A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

The diminutive figure retracted its wings, put its hands in its pockets, and said, "Since you chose to bet that way, you should have expected such consequences. I did advise you to bet on Natsu!"

The cold words were chilling. The group exchanged glances, thinking to themselves: Who would have thought that Natsu, with his strength, could actually make it into the top four?

A middle-aged man smoking a cigarette squinted and slammed his fist on the table: "Damn it! Who would have thought that Erza, who had such a high chance of winning, would stop at the round of 16? I'm so angry!"

"Heh heh..." A voice that didn't sound like a good person rang out, "That just proves she's only that kind of person!"

His voice was muffled and unclear; everyone knew he was eating iron. Although it wasn't the first time they'd seen this, the thought of someone eating iron as if it were a delicacy made them want to vomit.

“You can’t say that…” the orange-haired man said, touching the ring on his hand. “Erza was just unlucky.”

The shirtless pervert was also annoyed: "That's right, you didn't even pass the preliminary round yourself."

"You bastard, wanna fight?"

"I'm ready anytime!"

On the other side, the old man smoking a cigarette said, "But isn't it too hasty to close the game like this? Look, Laxus didn't even pass the preliminary rounds. This ranking isn't very convincing!"

"Exactly! My darlings are very unhappy about this..."

"Dissatisfied? Among you all, who dares to disrespect me?" The red-haired man stood up, his sword half-drawn, and said, "Want to test the sharpness of my sword?"

"Hmph!" The green-haired dark knight opposite him drew his rapier. "You tested me with your sword, and my sword has not been any less effective!"

At the same time, a man and a woman raised their guns and shouted: "What era are we living in? Talking about guns! Guns! Don't you understand?"

Just as they were about to start fighting, an elderly voice stopped them both: "Enough! Stop it! Don't you know where you are?"

The sound startled everyone, who asked tremblingly, "You...why are you here?"

The old man said, "Heh... Do you think there's anything in this guild that I don't know?"

The group fell silent; this was someone they couldn't afford to offend!

"So, you were also involved in this betting game?"

"Participate?" The old man opened one eye and glanced sideways at the speaker. "You're far too naive!"

A thought popped into their minds: Could it be...?

“That’s right!” said the red-haired man in the lead. “There are more than just the three of us running the betting in this game; he’s one of them too.”

Unexpected, yet perfectly logical! Because apart from the woman drinking, everyone else was a judge for the competition! It's a rigged affair! This betting game is definitely rigged!

The group of people present all thought in unison, "They definitely rigged the rankings for this competition! To make a fortune from the betting, they deliberately paired up unsuitable opponents... How despicable! The more I think about it, the more likely it seems!"

Those who thought of this exchanged silent glances, but dared not speak out, for if they did, their future might be fraught with difficulty.

This betting is based on each person's final ranking. Each person has seven possibilities: champion, runner-up, semi-finalist, quarter-finalist, top 16, top 30 in the preliminary round, or failed the preliminary round. You can only bet on the same person once, and you can't bet on more than the corresponding number of people for the same position. For example, if you bet on Kira to be the champion, you can't bet on Kira to be the runner-up, nor can you bet on Laxus to be the champion.

Undoubtedly, most of the top two picks were Kira and Laxus, the top four picked two of Mystogan, Erza, and Mira, and the top eight had more options such as Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Juvia, Elfman, Cana, Loki, and Freed. There were even some who beat Lucy.

Even if the odds are low, it's better than nothing; every little bit of money is a gain.

But now, with Laxus, Gajeel, and Juvia eliminated in the preliminary rounds, Erza stopped in the quarterfinals, Natsu advanced to the semifinals, and Kira and Mira compete for the championship, it can be said that the mastermind behind the odds made a killing.

Before the group could say anything more, a fat man, as round as a ball, rushed over and shouted, "Oh no! That person is coming!"

"What? Oh no!"

Everyone started frantically packing their things, but visibility was poor in the dark, and the more they rushed, the slower they became. Some people even got tied up with tables and chairs or bumped into people they couldn't see, and a noisy scene ensued.

Outside the Fairy Tail guild, Kira, who couldn't sleep at night and went out for a walk, heard the noise inside and wondered to himself, "Strange, why is the tavern so dark at this hour?"

Although it's late at night, Fairy Tail Tavern is always open 24/7 with staff working in shifts, so it shouldn't be dark and gloomy.

Just then, a familiar voice came from the roadside: "Drink...keep drinking..."

Kira looked over at the sound and saw a drunken Kana lying on the street, clutching a barrel half her height, slumped against it listlessly.

What's Kana doing here at this time? And why is she so drunk?

Kira was about to go over and check on the situation when he heard Cana's voice as she woke up: "Hmm... How embarrassing, to be passed out here drunk... Wait, isn't that Kira?"

Kira jolted awake, immediately stopping in his tracks and slowly retreating: "Something's wrong! Something's very wrong!"

He's a sensitive person. Encountering a drunk woman late at night, and being seen by her, he knew he had to leave. Who knew what might happen next? What if he got scammed? He'd better go to the guild to check things out first!

Cana seemed to sense Kira's thoughts, immediately stood up, and the drunken look on her face vanished. She strode over, making a move to throw the barrel of liquor in her hand, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it, and just shouted, "You bastard, stop right there! Don't you dare go over there!"

This guy was definitely faking it!

Kira dashed into the guild and smashed open the tavern door.

Bang!

Under the moonlight, the dark tavern was quiet, with only a chandelier swaying in the air, below which were overturned tables and chairs, a few pieces of iron filings, a few wisps of cigarette ash, and a few drops of liquor.

Kira touched the still-warm chandelier and looked towards the second floor...

Cana caught up and blocked Kira's view: "Why are you running?"

“I think you’re acting really strange tonight!” Kira said bluntly. “Just now here…”

Kana's heart skipped a beat: "Something's not right here! What just happened here?"

"Nothing's wrong, why are you so nervous?"

Am I...am I nervous?

Kira nodded: "You were a little nervous just now."

"Hahaha..." Kana gave an awkward dry laugh, then turned around and continued drinking.

She didn't smell of alcohol at all enough to make her pass out on the street. This girl is definitely hiding something from me! No, it's not just her, there were others too! There were clearly other people here just now!

Chapter 182 Ghost Hunting

Kira walked around the crime scene, his mind set on something, and he started thinking: the chandelier was still warm, which meant that people had been there for some time; although the chairs were overturned, their placement suggested that they were around the table, indicating that there were many people there.

The iron filings were from Gajeel's eating; he's one of the people here. The wine stains are still wet, and Cana's acting strangely, so she's one too. The cigarette ash is fresh; Wakaba and Macao were also involved. The clothes on the ground… Gray was there too. Hmm? This is… cat hair? There's only one cat in the guild…

These people are having a secret meeting here, trying to hide it from me. There must be something fishy going on!

"A ghost-hunting game..." Kira thought to himself that he wouldn't be bored tonight.

In a corner on the second floor, a dozen figures huddled together stealthily, not daring to breathe.

Philid inscribed a spell: Sounds emitted here cannot be heard!

"Alright, everyone can speak now..."

Wakaba said, "Phew! Let's hurry up and leave while Kana is holding Kira back. If he finds out we're running a gambling den without telling him, we're definitely going to get a beating..."

"What are you afraid of!" Dispel shouted. "Who isn't Kira? My sword is sharp enough! Besides, we have the great Chairman backing us up! Where...where is the Chairman?"

Biguslo chuckled, "They ran away a long time ago. Oh, and Happy and Rocky ran away too."

Dispel: "..."

Otherworldly creatures are so amazing? They have wings, they're from the Celestial Spirit Gate, and they run so fast!

"Those bastards who abandoned their teammates! We'll settle the score with them tomorrow!"

"Since the president has already left, why don't we leave too?"

Dispel shook his head and said, "Why leave? Isn't this fun? Let's play ghost hunting!"

It has to be said that the existence of sympathetic counterparts is truly a marvelous phenomenon. Perhaps this is the tacit understanding between Kira and Kira, allowing them to think of the same thing even without prior communication.

"Ghost hunting? How interesting..."

"Oh!! Could this be the long-awaited... duel between a mage and a swordsman?"

……

Tap tap, tap tap...

Kira slowly made his way up the stairs to the second floor, listening intently and scanning his surroundings, rubbing his hands together, ready to launch a surprise attack as soon as he spotted anyone.

The second-floor corridor was completely empty, with not a single ghost in sight, except for a faint trace of residual magic in one of the corners.

"The nature of this magic... is it a spell?" Kira closed his eyes and sensed it. "Even Philid is involved. I'm even more curious now!"

"A phantom!"

"rapidly!"

With a shout, several dark figures sprang from Kira's body and rushed off in several directions. A faint gasp came from the darkness, but Kira caught the change, took a step, and his whole body turned into a blur as he floated away.

He reached into the darkness and grabbed: "Got you!"

"Wow!" Kira exclaimed in surprise as he lifted the figure up. It was Wakaba.

Kira grabbed him by the collar and demanded, "Tell me, what have you been doing behind my back?"

Just as Wakaba was about to beg for mercy, several attacks—ice, iron rods, beams, and slashes—came from different directions. Kira could only dodge, and by the time he regained his footing, Wakaba had already passed out.

"Alright! I'll find you all!" Kira shouted. "If I find you within an hour, I win. If anyone manages to evade my detection, you win!"

With that, a burst of magical power was released: "Barrier!"

A magical barrier instantly enveloped the entire guild, blocking entry and exit. Gray and the others, shrouded in darkness, secretly groaned, "Now we can't leave even if we want to..."

Just then, in the guild tavern, Kira reached into his pocket, pulled out a luminous magic crystal, and threw it forcefully into the air.

bass! !

"Ah! My eyes!!" ×N

Swish! Clang! Bang!

The crystal flashbang only illuminated the area for less than 3 seconds before being struck by an aerial slash. The magic crystal crashed to the ground with a bang, scattering fragments everywhere.

"come out!"

"And you too!"

"Got you!"

"You think you can run away from me?"

Even though Dispel reacted quickly, several unprepared people were still blinded by the flash; three seconds was enough time for Kira to pinpoint their location.