The atmosphere in the Phantom Lord guild hall was heavy.

"What a mess. The rumors outside are spreading like wildfire, yet we don't even know the full details. Who here is confident we can win for sure?"

Totomaru, dressed in red with a katana at his waist, his hair streaked black and white and tied into a small samurai ponytail, frowned as he spoke.

"Totomaru, where's your confidence? That guy must have cheated. Do you really believe a thirteen-year-old kid could defeat our guild master?"

A man in a brown suit, wearing a monocle, with spiky green hair and a rather sleazy appearance, glanced at Totomaru.

"Sol, this isn't about confidence. It's about what happens if we lose again. It'll humiliate the guild even further, tarnish our reputation even more and before you know it, the lucrative jobs will dry up."

Totomaru shook his head, patiently explaining to Sol.

He spoke clearly and logically, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

The reason they were so anxious now was that the guild's commissions had already taken a hit.

The doubt in the eyes of those who came to post jobs stung the members of Phantom Lord deeply.

As the saying goes, blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents.

If it were just their guild master's humiliation, they might not be in such a hurry—at least they'd wait for him to emerge.

But when their own interests were at stake, they couldn't just sit back.

They had to find a solution, and fast.

"Can Aria handle this?"

Sol spoke up, glancing at the large man beside him.

The man was clad in a green robe, a tall green top hat perched on his head—making him look quite 'eco-friendly'.

A white bandage was tied over his eyes, already soaked with tears.

"So tragic~ So tragic~ Master Jose had to suffer such a thing~"

Tears streamed down Aria's face, his expression one of utter heartbreak, yet no one paid any attention to him.

This was just how he was—capable of bursting into tears over the most trivial matters.

Everyone had long grown used to it.

However, despite his pitiful appearance, Aria was actually the strongest member of Phantom Lord, second only to Master Jose.

In truth, he was an extremely cold and ruthless man.

Perhaps all his abundant emotions were simply vented out in daily life.

"If it's Aria..."

Totomaru mused, eyeing the big man in green clothes and hat.

Logically speaking, Aria might actually be the right person to give it a try.

Even Totomaru had to admit that as the leader of their 'Element 4', Aria's strength likely surpassed his and Sol's combined.

"Let's go take a look."

Aria suddenly stopped crying and spoke up, startling both Totomaru and Sol.

They hadn't expected him to make a decision so quickly.

"We have to go eventually." Aria sighed faintly.

He still had to keep working under Phantom Lord and Phantom Lord still had to maintain its standing in the Kingdom of Fiore.

Letting the rumors continue to spread would deal too much damage to them.

No matter what, they had to try and reclaim their reputation.

"Then let's all go together!" Totomaru stood up, resting a hand on his sword hilt.

Truth be told, he was quite intrigued by the so-called 'Star Rose God'.

"I'm going too."

After the "Element 4" made their decision, a slightly youthful voice chimed in.

Totomaru and Sol both turned to look at the speaker—they already knew who it was without thinking it.

"Gajeel, why are you causing trouble?" Sol complained.

Though Gajeel was undeniably gifted and would undoubtedly become a powerhouse in the future, his current strength was still a bit lacking...

"Why can't I go?! That guy's around my age, isn't he?! I should be the one to defeat him!"

Gajeel shouted defiantly, his face twisted in displeasure.

He had spiky, upward-pointing black hair, five earrings on his left ear, three under each eye, and one on his nose—looking every bit like an emo delinquent.

"Gajeel... he's getting more and more disrespectful. No sense of gentlemanly manners at all."

Sol shook his head, wearing an expression of helplessness as Gajeel yelled at him indignantly.

There really wasn't much they could do.

Master Jose was far too indulgent with Gajeel, the future Ace of their guild.

When Gajeel had first joined, he hadn't been like this.

Yet in less than a year, the boy had grown increasingly crude and violent.

If this continued, it was hard to imagine what he'd become in the future.

"Gajeel, stop fooling around. This isn't something to take lightly." Totomaru also spoke up.

Even the three of them weren't entirely confident in this matter—there was no way they could bring Gajeel along.

"Then I'll go by myself!" Gajeel gritted his teeth.

If they wouldn't take him, he'd just go on his own!

"Gajeel!"

Totomaru was furious at Gajeel's willful disobedience and shouted angrily.

But Gajeel didn't even acknowledge him.

The rebellious punk turned and stormed off, embodying sheer defiance.

"That damn brat!" Totomaru was furious and was about to grab Gajeel.

"Let him go."

However, Aria reached out to stop him.

With tears streaming down his face, Aria spoke calmly—he hadn't tried to stop Gajeel earlier either.

"This child is deeply cherished by the Master. Since the Master has been humiliated, it's only natural for him to seek revenge. Gajeel is a good kid."

Aria spoke while crying, his words sounding noble and righteous.

But Totomaru didn't believe a single word of it.

Totomaru gave Aria a complicated look, thinking to himself how cold and ruthless this guy truly was.

This was clearly a deliberate move to send Gajeel ahead as their scout!

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Hehehe." Sol quickly caught on and smirked slyly, switching his stance to support Aria.

Let Gajeel be the one to scout ahead.

"..."

Totomaru simply shut his mouth.

There was no point in arguing further—with two out of three in favor, especially Aria's support, any further objections would be futile.

"Let's go. Follow him."

Aria spoke up and immediately trailed after Gajeel, who had already stormed off.

Sol quickly followed, appearing somewhat sycophantic.

Totomaru glanced around at the other guild members, most of whom wore purple hats with two pointed tips.

Their faces were filled with excitement—clearly, they had been stewing in frustration these past few days, and the departure of their elite members greatly boosted morale.

'But what if we lose...'

The thought crossed Totomaru's mind, sending a shiver down his spine.

The consequences of failure were unimaginable.

Gajeel, however, clearly didn't share Totomaru's concerns.

Right now, all he wanted was revenge against the person who had humiliated their guild.

Someone around his own age, yet already hailed as peerless and unrivaled—how could that be?!

Gajeel refused to accept it.

He believed in his own strength—at least when facing opponents of similar age, he had always held an overwhelming advantage.

There was no way he could be weaker than that Marco!

This mindset wasn't unusual among young geniuses.

Bacchus and Karen had initially thought the same way—until they were thoroughly beaten into submission.

Before experiencing that brutal reality firsthand, it was difficult for these celebrated prodigies to realize they were merely one of the stars rather than the moon being worshipped.

They were, after all, still immature.

Moreover, the sheer absurdity of Marco's feats had even seasoned Mages adopting a skeptical attitude.

So it was only natural for Gajeel to disbelieve and seek to defeat Marco—to prove himself and to prove that Phantom Lord wasn't as weak as others claimed.

Fueled by a burning desire for revenge and redemption, Gajeel boarded the train from Oak Town to Magnolia.

Located in the northeastern part of the Fiore Kingdom, Oak Town was still quite a distance from Magnolia.

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