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The guild hadn't been fully rebuilt yet, but a temporary information desk had been set up, and missions were back on track.
A mage guild mainly serves as a platform for work—mages take on missions and receive rewards upon completion. A small percentage of the reward goes to the guild as a commission for providing the jobs, while the majority goes to the mage who completes the task.
Fairy Tail's commission rates were pretty low—way lower than some food delivery platforms from his past life—making it a very fair and considerate guild.
At that moment, a group of young women, all dressed up and looking elegant, crowded around the information desk.
"Is Loke here?"
"Loke?" Mira blinked in confusion.
"Loke is too much!"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Loke's girlfriend! Who are you?!"
"I AM his girlfriend!" …
"What's going on?" Lucy asked curiously.
Happy explained, "They're all girls from the city. Apparently, they all claim to be Loke's girlfriends."
Happy was an old-timer in Fairy Tail—he had been part of the guild since birth, which was now six years ago.
Loke had joined Fairy Tail three years ago, and Happy was familiar with everyone in the guild.
"Last night, he suddenly broke up with me!"
"Yeah, I didn't want to accept it, but he broke up with me too."
"Me too!" …
In just one night, all of Loke's girlfriends had been dumped.
"Why would he suddenly do that?!"
"I… I don't know…"
Mira had never dealt with this many girls at once before.
"Could it be that he found someone he truly loves?"
"Who is it? Someone in the guild?"
The girls all started chattering at once, making it difficult for Mira to handle the situation. She turned to Lucy for help. "Lucy, save me!"
All the girls shifted their gaze to Lucy, making her jump.
"Uh…"
"What? It's this woman?!"
"She's kind of cute…"
"She's got a big chest."
"Loke's real name isn't…"
Lucy quickly waved her hands. "No, no, no! It's not me! I have a boyfriend! Look, this is my boyfriend!"
Lucy suddenly grabbed Uchiha Kitaro's arm.
"She has a boyfriend?"
"Her boyfriend is so handsome!"
"No way! Loke is still more handsome!" …
Hearing Lucy's words, the girls finally let her go.
Lucy sighed in relief—crisis averted. She turned to explain to Kitaro, only to find that many Fairy Tail members had gathered around.
"Lucy and Uchiha Kitaro are dating?!"
"Since when?!"
"How did we not know?!"
"Was it after their last mission?"
"No, they must have fallen in love at first sight when they joined the guild!" …
Seeing the gossip flames burning in her guildmates' eyes, Lucy covered her face. "This is even worse!"
After a long and exhausting explanation, she was completely parched.
Just then, Gray rushed into the guild, looking anxious. "Bad news, guys! Loke left the guild!"
Gray and Loke were best friends. After seeing all of Loke's girlfriends come to the guild only to be dumped, Gray had been worried. He knew Loke well enough to know he wouldn't just abandon his girlfriends without a good reason.
When Gray went to Loke's home, he found a letter saying that Loke was leaving Fairy Tail. Alarmed, he rushed back to the guild.
"What?!"
"Why would Loke leave the guild?!"
"I don't know. He didn't explain in the letter. He's been acting strange lately, avoiding people, and now he even dumped all his favorite girls. This isn't like him at all."
"What's going on?!"
At that moment, Uchiha Kitaro spoke up. "I think… it's because something is wrong with his body."
"Something wrong with his body?! You mean…?!"
Everyone immediately jumped to the worst conclusion—was Loke having… performance issues?
"No! If I'm not mistaken, Loke is dying."
"WHAT?!"
"How is that possible?!"
Everyone in the guild was shocked. Loke was still so young—how could he be dying?!
"Kitaro! Are you serious?!"
Uchiha Kitaro spoke calmly. "I wouldn't joke about someone's life. Haven't you noticed? Loke… isn't human."
"What?!"
"Loke isn't human?!"
"Then what is he?!"
Everyone was stunned. They had known Loke for three years, but never once considered that he might not be human.
"Loke is a Celestial Spirit, just like the ones Lucy summons."
"Loke is a Celestial Spirit?!"
Everyone was even more confused, including Lucy.
"That's impossible! If Loke were a Celestial Spirit, where's his master? Spirits can't survive in this world without their summoner!"
Lucy immediately rejected the idea. As a Celestial Spirit Mage, she knew the rules of Spirits well.
Uchiha Kitaro shrugged. "I don't know. But I can see it with my eyes—his body structure is the same as the Spirits you summon, Lucy. I was curious before, but since Loke didn't want to talk about it, I didn't expose him."
Hearing this, everyone remembered that Kitaro's eyes were basically cheating. If he said it was true, then it had to be.
Lucy suddenly recalled something. "Could it be…"
Loke had always avoided her, as if she were some kind of plague. Could it be because she was a Celestial Spirit Mage? Was he afraid she would discover his secret?
Erza stood up, her face serious. "Regardless of what Loke is, he's a Fairy Tail member. We can't let our comrade be in danger without doing anything. Everyone, spread out and find Loke!"
Soon, the entire guild mobilized, searching every street for Loke.
.
.
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