Chapter 105: The Speeding Big Cat
However, George didn't give up:
"Erza, precisely because you're the strongest here, you need to conserve your magic. If you exhaust most of your magic before we even find the Black Steel Forest guild, it will be a real problem."
"Don't worry. Even without magic, I'll fight to the end with a stick if I have to. Besides, we still have Natsu and Gray."
Erza's tone was firm.
Natsu, on the other hand, spat a flame into the air, his face filled with excitement:
"Hahaha, leave it to me, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail! I'll take them all down!"
"I'm the strongest mage in Fairy Tail!"
Gray casually opened his jacket, revealing his eight-pack abs.
"What did you say, you boring pervert?"
"Stupid flame boy, want to fight right here?"
"Fight it is! Let's settle this today!"
"I said, behave yourselves! As teammates, you should get along. How can you talk like this?"
Erza took off the wristband connected to the car and got out, delivering a punch to each of them, knocking them to the ground.
Seizing the opportunity, George flew into the driver's seat and said:
"Actually, while my strength is limited, my magic recovers very quickly. If there's really a problem, you can always switch with me later."
With his wizard bloodline, George's magic was essentially inexhaustible.
"But George, even if you can input magic, can you really drive? Your paws can't reach the steering wheel or the brakes."
Lucy quietly raised her hand.
George was a cat, only about 30 centimeters long. Even if he could wear the magic bracelet to input magic, he wouldn't be able to operate the magic car.
Unless George only provided the magic while someone else drove.
"That's not a big problem."
George clearly wanted to experience the joy of driving a magic car himself. A magic circle flashed above his head, and his cat body rapidly grew, transforming in an instant into a golden cat the size of a tiger.
He sat in the driver's seat, slipped the magic bracelet onto his wrist, placed his front paws on the steering wheel, and his hind paws easily reached the accelerator and brake.
"Happy, you're also a cat. How come the difference is so big?"
Lucy couldn't help but mutter as she compared the transformed George to Happy, who was perched on Natsu's shoulder eating fish.
Happy, overhearing this, glanced at Erza and then at Lucy, delivering a precise retort:
"Lucy, you're also a female mage. How come the difference is so big?"
Lucy felt a sharp pang in her heart.
"Let's go!"
After Erza, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy all squeezed into the car, George floored the accelerator, and the magic car shot forward, soon becoming just a green dot in the distance.
"I never thought I'd get to enjoy the thrill of speeding in another world."
Turning the steering wheel, George executed a smooth drift around a sharp bend, overtaking a fast-moving carriage. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The carriage driver, who had just been overtaken, rubbed his eyes in confusion:
"Did I just see... a giant cat speeding?"
"George, can your magic handle driving this fast?"
Erza leaned out from the back seat, concerned.
George wagged his tail, indicating it was no problem.
Speeding was exhilarating, and he intended to keep it up.
Half an hour later, near Gurnius Station, a group of armored soldiers stared in shock as George's speeding car came to a halt.
"Cat... stop! You need to be inspected!"
"We're mages from Fairy Tail. Is there a problem?"
Erza immediately got out and identified herself.
After verifying their guild tattoos, the squad leader explained:
"Sorry, mages from the dark guild Black Steel Forest hijacked a train at this station. We're conducting routine checks."
The magic car started up again, and as they followed the arrow, they discussed the Black Steel Forest's motives for hijacking the train.
Trains could only travel along fixed tracks, but they could carry many people and were much faster than carriages or other conventional transport.
They concluded that the Black Steel Forest likely intended to take the Cursed Flute to a city along the train's route.
Sure enough, the arrow continued to point along the tracks, confirming their suspicions.
Passing through Gurnius City and Oshibana City, they soon approached Crocus.
"We found it!"
Not far from Crocus, they discovered the abandoned train on the tracks.
Unfortunately, the train was empty, with no sign of the Black Steel Forest mages.
"It seems their target is Crocus."
Erza frowned.
At this moment, George suddenly remembered something, his expression turning serious:
"If I recall correctly, the place where the guild masters are holding their meeting is in Crocus."
When he had asked Mirajane about the guild master's whereabouts yesterday, she had mentioned the location of this year's meeting.
"George, are you saying their target is our guild master?"
Lucy's eyes widened in shock.
Gray's body emitted a faint chill:
"Not just our guild master, but all the guild masters. Imagine if all the leaders of the legal mage guilds were killed by the Cursed Flute at the same time. What would happen?"
"The wheels are still hot. The train stopped not long ago.
George, please continue using your tracking magic. We must stop them before they reach the guild masters!"
Erza touched the train's wheels, her expression serious as she pleaded with George.
"I'm also a member of Fairy Tail. It's my duty!"
George activated the tracking spell again and drove the magic car in pursuit of the Black Steel Forest mages.
Finally, on the streets of Crocus, they intercepted Erigor and his group of Black Steel Forest mages.
"Erigor, hand over the Cursed Flute! Don't continue down this path!"
"Who are you?"
Erigor, shirtless with bandages wrapped around his arms and wielding a massive scythe, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the magic car blocking their path and the mages stepping out.
He was so close. Just a little further, past the city to the villa in the north, and he could activate the Cursed Flute to kill all the guild masters. Now, he was being stopped.
How did they know about his plan? How did they know he had the Cursed Flute?
"Fairy Tail mage, Erza!"
"Natsu!"
"Gray!"
"Lucy!"
"Happy!"
"George!"
After instinctively introducing himself along with the others, George suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
But soon, reason took over and suppressed this excitement. As a mage, he thought it was better not to get too carried away.
Charging in while shouting about friendship, bonds, and comrades didn't really fit his style.