Leaving Mermaid Heel

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Mermaid Heel Headquarters.

June, x785.

After taking their time in the bathroom, Alfonzo, Erza, Marin, and Lucy made their way downstairs and met up with Wendy and Carla, who had also just finished preparing for the day. Then, after making their morning greeting, Alfonzo headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast while the girls chatted to their heart's content.

After breakfast, Alfonzo, Wendy, and Carla were once again accompanied by Virgo as they made their way to the Mermaid Heel guild hall. Meanwhile, Lucy drove Erza and Marin to Cedar Town so they could catch a train to head home.

On top of that, they would have to make a stop in Shirotsume to pick up Marin's luggage and let the Sorcerer Weekly crew, if they were still in Shirotsume, know that Marin was all right, as well as inform them that the threat had been dealt with. And if the crew had not incurred too much mental damage, they could even finish the photo shoot, that never actually got started.

To Erza and Marin's surprise, the crew was still in Shirotsume. And the reason was simple, Lust knew all their identities. So, they thought, if Marin had lost, they would rather not lead that homicidal woman back to their families. On top of that, as professionals, they were ready to finish their job, regardless of the dangers involved, something Erza applauded them for.

So, With Erza as extra security, Marin finished her photo shoot before she and Erza returned to Magnolia by train. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Wendy continued their work at the Mermaid heel Headquarters. And thankfully, nothing else of note happened during their stay. Well, other than Tsunade trying to poach Wendy into her guild, an attempt that failed miserably.

Other than that, everything went off without a hitch, with Lucy spending a total of two weeks with Alfonzo, Wendy, and Carla, before being replaced by Cana for the last week. And surprisingly, during that week, Cana found another best friend. And that friend was Anko, whose personality seemed to mesh well with hers, as they could both be rather rampant in their behavior.

Another thing that was worthy of mention was the fact that Alfonzo finished the majority of his side project, his and his girls' new residence. Though, he still had some finishing touches to put on it. For example, hiring capable masons to put a brick and stone exterior on it. As for the interior, he would have to hire carpenters to cover the interior walls with wood and drywall, as well.

But with the use of magic, Alfonzo believed all those jobs could be taken care of in no longer than a month and a half, leaving him plenty of time to move the estate to its place in the center of Lake Sciliora.

The only real issue would be getting the masons and contractors to the island to put on the finishing touches without any of the girls finding out. However, he decided he would just hire them from Cedar instead of a town closer to Magnolia to keep the secret. And as for checking on their work, he could do so while taking a quest, and no one would know that he was going to do something else.

After all that, the day to return to Magnolia finally arrived. And currently, Alfonzo, Cana, Wendy, and Carla were standing outside of the Mermaid Heel guild hall saying their goodbyes to the people they had grown close to over the last while.

"Are you sure you don't wanna stay here and join Mermaid Heel, Wendy?" Tsunade asked while patting Wendy on the head. "Naturally, that offer extends to Carla, as well."

"Um... No thank you." Wendy said with her head lowered awkwardly. "But... Thank you for the offer."

"*Sigh* Master Tsunade, please stop trying to poach away our young and talented wizards." Alfonzo said as she gently pulled Wendy away from Tsunade's hand.

"Tch!" Tsunade clicked her tongue in response.

Over the last month, Tsunade really took a liking to Wendy. Her polite personality was a breath of fresh air. Though not as energetic, she was a lot like Beth. IN fact, the two had gotten along quite well during the time the Fairy Tail wizards were guests of Mermaid Heel.

"See you next time, Wendy." Beth waved with a smile. "Next time our wizards come to visit, I'll come with them. Then, you can show me around your guild, okay?"

"Of course." Wendy replied with a smile of her own. "I'll show you all of Magnolia, too."

"Then, that's a promise." Beth replied cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Cana and Anko were having their own goodbye, as well.

"So, you're saying Alfonzo makes dango, too?" Anko asked with her eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Yeah, though, he really only makes them for Sun, who really seems to like them." Cana replied before taking a swig from the flask her father bought her a while ago.

"Damn it, and he didn't tell me." Anko said while clenching her fists. "Next time I see him, I'll definitely make him cook some for me."

"Yeah, if you ever come to visit, all you have to do is talk to Sun about them, and he'll give in easily when she asks for some."

"Got it." Anko replied with a nod.

"Hey, Cana, quit telling my secrets." Alfonzo said with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

In response, Cana only poked out her tongue with a smile on her face.

"On top of that, I'll show you my private alcohol collection." Cana said in a whisper. "But even I don't touch that too often, so you'll only get a little taste."

Though Cana was whispering, Alfonzo was still able to hear her. As a result, his eyes were opened quite wide in surprise.

'Holy shit!' Alfonzo exclaimed internally. 'Did Cana just offer some of her private stash to someone? Is the world going to end soon?'

"It's a shame to see you leave so soon, Alfonzo." Ritsu said, breaking Alfonzo out of his thoughts. "I would have liked to see your skills in combat. I've heard quite a bit about your combat prowess from Makarov during our shared time on the new Magic Council."

As it turns out, though there were only a few spots for former guild masters from each country on the Magic Council, due to her experience, Ritsu was voted onto the Council unanimously. As a result, she spent a lot more time than she usually would with Makarov. Time that he spent fearing for his life... and manhood.

And during that time, Makarov could not help but brag about his most talented children, with Alfonzo taking one of those spots. And because of that, Ritsu took an interest in Alfonzo's fighting ability. In fact, that was the whole reason she offered to accompany Alfonzo while he was working, in the hopes that she would maybe get the chance to spar with him afterwards.

Unfortunately, thanks to his side project, Alfonzo never had the extra energy for a spar. So, Ritsu desires went unfulfilled.

"Well, there's always next time." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile while cold sweat flowed down his back.

'Doubt I'm strong enough to flip her switch, yet.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But on the off chance that I am, that sparring match would have turned into a death match real quick.'

"I suppose I can only look forward to the next time we meet, then." Ritsu replied with a gentle smile.

'Why does her smile look so terrifying right now?' Alfonzo wondered.

"Anyway, it's a good thing you managed to get your magic vehicle fixed." Tsunade said, cutting into the conversation. "Otherwise, you would have had to take the train."

As Tsunade said, Alfonzo was forced to remove the unstable lacrima from the Escalade's engine block by creating a lift with is magic and doing it the old-fashioned way. Otherwise, he, Cana, Wendy, and Carla would have had to take the train, since Cana rode the train to arrive in Cedar a week ago.

"*Sigh* Yeah, I didn't think I would have to do that while I was here." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile as he glanced at Cana, who was still chatting happily with Anko.

'If I had to guess, Cana intended to drive here. But she probably got too wasted before departure.' Alfonzo surmised. 'So, she had to sleep off her drunkenness/hangover on the train. I'd also put a lot of money on the fact that she wanted to drive anyway. But someone, probably Lici, made her take the train.'

"Anyway, it's about time for us to get on the road." Alfonzo said as he stretched out a hand towards Tsunade. "Allow me to thank you on behalf of all the Fairy Tail wizards who stayed here during this month for the wonderful hospitality."

"Oh please, think nothing of it." Tsunade said with a somewhat awkward smile on her face.

'I'm glad he never found out about how I lost the money to pay him.' Tsunade thought as she grasped Alfonzo's outstretched hand.

["She definitely lost the money she was supposed to pay you with on that one gambling trip."] Riot said at the same time.

'Yeah, I'm starting to think so, too.' Alfonzo replied internally. 'I mean, look at that smile. She looks like she'll start crying any second.'

["Yeah, but the real question is, how did she get the money to pay you back?"] Bedlam asked in a tone filled with curiosity.

With that, Alfonzo stopped to ponder as he released Tsunade's hand. Then, he caught sight of the smile Ritsu was sending her way.

'I see, so Master Unohana put up the money.' Alfonzo said to himself in an enlightened tone. 'And by the looks of it, Tsunade was punished severely for her fuck up.'

"Hey, Alfie!" Millianna, who had been waiting for the conversation between Alfonzo, Tsunade, and Ritsu to end, shouted excitedly. "Make sure to tell Erzie-Werzie I said hi, okay, meow?"

"I don't worry, I will." Alfonzo replied with a smile.

"It's too bad she couldn't stay longer, meow." Millianna said with her shoulders drooping.

"Well, if you're ever out on a mission around Magnolia, you can always drop in to see her, right?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.

"Ooh! That's right!" Millianna replied, regaining her energy in the process. "I'll definitely come visit next time."

As soon as Millianna was satisfied, Kagura was the next to approach Alfonzo.

"Also, tell Marin that I would like to face her in a spar the next time we meet." Kagura said in her usual emotionless tone.

"You want to face Marin?" Alfonzo asked in a puzzled tone. "I thought you'd want to face off against me or Mira, though."

"I'd like to test my skills against the She-Devil as well." Kagura replied. "Unfortunately, I don't think I've trained enough yet to face you. Especially after seeing that magic ray rip through the side of the ravine back then."

"Don't worry, Kagura." Ritsu said, patting Kagura on her shoulder as she did so. "You'll be there soon enough. Just be patient."

"Yes, Master." Kagura replied while bowing her head.

Before Alfonzo could say anything else, Anko jumped on him from behind with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Hey, Alfonzo, when I come to visit Cana, you'll cook for me, right." Anko asked with a smile.

"*Sigh* Yeah, I guess." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "I mean, if you come to visit Cana, you'll be a guest in my house. So, I'll have to."

"Haha! Yes!" Anko said as she jumped off Alfonzo's back.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo noticed a glint in all the other ladies of Mermaid Heel's eyes. He would even swear that he heard the gears in their heads turning as they thought about who in Alfonzo's house, they could come to visit so that they could get some of his cooking.

"Alright, it really is time for us to go." Alfonzo said as he looked down at his watch. "I'd like to get home before dark."

"Alright, then you should go." Tsunade said while shooing Alfonzo away. "And if we have any problems with those training rooms, you can expect a letter requesting repairs."

"Got it." Alfonzo said as he turned towards the Escalade. "Alright, ladies, let's get on the road."

With that, Cana, Wendy, and Carla said their final goodbyes. Then, they all piled into the Escalade before Alfonzo pulled off without the trailer he pulled here from Magnolia.

As it turned out, that trailer was something Alfonzo made with his magic power and maintained for the whole trip. Then, when it was no longer necessary, he simply let it dispel.

A few minutes later, Alfonzo and the girls were on their way back to Magnolia.

"So, how was training with Master Tsunade?" Cana asked while looking back at Wendy.

"Exhausting." Wendy replied with a weak smile. "She crammed so much information about the human body into my head. Then, she taught me how to treat certain injuries, and made me practice each step until I got it perfect. On top of that, there was all the sparring."

"Yeah, I noticed the sparring." Cana said with a puzzled expression. "But what was that about? I mean, it's not like you need to know how to fight to be a capable healer, right?"

"To be a battlefield medic, you do." Carla replied. "Or at least, that's what that woman said."

"She says that a battlefield medic has to be the last one to go down." Wendy added. "Otherwise, having a healer on the team is meaningless. So, she wanted to make sure that I was capable of not getting hurt while out on a quest."

"Even if that makes sense, it sounds like overkill." Cana said with a wry smile. "I mean, how often are you gonna fight someone who can cause the ground to crater like that with a punch or a kick?"

"Well, in Master Tsunade's defense, that should make dodging attacks from just about anyone else much easier." Alfonzo replied, inserting himself into the conversation.

"I guess." Cana muttered, though it was clear that she still thought it was too much.

With that, the rest of the trip back to Magnolia continued with no problem. And about halfway through the trip, while Cana was sober, she switched places with Alfonzo and drove the rest of the way back. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Wendy got some much-needed rest after a month of hard work.