Chapter 19

"I'll get you this time!" cried Lieutenant Furick, lowering his club to Wendy.

"SKY DRAGON'S FIST!" cried Wendy, brandishing her fist forward to block Furick's weapon.

And despite using all his strength, the man in front of her grunted as he realized he couldn't lower his gun any further.

"No, not yet!"

Finally throwing his club to the side, Wendy wrapped her arms with wind.

"SKY DRAGON'S WING!"

Hit hard by her attack, Furick was ejected into the air, before crashing outside the training ground where he was.

"Wendy's victory!" said one soldier, when he saw his superior being knocked out.

"Fifteen games!" muttered Furick, getting up with difficulty. "And fifteen straight losses! Am I supposed to be humiliated by a common soldier for the rest of my career?"

"You're much stronger and faster than before!" suddenly said Wendy, moving towards him. "The hard training you put yourself through is paying off!"

"Tsss! Shut up!" ordered the lieutenant, picking up his club. "I feel like you feel sorry for me!"

As he was leaving, he cried out:

"Keep practicing, soldier! The day I'm fit to do this, I want to beat you to the best of your ability!"

"Yes, lieutenant!" Wendy assured.

"No, but who's that little girl, at the end?" wanted to know a soldier who had watched the game. "Furick didn't even manage to scratch her in fifteen games!"

"Yeah, and it's the same with all the others! No one here is fit to fight Wendy but Seryu!"

"In that case, it's better for Wendy not to fight her! One wrong word and she could get eaten by her dog! I don't know how she can stay with her!"

"Haven't you heard? I hear she's the one who's starting to lecture her all the time! Since she's been with her, Seryu keeps coming to the prisons to deposit the juvenile delinquents she's captured! Now she only kills those who committed crimes!"

"Seriously? She's not a psychopath anymore?"

"Wendy!" cried a cheerful voice, which froze the two soldiers.

Suddenly arriving to the girl, Seryu put her arm around Wendy's shoulders, before putting a paper in front of her nose.

"We did it! Our justice has been recognized!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Wendy asked her, taking the paper, before reading it.

Immediately, the shock showed on her face, as soon as she read 'We are happy to announce' and 'General Esdeath's new elite group'.

"Is this... Is this a joke?"

Walking merrily, as she had just entered the imperial palace, Seryu was almost singing while Koro walked next to her, and Wendy found herself trailing behind, still having trouble understanding what was going to happen.

"I'm going to work for General Esdeath? One of the most powerful people in this empire? Is he a Night Raid target? What should I do on my own?"

"I will work under the orders of the great general Esdeath!" Seryu rejoices. "It's like a dream come true!"

"Eh, do you have any information about our future teammates?"

"Only about one person!" Informed Seryu. "Precisely, we'll see him!"

"Who is he?" Wanted to know Wendy, when she saw Seryu suddenly enter a room.

Upon entering the room, Wendy noticed that it contained a huge laboratory where huge vats of liquids could be seen everywhere, while metal pieces covered the floor and tables of the room.

"What is this place?"

"It's my lab!" a voice behind her back told her.

Turning around, Wendy saw a man behind her holding a piece of paper in his hand. Reading it, he finally threw it away, saying:

"No, the result of this experiment isn't good enough! It's not worthy of my beauty!"

"Who are you?"

"It's the fabulous Dr. Stylish!" Inform Seryu. "He's the one who made my bionic arms! And did even more than that! He too is a vigilante as well as the greatest genius on this planet!"

"Oh, Seryu, you flatter me!" said Stylish, in a vain voice, while passing a hand through his hair.

Then staring at Wendy, he said:

"And you must be Wendy, whom Seryu keeps telling me about!"

Looking at her from every angle for a few moments, he sighed before declaring:

"No, I'm not interested in your body at all! You don't have the necessary qualities for my talent to improve your style!"

"Huh?" Wendy wondered.

"Is he a pervert?"

"Doctor, are you ready? We should be in the conference room by now!"

"Beauty knows how to make you wait!" said the man. "As they often say, the best is for last! By the way, I guess you must be happy to be part of this group, since our mission will be to fight Night Raid!"

Smiling gloomily, Seryu suddenly grabbed a knife and put it behind his head. Cutting off a large part of her hair, which fell on Koro, she said:

"Last time we met; I couldn't finish the job! Nevertheless, I'm going to change in order to become stronger! Thus, justice will triumph!"

"Perfect!" assured Stylish. "After all, we must never forget that the bandits are only the vermin of this country! They have no beauty and it is natural to see them perish! That's how I taught you to treat your enemies, Seryu!"

Hearing him, Wendy cast a suspicious glance at him, seeing that she was already against the desire to work with him.

"What kind of way is that to think? It's even creepier than Seryu's justice before I met her!"

"You won't get my sweets!" Kurome said, protecting her last ones with her arms.

"Who are these guys?" Wanted to know Wave, as he tried to greet the girl. "First a man with a mask that could scare anyone and now a paranoid girl! Who's next?"

Suddenly, the door of the meeting room opened, and Seryu and Koro were seated in front of it, while each member of the duo saluted militarily.

"Good day to all! I've been reassigned from the capital's defense forces! I'm Seryu and he's Koro!"

"A normal person?" Wave wondered.

Nevertheless, his hope was short-lived, when he saw the girl throwing rose petals in front of the entrance of the room. Taking advantage of the fact that the petals were falling around him, Stylish entered the room and said:

"First impressions are important! And even more so for an elegant man like me!"

"Who's that weirdo?" Wanted to know Wave.

"Oh, but what do I see?" Wanted to know Stylish, examining Wave. "Here is a most remarkable specimen which can become even more beautiful with my talent!"

"Is he interested in me, too? I want to get out of here!"

"Uh... Hell... Hello!"

Trying to appear confident, Wendy entered the room, but couldn't help but babble a little as she introduced herself.

This time, seeing Wendy at the front door, Wave couldn't help but say:

"What is a child doing here? It can't be! I'm in the wrong room! Where can I find the members of the task force?"

"Uh... no, I'm also one of your teammates!" Wendy assured, trying to hide her shyness.

Suddenly, seeing Bols staring at her under his mask, Wendy seemed frightened by his face, and just sat down at full speed, as Wave had done, seeing that Bols was going to work with her.

Sitting near Kurome, she saw him continuing to eat her candy without paying attention to the newcomers. In fact, her presence strongly reminded her of Akame.

"A sword at her belt; black hair and an attraction for food! Even her smell resembles Akame's!"

"Good morning to you all!" cried Run, coming in his turn. "My name is Run, nice to meet you."

"A real normal person!" Wave remarked, taking her hand before shaking it.

As Wendy was about to imitate him, she saw a glass of tea being placed in front of her, while Bols said:

"I... I made some tea, if you're interested!"

Putting the glasses on the table, he said:

"I'm sorry I haven't said anything before, I'm very nervous and I'm not very comfortable with strangers! Sorry if I have to behave like this!"

"He's like me!" Wendy understood, noting that she was the only one from Fairy Tail to have inherited this personality. "I don't want to make fun of his but his body doesn't match his character at all!"

"Actually, I'm Bols, from the cremation crew! And if you want to know more about me, I especially love cooking, and even though I'm a soldier ready to obey orders, I'm not a big fan of combat!"

Hearing this, Wendy suddenly began to shake her hands, before she almost felt like crying.

"At last! I had to go to another world to meet someone with a personality similar to mine! He might be my counterpart in this world!"

Opening then, the door of room left place to a masked woman, who shouted:

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Hm?" said Wave, advancing towards her. "We have been called for a special mission!"

Wave kicked himself backwards, and had no time to defend himself.

"Letting your guard down is tantamount to wanting to get yourself killed!" said the stranger, then running towards Run.

Trying to give her several kicks, she seemed surprised to see her dodge them without much difficulty.

"Hmm, here's one less clumsy than the others!"

"Wendy, let's go!"

"Okay, let's go!"

"Huh?" the masked woman wondered as she turned around.

"VERNIER!" cried Wendy then.

Surrounded by two spheres of wind, Seryu's feet propelled her at full speed towards the enemy. Thinking that she had the bad idea of attacking her head-on, she was surprised to see her jump over her, before landing behind her and pretending to attack her in the back. Throwing a punch, Seryu opened her eyes, when the stranger managed to grab her, placing her arm behind her back.

"How?"

Smiling behind her mask, her opponent turned on herself, taking Seryu with her, before dropping her. Fusing then, the soldier's body hit Koro's body, while her teigu came to help her, and Wendy.

Seeing this small world being put down, Kurome intervened in her turn and drew her sword, to hit the enemy in the face. Having barely enough time to step back to avoid being hurt, the latter affirmed, while part of her mask fell to the ground:

"Splendid! Behold, Yatsufusa!"

"General Esdeath?" wondered Bols, recognizing her face.

"What... What does that mean?" wondered Wave, as he rose to his feet.

"She put that man and Seryu down as if nothing had happened!" Wendy thought, seeing the young woman remove what was left of her mask. "She's strong! Her power level must be close to Erza's!"

"Could you stop fidgeting around?" wanted to know Stylish.

"Sorry!" excused Bols, loosening his tie, before redoing the collar of the luxurious suit he was wearing. "I'm not used to wearing this kind of clothing!"

"With this we look more like a group of bodyguards than anything else!" remarked Wendy. "I feel like we're going to a business dinner!"

Smiling, hearing that, Esdeath said:

"It is! We are going to a party, after our audience with his majesty!"

"What?" wondered Wave. "Wait, wait! First there was that strange test, in the meeting room! And now we're going to see the emperor? My God, that's too much in one day!"

"I admit it's a pretty fast schedule for a first day!" remarked Run.

"We'll just get rid of all the boring stuff quickly!" Esdeath explained.

"By the way, if I may say so, Esdeath-sama, there seems to have been a mistake in the information I heard about our group!" said Stylish.

"Hmm? What information?"

"I got wind that our group was going to be ten people! But there are only eight of us! Is that normal?"

"River, Daidara and Nyan!" said Esdeath. "These are the three people who should have been part of our group! Nevertheless, all three of them died a few days ago!"

"Huh?" Seryu wondered. "How could three elite warriors like them die?"

"That's strange!" Wendy remarked, making a quick calculation in her head. "With them, there would be eleven of us!"

"Yes, because you weren't originally planned in the team!" Esdeath confessed, staring at the child. "You are here to 'replace' those three!"

"Should I consider myself a spare tire?"

"I don't know, myself! According to your file, you have some interesting powers! You can control the wind and heal wounds... without teigu !"

"What?" Wave wondered, staring at Wendy. "Can she do that on her own?"

"Wendy is like a magician!" Seryu taught her, bringing the child closer to her. "Surely the gods gave her powers to bring about justice! These powers are great in battle!"

"I grant this point!" Esdeath confessed. "Wendy, you can most likely be very useful to our group and be a decisive support person!"

"In that case, why was she chosen last?" wanted to know Run.

"She's not made to kill people!" Esdeath explained, in a frustrated tone. "Now, our band will essentially fight Night Raid and killing them will surely happen frequently!"

Staring at Wendy with an icy stare, Esdeath said:

"I've finally taken you in, but I have no idea if it's a good or a bad idea!"

"In either case, should I feel honored to have been chosen to work under you?"

"Aren't you?"

"At the moment, I'm not thrilled about it anymore than that!"

Hearing this, the other members couldn't hide the surprise in their eyes, while Wendy had just expressed unhappiness with the promotion that Esdeath was offering her. Yet, instead of getting angry, she smiled and said:

"Well, I've rarely seen recruits with as much guts as you! Once you grow up, I wonder what you'll be!"

Then she stopped smiling and gave Wendy another frosty look, saying:

"When I'm not in a good mood, that kind of answer might upset me! So, it's better for you to know your limits immediately! Understood, Wendy?"

"Yes ... Esdeath-sama!" said the child, while mumbling the last part of her sentence.

Wanting to lighten the mood, Bols wanted to know:

"By the way, does our group have a name?"

"We need something beautiful to represent us!" said Stylish.

"We are a unique force in the army, charged with finding and eradicating groups of enemies from the empire! We will therefore be the special police unit known as the Jaegers!"

Entering a large hall, the Jaegers eventually found themselves surrounded by two lines of guards, perfectly aligned on the sides, while a throne faced them. Sitting on the throne was a young boy with a crown on his head and a scepter in his hand.

Just seeing this, Wendy understood:

"Is he the emperor? Then what the waiter told us the other day was true!"

Seeing Esdeath and the others begin to kneel in respect, Wendy quickly did the same, while her new superior said:

"Your highness, as you have asked me, I present to you here the people who will bring order to the city under my command and ensure the end of the Night Raid!"

"Well done, General Esdeath!" said the child, looking at the Jaegers in turn. "I am convinced that each one of them has an incredible potential to have attracted your ...!"

He then fell silent, staring at Wendy, and seemed surprised to see a child his age among Esdeath's group. Nevertheless, being himself the emperor, while being a simple child, he preferred to keep quiet, before declaring:

"I thank you all for protecting the empire and I congratulate you on your journey that has brought you here! Being here right now shows that you are exceptional soldiers! I hope, for all of you, that you will be able to stop the carnage that Night Raid has been organizing for the last few months, and that the capital can once again find peace!"

When Wendy heard this, she seemed surprised, while the emperor seemed to speak in all sincerity, with a smile that revealed neither lies, nor arrogance, nor avarice. It was as if he wanted good, while ignoring the identity of true evil.

"Is he a bit like Seryu?"

Yet, feeling a shadow behind the boy, Wendy dared to stare at the back of his seat, only to see a large silhouette move until she was next to the royal seat.

"Well, well, well! Looks like the new Esdeath team is formed!"

Biting into a piece of meat, Honest said:

"Hope these will do us better than your last soldiers on your last mission, my dear!"

Simply staring at Honest, with an icy gaze, Esdeath ends up smiling sadly at him before assuring him:

"You should watch your diet, dear prime minister! A heart problem happens so quickly... or even another little accident!"

Feeling an icy draught spreading throughout the room, no one dared to say a word, while Esdeath clearly demanded that Honest shouldn't say another word that would have the use of putting her down again.

"Is he the prime minister?" Wendy wondered. "Given his belly, he certainly doesn't suffer from money!"

Seeing him staring at Esdeath, he finally saw her begin to smile cruelly at her, while his eyes showed nothing but pure cruelty. Honestly, Wendy felt as if she saw a face to face with an ice dragon and a huge snake coming out of nowhere. Either way, both were terrifying in their own way.

"What the hell am I doing here? What the hell am I doing here? Natsu, come get me!" "