Chapter 68: FTRJ: Chapter 68

Mirajane smiled in response. “I heard he got hurt during a pillow fight.”

“A pillow fight can cause that kind of injury?” Elfman was utterly bewildered.

“Apparently, Finn was responsible,” Mirajane said.

“Amazing, Finn-san!!” Elfman immediately turned his adoring gaze towards Finn.

Finn silently scooted his chair behind Mirajane, allowing her to shield him from the three intense stares now directed at them.

“Ara ara…” Mirajane chuckled nervously, watching the three.

Finn suddenly noticed someone acting furtively and quietly approached them.

“Lucy, why are you so glum?” Happy asked Lucy, who was silently eating without saying a word.

Lucy replied flatly, her face impassive, “Am I? I think I’m fine.”

Happy said uncertainly, “Are you still upset about the joke I played on you last night?” Happy remembered mimicking Lucy’s Celestial Spirit, Loke, to tease her.

Lucy shook her head. “No, it’s not that. Do you really think I’m that petty?”

She sighed and turned away. “Sorry, I’ve been really worried lately.”

“I can listen if you want to talk,” Happy offered.

“…No, thank you,” Lucy shook her head again, the memory of her encounter with Loke the previous night flashing through her mind.

His last words particularly puzzled her: “Do you know how sad a star is when it can’t return to the sky?”

Not far away, a figure watched Lucy’s back, murmuring, “Lucy…”

Suddenly, the figure seemed to sense something and looked at their own hand.

For a fleeting moment, the hand became translucent.

The figure whispered, “It’s almost time.”

Suddenly, a hand landed on the figure’s shoulder. “Loke, what are you doing here?”

“Oh!” Loke jumped, startled, but relaxed upon seeing a familiar face.

“It’s you, Finn. How did you get here without making a sound?” Loke patted his chest, still slightly shaken.

“Me?” Finn pointed at himself. “I walked normally. You were just too focused on something else.”

Finn then followed Loke’s gaze. “Speaking of which, Loke, you’ve been acting really strange lately.”

“Ah…no, nothing at all,” Loke said with a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head.

He then pretended to check the time. “Oh, right! I remembered I have another mission to attend to. I should get going.” With that, Loke hurried away.

Finn watched Loke’s retreating figure thoughtfully. He had clearly seen Loke’s body briefly becoming translucent.

“Has Loke been here?”

A sudden voice interrupted Finn’s thoughts. Mirajane was now surrounded by a group of women.

One of the women asked, “Excuse me, has Loke been here?”

“Where’s Loke?”

“Loke is terrible!”

“What’s going on here?”

“What’s wrong with you all?” The girls began arguing amongst themselves.

“Loke…” Mirajane looked overwhelmed by the aggressive group of women.

Sitting nearby, Finn and Happy turned their heads in confusion. “Who are they?” Lucy asked, puzzled.

“They’re girls from town. They all claim to be Loke’s girlfriend,” Happy explained.

Several of the girls who couldn’t find Loke started crying. “He suddenly said he was breaking up last night.”

“I’m so angry!”

“Waaah…me too!”

“Why would he suddenly break up with us?”

Faced with the torrent of complaints from the girls, Mirajane helplessly raised her hands. “Um…I have no idea…”

“Could it be that he’s found his true love?” one girl exclaimed, slamming her fist on the table.

“Who is she? Is she in this guild?”

“This…” Mirajane, catching sight of Lucy out of the corner of her eye, desperately called out, “Lucy, please save me!”

Lucy, who had been observing the situation from the sidelines, was taken aback.

In an instant, the group of girls surrounded her, their gazes fixed intensely on her.

“Who is this woman?”

“She’s quite cute, I must say.”

Faced with their accusatory and resentful stares, Lucy immediately fled the scene in a panic. “Why are you dragging me into this, Miss Mirajane?”

“Wait, explain this to me…”

“Tell me where Loke is!”

The girls chased after Lucy.

Once the commotion subsided, Mirajane breathed a sigh of relief, turning to Finn as he approached. “Finn, you wouldn’t believe it, but Loke’s girlfriends are terrifying!”

“Those girls? I saw them,” Finn said, gesturing towards the direction where the girls had chased after Lucy.

“I can’t believe Loke actually broke up with all his girlfriends. I have no idea what’s going on,” Mirajane shook her head, utterly perplexed.

Finn sat down, deep in thought. “Perhaps something’s happened to Loke.”

“Hmm?” Mirajane looked at Finn questioningly.

“Can you find Loke’s file?” Finn asked.

“I’ll go check,” Mirajane, sensing the seriousness of the situation given the possibility that their comrade might be in trouble, immediately set off to retrieve the necessary information.

Mirajane soon returned, holding several files in her hand.

“This is Loke’s information, from when he joined the guild.”

Finn carefully examined the documents, finding nothing particularly unusual.

However, one detail caught his attention: “Karen Lilica. It says Loke’s fear of Celestial Spirit mages stems from her.”

Finn pointed to this entry. “Did he say this himself?”

Mirajane glanced at the file and nodded. “Yes, he mentioned that name when he was drunk once. When I asked him later, he vaguely referred to her as an ex-girlfriend or something like that.”

Finn nodded thoughtfully. “It seems Loke’s situation is likely connected to this Celestial Spirit mage. And she’s a mage from Blue Pegasus.”

A sudden realization dawned on Finn. “Mira, I need to go out for a bit.”

“Eh? Will you be back for dinner?” Mirajane was about to ask further questions when Finn had already vanished without a trace.

Night. Cries of “Loke!” echoed throughout Magnolia.

Mirajane received a letter from Loke stating his intention to leave Fairy Tail. Upon receiving this news, Mirajane immediately informed the others. Given Loke’s unexplained departure and his unusual behavior over the past few days,

everyone was filled with deep concern, leading to the scene unfolding before them.

Under the silvery glow of the moon, countless streams of water cascaded down from a massive circular waterfall, creating a fine mist that lent an ethereal quality to the surroundings.

At the foot of the waterfall, at the end of a clearing formed by the extension of a mountain peak, a simple, unadorned tombstone stood tall.

The symbol of Blue Pegasus was vividly carved onto the stone.

Loke stood alone before the tombstone, his eyes, framed by his glasses, revealing a complex mix of emotions that were difficult to decipher.

Gently caressing the name inscribed on the tombstone, ’Karen Lilica,’ Loke’s hand trembled slightly, as if he were engaged in an act of silent repentance.

“Loke, everyone’s looking for you,” Finn’s voice called out from behind him.

“Ah, Finn…” Loke said, clearly surprised by Finn’s sudden appearance.

“I didn’t expect you to find me so quickly,” Loke said with a wry smile.

Finn let out a sigh. “When a family member is about to die, I can’t just stand idly by.”

“You…you know?” Loke asked, his voice laced with a mixture of surprise and apprehension.

Facing Loke’s question, Finn nodded. “I learned about it from Master Bob. While I can’t save you, I think a Celestial Spirit mage might be able to.”

Loke shook his head with a bitter smile. “You don’t understand the rules. I can’t be saved.”

“Loke—” Just then, Lucy came running up, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Observing Lucy and connecting the dots with Finn’s earlier words, Loke turned to Finn and asked, “You sent Lucy here?”

Finn nodded in confirmation.

Loke shook his head again. “It’s no use.”

Ignoring Loke, Lucy turned her gaze towards the tombstone behind them. “This is Karen’s tombstone, isn’t it?

Karen Lilica, the Celestial Spirit mage…she must have been your mage, right? Loke, the Celestial Spirit…shouldn’t you be Leo, the Lion?”

Finn nodded silently to himself, confirming that bringing Lucy here had been the correct course of action.

After all, he himself didn’t fully understand the intricacies of Celestial Spirit magic. He had only learned from Master Bob that Loke was a Celestial Spirit; the specifics of his situation remained unexplained.

“When a mage dies, the contract with their Celestial Spirit is automatically dissolved. Until a new mage appears, the spirit is sent back to the Spirit World,” Lucy explained.

Lucy looked at Karen’s grave. “Karen is dead, so your contract should be broken. But you’re still here. Something must be preventing your return.”

“Just as humans can’t survive in the Spirit World, spirits can’t survive in the human world. Their life force gradually fades until they die,” Lucy stated softly.

Finn spoke up, “Lucy, Loke has been with the guild for two years.”

Lucy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Two years? That’s impossible! Not even a year…”

Loke shook his head. “To be precise, it’s been three years.” He looked down at his hands, which were now subtly becoming translucent.

“I’ve lost all my strength. I’ve reached my limit.”

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