Happy seems to be loving the attention and cheering, but the same can't be said for me. The town is creepy enough by itself, the last thing I need right now is to deal with what crazies could be lurking between the villagers.
Natsu almost immediately remembers about my little paranoia. "Can you show what was attacked?" he asks, "The request wasn't very specific."
"Of course, right this way," he responds as he begins pulling away from everyone.
The people part to let us through. I do my best not to show my anxiety as I walk (more like speed-walk) away from the group. Happy follows after me immediately, but Natsu pauses for a moment. His nose twitches and his eyes scan the crowd before following me as well.
I shoot Natsu a grateful smile for earlier. He grins right back and continues to follow the old man. Happy is gliding beside him. I'll pay him back somehow. Probably with a free lunch or something.
I clear my throat. "So... Uh... What exactly are these 'beasts' the bulletin mentioned?" I hate it when job requests are vague. It's one of the main reasons we keep getting into trouble. That, or Natsu doesn't let me see the poster before we leave.
The mayor abruptly stops walking, but remains silent. We look up at the old man expectantly. He sighs. "It's not important. " We glance at each other; he's being evasive; that's never a good sign. "But I will say this: they used to be your ordinary everyday crows." He motions toward a large field and we turn in that direction.
"They're huge!" Happy exclaims, and he's not exaggerating.
The things are taller than humans. There seem to be three distinct types. Ones that have three giant red eyes and are the darkest, others that have fours wings and are the largest, and the scariest of all have two beaks, one stacked on top of the other filled with razor sharp teeth, and have claws bigger than our heads. For now they seem to be ignoring us and are just picking through the remnants of some mutilated strawberries the size of dinner plates.
My mouth drops open in surprise. "Wha- How-..." I'm at a loss for words. If we had given these birds a couple more days they'd be as big as dragons and dragon-sized crows are not something I want to face.
My partner studies the situation for less than a minute before saying, "So all we have to do is chase off these crows and we get our reward?" That's Natsu for you, always straight to the point.
"But Natsu," Happy pipes up, "They might be tough. They sure look it."
"Don't worry Happy! Me and Shae can handle them." He pumps his fist into the air to show that he's ready for anything. "Right?" He asks as he looks toward me. The mayor looks pleased. I'm not.
I hesitate. Inwardly I agree with Happy, but outwardly I say, "Y-yeah!" It's almost like I feel ashamed to disagree with him. Sometimes I wonder if I'm too insecure for this line of work. "No worries!"
"Then let's do this!" He yells before charging into the middle of the group and using his breath attack, which sends several of the crows crashing into the far away fence. The impact knocks them out. If they weren't paying attention to us before, they sure are now. They leave behind their meal to gather around Natsu.
Turns out these things aren't as tough as they look. I run to meet up with Natsu, feeling more confident now. I have to fight my way through the group of beasts.
I've infused my limbs with magic. This is my usual method of fighting since it uses up the least of amount of energy. Kicking and punching, I make my way toward my partner. Once beside him we shift so we're back to back and staring at about the same number of fiends.
"The usual?" I ask.
His grin grows larger. "The usual," he agrees. On the count of three we each take off in the direction we're facing and being fighting the crows there.
Natsu and I have this little game we play. It's not much, but it keeps us entertained during the easier missions. We sometimes have a contest to see who can take out more enemies. For the sake of fairness we don't use any attacks expect enhanced power in our limbs. Natsu favors his arms and I favour my legs, so I kick while he punches.
It takes a little bit (there are a lot of crows) but we finally finish. In the end they only looked scary, and were push overs when we actually fought. Lucky for us.
"I got 16!" I call out, pleased with myself. "How'd you do?"
"21!" He calls back. I frown as he give me a thumbs up. I lost. Again.
He runs over to Happy and they high-five each other. I grudgingly walk up to them. Even though I lose every single time, it stills annoys me. It shouldn't, but it does.
Natsu gives me a pat on the back. "You've gotten better!" I stick my tongue out in response. He laughs.
The mayor walks up to us, followed by the rest of the town. I take a step away from them. "Well done! Marvellous!" he exclaims happily. The villagers echo him.
"It was easy," Natsu states with a grin. "Happy to help." Happy and me nod in agreement.
"So..." I begin, as I stare at the villagers suspiciously, "How did ordinary crows get so big? And mutated, let's not forget mutated." They start to fidget and mutter amongst themselves.
"Natural mutation?" Happy suggests. "Growth magic? Weird chemicals?" Growth magic seems the most possible, but unlikely. It's a mostly useless type of magic that practically no one uses, not to be confused with Giant Magic which increases strength as well as size. How could it benefit these villagers? Unless... I open my mouth to say something, but Natsu beats me to it.
"You used it on your strawberries didn't you?" He questions, more like states. They shoot glances at each other. "That's the funny thing I was smelling earlier."
You-", he points to a grouchy-looking man near the left side of the crowd, "are the one who handled the magic. I can smell it all over you."
The man in question steps forward. He glares at us before saying, "Look, we may be in your debt for getting rid of those damn beasts, but what we do here is none of your business." His tone is snarky and defensive.
"But magic can't transfer like this," Our flying partner states.
"Then it isn't real magic," I contribute.
Natsu sniffs the air. Now that the source is separated from everyone else he can focus better. "Smells like... A potion."
The mayor cuts him off by walking toward us with a bag of money. He shoves it into my hands and turns me around to face the town's exit. "As mayor of Mundane Town," he starts, "I would like to formally thank you for what you have done. Here is your reward, the 15 000 as promised and an extra 5 000 for how quickly you took care of the problem." He pauses his speech and bows along with the rest of them. After he straightens up, he continues, "Now if you would be so kind as to leave the premises. We have a lot to prepare before the next market."
The giant man ushers us to the gate. He gives Natsu and me a slight shove and closes (slams) the doors behind us.
I take it upon myself to split up the money, and quickly finish the job. I hand Natsu his share, which he takes gladly. Natsu got 9 000 Jewels and I got 11 000; after all, he stills owes me for lunch earlier.
One train ride later, we're back in Magnolia. In the end, the job took less than a day. It's about seven in the evening now so most people are eating dinner. I hear some stomachs growl behind me. I raise an eyebrow at Happy and Natsu.
"How can you possibly still have room?" I question. "You ate enough food for six people!"
"But that was hours ago!" Natsu retorts. "And fighting all those crows made me hungry."
My mouth forms a small "O" as I remembered that I told myself I would treat Natsu for helping me out earlier. "Fine," I say. Their faces light up. "But I get to choose the place." They nod eagerly. The corner of my mouth twitches into a small smile.
"It's this way." I turn down several streets, each narrower than the other, until we reach a small restaurant.
I first found this place on a stormy day when I needed some shelter and couldn't get back to the guild in time to avoid the torrential downpour.
"It's small," Happy states. He's right. It's hardly bigger than the average apartment and looks less inviting. "Did we make a wrong turn?" He looks in the direction we just came from as if to try to figure out where we strayed off course.
I shake my head. "This is the place."
"Awesome!" Natsu exclaims before bursting in through the doors. The sign above them rattles. The "K" from "Knightly" falls off.
Happy still looks uncertain but follows after his friend, leaving me alone outside. I'm the last to go in and I realize that if I wait any longer they might order everything on the menu. With those thoughts in mind I rush inside.
I spot Natsu and Happy sitting at a window booth. Walking over to them I take a look around. This place hasn't changed a bit; though there might be an extra layer of dust since last time. It's still as empty as ever. The only other costumer is a man in his thirties and he looks like he's drunk.
I sit down opposite of Natsu and pick up a menu. Him and Happy as discussing what they're going to order. It sounds like a lot.
"Don't order too much," I inform them while I look over the menu.
Natsu looks at me over the top of his menu. "Why?" He questions.
"I'm treating."
A huge smile spreads over Happy's face. "Really?" he questions as his tail wags back and forth.
"Yup." I place my menu back on the table. I'll just order what I ordered last time I was here.
The teen gets a confused look on his face. "But I've got money now. You don't have to."
I shrug nonchalantly. "Well... I owe you for earlier." I wave my hand to signal the only waitress over. She practically skips over to us.
"What can I get you?" she asks in an oddly fake voice. We tell her our orders.
I notice that Natsu and Happy restrained themselves and made sure to order less than they usually would. I also notice that the waitress keeps eyeing Natsu. My lips get tugged down into a frown.
I realize what I just did and force my face back to an emotionless state. Why would I be bothered by this? The waitress comes back with our food so I shake the thoughts out of my head. Right now it's time to eat and enjoy a job well done.