Chapter 243

Almost the next instant, everyone scrambled to their feet, but the lot of them, freshly woken from sleep, clearly had no idea what had happened to their eyes.

Just as they stood there baffled, another violent tremor shook the ground.

"Could it be that those guys have come to attack!" Natsu said, his hands bursting into flame, his face alight with excitement.

"Perfect—this time I'm going to pound them flat and avenge the old man!"

Then Natsu charged out in the lead, and everyone piled out after him. The instant they rushed out, they ran into a large contingent of knights passing right by their door, sprinting toward the Magic Pingyi Society headquarters.

"What's going on—could those guys really have attacked?"

Lucy said, her eyes blank with confusion.

"Wait…"

"Where is Mr. Aisu?"

Just then, Wendy, who had been bringing up the rear, suddenly spoke up.

And as Wendy's words fell, everyone quickly noticed that Aisu, who had been partying with them last night, had already vanished.

"It looks like he left this note and then took off."

Gray, who was bringing up the rear, had somehow already produced a slip of paper in his hand.

"Left? Already?"

"This isn't the time to be obsessing over that, is it."

"Wait, it looks like it's not just him—Happy seems to be gone too?"

And just as everyone was searching for Aisu and Happy, they saw, in the direction the knights had departed, Happy already flying toward Natsu and the others, a look of panic seemingly plastered across his face.

But before they could even open their mouths to ask, Happy's next words froze them all in place.

"Natsu, it's bad—Aisu is in danger!"