"Hey! Hah!"
Freshly discharged from the hospital, Lisanna couldn't help herself. She waved her arms excitedly in the street, trying to activate her magic.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
Mira reached out and gently stroked her sister's head.
"Don't try using magic randomly out here. What if someone gets hurt?"
"But Brother-in-law is right here," Lisanna said confidently. She believed Rhodes could stop anything before it became dangerous. Still, she frowned.
"Why can't I use Dragon Slayer Magic yet?"
Rhodes looked at his foolish sister-in-law and asked calmly,
"Have you ever actually learned Dragon Slayer Magic?"
"..."
"N–no," Lisanna admitted, suddenly feeling a little guilty.
Then she protested,
"But Elfman didn't learn it either!"
"Lisanna," Mira said seriously, "not just Dragon Slayer Magic, have you forgotten the nature of Take Over Magic?"
"Take Over, oh."
Lisanna immediately understood.
The essence of Take Over Magic was understanding. The deeper one's understanding of the target, the more completely its power could be wielded.
Elfman had been training precisely this aspect recently. Even getting beaten up counted as a form of "understanding."
That was why he didn't need to learn Dragon Slayer Magic, he simply had to gradually master the power of the Rock Dragon.
Lisanna, on the other hand, would need either a proper instructor…
or to imitate, analyze, and develop it herself.
Porlyusica added coldly, "Although the wound has healed, there's still an extra magic crystal inside your body. It's like a new organ. You'll need time to adapt. For the next few days, focus on theory. Don't act recklessly."
"Yes..." Lisanna nodded obediently.
Rhodes suddenly pulled out a small notebook with exaggerated seriousness.
"Next research topic: does implanting a Dragon Slayer Magic Crystal affect a mage's intelligence?"
Lisanna glared at him.
"Brother-in-law!"
Mira clasped her hands and looked at Lisanna with pity.
"Oh dear, is my little sister going to become stupid too? How tragic."
Lisanna stomped her foot.
"Mira-nee!"
Elfman asked weakly,
"Sister, what does 'too' mean?"
Mira blinked innocently.
"Oh? What does it mean?"
"Hahaha!" Rhodes burst out laughing.
It was another day of perfect family harmony.
Porlyusica left on her own, refusing Rhodes' offer to arrange transportation for her.
The family of four naturally headed toward the guild. Even though they'd agreed to rest today, there wasn't anywhere else they particularly wanted to go.
The guild looked much the same as it had the past few days, only a handful of people were around.
Elfman glanced around as soon as he entered. Seeing that the Thunder God Tribe still hadn't returned, he went off to find Nabu.
Nab reluctantly agreed to drink with him.
Even during the guild's busiest periods, Nab always stayed at his post.
He rarely took quests himself, but simply looking at the bulletin board covered in requests made him happy.
Lisanna noticed that none of the Dragon Slayers were present and temporarily joined the serving team instead.
She seemed to genuinely enjoy this kind of work.
Rhodes noticed that Laki was busy, but had no intention of taking over for her. Instead, he asked,
"Where's that drunkard?"
"Bacchus?" Laki replied. "He said Cana's been gone a while this time. Got bored waiting, so he left."
Seeing Rhodes and Mira approach, Laki immediately abandoned her post without a second thought.
Rhodes frowned.
"You're far too willful. Learn from Kinana, she works tirelessly without complaint."
Laki waved it off.
"I was just covering for you anyway, and..."
Kinana hesitated, then added shyly,
"Actually, I don't really like this kind of work either."
Before Rhodes could respond, Laki suddenly said,
"Oh, right, there's a letter for you. Over there. It's from the Royal Capital."
Rhodes took the envelope, skipped past the greetings and polite thanks, and went straight to the main content.
Mira leaned over curiously.
"Is it something important?"
"Yes," Rhodes said. "It's the interrogation report regarding Dragons Treasure."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"According to their confession, the reason they targeted Lucy was to prevent the Eclipse Gate from closing. Their ultimate goal was..."
Rhodes rubbed his temples, sounding helpless.
"A mysterious individual informed them that a Dragon Group would emerge from the Eclipse Gate."
"If they could defeat those dragons using their weapons, Dragon's Treasure and their other magic tools would become famous overnight. They'd be hailed as heroes of the Kingdom of Fiore."
"After the battle, they planned to harvest dragon materials to forge even stronger magic items, gaining greater fame, higher status, and massive profits."
Mira frowned, clearly struggling to accept it.
"Just for that? Then what about attacking innocent mages and shelling the Royal Palace?"
"They planned to claim they were targeting giant dragons," Rhodes replied.
"The first shot just… wasn't calibrated properly and went off target."
The letter also included the proposed punishment.
The Guild Master and the true mastermind behind Dragon's Treasure were provisionally slated for secret execution.
Those who had known the plan in advance and actively carried it out would likely face life imprisonment.
Those who merely followed orders without full knowledge would receive lighter sentences.
The final verdicts still required careful review.
Additionally, the letter mentioned that the Magic Council had conducted a detailed inquiry into Atlas Flame, and appeared to be preparing a search for his whereabouts.
Rhodes had no objections. He simply wrote a brief reply and sent it off.
With that, the Eclipse Gate incident was, for all intents and purposes, concluded.
After handling a few more guild matters, Rhodes took out the two magic crystals left behind by Future Rogue, one black, one white, and began studying them carefully.
"We're back."
Happy drifted in from outside, covering his ears with both paws, his expression utterly drained.
Lisanna walked over and scooped him up.
"Welcome back. Was the mission that troublesome?"
"No," Happy replied dully. "Just a bit over twenty mountain bandits. We finished them off on the first day."
Lisanna tilted her head, inspecting him more closely.
"Then why do you look so exhausted? Where are Natsu and Gray?"
"Those two…"
The word tired might as well have been written on Happy's face.
"From yesterday noon until now, they've been arguing nonstop about who defeated more enemies and who caused less property damage."
"You really worked hard," Lisanna said sympathetically, already imagining the scene. She gently stroked Happy's head.
Looking toward the entrance, she immediately spotted Natsu and Gray approaching.
They were walking forehead to forehead, hands clasped, bodies angled sideways, shouting as they advanced.
"I took out thirteen! You only got twelve!"
"I clearly took out thirteen! Can't you even count, you fire idiot?!"
"I burned the last guy!"
"I froze him!"
Despite their volume, both voices sounded hoarse.
Elfman muttered,
"Who in the world thought it was a good idea to pair those two up?"
Nab took a sip of his drink.
"At least it was a subjugation mission. Even if they fight each other, they still defeat enemies along the way."
Lisanna smiled.
"I feel like Nab is speaking nothing but truth."
Happy didn't even try to argue.
"I want to eat fish."
"Go ahead," Lisanna said cheerfully. "It's my treat today."
She then turned toward the arguing duo, eyes sparkling.
"Natsu, teach me Dragon Slayer Magic!"
"Huh?!"
...
Check out my new Translation: HP: A Different Regulus. It's a really good read.