A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Kira, Gray: "..."

Alzak and Bisca: "..."

"This counts?!"

"That's so shameless!!"

"So what if you have magic?! Just because you can stop time doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!!" The surrounding audience was all indignant, and they were all resentful that they weren't the ones who could 'stop time'.

Timalia smiled dismissively: "Sorry, being able to stop time really does mean you can do whatever you want!"

It hardened! The fist hardened!!

ten minutes later……

"The match is over!"

"The ultimate winners of Couple Mode are Timalia and Brandish, with a final score of 300 points! Congratulations to them!!"

Timalia happily accepted 'Cupid's arrow', then quickly pricked herself and Brandish with it. Of course, it had no effect; perhaps the legend was just a hoax, or perhaps it needed time to prove itself.

"Hmph! An insult to civility! Utterly an insult to civility! Women with women... slurping... what kind of behavior is this!"

"It's just..."

"But they are so beautiful!!"

"You're right..."

Alzak watched the two figures disappear into the distance with envy, then turned to Bisca beside him with an apologetic smile: "Sorry, Bisca, even though I finally got 95 points, I still couldn't get you the 'Cupid's Arrow' you wanted..."

"What's there to apologize for? Their magic was just too powerful! Besides, even without 'Cupid's Arrow,' we can still live a happy life!"

After saying that, Bisca gave Alzak a deep, affectionate kiss on the lips.

Alzak instantly blushed with excitement: "Yes! You're right!!"

The people around them darkened and immediately turned away from the couple who were pulling and tugging at each other in public.

"Let's go, let's go..."

"It's completely boring!"

Being crushed in terms of strength, humiliated in terms of gender, forced to eat dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), and finally subjected to Versailles—what kind of garbage game mechanics are these!

There's absolutely no gaming experience!

Chapter 634 Daily Life - Christmas Carnival (5) Winter Swimming

Magnolia is located by the sea, so swimming competitions are almost always included in every major event.

This was just a Christmas carnival organized by the town itself, not a performance or a formal kingdom competition. And in this cold weather, very few people were willing to go into the water and suffer, so there were very few contestants and spectators.

Winter swimming requires participants to have a strong physique, in which women are inherently at a disadvantage compared to men; furthermore, women who can swim in this weather, unless they are mages or adventurers with physical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people, are all burly, big, muscular, with fierce faces and fleshy bodies.

Since there are no swimsuit beauties to attract perverts, the popularity of this winter swimming competition is predictable.

Fortunately, the organizers weren't fools. When planning the carnival, they deliberately placed the winter swimming activity among the most popular games, so that even just passing by would bring a lot of people to the area.

Kira passed by the winter swimming competition area, where there were also some acquaintances from the guild.

Laxus, the Thors and their outsourced crew Elfman, Gajeel and Levy the couple and their cat, and the other two members of the Lane Engines team.

The participants in the competition were three burly men: Laxus, Elfman, and Gajeel; two purely supporting characters: Salusuk and Dhorel; and a few unfamiliar extras. As for the Thors and Levy, they did not go into the water but stayed in the stands to cheer and liven up the atmosphere.

Of course, in Kira's opinion, it wasn't just them who were trying to liven up the atmosphere; Sarusuk and Dorelle in the arena should also be included. After all, it was obvious to everyone that they wouldn't go up there and would only be asking for humiliation.

"Strange...when did these two become so brave? They dare to go into the water in this weather?"

Kira moved closer to Levy, trying to get some answers from her, but Levy only gave Kira an awkward, bitter smile and stammered, unable to say anything.

Just then, several trembling voices drifted in with the wind.

"Winter swimming is nothing to us!! We'll show Levy our powerful physique!!"

"That's right!! We can't let that idiot steal our thunder!!"

"Let's settle this once and for all, Gajeel!!" ×2

"Not interested."

Oh, so it was just jealousy. That doesn't surprise me.

Abba Greene, covering half her face with a fan, stood on the other side of Levy and teased, "Oh my, Levy-chan's charm is really something! Even with such a childlike figure..."

The frail and pitiful Levy couldn't bear such humiliation. Her face immediately flushed red, and her chest heaved slightly: "A child's figure?! Who do you think you are? In terms of emotional experience, I have far more than you!"

Of course, Levy would never say such things aloud, nor would she even express similar emotions, because that wouldn't fit her character.

Levy glanced furtively at the older woman beside her, who was looking down and whose toes were completely hidden.

Admittedly, the other woman is far superior to me in terms of figure, a top-notch seductive woman, but I am smarter, more knowledgeable, and younger, with room for improvement, all of which are things the other woman cannot compare to.

Once I've developed, I'll see how I get my revenge!

At this moment, Levy subconsciously ignored the fact that Abbey was less than three years older than her, and instead silently recalled a phrase that had become popular in Magnolia in recent years:

Three years of flat A, three years of big D, don't underestimate a young girl's flat!

Just you wait, Abba Green!

Three years from now, I will definitely grow to a height that you can't even dream of reaching!

At this moment, Levi, in Levy's arms, thought: What's wrong with Levy? Is she worried too much about Gajeel? But does she need to hold him so tightly? It hurts...

A woman's intuition told Abba Grin that she sensed a strong, unyielding spirit from Levy, but she didn't make a sound. She simply raised an eyebrow, curled the corner of her mouth, and compared the difference in fabric between the two women's clothing once more...

Haha! A world of difference!

Levy is eighteen years old already, right? Poor thing... Maybe I should comfort her so this little sister won't have a good night's sleep tonight.

Abba Green suddenly had a change of heart and realized she might have gone a bit too far, so she changed the subject: "Actually, Levy-chan, you don't need to be too anxious. After all, some men just like your type..."

"Even small ones are cute..."

Hmph! They were just laughing at me, and now they're saying things like this!

"Small things are cute too..." That's something only someone like you, who doesn't have that kind of anxiety, can say in such a relaxed tone!

But Levy was still kind. She sensed the apology in the other person's tone, and somehow most of the frustration in her chest dissipated. She silently lowered her head, thinking to herself, "Compared to her, I am indeed very small, and she is not wrong to say that."

No, no... What am I thinking? Now is not the time to think about these things!

The girl refocused her attention on the arena, or more precisely, on Gajeel.

To make it easier to get into the water, the male contestants wore only a pair of shorts, and the female contestants wore only a bikini, and then went completely naked, so the shore was filled with shirtless people.

To be honest, Gray should be the most suitable person to participate in this competition. He has the best cold resistance in the guild and likes to take off his clothes and run around naked from time to time. I don't know why he didn't come to participate in the winter swimming competition.

Conversely, the person Kira least expected was Laxus. He found it hard to believe that Laxus would one day become a muscle-flexing man like Elfman.

Why would Laxus participate in this kind of competition?

Abba Greene explained, "Laxus has been training with Senior Serena recently. According to that senior, the human body can become stronger rapidly when trained in harsh environments, which is why Laxus..."

"Waaaaah... Laxus, you bravely faced the trials of winter swimming, you truly are the man I follow!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Felix clenched his fists, tears streaming down his face, and looked at Laxus on the field. "It's alright. As long as I'm here, Laxus will never fall in this kind of weather!"

"Are you there??"

Kira's eyes widened instantly, his thoughts racing... Could this be some kind of bond?

"I've already prepared some hot soup to warm you up!"

Oh, I see... I got all excited for nothing!

"Speaking of which... Serena's teaching methods? Is that kind of thing even normal?"

Kira strongly suspected that Seraph meant for Laxus to "abandon his shame, unleash his inner chuunibyou, and do things that ordinary people, even those with very low moral standards, wouldn't do, and that would probably be considered becoming stronger..."

Putting everything else aside, Kira found it an eyesore to see Laxus in the audience with that serious and focused face, his explosive muscles taut as he did his pre-show warm-up exercises.

These actions are fine for Serena, who's a typical late-stage chuunibyou (delusional teenager); fine for Elfman, he does it all the time in the guild anyway; fine for Gajeel, it even gives off a shonen manga vibe; and fine for Salusuk and Dhorel, they're both good at acting, good at playing villains to highlight the protagonists, they can just act like it's their true selves! But Laxus…

"I have to write this down; it'll be his embarrassing history in the future!"

Kira pulled out the Influence Crystal from his pocket and aimed it at Laxus, who was earnestly warming up. Under Kira's control, the Influence Crystal quickly recorded the opponent's foolish actions, not missing a single move.

"You really have a twisted sense of humor..."

"A perverse sense of humor? Not at all! I'm helping them preserve their youth!"

On the shore, several contestants finished their warm-up exercises, and their bodies felt much warmer after their blood and energy surged.

"Damn it! Why do I have to go winter swimming in a place like this... Can't we go somewhere deep in the mountains?! That chuunibyou old man just wants to see me make a fool of myself!"

"Kikiki... that guidance from Uncle Eight Dragons? Let me, Grandpa Gajeel, give it a try!"

"A real man should go winter swimming!!"

"We must show Levy our most heroic side!!"

"I'll confess to Rei again if I beat Gajeel!!"

The competition began, and the five grown men entered the water simultaneously.

Because Kira was holding binoculars, he could clearly see that the hair on the bodies of the people stood on end, their teeth chattered, and their hands and feet were ice cold the moment they entered the water, so they must have been feeling terrible.

"Go for it, Laxus!!"

"Don't lose, Gajeel!!"

Felid cheered for Laxus without a care in the world, Levy cheered for Gajeel with a blush on her face, and Abram, because Laxus was there, didn't shout "Go Elfman!" but her eyes were still fixed on the burly man in the water.

Sometimes, not shouting is also a form of support.

Thus, the match between Salusuk and Dorelle, where no one offered support, was completed.

"How pitiful..."

Watching the two struggling to swim forward in the water, Kira could only sigh silently, realizing that matters of the heart cannot be forced.

The race was a 300-meter round trip, which was a piece of cake for these people who had grown up by the sea. The only problem was that the preparation time was a bit long, and the actual race only lasted a few minutes.