Fairy Tail: My Magic is a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck — Chapter 182

Chapter 182: Departure! Heading to the Boendari Forest

The next morning.

Chase arrived at the Fairy Tail guild hall bright and early, wasting no time in sharing the embarrassing photos he had unearthed from beneath the tree yesterday. His primary audience was Mirajane.

Looking down at the glossy prints of her younger, “punk” self pulling faces alongside a young Erza—both of them contorting their features into delightfully hideous grimaces—Mira’s reaction was surprisingly muted. A soft, nostalgic smile touched her lips as she murmured about how much she missed the old days.

Then, with practiced elegance, she quietly slipped the photos into her apron pocket. Without missing a beat, she reached under the bar and swapped the carefully prepared, mouth-watering breakfast she had just set in front of Chase for a rock-hard, stale French baguette.

“Chase, this is your breakfast for today!” she announced, her tone sickeningly sweet.

“Hey, wait a minute! I specifically brought you those premium blackmail photos!”

Chase picked up the baguette. It had the weight and density of a blunt weapon. He tapped it against the wooden counter, producing a solid thud, and turned it over in his hands, completely unable to find a safe angle to bite into it without shattering his teeth.

“Consider it my heartfelt thank you gift,” Mira said matter-of-factly, her smile never wavering.

You dug up my ugliest childhood photos and still expect a delicious meal? Keep dreaming!

Her thoughts briefly shifted to the Guild Master, who had secretly snapped those wicked pictures in the first place. Today, the Master will be receiving a special cup of extra-spicy, extra-strong tea as his punishment!

Meanwhile, several blocks away, outside a popular magazine store with a line wrapping around the corner, a certain diminutive old man had woken up at the crack of dawn to secure the latest issue of a swimsuit photo album. Suddenly, a sharp chill shot straight up his spine, causing his rear to tighten involuntarily.

“Strange… why do I feel like a terrible calamity is about to befall me today?” Makarov muttered, rubbing his arms.

But the ominous premonition vanished the moment he reached the counter and finally got his hands on the glossy magazine he had been longing for.

Back in the guild hall.

“Sigh, I should have known better than to bring those photos,” Chase lamented, gnawing futilely on the edge of the baguette.

Having grown accustomed to Mira’s warm, expertly cooked meals, gnawing on something with the texture of petrified wood was a harsh reality check.

“If you keep complaining, this will be your standard breakfast from now on!” Mira scolded, placing her hands on her hips.

Despite the threat, her expression quickly softened. She reached across the counter, plucked the deadly bread from his hands, and slid the original, steaming plate of eggs and bacon back in front of him. Based on her strict principles against wasting food, she decided to save the baguette for Elfman, who hadn’t arrived yet. A real man could handle a little tough bread, after all.

Deeply moved by this act of mercy, Chase didn’t waste another second and began wolfing down his food.

Mira rested her elbows on the polished wood of the bar, propping her cheeks in her hands. Her eyes curved into happy little crescents as she watched him. “You don’t have to eat like Natsu, you know. I won’t take it back.”

After finishing his meal, seeing that the hall was still mostly empty, Chase chatted idly with Mira. Their main topic of discussion was the SS-Class request he and Lucy were about to undertake.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that the guild doors swung open. Lucy rushed in, dressed in a practical blue-and-white outdoor outfit, her boots clicking frantically against the floorboards.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry, Chase! I completely overslept!” Lucy bowed repeatedly, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Thanks to Natsu’s ridiculous midnight commotion, her mind had been racing with wild thoughts when she finally got back to bed. She had tossed and turned for hours, only managing to drift off to sleep after summoning Lyra and asking the Celestial Spirit to play a soothing lullaby.

“It’s fine. Being a little early or late doesn’t change much,” Chase said, leaning back in his stool. He looked her up and down, a teasing glint in his eye. “Compared to that… how was your late-night date with Natsu? It must have been incredibly romantic, right?”

“Romantic my foot!”

At the mere mention of it, Lucy’s embarrassment evaporated, replaced by sheer indignation. She slammed her hands onto a nearby table. “Honestly, what kind of idiot asks a girl out in the middle of the night just to dig in the dirt?!”

A second later, she realized the trap she had just walked into and frantically waved her hands. “Wait, no! We weren’t on a date in the first place!”

“Really? Everyone in the guild seems to think otherwise. Maybe you’re just a bit too slow on the uptake?” Chase chuckled.

“That is a massive misunderstanding!” Lucy’s mouth twitched in exasperation.

“Lucy, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Here, have something warm to drink first to calm your nerves,” Mira offered kindly, sliding a glass of steaming hot milk across the bar.

“Oh, thank you, Mira. You’re a lifesaver.” Lucy picked up the glass, taking a grateful sip.

“By the way, Lucy,” Mira continued, her voice light and conversational. “How many children are you planning to have with Natsu? I heard Juvia is aiming for thirty with Gray.”

“Pfft—!!!”

Lucy violently sprayed every drop of milk she hadn’t swallowed yet. The zero-to-sixty interrogation caught her completely off guard.

“I don’t have any thoughts like that at all! And why are you comparing me to Juvia?!” she shrieked, wiping her mouth.

“Well, Natsu and Gray are always competing in various fields,” Mira reasoned with a serene smile.

“What does their rivalry have to do with my uterus—”

Lucy slumped forward, letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh. Her soul felt like it was leaving her body.

Beside her, Chase was silently wiping warm milk off his cheek with a napkin, his expression deadpan.

The rest of Lucy’s brief breakfast time was spent desperately trying to explain the situation to Mira—though, by the end of the interrogation, Mira had spun her words so much that even Lucy was starting to question her own feelings.

“If you’re ready, let’s head out.”

Chase stood up, tossing his napkin onto the counter, and took the lead, walking toward the staircase at the back of the guild hall.

“Huh? Wait, why aren’t we going out the front door?” Lucy blinked, jogging to catch up with him.

“Taking the train is too slow. We can save a massive amount of time by flying directly on the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress,” Chase explained, glancing back over his shoulder.

This highly efficient, alternative method of travel completely shattered Lucy’s conventional understanding of guild missions. “You can just do that?!”

If they were just going to fly there, what was the point of her staying up late studying the map of the Boendari Forest? She had painstakingly planned the optimal train routes, calculated the walking distance, and mentally prepared her wallet to bleed dry covering all their travel expenses! Did all that diligent initiative count for nothing?!

In contrast, Mira was already well-accustomed to Chase’s unconventional methods. She waved cheerfully at their retreating backs. “Have a safe trip, you two~”

Chase and Lucy stepped out onto the wide, open-air terrace on the top floor of the guild. The morning breeze tugged at their clothes.

Chase raised his right arm. Brilliant, ethereal card light flowed from his fingertips, weaving into a complex, glowing Magic Circle in the air.

A massive gust of wind blasted across the terrace as giant blue wings unfurled from the light. The Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress materialized, its jagged teeth and fierce, predatory appearance causing Lucy to instinctively take a step back.

Even though she knew this dragon was one of Chase’s summons, this was the first time she had been this close to it. Regardless of its allegiance, it was still a legendary “Dragon.” The innate, overwhelming pressure of its species made her heart race with a primal sense of fear.

Noticing her hesitation, the Guardian Dragon turned its massive head toward her. It let out a low, surprisingly gentle croon, folded its massive wings, and lowered its body to the stone floor.

Beneath its terrifying exterior, it was unexpectedly a total softie. Seeing this, Lucy’s reservations melted away. She took a tentative step forward and offered a small wave. “Um… nice to meet you. Hello, Guardian Dragon. I’m Lucy.”

The dragon blinked its large eyes in a friendly manner, playfully nudging the air near her.

Once Chase and Lucy were seated securely on its broad back, the powerful wings snapped downward, stirring up a localized hurricane on the terrace. The Guardian Dragon launched into the sky, transforming into a streak of brilliant blue light. In the blink of an eye, they had completely cleared the borders of Magnolia!

Unlike the time Chase had taken Mira to the Tower of Heaven—where the dragon had deliberately done barrel rolls to force Mira to cling to him—this flight was entirely different. The dragon smoothly deployed a translucent magic barrier around them, perfectly shielding its passengers from the violent headwinds of their supersonic speed.

The advantage of this method was an incredibly stable, luxurious ride. The only downside was that it constantly drained a small amount of Chase’s Magic Power to maintain the shield.

“Amazing… this is amazing!”

Sitting behind Chase, Lucy widened her eyes, staring down at the rapidly receding landscape. Rivers looked like silver threads, and mountains resembled small mounds of dirt. She couldn’t help but let out a breathless exclamation. This visual feast was something she could never have experienced from the window of a clunky magical train!

“Flying magic is incredibly practical. If you’re interested, you could always ask Dark Magician Girl to teach you,” Chase suggested, his voice carrying easily within the windless bubble.

“Really?!” Lucy’s face lit up with joy, but the excitement faded just as quickly, replaced by a heavy sigh. “No, it seems way too difficult. I should probably forget it.”

Right now, she couldn’t even fully master her Star Dress forms. Attempting to learn high-level flight magic was completely out of her depth.

“Indeed,” Chase nodded in immediate, blunt agreement.

“Chase, you’re too much! Couldn’t you have let me down a little more tactfully?!” Lucy puffed out her cheeks, glaring at the back of his head.

“Actually, you don’t necessarily need dedicated flying magic. Look at Natsu—he uses his fire as a thruster to achieve temporary flight,” Chase pointed out.

Natsu’s method made logical sense from a physics standpoint. However, Gajeel, being an Iron Dragon Slayer, had also demonstrated the ability to fly, which genuinely baffled Chase. Was the man constantly expelling iron scraps from his feet to generate thrust? The world of magic truly was full of infinite, logic-defying possibilities.

“Do I look like someone who can pull off insane, destructive operations like those two?” Lucy pointed at herself, her confidence at rock bottom.

“Lucy, you are our guild’s only Celestial Spirit Mage. And in the future, you will undoubtedly become the strongest Celestial Spirit Mage in the world.”

Chase paused for a moment, his tone shifting into something entirely serious. “No matter what anyone else thinks, I’ve always believed that.”

“T-The strongest? I’m still way too far away from something like that…”

Being praised so earnestly by someone as monstrously powerful as Chase made Lucy feel incredibly flattered. A warm, lightheaded feeling washed over her as she allowed herself to indulge in the sweet dream of becoming an S-Class Mage and finally having the authority to scold Natsu and Gray into submission.

“You’re not that far away. In fact, there’s an opportunity to prove it right in front of you,” Chase said. “Let’s see just how far you can go in this SS-Class request.”

“Right! Leave it to the future strongest Celestial Spirit Mage! I’ll— Wait. Huh? Chase, what do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Chase replied calmly, not looking back. “I won’t intervene in this request at all. Not until you fail.”

“Huh?!!!”