"Are you giving this to me?" Jehfrit asked eagerly.
"Mm, it's not something important to me," Happy said frankly.
"So..." Happy hesitated, becoming a bit shy. He rubbed his hands and continued, "So, I hope you can give me something that's not very important to you."
"What exactly do you mean?" Jehfrit asked curiously.
"I don't know." Happy shook his head, lost in thought as if recalling some unpleasant memories. Then, he looked at Jehfrit with determination and said earnestly, "But—"
"Jehfrit, I want to get stronger!"
"..." Jehfrit was surprised; he never expected Happy to say such a thing.
What had happened to this naive and cute cat? His mindset had become somewhat heavy.
Happy continued, "Before, when we fought Oración Seis, I felt so powerless."
"I couldn't help Lucy, I couldn't protect Carla, and I couldn't even keep up with Natsu's battles."
"Everyone is getting stronger, preparing for the moment they need to contribute their strength."
"I..."
Happy stepped forward. At that moment, Jehfrit no longer saw him as a carefree, amusing cat without worries, but as a man eager to grow.
'Is it because of Carla?'
Jehfrit recalled earlier when Happy, Carla, and Lucy encountered Angel. Anyone facing such despair would naturally grow, wouldn't they?
Previously, Happy always followed Natsu, so nothing unexpected or desperate ever happened. But since Lucy joined the guild, Happy often accompanied her. Starting from Iron Forest, Happy realized he couldn't always protect others—Lucy or Carla.
Especially Carla.
After falling for a girl, this sense of helplessness finally forced Happy to mature.
"Jehfrit."
Happy said, "You're smart, which is why I came to you. You must have a way to make me stronger, right? I want to be strong enough to protect everyone in critical moments, just like Natsu and you!"
"Heh."
Jehfrit chuckled, flicked Happy's forehead, making him tumble backward. Happy quickly got up stubbornly, staring at Jehfrit with serious eyes.
"How do you plan to get stronger?" Jehfrit asked.
"I don't know." Happy shook his head. "I don't have much magical power, my body isn't strong, and I can't learn many spells. I know I'm a fool, but..."
"Stop." Jehfrit quickly interrupted. "Happy, you're a flying, talking cat—you're a very clever cat, and you're special! Besides, you don't necessarily need powerful magic."
"Let me think..."
Happy looked at Jehfrit expectantly.
Jehfrit analyzed:
"Not enough magical power, so using powerful spells is out of the question—it takes too long to learn anyway."
"Not strong enough physically; training would be tough and time-consuming."
"Actually..." Jehfrit suddenly realized, "Your goal isn't to defeat powerful enemies, but to protect yourself and Carla, right?"
"Isn't that the same?" Happy tilted his head slightly.
"It's different." Jehfrit shook his head. "Take my Deception Magic, for example. If the Master were a villain who kidnapped Lucy and I had to rescue her, do I really need to defeat the Master? I could simply sneak in and save her."
"Oh, right!" Happy suddenly understood.
"In that case—" Jehfrit took out a palm-sized box.
It was a wooden box, black on the surface with gold threads embedded at the edges.
"Cards?" Happy asked in confusion.
"Yes, cards," Jehfrit nodded.
He opened the card box, tilted it slightly, and the cards smoothly slid into his hand.
Jehfrit spread the cards into a perfect circle with one hand, then easily gathered them back. He flicked them into the air, where they turned into flying blades, each with golden threads, before returning to his hand as cards.
"These are your everyday cards," Happy recognized them.
"No," Jehfrit said, "I haven't used these in a long time—they just look similar."
He set the wooden box aside, placed snacks next to him, and put a small table between himself and Happy.
With a swipe of his hand, the cards spread evenly in a line on the table.
He picked one up to show.
These cards were pure black with golden text and patterns on the front, featuring simple designs. Each card's back had different minimalistic patterns.
The card Jehfrit held now showed the Joker, with a circle on the back.
He flicked the card with his finger, and it spun into the air, transforming into a round magical shield.
He quickly pulled out his revolver, Teal, and fired a shot at the shield.
*Bam*
The magical shield didn't break, but the magical bullet pushed it far away, spinning and embedding itself deep into a tree trunk, nearly cutting it in half.
Jehfrit waved his hand, and the shield disappeared, turning back into a card with golden threads.
However, the pattern on the card had dimmed. As he infused it with magic, it restored to its original state.
Jehfrit put the card down and picked up the "King." With a twist of his wrist, it transformed into a black magic sword.
He casually threw it, and the sword flew out, piercing through the tree completely.
With a wave of his hand, the sword returned to his palm, turning back into a card.
"Fifty-four regular cards and one 'Dead End' card," Jehfrit explained. "This is what I used before. To be precise, I researched this series when I was seven and used it until I was eleven. I called this set 'Babe.' This is Babe 4.0."
"Babe?" Happy tilted his head.
"Cough cough." Jehfrit cleared his throat.
"Teal, Honey, Babe..." Happy said, "You really have a way with names."
"These aren't important!" Jehfrit quickly interjected. "Anyway, this deck is useless to me now. You take it. While it may not help you defeat strong enemies, if you use it flexibly, you'll only be slightly weaker than I was at eleven."
"How strong were you at eleven?" Happy sounded unsatisfied.
"At this moment, it'd take me one second to kill Angel," Jehfrit said. "Deception Magic close range, no magic needed, just one slash, and Angel would die bewildered."
"What about when you were eleven?"
"One second." Jehfrit smirked. "Deception Magic close range, attach a propulsion card to the blade, one slash, and Angel would die in terror—she'd sense the ambush but wouldn't react in time."
*Slap* Happy immediately hugged the table, swiftly gathering all the cards into his arms, even snatching the "King" from Jehfrit's hand.
"You can't take it back!" With Angel as a reference, Happy felt extremely confident in this deck.
"Don't get too cocky; these cards are ultimately just aids," Jehfrit cautioned.
When he created these cards, it was due to a lack of offensive means and personal strength.
Most of these cards were various traps, used in conjunction with Deception Magic.
A smaller portion enhanced his power—like providing explosive propulsion.
Only a few were purely offensive.
And a few more were defensive.
Therefore.
Relying solely on these cards to become the next Cana was impossible unless he personally wielded them.
But Happy clearly couldn't use this deck to defeat Cana. Without Deception Magic as the core, the deck's weaknesses were obvious—weak attack power and average defense.
But they were highly functional.
If used well, the trap cards would be more than enough for auxiliary and self-defense!
If Happy could use them flexibly, even常态纳兹 (Natsu) and Gray could be toyed with!
The main reason Jehfrit discarded this deck was laziness. Since acquiring Honey, slashing people no longer required effort, and Teal's iterations improved his ranged attacks.
A shot from his left hand could instantly kill most people.
His right hand in close combat—few could dodge a single slash.
The propulsion and traps of the cards became unnecessary, the flashy moves less useful than a quick shot or a close-range slash.
If neither worked, the traps wouldn't help either.
Against someone like Laxus charging straight ahead, the Joker's shield couldn't hold, the King's sword couldn't penetrate, and there wouldn't be time to set up various traps—a "Thunder Dragon's Crushing Fist" would smash into his face in a second.
If you can't win, you can't win. When you can't win, you resort to strategy or retreat. A reckless brute easily gets overturned, and there are plenty of weird magics around—being too wild always leads to trouble!
Like during the fight with Oración Seis recently, using cards to provide propulsion and enhance mobility—Jehfrit vowed never to repeat that style of fighting again.
Thus, Jehfrit sternly warned Happy: "These cards are not for direct combat. Remember that!"
"I understand," Happy nodded solemnly.
"There's no manual—I made these for myself and was too lazy to write instructions. Experiment with each card to find out their functions."
"Some can combine effects, like spraying oil and igniting it. Figure it out yourself. You can ask Natsu; his battle instincts are strong. Gray is good at fancy stuff."
Natsu's strong battle instincts could help Happy judge the right timing to use the cards.
Gray, who played with Ice-Make Magic, could help Happy develop techniques to use the cards effectively.
"Okay," Happy happily nodded, carefully packing the cards into the box.
*Slap* Jehfrit tossed out a book and said, "Learn some fancy card-flipping techniques from this. It can help you look cool—many girls fall for this."
"Thank you!" Happy's eyes lit up as he hugged the book, already imagining himself looking cool like Jehfrit and making Carla's eyes sparkle with hearts.
"By the way, there are fifty-four regular cards in the deck, which are the ones you can use from the card box. There's also one 'Dead End' card hidden in the box's compartment. Crush the box to retrieve it—it's only for last-resort situations."
"What does it do?" Happy asked curiously.
"Explosion." Jehfrit explained: "All the cards explode."
He always liked adding a "self-destruct" function.
When you can't win, just throw the cards and let them explode. The explosion's energy would interfere with the enemy's perception, allowing him to escape.
"How powerful is it?" Happy asked.
"Not bad. The explosion of each card is roughly equivalent to one punch of Natsu's 'Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist.'"
"If all explode, it's like Natsu throwing fifty-four punches in a few seconds."
"That's powerful!" Happy exclaimed.
Natsu's move had broken through Gajeel's defenses!
"They consume your magic power, so manage your resources," Jehfrit reminded him.
Each card consumed little magic power, which was why he gave them to Happy. However, in complex environments, multiple cards might be used, so he had to be mindful of his magic consumption.
"I understand," Happy said gratefully, hugging the cards and book. "Thank you, Jehfrit."
"No need. As you said, trading something unimportant to you for something unimportant to me," Jehfrit waved his hand dismissively.
"I won't disturb your fishing anymore. By the way—" Happy pointed behind Jehfrit, "A big fish got hooked earlier and dragged your fishing rod away."
"!!!"
Jehfrit quickly turned around, only to find his fishing rod gone!
"Happy! How could you just tell me now!"
He angrily turned around.
"Sorry!" Happy quickly flew off, escaping rapidly.
"..." Jehfrit was left regretful.
The sun set.
Ikuto hung the "Closed" sign on the shop door.
She looked outside, puzzled: Why hadn't Mr. Jehfrit returned yet? He usually fished until dark.
Just as she pondered this, she heard faint voices from afar—Jehfrit's loud voice coming from a distance.
"Yes, three and a half pounds."
"Just caught."
"..." Ikuto sighed and walked to the entrance, looking down the street.
Jehfrit had left empty-handed in the morning—to hide the fact he was fishing—but now he was back with a fishing gear bag and a motionless fish in hand.
The two people he stopped—or rather, who he intercepted—were Elfman and Evergreen.
They looked somewhat helpless.
Jehfrit sighed, "It's a pity a bigger one got away, but catching this one is still good—three and a half pounds. Use the head to make soup; it'll be delicious, and..."
Jehfrit went on to explain how to prepare each part of the fish into a delicious dish.
Elfman, being honest, listened attentively.
But Evergreen, hiding her smile behind her fan, said, "Jehfrit, I think this fish should be cooked with lots of chili. After all, it's been dead for hours—it's not fresh anymore."
"How can it not be fresh!" Jehfrit protested.
"How could it be fresh if you caught it in the afternoon?" Evergreen replied. "Then you paraded it around the guild for over an hour and wandered around town all afternoon."
"..." Jehfrit was speechless.
Finally, he said, "At least I caught a fish. But after a whole day of dating, I didn't see Elfman give you any gifts."
With that, he left Elfman standing there dumbfounded and Evergreen gritting her teeth in anger.
"Ikuto."
Seeing Ikuto peeking at the door, Jehfrit hurried over and handed her the fish, saying, "See, I told you I'd catch something. Have you eaten dinner? If not, stay here and eat with me. It's such a big fish; I can't finish it alone!"
"Then thank you, Mr. Jehfrit," Ikuto took the fish and went to prepare dinner.
She didn't ask whether she or Miko should cook.
If Miko were to cook, Jehfrit wouldn't have handed her the fish.
This was the understanding of living with Jehfrit. The basic rule was: even if you knew about Miko, you had to pretend not to in front of Jehfrit. Even if something seemed odd, you had to ignore it.