"What is this job about exactly?" asked Gajeel.
"We don't have the details, the mission paper just said we had to protect the owner of an important winery," Gray explained. "That's where we're going."
"Winery, huh ! It is explained why she is in this job!", Gajeel said, directing the line directly at Cana.
The brunette shrugged, not caring about the comment. "There is no better reason for a mission. Combining the useful with the pleasant," she boasted.
"Juvia thinks it might be interesting. But it's weird not having more information."
"Some clients prefer to be discreet, preferring to give more details only when we are in front of them. It sucks anyway," Gray complained.
"Juvia agrees, she never liked vague information"
Gray turned to the bluenett looking at her curiously. "Were there many quests like this in Phantom ?"
"Some Gray-sama. In the end, they were always more complicated than Juvia expected."
"Ghihi ... But they were also fun. The surprises that appeared always made me more excited", Gajeel intruded on the conversation.
"You said like Natsu just now. HAHAHA!", Cana said and laughed heartily.
"Don't you ever dare mention that again!" Gajeel yelled back angrily.
They kept walking until they left the city and started to see farms and more farms covered with grape plantations. A calm and bucolic landscape, full of small undulations that were lost in the horizon. It didn't take more than a couple of hours for them to reach the destination that had been indicated on the mission paper.
It was a large farm with a road left, up to a large house in the middle of the property. The wizards crossed the entrance and made their way to the door of that mansion, surrounded by a beautiful and well-kept garden with a fountain in the middle. Cana knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.
A man of medium height and with few gray hairs opened the door and welcomed the new arrivals. He dressed elegantly and had a haughty, serious air.
He looked them up and down, analyzing them. "I imagine they are the mages of Fairy Tail," he said.
"That's right. We came to see your boss", Gray said looking at him with a closed expression.
The butler stared at him for a few seconds and nodded. "Follow me," he said and turned around. The mages looked at each other and held him, entering that sumptuous residence.
The butler led them through the halls of the richly decorated and ornate mansion until they came to a large double wooden door. The butler opened it and they entered the hall, which was very well lit by a large window. There were armchairs and sofas, there was also a large table facing another window. On it sat a man.
"Sir Samuel, these are the mages from the Fairy Tail guild who have granted our request," the butler said.
Samuel lifted his face to the butler and then looked at the four wizards in front of him. he smiled and stood up, walking around the table to greet the newly arrived wizards.
"Ah, yes, yes… It's a pleasure to welcome you. I'm glad they responded to our request so quickly," Samuel said. He was a man in his 50s with a slightly prominent belly and gray hair with brown eyes. He greeted each mage happily. "I thought it would just be two of you, but I see four," he said in surprise.
"We thought that extra help wouldn't hurt. Any problems?" Cana said.
Samuel looked at his butler, who shrugged. "I think not. Help is always good. Sit down." He indicated the armchairs and sofas.
"I'll leave you alone," the butler said and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"It's all right. What is this job about?" Gray asked unceremoniously.
Samuel sat in an armchair, facing all the mages. "We are having security problems in all the vineyards in the region. A band of bandits has been stealing the stocks of our finest wines. Years of stolen work. Do you know how many years it takes for a good wine to be made?" Cana held up her hand to answer, but Gray stopped her, leaving her frowning. "Our farm was also attacked recently, the crop of X715 was stolen. One of the best," Samuel lamented. "I'm asking you to stop whoever is doing this. We could go bankrupt if this continues."
"And what can you do with stolen wine? It's not jewelry or anything else they can sell around," Gajeel said skeptically.
Samuel looked at him seriously and sighed. "You are mistaken. We don't know what they're doing, but good wines can be sold on the black market. Of course not for the same value, but there are always those who buy. And for those who didn't have the cost of producing, just stealing, anything is fine. And let me tell you, they might sell it cheaper, but the value would be high enough for a small fortune."
"You've got to be kidding, wine can't be that expensive!" Gajeel replied.
Samuel was going to say something, but Cana intruded on the conversation. "Of course you can, you idiot! Do you know how much a vintage X715 can cost? More than 500000 Jewels! Even more so if you come from Montepulciano ", exclaimed Cana looking seriously at the Dragon Slayer.
Gajeel looked at her amazed and not knowing what to say, Samuel looked surprised, but proud that she knew and knew so much about his wine. Gray didn't react, he knew her well and her knowing all about that wine didn't surprise him.
"Juvia didn't know wines could be so expensive?"
"Cana knows everything about any drink, don't be surprised," Gray said and Juvia nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, Mr. Samuel, we're going to put a stop to these bloody wine thieves!" Cana exclaimed as she rose from the couch and struck a confident, determined, serious pose. Gajeel and Juvia had never seen her so determined like that.
"Call me Samuel," he said, smiling. "I think they want to see the place where they stole our wine"
"Yes immediately," replied the brunette.
So Samuel led them out of the house to the shed where they stored the wines, while the wine was aged for years in oak barrels and then bottled.
"It was here. The crop, which we had just bottled, was on those shelves," said Samuel.
Gray and Cana went to see if there was anything out of the ordinary or any other clues. Gajeel and Juvia looked around to see if there was any evidence, the Dragon Slayer sniffed around for a strange smell, but didn't feel anything.
"How long ago was the robbery?", Gajeel asked.
"It's been a few days. As soon as we were robbed, we sent the order to you," Samuel replied.
"This has happened in other vineyards. Why didn't you ask for help before?", Juvia asked him.
"We thought it was a one-off at first. One or another theft always has and the local authorities solve it. But as things got worse I tried to ask some guild for help, but no one really wanted to. There is a lot of envy and competition in this environment, it is not easy for us to unite, on the contrary, it is more likely that one ends up sabotaging the other. When I was attacked, I decided to act on my own."
Gray turned to Samuel looking at him seriously. "Do you think it could have been someone sabotage?"
Samuel was thoughtful for a few seconds and shook his head. "I do not believe this. I think almost all of them were robbed. No one would risk losing so much, almost going bankrupt, just to harm others in that way," he replied skeptically.
"Juvia can't rule out sabotage, Samuel-san. She and Gajeel-kun have seen too much to rule that out."
"Juvia is right," Cana said. "We're going to investigate and put the culprits in jail," she said with enviable determination.
"Well…you are the mages here. Do as you see fit"
After meeting with Samuel, they returned to town and to the hotel to discuss what they could do. They were sitting in the restaurant chairs right around lunchtime and talking about the steps they should take.
"We've been here for hours and we haven't resolved anything!", Gajeel grumbled angrily.
"Do not exaggerate! It's only been a few minutes," Gray retorted, also annoyed.
"Oh, shut up, pervert! I'm already out of patience, we're talking and talking and we don't get any moonlight! And put on some clothes!" shouted the Dragon Slayer.
Gray looked down at himself and saw he was only in his boxer briefs. "What the...", he ran around the restaurant looking for his clothes, desperately.
"Gajeel- kun , don't talk to Gray-sama like that!", Juvia said while looking passionately at the ice mage collecting his clothes from all over the restaurant room .
"Don't side with him!", retorted the Dragon Slayer, impatiently.
"I think I can get some information out there," Cana said thoughtfully. "Hey Gray, I got an idea!" she yelled and the ice mage waved, heading back to the table once he was fully dressed.
"What's your plan?" Gray asked Cana.
"I'm going to extract some information from thugs," she said with a smile. Gray, hearing that, put a no on his forehead.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Where are we going to find bandits?" Gajeel retorted in disbelief.
"Don't even ask!" said Gray, who looked at her friend. "Is this serious? Again!"
"What's the matter Gray? It's a great plan"
"You always have the same plan!"
"Why it always works"
"But I'm the one who has to free your ass"
"It only happened once!"
"It was three times, the other two you were too drunk to remember!"
"If I don't remember it's because it didn't happen"
"Cana, no!"
"Cana, yes!"
Gajeel and Juvia watched the two arguing, as if they weren't there. They were left with no understanding of what was happening. However, the way Gray and Cana argued made it clear how close they were and had a lot of history in common. Juvia couldn't help but feel jealous of their companionship, she wanted to have that same relationship with Gray and even more, but even if she knew him well, it still didn't come close to what Cana knew him. She felt a discomfort in her stomach as she realized this.
"You two want to shut up!" shouted Gajeel, interrupting the argument . Cana and Gray turn their faces towards the Dragon Slayer. They were so involved with each other that they forgot there were two other people with them. As soon as Gajeel had their attention, he sighed patiently, trying not to kill any of them just then. "Let's hear your damn plan."
"See, Gray! Someone understands me", Cana said mockingly and the ice mage just rolled his eyes. "It's quite simple", she said turning to Gajeel and Juvia. "We are looking for liquor dealers. If there's one thing I've learned from bad guys, it's that they love to brag and tell things. Especially for a curious and beautiful lady like me", Gajeel rolled his eyes impatiently. "I'm going to infiltrate a badly frequented bar, every town has one, and seduce some poor bastards, taking information from them. And when everything's ready I'm out of there with Gray watching over me," she said proudly.
"Sounds like a good plan," commented Juvia.
"Don't encourage her, Juvia. It's a bad plan. They may be suspicious and you have the guild mark clearly visible. They're going to want to attack you and we're going to get into a fight unnecessarily", replied Gray, Juvia cringed at the harshness she took from him.
"Afraid of a fight, stripper? Gihihi !", Gajeel looked at him disdainfully and smiling teasingly.
Gray looked at him deeply and defiantly. "Shut up metal head! I don't have a problem with a fight, but we can't get attention."
"Don't you think you're getting too much attention naked?" Cana said.
Gray looked down and saw he had no clothes on again. He ran out looking for his clothes, while Juvia looked at him blushing and Cana was amused by the situation and Gajeel growled with disgust.
"If you don't want to do Cana's plan, what's your idea, Stripper?", Gajeel asked seriously as soon as the ice mage sat back down at the table, dressed this time.
Gray weighed for a moment, but nothing came to mind. Despite everything he knew that Cana's crazy plans usually worked, he had to admit and in that situation, her plan was the best choice. "I do not have any. As much as I hate it, I think her idea might work."
" Awww ! I knew you would," Cana jumped on Gray and hugged him, much to his and Juvia's dismay. "You complain, but you always go along with my crazy ideas", at least she admits...
"Yes, Cana. Now you want to let go of me," Gray growled.
"Cana-san stop! It's choking Gray-sama!", Juvia yelled, a mixture of jealousy and concern for the ice mage's well being.
The four mages chatted some more, refining the dark-haired mage's plan. They decided that she should hide the guild mark, for safety's sake, and she complied. They would wait until night to operate.
"Well, now that it's all settled I think we can eat. I'm starving," Gajeel grumbled, his stomach growling.
"Juvia agrees. She is hungry"
"It's a good idea. What are you going to want?" Gray asked.
"Juvia doesn't know, there are so many options", she said looking at the menu. "What do you recommend, Gray-sama?"
"Are you going to ask for advice for her to breathe too, Juvia!?", Gajeel said harshly. "You don't need him to approve of everything you do! For love, ask some of your own accord."
"Juvia just wants Gray-sama's opinion, Gajeel-kun ! She can do things for herself", she said looking at him annoyed. "It's just that Gray-sama's opinion is very important to Juvia", she said with hearts around her and an air of passion. Gajeel gave up on his friend and Gray looked at her embarrassed and blushing.
"Well, I... I'll have a Chess Chicken," said the ice mage.
"You won't!", Cana interjected.
Everyone looked at her confused and intrigued.
"What do you mean I can't?" Gray asked, irritated by her friend's intrusion.
"Of course you can't. Do you want to die by chance!?"
"How the hell would I die eating chicken, Cana!?"
"Have you by any chance read what's in this Chess Chicken?" Gray made a doubtful expression. "Clearly not," sighed the brunette. "Peanuts!", the ice mage made a terrified expression.
"What's with peanuts?", Juvia asked without understanding anything.
"Gray is allergic to peanuts. If he eats even a little piece, he swells up and looks like a snowman", replied Cana.
"HAHA HA! This I wanted to see. Gihihi!", Gajeel laughed imagining the scene.
"Gray-sama has allergies!", Juvia screamed desperately. "If Juvia gives something that might kill Gray-sama! What if Gray-sama ate something and it hurts? He would never look Juvia in the face again! What should she do!?"
"Ju... Juvia, calm down!", Gray said trying to calm her down. "I'm not going anywhere. I just have a peanut allergy, no need to worry."
"Gray… Gray-sama promises?"
"Well... I, I promise", he said embarrassed, but Juvia's bright face, after hearing his promise, was enough to make him sketch a small and discreet smile.
"Anyway, I think you'll want a ham, don't you?" Cana deduced.
Juvia looked at her and thought how could she know what her precious Gray-sama could want. It was obvious to the water mage that he would prefer rib roast.
"Yeah, you got it right. I'll order a ham", replied Gray to Juvia's astonishment and utter desolation. Did they know each other that well? Juvia thought.
Every moment she spent with those two more she felt bad, she thought she knew Gray, after all she followed him and watched him, she saw everything he did, she knew what he liked and what he didn't like, but it was clearer than ever that she didn't really know him, not as Cana Alberona.
"And you, Cana? What do you want?" Gray asked.
"Hmm ... I think I'll order steak with wine sauce"
"Typical of you. If it doesn't have alcohol, it's not even food," Gray said and the two started laughing with each other.
Gajeel and then Juvia placed their orders for the waiter. Aside from Cana and Gray chatting animatedly, mostly on the brunette's part, lunch was relatively quiet. Gray strange, usually Juvia liked to talk, but that day she was too quiet, he worried, but he thought it could be due to fatigue, after all she and Gajeel were returning from work and suddenly they joined them on that mission. He relieved and enjoyed the meal.
After they ate they decided to go back to their rooms and rest until it was time for them to go out and carry out Cana's plan. In front of Gray and Cana's room, they said their goodbyes. And Gajeel and Juvia went to their respective rooms. Juvia sat on her bed and sighed sadly, looking out the window.
