Bands of Iron [Gale] {The FT Love Chronicles; Book 2}

Chapter Ten

Two Weeks Later

*Levy*

Over the next two weeks, everything went almost back to normal in the guild. Wendy was released from the hospital and had been assigned Erza as a partner since they lived in Fairy Hills together. Gajeel had also completely recovered, and had successfully made himself at home in Levy's apartment. And, thankfully, no one else had been attacked.

Three days before, Erza and Master Makarov had called off the daily patrols inside Magnolia. Having come up with nothing, they decided it was a wasted effort to continue searching. Whoever had been attacking the dragon slayers had vanished, and hadn't made anymore moves to attack anyone else. Though, to be safe, everyone remained in their assigned groups—even the wizards who weren't dragon slayers.

Levy looked at the square section they had created with bookshelves as a makeshift room for Gajeel and Lily. At first, they had thought about just assigning them a room, but Erza didn't really like that idea. In the end, Levy's bookshelves were all rearranged, and some of them were put together to create the small square section where Gajeel slept. It hadn't been much, but she wanted to give him a little privacy—since she didn't have a spare bedroom for him to stay in.

“What do you think the Master wants?” Levy asked Gajeel and Lily as they walked to the guildhall. Earlier that morning they had received summons from the Master, who had called everyone back to the guild for a meeting.

“Hard to tell,” Gajeel shrugged.

“He probably wants to talk about the lack of action from the dragon slayers' attacker,” Lily said. “Everything has been quiet since Gajeel was attacked, so maybe the attacker has moved on.”

“To who? The only remaining dragon slayers are in Fairy Tail,” Gajeel frowned.

“What about Cobra?” Levy asked.

“He's being held by the council, so he's safe from any attacks,” Lily sighed.

“I just don't get it. If he were trying to kill the dragon slayers, wouldn't he have finished off those who were wounded first? By waiting so long, everyone has completely recovered, and we've had time to take measures against him.” Levy had no idea what the attacker was thinking. Why give all of the dragon slayers a chance to recuperate? Why wouldn't he have tried to kill them quickly if that was really his goal?

“He may be buying his time to attack again. Perhaps he is developing some new weapon to use against the dragon slayers. After all, Gajeel told us that he made those smoke bombs, so it's safe to assume he can create other weapons.” Lily frowned as he spoke, bothered by the idea. Me too. I really hope that isn't the case. Those smoke bombs are threatening enough on their own, so I hope that he hasn't created something that's worse.

“Even if he does, I'll still kick his ass,” Gajeel said, grinning wickedly. “I know how he fights now, so if he attacks again I'll definitely be ready.”

Levy wanted to tell him to be more cautious, but they had already arrived at the guildhall.

Master Makarov stood on one of the wooden bar stools, waiting for everyone to gather around. When everyone had finally come, he began. “Because it has been two weeks, and there have been no signs of whoever is behind the attacks on the dragon slayers, I am deeming it safe enough for the dragon slayers to return to their own homes.” Murmuring broke out through the guild, everyone wondering if it was truly safe to go back to normal. “However,” he continued, “I want everyone to remain on guard. We still don't know who is behind the attacks, so they could still be hiding in Magnolia. Try to remain in your groups throughout the day, and be cautious once you return home.”