldn't stop another whimper. Erza felt extremely embarrassed.
She had warned Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy countless times and before they even messed up, she herself had already made a huge mistake!
How are we supposed to fix this now?!
Erza cried internally. With Moen here, she and Lucy were practically guaranteed to be completely exposed!
"You two…"
Moen opened his mouth, a stampede of wild horses rushing through his mind.
These two made it extremely difficult for him to pretend he hadn't noticed anything!
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