"This beautiful lady is?"
Ichiya stepped forward and spoke, asking Erza.
"Ah? Erza."
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Erza was a bit confused as she answered.
"Hello, Miss Erza. I am Ichiya, born for you—shining!"
The Ichiya who had been acting normal just a moment ago suddenly struck a strange pose and made an odd expression, as if he were trying to act cool.
"…Gah!"
After freezing for a moment, Erza shuddered all over.
At that instant, Erza finally understood what "going numb" felt like. She immediately slid behind Moen, only peeking out her head as she watched that inexplicable man with vigilance.
"Y-you, what are you trying to do?"
Erza asked with a guarded expression.
"…"
Seeing Erza clinging behind Moen, holding onto his arm and only revealing her head, Ichiya was also stunned for a moment.
"I see. My apologies."
After that brief pause, Ichiya immediately bowed in apology. Judging from his expression, he seemed to have understood something. This man already in his thirties began winking repeatedly at Moen.
"…"
Moen was speechless. This Blue Pegasus… truly a group of "eccentric geniuses," always managing to pull off something that made people's vision go dark.
Erza was still completely confused, not understanding what Ichiya was doing or why he suddenly started apologizing.
Ichiya, however, acted decisively and shifted his gaze to Mirajane nearby.
"Whoosh!"
Before Ichiya could even speak, Mirajane had already darted to the other side behind Moen, likewise only revealing her head as she watched Ichiya with vigilance.
"…Huh?"
Ichiya froze, unable to stop himself from letting out a puzzled sound. The way he looked at Moen gradually filled with astonishment.
"As expected of the Rose Star, as expected of Fairy Tail's youngest S-Class Mage. Moen, I concede."
Looking at Moen, Ichiya spoke sincerely. These were his true feelings. If before he had only been amazed by Moen's strength, now Ichiya was completely convinced, this kid was truly extraordinary!
"…"
Moen remained silent. Never had he felt so speechless. What exactly had this guy conceded about?!
"Let's go, Ichiya."
Makarov called out to him, telling him to lead the way.
"Yes, Master Makarov."
Seeing that both beautiful ladies already seemed to have someone, Ichiya immediately left decisively and led Makarov to find Bob and Goldmine.
"That guy is really strange."
After Ichiya left, Mirajane spoke, complaining a little. She felt somewhat relieved, fortunately she had moved quickly, otherwise that guy might have "shined" at her too. Just thinking about it made her feel a chill; it was truly a bit painful to look at.
Looking at Erza beside her, who seemed to feel uncomfortable all over, Mirajane thought it was fortunate Moen was there. Otherwise, if that guy had latched onto her, even Erza would probably have found it hard to deal with.
"Actually… Ichiya isn't really a bad person."
Moen said helplessly. His words were quite fair. Although Ichiya looked unreliable, he was actually a decent person. Over these past few days, Moen had noticed some of that.
Ichiya often showed favor toward young women, but if the other party already had a boyfriend or clearly liked someone else, he would not continue pestering them. In fact, even his so-called pestering had limits and would not make people feel truly offended—at most, they would just find him a bit annoying.
And that sense of "annoyance" was also largely tied to Ichiya's rather "unfortunate" appearance. If he looked like the other members of Blue Pegasus handsome men and beautiful women,he probably would not be nearly as disliked.
Appearance really does affect many aspects of a person, after all it forms the first impression others have.
"No matter what, suddenly acting like that is still a bit scary. It's too impolite."
Erza had calmed down and spoke with some dissatisfaction. But she really had no way to deal with someone like Ichiya. After all, he had observed all proper etiquette and had not crossed any lines, you could not just beat someone up over that.
"Don't worry. He definitely won't act like that toward you again."
Moen shook his head with a smile. Although it was a misunderstanding, judging from Ichiya's reaction, he certainly would not try that again with Erza and Mirajane. It could be considered solving a problem for the two girls.
"…"
Erza and Mirajane both fell silent. They had also gradually realized that Ichiya's sudden change earlier seemed to be due to some kind of misunderstanding.
"Moen, is this monster tide really that terrifying?"
Mirajane spoke, changing the subject. Unlike Erza, she had not suddenly "heated up" like a kettle about to boil, emitting steam—who knew what that girl had been thinking.
In fact, Mirajane had already noticed that Erza was not very "pure" at all, often inexplicably "heating up."
In order to better understand her rival, Mirajane had been asking around about this, though she had not yet found the reason.
"If it were normal combat, then yes, it would indeed be quite terrifying. There are simply too many monsters, and all kinds of strange ones. Just imagine, if a bunch of monsters like those on Tenrou Island rushed out, how frightening would that be?"
Moen explained.
Although he had stopped the first wave of the beast tide, he had no intention of underestimating the Nord Forest beast tide.
It was only because it was Moen. If it were anyone else facing that tide, they would have no choice but to flee in a sorry state. This was not something an individual's strength could stop.
"Hiss~"
Moen's description made both Erza and Mirajane freeze for a moment, and the two could not help but shiver. If a whole group of monsters like those on Tenrou Island rushed over, they would only have the option to run as well.
"Moen! Come quickly! There really is a meeting!"
The three were chatting when Bacchus returned, bringing with him notice of a meeting, it was a conference convened by the Magic Council.
"Let's go take a look."
Moen nodded and brought Erza and Mirajane along. He had already known that a strategy meeting might be held.
By the time Moen and the others arrived, everyone was already more or less present. However, without Moen, the meeting could not begin, Moen was now just that important.
"Alright, everyone is here. Let's discuss how the forces should be deployed."
The one presiding over this meeting was Councilor Org, representing the Magic Council, while Yajima could only assist from the side.
"Mr. Moen's Wall of Ishgar can it really not withstand the next impact?"
Someone spoke first, and judging from the tone, it was clear that he had already been completely convinced by Moen's "Crystal Wall."
Moen looked toward the speaker, a smile appearing on his face.
The one speaking was the master of a mage guild from the northern part of the continent—a burly man dressed in a very wild manner, a powerful mage known as the "Wrath of the North."
When he first arrived, this man had doubted the "Crystal Wall" and was very unconvinced, insisting on challenging it.
And the result went without saying, one only needed to look at the bandages still wrapped around the right hand of this "Wrath of the North," Rastun.
After that challenge, although his right hand had been quite badly injured, Rastun had clearly become convinced of Moen's strength and was full of confidence in that "Crystal Wall."
"I don't know, but we need to make preparations. If he doesn't hold it, we must also withstand the impact of the monsters."
Org's expression changed slightly after being interrupted, then he explained to Rastun. He did not place his hopes on Moen's "Crystal Wall." He believed the second wave would definitely be stronger than the first, and that Moen would not be able to withstand it. In the end, it would still be up to their allied mage forces to cover for it.
"That's true, we should prepare in advance."
Rastun nodded and did not question further. Whether they would be needed or not, making preparations beforehand was never a bad idea.
Moen, of course, had no objections to this either.
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