Chapter 64: Phantom Lord's Attack

After reaching an agreement with the reporter, Jason, Nate began thinking about how to create the new section for 'Sorcerer Weekly' on Internet Magic.

Come to think of it, it had been quite a few days since he'd taken on a new task.

The moment this thought crossed his mind, the system responded right on cue.

[Task: Develop the Internet Magic's new section for "Sorcerer Weekly" and achieve an average daily traffic of 5,000 searches.]

[Reward: A recipe for either stamina-recovery or mana-recovery potions.]

It was almost as if he had spoken it into existence—Nate was surprised by the reward. Unlike before, this time the reward wasn't magic but magic items. A stamina-recovery potion? A mana-recovery potion? Were these the legendary "red and blue potions"?

Nate had always felt like something was missing from the 'Fairy Tail' world, and seeing these items, he realized it was the absence of "red and blue potions"—the typical restorative items in magic universes.

"Which one should I pick?" Nate wondered, but he decided to hold off on making a decision until after completing the task.

As for the task itself, developing the new 'Sorcerer Weekly' section wasn't particularly difficult. He could just copy some code from the forum and make a few adjustments. Adding a few extra features might take him around three days to complete. However, since his thought-form helper was busy with the development of 'Magic Net Delivery', this new section would be something he had to code himself.

With that in mind, Nate opened the Magic Net's coding tool.

Meanwhile, after finishing his discussion with Nate, Jason was like an excited monkey, bouncing around the guild, interviewing everyone he could find.

"Wow! The Fairy Queen herself! Amazing, the real deal!"

"So cool~!"

"May I interview you, Erza-san?"

"How many sets of armor can you change into? Over 100? So cool~!"

"Your favorite is the bunny suit?! So cool~~!"

"Oh wow! Is that Happy?"

"Happy, why are you blue? Oh, because you're a cat? So cool~~!"

"Wow! Gray, why do you keep taking your clothes off?"

"Hey, Elfman! What does it mean to be a real man to you?"

"Whoa! It's Guild Master Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"

"Master, does the guild have any grand ambitions?"

Makarov, who had just walked into the guild, never expected to be ambushed by a reporter. Faced with such an important interview, he cleared his throat and responded:

"Ahem, yes, well… naturally, with hearts full of love and justice, we strive daily to improve, to be a model for all legal guilds, a shining example…"

He rambled on, spouting a bunch of empty platitudes even he didn't believe.

"So cool~~~!"

But Jason bought every word.

Nate, listening from a distance, felt a headache coming on. As expected, the guild wasn't the best place to write code.

…

Time flew by, and before long, it was evening. Jason, satisfied after interviewing nearly every guild member, finally left. Even Lucy hadn't been spared from his interviews.

Finally, peace returned to the guild.

Returning home, Nate found that Ultear had already left. Just as he was thinking about sending her a message, he opened Internet Magic and saw she had already left one for him.

[Witch of Pain]: "Sis is gone. See you next time."

[Sigma Male]: "When did you leave?"

[Witch of Pain]: "Miss me already?"

[Witch of Pain]: "Sis will miss you too, mwah~"

[Sigma Male]: "Not staying for a few more days?"

[Witch of Pain]: "Nope! I'm still sore, you naughty boy! [Blushing.jpg]"

Nate felt a bit helpless, thinking, 'You didn't seem to mind last night. In fact, you were quite enthusiastic.'

[Sigma Male]: "Well, take care of yourself."

[Witch of Pain]: "Take care of Ur. I'll come see you again."

[Witch of Pain]: "[Shower selfie.jpg]"

[Witch of Pain]: "Enjoy this tonight, [sneaky laugh.jpg]"

This time, the photo was even more revealing than the previous ones. It was clearly taken that morning while Ultear was showering after he had left for the guild.

Nate, unmoved, thought, 'I'm getting desensitized to these photos.' Still, he quietly saved it.

[Sigma Male]: "You've been planning this, haven't you?"

[Witch of Pain]: "[Blushing.jpg]"

As expected, boys really had to protect themselves in this world. If not, they'd end up falling right into a witch's trap. Receiving these photos every night—who could resist?

After chatting with Ultear for a bit longer, they said their goodbyes. Then, Nate summoned his Thought Projection again and had it continue coding while he left the small house.

"Maybe I should buy a bigger place? If Ultear visits again, we could use more space."

Thinking it over, Nate decided to look into buying a villa on the outskirts of town. It was an investment in future happiness, after all.

But with it already being late, he decided to leave that task for tomorrow.

Returning to his original apartment, he joined Lucy for dinner. Her cooking had improved significantly.

"Lucy, your cooking has really improved!"

"Really? I've been learning from Mirajane!"

"Impressive! I'll give you a raise—3,100J per day now."

"Only 100J more?!"

After a pleasant dinner, Nate took a bath and was getting ready for bed when his Magic Net ring flashed with a message.

[Juvia]: "Good night, Nate-sama."

At first, it seemed like Juvia's usual greeting, but the next message was different.

[Juvia]: "Something's wrong, Nate-sama!"

[Juvia]: "Master Jose seems to have received a strange commission and is planning to declare war on 'Fairy Tail'!"

"Huh?"

Nate was caught off guard by the sudden message.

[Sigma Male]: "What kind of commission?"

[Juvia]: "Sorry, Juvia doesn't know."

[Juvia]: "But Master Jose has ordered the Element 4 to gather and attack 'Fairy Tail'!"

[Juvia]: "Just now, our 'Iron Dragon' Gajeel already set off!"

Leaving at night? By the time Gajeel reaches Magnolia, it'll be the middle of the night, with no one at the guild. Who's he even going to attack?

Nate found the situation amusing. While he didn't know the specifics of the commission, it didn't really matter. 'Phantom Lord' and 'Fairy Tail' were destined to clash eventually. Jose, the guild master of 'Phantom Lord', was bound to pull something like this for the title of "Fiore's Strongest Guild."

Not to mention, Jose had a personal grudge against Makarov. At one guildmaster gathering, the two had gotten drunk and argued over whose guild was stronger. They'd even fought, but Jose lost and had held a grudge ever since.

[Juvia]: "What should Juvia do, Nate-sama?"

[Sigma Male]: "Just take care of yourself and stay out of it."

Nate thought, 'Didn't the council want to nominate me for the Ten Wizard Saints? When Jose gets taken down, that'll leave an open spot.'

…

The next morning, as Nate and Lucy walked to the guild together, they found a crowd of members gathered outside.

Everyone was staring, dumbfounded, at the guild building, which was now filled with iron rods.

"Who... who did this?!"

Natsu roared in fury, flames bursting from his mouth.

Nate patted Natsu's shoulder reassuringly.

"It was 'Phantom Lord'. Come on, Natsu, let's go get revenge."

After all, 'Phantom Lord' had made the first move, so Nate's retaliation would be self-defense.