A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"It's so hot!!!"

"Hey! Natsu!! You bastard!!!"

Erza dodged the fire attack, but the surrounding extras couldn't escape and were kissed by the flames.

His exceptional insight, accurate judgment, rapid reaction, superhuman physical abilities, and rich combat experience were on full display in the first wave of probing.

Although it was just a few simple movements, and the two didn't even touch, it was enough to attract the attention of everyone around them. Even Lucy, who was deep in thought, was stunned by their skills.

"Wow, amazing! As expected of Erza!"

"How about it? Evenly matched, right?"

"I didn't notice."

Erza can usually take on two opponents at once, so Gray would never admit that Natsu and Erza are evenly matched, because that would be saying that he is inferior to Natsu.

Kira chimed in with his analysis: "Hmph... Natsu's already finished warming up, but Erza hasn't! Don't blink, watch closely! Things are about to get even more exciting!"

The next moment, the fiery fist and the sharp sword clashed once again!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The second clash lasted ten minutes, with both fighters going all out, exchanging blows and colliding continuously, sparks flying off their armor and shallow marks on their fists.

Even the sword of the Ent Emperor set was marked with a red mark by Natsu, and even the claws of the Fire Dragon King were shaken slightly!

"Huh? Natsu's fire's even hotter now! You've improved!"

Kira's praise of Natsu drew envy and jealousy from Gray: "Tch..."

"Grey, don't be too upset. Your ice-making magic is stronger than before! By the way, let's have some ice to cool things down!"

"No, can't your magic also create ice?"

"Everyone has their own expertise! When it comes to making ice, you're the real professional, hurry up!"

"Noisy!"

Under Kira's repeated urging, Gray reluctantly built four and a half-person-high ice barriers to enclose the battleground where the two were fighting and to keep the onlookers outside the barriers.

The surrounding temperature dropped instantly, but no one thought Gray had done a bad job, because the area had already been scorched by Natsu and was extremely hot and dry, with a severe lack of moisture in the air. Now was the time when some ice was needed to cool things down.

Now they don't have to worry about being burned by Natsu's fire.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

"The Fire Dragon's Horn!"

Flames clung to Natsu's body, unleashing extraordinary power; however, Erza always managed to parry with her sword at the most precise point, extinguishing the flames released by Natsu.

The armor is just a buff; Erza's strength comes from her own abilities. In terms of swordsmanship alone, no one in Fairy Tail can compare to Erza.

Watching the two locked in fierce combat, Gray suddenly thought of a question he hadn't considered before: "Speaking of which, do the wings on the back of the Flame Emperor Armor really have the ability to fly?"

"No, not at all! It's just decoration!" Kira knew this all too well, after all, he was the one who made the armor. "Although I also wondered why H-K would design the armor like this, Erza seems to like it unexpectedly."

"It's not just this set; Erza's other armors also have wing designs, but most of them are just decorative, with only a few actually capable of flight."

"Besides, Erza's armor is mostly very revealing. I found it strange when I was forging it. It's supposed to be fireproof armor, but it has so many gaps. I don't know what the designer was thinking. But it looks really good in battle."

Chapter 44 The person arrested this time is...

"The fairy queen... no, I mean the fairy queen, she truly lives up to her name."

Watching Erza easily defeat Natsu on the field, Kira nodded inwardly, thinking, "As expected of the armor I made, the quality is excellent."

The color, the sheen, the curves, the lines—ah! Perfect!

Gray muttered to himself, "What on earth is this guy so engrossed in?"

Lucy crouched down and said to Happy, "Kira's gaze towards Erza seems a bit strange..."

Happy, who is still a rather 'pure' cat, thought for a moment and raised his hand to answer: "Maybe it's because he just bet against Erza on Cana!"

What? Such a thing exists?

Lucy was taken aback: "This guy just said he never does these things!"

"You can find Kira in any money-related matter in the guild!"

"Harbour, did you place a bet too?"

"Yes, we bet on a fish, on Erza winning!!" Happy said confidently, seemingly not believing Natsu could win either.

Lucy retorted, "You really dare to say that, you heartless, ungrateful cat!"

"Although I also hope Natsu wins, Erza is still a bit stronger!"

"Natsu is amazing too! He single-handedly wiped out the entire Iron Forest!"

"Erza could do it too; she's the strongest woman in the guild!"

Thirty minutes into the battle, Natsu and Erza were still locked in a stalemate, but it was clear to everyone that Natsu was about to lose. He was already panting heavily, while Erza... was only slightly sweaty, probably not from exhaustion, but because Natsu had raised the temperature around them considerably.

Gray's ice blocks did not affect the two who were locked in a decisive battle.

"Roar of the Fire Dragon!!!"

"Emperor Yan, Great Flame Ring!"

Erza spun around and charged forward, her flaming sword slicing through the roar and striking Natsu, who had no time to react, and knocking him to the ground!

"Natsu, you've really gotten stronger!"

Seeing Natsu lying on the ground unable to get up, Erza exhaled a deep breath and then changed back into her original armor.

Makarov announced with a grin, "The match is over!! Erza is the winner!"

"Oh my god!! Erza won!"

"As expected of Erza!"

"Great! Erza won! I won too! Pay me back!"

"Damn it, I didn't expect Natsu to be this strong. I should have known better than to hold him down for 20 minutes!"

Everyone was immersed in the joy of making money and the frustration of losing money. Even Happy ran to Cana to ask for the two fish he had won. In the end, it was the kind-hearted Lucy who was the first to help Natsu up.

"Natsu, are you alright?"

Natsu was still somewhat unconscious, seeing stars above his head. With Lucy's help, he half-consciously got up, feeling a little depressed, and his words revealed his resentment: "No... I'm fine!"

After the battle ended, Cana silently tallied up her bets. Since all the bets involved guessing how long Natsu could hold out against Erza, she, as the bookmaker, still made a small profit.

"Not bad, not bad, the drinks are paid for today..."

Unfortunately, before Kana could even rejoice, a sinister hand snatched the money from her hand, which she hadn't even had a chance to warm up: "Not bad, not bad, you're one step closer to paying off your debts!"

"You bastard! Give me back my money!"

Kira walked forward on his own, counting the money as he went, saying, "Now this is my money. Oh, it's quite a lot. I guess I can pay back about one percent of it."

"Damn it! I've never seen such a greedy guy! At least leave me enough for today's drinks..."

"Once it's in my hands, don't even think about getting it back! Besides, I think you'd better drink less! Alcohol numbs you and does absolutely nothing to make you stronger!"

"Nonsense! The Chairman and Gildarts also enjoy drinking!"

"Um... Others are numb in body and mind, but they make people numb from being so strong."

Kana was speechless.

"Let's go!" Kira tossed the money he had just received, wondering where to spend it, when he turned around and saw a humanoid toad behind him, its dark green toad face almost touching the back of his head.

Anyone else would have been scared away, but Kira acted as if nothing had happened, and his thought process was surprisingly clear.

"Strange, when did toads start wearing clothes and walking like humans?"

The toad clapped its hands and then spoke in human language: "Everyone here, don't move! I am an envoy from the Council!"

"The Council?"

"messenger?!"

"Why is the council's envoy here?"

"Why can toads talk?!"

I watched the great show of Natsu vs. Erza today, and also made some money from Cana. What are the council members doing here on this joyous day?

No one expected this to happen, not even Makarov. Kira had a vague suspicion, but he always loved to act, so he pretended not to know.

The Toad Messenger continued to announce: "Kira Hopelight, you are under arrest as a suspect in the Iron Forest terror incident a few days ago, on 10 charges including damaging public property and possessing black magic items!"

"What?!" ×N

So that's what it was about! But why was I the one arrested? I remember Erza took the blame in the original story, how did it turn out like this...?

Wait, it just mentioned something about hoarding evil magical items, so did it arrest me because I was in its hands?

It must have been Kageyama who leaked it!

"Huh...we've been found out after all? I knew it would be like this, those guys from Tetsunomori..."

"Kira, what's going on?"

Upon hearing that Kira was secretly possessing dark magic items, Makarov immediately thought of Larabaa from a few days ago. Could it be that Kira hadn't handed them over to the council?

It's all my fault for drinking too much and forgetting about that.

"Ah, it's alright, don't worry, President. I'll go with them and explain things clearly, then I'll be back..."

Erza rushed over upon hearing the commotion: "I was the captain of the Fairy Tail squad during the Iron Forest incident. If anyone's going to be arrested, it should be me, right?"

“I’m sorry, the decision to arrest Kira Hopelight was made by the council members and it won’t change just because you’re the captain. Besides, this matter involves Lalabai, and as far as we know, the person who hid it was Kira Hopelight, not you.”

Erza glanced at Kira, and although she didn't say anything, Kira understood what she meant from her eyes.

"I told you you shouldn't have kept Lalabai around, now look what happened!"

Kira understood, so he raised an eyebrow and returned her gaze with the same look: "You're the captain, why don't you take charge?"

However, the two still lacked chemistry. Erza thought Kira was saying, "It's okay! Everything is under control! This is just a formality. I'll go and give them a heads-up, and they'll let me go back tomorrow."