The next day everyone was on the train heading to the city of Tirith, five hours from Magnolia. Natsu was feeling sick, as in costume, and the group was formed by Erza, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Ryker, Wendy had gone on another mission, she was doing a lot of it lately.
"What kind of mission is this Erza?" Gray asked.
"As Mira gave me this job last night, I didn't have time to say what it was about. Well, apparently a group of bandits has been causing trouble in the city of Tirith. Our mission is to end them," she said with her arms and legs crossed.
Lucy made an expression of defeat.
"What is it, Lucy?" Gray asked, noticing his friend's expression.
"It's just that she knows that a reward is going to be used to fix the damage you're going to cause," Happy said, raising his paw. Lucy immediately hit her on the head with a fist in an angry expression.
"And how am I going to pay the rent if every time the reward is used to fix the damage!?", Lucy screamed and cried.
"When we get back, we can help you with a simple job to pay your rent, as before," Titania said shaking her head at, already confirming that there will be damage in the city.
"Say it for yourself," Gray snapped, looking at her and frowning.
"You too, Gray! You and Natsu are the ones who do the most damage," Lucy called out to her friend. He just responded with a grimace of indignation. "What about you!?", she said to Ryker, who was sitting alone on a bench across the hall. "Is it the destructive type too?"
He smirked and looked at her. "I can't guarantee anything." Lucy's expression of defeat only deepened further.
Erza looked at him seriously and curiously, he returned the look with the same intensity. They enlightened wizards staring at each other for some time, the others perceive and perceived exchanging glances between them. It seemed that a tense atmosphere had formed in the place.
"I think they like each other," Happy says happily, holding back his laugh. Ryker and Erza cast a demonic look at the cat, which immediately shut him up.
"Well done," Lucy said to the blue cat.
"After all, what is your magic?", Erza asked him.
He reached out to them and in his palm he created a sphere of bright blue light. "I think I can say that I manipulate energy. I create spheres or bursts, and they explode. Basically that and a few more things."
Everyone looked at a ball of light in his hand, it was not a very common type of magic, and this cheered them up, it is always good to have a diversity of spells in a guild and how one of them would make a difference for a guild and for missions.
"It's very beautiful," Lucy said looking at a sphere.
"We saw you wearing it a little bit on our last mission. I'm looking forward to seeing it in real combat," Erza said excitedly.
"If I'm going to use it ... I don't always use it this way," he said as he undid his energy ball.
"What do you mean?" Gray asked, puzzled.
"Well, sometimes I just use my energy to punch my opponents. Blowing them up depends on the situation".
"Of course. You're also a fan of hand-to-hand combat," the redhaired magician said looking at him.
Ryker returned the look. "You are very perceptive, Erza. You're not an ordinary person, I bet things that others haven't noticed yet, are you?" The redhaired magician just smiled in response and he returned it with another singing smile.
Happy had his paw in his mouth watching a conversation, and they were preparing to speak, while he was scolded by the blonde. "If you want to live, don't even think about it ...". Happy then he shut up.
The rest of the trip went smoothly. There were only occasional conversations about trivial things, past missions, past stories, gossip and curiosities. The five hours went by quickly.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! What a relief to be out of that train!" said a very relieved fire wizard, as he set foot on the platform at Tirith station.
"Hold back, head fire!" replied an ice magician who was very uncomfortable with his friend's attitude.
"Shut up, snow head, you don't know how awful it is," the pink-haired magician replies with a defiant face to the other.
"Be still, you two!", an imposing voice made them quiet in an instant and even embraced in the friendliest way possible.
"It's always the same," a tearful and disappointed blonde magician says. The blue cat just agrees. "These two are hopeless," he said.
"And now? What's the plan?", Lucy asks Erza.
Before she can answer, Natsu intervenes. "I'm hungry! Of course, we should eat."
"We all are, but we must find the customer first", a redhaired magician replies imposing herself. Natsu just complains, and folds his arms in indignation.
"Who's the customer, anyway?" Gray asks.
"The mission was officially requested, so it is the local government. We must go to the city hall and find the mayor," Erza replies.
"So what are we waiting for?", Everyone looked at Ryker. "The sooner we get this sorted out the faster we can get something to eat," he said with a straight face. Everyone agreed and left.
They walked through the city, which was large and busy. There were many office buildings and banks and brokerages. It was clearly a commercial city, a financial center for the entire region, a lot of money went through that place and high values were negotiated. They could not deny the strength that that city presented, chic shops, bars and restaurants that they could not even dream of entering. The city smelled of money and the buildings and architecture reflected that well. It was a city with beautiful buildings and clean, tree-lined and spacious streets. People were also reflecting what a city was, all very well dressed and, apparently, in a hurry, as they were always late for their appointments.
Upon reaching a city hall, they were met by the mayor. A man of average height, in his 40's and slender. He looked good and showed himself to be a serious person with good intentions. He was surrounded by advisers and trade representatives from local industries.
"Are you the magicians that were sent to us?", the mayor said sitting at his desk in the office, luxurious by the way.
"Yes, we are mages from Fairy Tail," Erza replied cordially. "We came for the request that was sent to our culprit. Apparently they are in trouble with bandits. Could you give us more details?"
The mayor, his aides, and the representatives looked at each other and had a small meeting around the boss's table. "Are you Erza Scarlet, Titania? Right?", He asked, Erza confirmed.
"Very well. We have these thugs that have been attacking us for some time. As you can see when they were coming here, our city is very dynamic and our main focus is on financial services. So a lot of money circulates here, both coming and going. And it is precisely at this moment that these bandits attack us. We try to face them alone, but I believe that they know how to use magic, because our molds were not able to do anything ".
"Are they mages then?" Asked Lucy.
"I can't say that they all are, but surely some of them do have magic," the mayor replied. He gave the speach to the boss of city security.
"We tried to track them down, but we were unsuccessful. They covered their tracks very well."
"Do they have an attack pattern?", Ryker said suddenly.
The security chief looked at him and replied. "They always see from the north side of the city. There is a forest in that area, and the Central Bank, from where all the money comes and goes is not far from there. The attacks are coordinated. They know what they are doing. We try to change the schedules, the methods, the security personnel and even increasing the number of employees, but nothing worked "
"Got it," Ryker said with his arms crossed thoughtfully.
"Can they be hiding in the forest?" Gray asked
"We searched it, but we found nothing suspicious. It is not such a big forest, it would not be very smart to hide there," the head of security replied.
"Are you aware of how many thugs there are?", Erza asked.
Everyone looked at each other. "It is difficult to say. It is never an exact number, but it is always around 10 to 15 members. But the chief is always with them," the mayor said.
"How do you know that the chief is with them?", the redhaired magician said.
"After the questions whenever we ask the security guards and make the sketch. One always stood out, and the security guards identified him as being commanded the action", the head of security affirmed.
"Can you provide us with this portrait?", the magician Requip asked.
"Sure," said the chief safely as he opened a folder and took out a piece of paper and handed the magician over. She took a good look at the image. What she saw was a person with strong features and a cold stare, long straight hair with a scar on his left cheek and stubble.
"Please catch them. We are suffering a lot because of the business in the city. They have already suffered a lot. Many customers are looking for other safer places", was the murmur of the representatives who were present.
"Don't worry, we'll get them," Erza said confidently.
"When's the next harvest or cash delivery?", Ryker asked suddenly.
"Huh !? Ah yes! The day after tomorrow, the afternoon", the mayor said
"Probably the bad guys are going to act, so we'll be ready this day," he said with conviction and then gave everyone a serious look. "Now! Don't expect there to be no damage to the city's structure," which scared everyone and surprised his guildmates. "If there are wizards on the other side, this is inevitable, chosen warned. But, we will take the necessary steps so that the damage is minimum," he said as he headed out of the mayor's office.
Everyone in the meeting looked a little scared and confused. "Well ... I think it's inevitable when magicians fight. But make sure minimum damage," the mayor said in resignation.
"We will guarantee," Erza replied, and the magicians chose the meeting and the city hall. Now they needed to formulate an action plan, but first they looked for a restaurant that they could afford. It cost but found.
Everyone was eating, but Natsu was looking like an animal, which impressed Ryker, who couldn't help looking at the Dragon Slayer with his mouth slightly open, until someone called him.
"Hey Ryker," called Lucy, and he turned to her. "Why did you say that to the mayor?"
"That what?" he replied.
"About having damage in the city," she said with a look of curiosity. And in fact everyone had the same question in their heads, and they turned to him to see the answer, including Natsu who stopped eating just to hear what he had to say.
"Every battle leaves damage, especially in the middle of a town. They are stupid for not knowing it. I just warned them before they complained about anything," he said quietly. The others were already turning their attention to other things, until he added something. "Besides ... this is the second time that you have complained about using part of the reward for repairs, because of the damage that is caused. So you don't have to worry about losing your reward, as they have been warned."
The other magicians were surprised by his attitude, especially Lucy, who was deeply happy for the gesture. Nobody had ever thought to say that, which would make things much simpler. Lucy even blushed.
"T ... thanks," she said awkwardly.
"He likes her," Happy said. Ryker immediately grabbed him and the launcher around the restaurant, while the cat screamed for help from his best friend.
As soon as everyone finished eating, they went to find a hotel and rent rooms during their stay. Lucy, Natsu and Gray went ahead and Erza and Ryker behind.
"You are no ordinary wizard, either," Erza said, looking sideways at his companion.
"Yeah, maybe," he replied, looking at the mage beside him.
"Those questions you asked ... until I didn't think about it."
"Yes, you did. I just made them first than you. You are an analytical magician Erza, you can tell. You are the type who analyzes the situation, the senarios and the opponents. You are very intelligent and a natural leader", he said looking to the mage.
Erza smiled and blushed at the same time. "What do you think of this whole situation? I know you must have something in mind."
Ryker put his hands in his pockets and made a thoughtful face. "They are probably not a big deal. Well, they are sure of themselves, using the same procedure over and over again, and that will be an advantage for us. But, the fact that the number is different in each action taken may, indicate that the flock is bigger and they use a certain amount of target-dependent labor ".
"That's what I thought, too," Erza said seriously. "Do you have a plan?"
"I have some ideas, but I need a map of this city".
"What are you thinking of doing?", She said.
"Hmm! What do you think about cornering when taking them into the city and then leading them to a more open area?", He said looking at the redhaired magician.
"It looks like a good plan," she replied, with a smile. "And how are we going to do that?"
"I'm working on it," he said and looked at her. "You are very curious about what I think of this mission."
Erza just gives him a smile. "I want to know how do you think."
"You really are different. You would get along really well where I came from," he said with a slight singing smile.
The two watched as they walked, it seemed that both were analyzing each other, wanting to understand and discover what they hid through their appearances. He could not help noticing the strong and imposing posture of the girl beside him, a true warrior, but she also showed an innocent, sweet, friendly air and great kindness.
She, on the other hand, noticed his softer posture, as long as he met, his eyes were milder and his face less strained, but his bearing was still that of a fighter always ready for the fight and attentive to every movement.
"Tomorrow we will have an almost free day, well, more or less," he said looking away from Erza.
"We will have to analyze the plan and check the area that we are going to attack them on. Do some field reconnaissance," she added. He agreed, nodding his head.
"I'm going to look for a map of this city after we find a hotel. As soon as we get back, we'll meet in the hotel's lounge or in one of the rooms and discuss the plan.
"Combined".
After a while looking for them, finally, a suitable hotel. They ended up climbing two rooms, one for the boys, which was worse, and the other for the girls, which was better. As Ryker had said, he went to look for a map, but he didn't get very far. In hotel of its own had maps of the entire city. They decided to meet in the girls' room in two hours, long enough to bathe and rest just before the meeting. After this time, the boys went to the other room, which was a few doors ahead on the other side of the corridor.
Erza explained the plan that she and Ryker were discussing earlier. And with the map in hand they could complement it and define how to do it and where to take the fight.
"So you want to corner them and lead them to this square?", Says Gray moves to a square near the supposed place where the bandits would invade the city.
"Yes, I think it is the best option," Ryker replies.
"And how exactly would we do that? I mean, it won't be easy to get them where we want to be. They can perceive and run away or do something else," the ice wizard replies by crossing his arms and clenching like eyebrows.
"Roofs," Erza says suddenly.
"What !?", he says puzzled.
"We are going to stay on the roofs and use our spells to guide them. If we move accordingly, we can make it happen," she says confidently and with sparkles in her eyes.
Ryker looks at her, "It can work. But we have to position ourselves correctly and the movements must be coordinated. It will be as if we are taking a herd for slaughter."
"Don't talk like that!", Lucy said comically, with a drop of sweat on her head. "But, this is going to be very complicated. It will require a lot of concentration and cooperation. And I'm not sure if these two work together," a blonde concerns Gray and Natsu.
"What !?", the fire wizard screams indignantly. "Of course, I can work as a team. It's just that ice cream doesn't get in the way. In fact, I can end these idiots alone," he says triumphantly and gives a hearty burst of fire in his throat.
"You don't think it's going to be so easy, asshole. Those shits aren't as stupid as you are!", Gray returns.
"GRAY! NATSU!", Erza summons them both and they both shut up immediately, eliciting a laugh from Lucy and Happy, but a disapproving look from Ryker.
"As the case may be, this mission is a team effort and must be completed as such," the new member says in a firm voice. "And we need to be precise. Remember, no damage to the city." He looks hard and seriously at Natsu and Gray, "I don't care about your stupid feud, but in the middle of the fight we will forget about this shit, and I need your precision. No excesses. Do we understand !?", he says firmly.
The two look at him and realize his threatening aura, which makes them think he looks like Erza, and it scares them - comically. "Yes sir!", They say at the same time.
Ryker smirks. "Very well. We're going to need to get along, so Erza I think you can define who's going to stay where, right? Since you've known them the longest," he says, turning to the redhaired wizard. He realizes that she is flushed, but he does not take into account, it must be the heat.
"Ah ... yes, of course. Natsu, you are at the entrance to the city, here," she says showing a point on the map. "How do you have the best senses of all of us, when you realize that they are coming to give us a signal and stay in the rear".
"Okay," he says, clapping his fists together with fire.
"I'm going to stay here," she says, choosing for a part of the map showing an intersection on the avenue. "I will prevent them from going to the wrong place. Gray you stay here," he says, showing the place at another point. He nods.
"So Lucy and I are going to stay on this avenue that goes straight to the park and be ultimately responsible for driving, the rookie ends.
"And when do they launch in the park? What will we do?" Lucy asks.
An evil smile appears on Ryker. "Then the fun begins ...". Everyone looks at him, and Gray and Natsu smile too. "We are going to surround them and end their race", finally finishes the rookie.
"Very well, I think we better rest now. Tomorrow, in the morning, we will go to the site and analyze the terrain and refine the plan," Erza said.
Everyone finally went back to their rooms, that is to say, just the boys, waiting for what the day would bring.