Inside the Phantom Lord guild hall, the atmosphere was heavy.
"This is really troublesome. News outside is spreading like wildfire, yet we don't even know the detailed inside story. Who can be confident that we will definitely win?"
A man dressed in red, with a samurai sword hanging at his waist, black-and-white hair tied into a small samurai topknot, Totomaru frowned as he spoke.
"Totomaru of the great flame, you're that lacking in confidence? That guy must have used some kind of trick. Do you really believe a twelve- or thirteen-year-old kid could defeat the guild master?"
A man wearing a brown formal suit, a monocle, with green hair sticking straight up and a rather sleazy appearance looked at Totomaru, whose nickname was "Totomaru of the great flame."
He was actually quite envious of Totomaru—only twenty-three or twenty-four years old, yet he had already earned his own nickname.
"Sol, this isn't about confidence or lack of it. It's just that if we lose again, it'll make our guild look even more disgraceful and further damage our reputation. Valuable requests might become fewer and fewer."
Totomaru shook his head and patiently explained to Sol.
This red-clad samurai spoke clearly and logically, pointing straight at the crux of the issue.
The reason they were getting anxious now was because the guild's requests had already been affected.
The doubt in the eyes of those who came to post requests deeply stabbed at everyone in Phantom Lord.
As the saying goes, blocking someone's source of income is like killing their parents.
If it were only the guild master being humiliated, they wouldn't be this anxious—they would at least wait until the guild master came out of seclusion.
But once their own interests were harmed, they truly couldn't sit still anymore.
They had to find a solution as soon as possible.
"Isn't Aria not enough?"
Sol, who dressed neatly but still gave off a sleazy impression at a glance, spoke up as he looked toward the burly man beside him.
This big man wore a green robe, with a green top hat on his head, making him look extremely "eco-friendly."
A white bandage was tied over his eyes, already soaked with tears.
"How sorrowful… Guild Master Jose has actually suffered such a thing…"
Tears continuously streamed down Aria's face, his expression one of utter grief.
But no one around paid him any attention, because this was just how he was—no matter how trivial the matter, he could burst into tears.
Everyone had long since become desensitized to it.
However, despite his seemingly pathetic appearance, he was the strongest person in Phantom Lord besides Guild Master Jose.
And in reality, he was an extremely cold-blooded and ruthless man. Perhaps all of his abundant emotions were vented during ordinary times.
"If it's Aria…"
Looking at the green-clad, green-hatted strong man Aria, Totomaru pondered for a moment.
Logically speaking, Aria really could go and give it a try.
Totomaru had to admit that as the head of their "Three Elements," Aria's strength might be greater than that of Sol and himself combined.
"Let's go take a look."
The crying Aria suddenly stopped sobbing and spoke, causing Totomaru and Sol to both be startled.
He made the decision that quickly.
"We have to go see it for ourselves, one way or another."
Aria let out a soft sigh.
He still needed to continue surviving within Phantom Lord, and Phantom Lord still needed to continue surviving within the Kingdom of Fiore.
Allowing the rumors to continue fermenting would cause them enormous harm.
No matter what, they had to try to reclaim their dignity.
"Then let's go together!"
Totomaru stood up, his hand resting on the sword hilt.
He was actually quite interested in that so-called "Rose Star Boy."
"I'm going too."
After the "Three Elements" made their decision, a slightly immature voice rang out.
Totomaru and Sol both turned to look at the child who spoke—there was no need to guess; they already knew who it was.
"Gajeel, what are you stirring up trouble for?"
Sol complained.
Although Gajeel was visibly gifted and would definitely become a strong fighter in the future, the current Gajeel was still a bit too weak.
"Why can't I?! Isn't that guy about the same age as me?! I should be the one to go and defeat him directly!"
Gajeel shouted loudly, his face full of dissatisfaction.
He had sharp, spiky black hair that stuck up, five piercings on his left ear, three on each eyebrow, and one on his nose, making him look like a dark-style delinquent.
"This guy Gajeel… he's becoming more and more rude, without a shred of gentlemanly manners."
Looking at the indignant Gajeel shouting at him, Sol shook his head, wearing an expression of helplessness.
There really was nothing that could be done.
Guild Master Jose had been far too indulgent toward Gajeel, this future pillar.
When Gajeel first joined the guild, he wasn't like this at all.
In less than two years, this child had already become increasingly crude and violent.
If he continued growing like this, it was hard to imagine what he would become in the future.
"Gajeel, don't mess around. This isn't something you can treat as a joke."
Totomaru also spoke up.
Even the three of them had little confidence in this matter, so naturally they couldn't take Gajeel along.
"Then I'll go by myself!"
Gajeel gritted his teeth.
If they wouldn't take him, couldn't he just go on his own?
"Gajeel!"
Totomaru was extremely dissatisfied with Gajeel's willful behavior and shouted angrily.
But Gajeel had no intention of paying him any attention at all. The delinquent turned around and walked away, fully embodying the idea of doing whatever he pleased.
"That bastard!"
Totomaru was furious and was just about to grab Gajeel.
"Let him go."
However, Aria reached out and stopped him. Aria's face was full of tears, yet his tone was calm. He had not intended to stop Gajeel from the beginning.
"This child is deeply favored by the Guild Master. With the Guild Master having been humiliated, it's only natural that he should go seek revenge for him. Gajeel is a good child."
Aria spoke while crying.
Although his words sounded dignified and proper, Totoomaru didn't believe a single word of it.
The red-clad swordsman looked at Aria, who wore an expression of sorrow for all living beings, with a complicated gaze. He thought to himself that this guy really was cold and ruthless—this was clearly a deliberate move to send Gajeel ahead as their scout!
"That's not necessarily a bad thing either, heh heh heh."
Sol also reacted at this moment. With a lecherous grin, he turned to support Aria's idea. Let that Gajeel fellow go scout ahead.
"."
Totoomaru simply shut his mouth and said nothing more. There was no point in continuing—out of the three of them, two were in favor, especially with Aria supporting it. Anything he said now would just be a waste of breath.
"Let's move. Follow him."
Aria spoke and then directly followed after Gajeel, who had run out. Sol immediately followed as well, looking somewhat like a lackey.
Totoomaru glanced around at the other guild members, most of whom were wearing purple hats with two pointed horns.
Everyone's expressions were extremely excited. These past few days, they had clearly been holding back a lot of anger, and the mobilization of these few people greatly boosted morale.
"But what if we lose again…"
This possibility surfaced in Totoomaru's mind, making his body tremble. The consequences would simply be unimaginable.
Totoomaru's worries were obviously of no concern to Gajeel at all. Right now, he only wanted to find the guy who had caused their guild to lose face so badly and take revenge. Clearly just about the same age as him, yet already being praised as unparalleled in heaven and earth!
Gajeel was extremely unconvinced. He felt that his own strength was also very strong—at least when facing kids of similar age, he had always possessed overwhelming superiority. There was no reason he should be weaker than that Morn!
This way of thinking wasn't strange at all. Most genius youths are like this. Previously, Bacchus and Karen also thought the same way at first—after taking a brutal beating, they became well-behaved.
Before receiving that beating, expecting these young geniuses who had always been the center of attention to realize that they were actually just "one of the stars," rather than the "moon" being admired, was indeed quite difficult. After all, they were not yet mature.
What's more, the absurd nature of Moen's incident made even mentally mature mages hold a skeptical, half-believing attitude.
So it was perfectly normal for Gajeel not to believe it, to want to defeat Moen to prove himself, and to prove that Phantom Lord was not as unbearable as rumored.
Carrying burning flames of revenge and an intense desire to wash away humiliation, Gajeel boarded the train from Oak Town to Magnolia. Oak Town is located in the northeastern part of the Kingdom of Fiore, and it is still quite a distance from Magnolia.
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