The four people lying on the ground woke up, still looking around in a daze. Their last memory was of the tiger suddenly attacking them, knocking them down with a single blow, followed by unconsciousness. They had no idea what happened afterward.
Ur hurried over and told them everything that had just happened. The expressions of the four gradually turned to shock. They first looked at Alan and Laxus's figures, then looked at the tiger lying not far away, and finally looked back at the two of them. Ur was so exasperated by their current reaction that he stepped forward and slapped each of their heads.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop hitting us, stop hitting us! Uncle Ur! We know we were wrong!"
After a bit of a commotion, Ur led the four over to express their gratitude to Alan and Laxus once again. "Thank you for your help, young master Alan and young master Laxus. Let me introduce them to you. This is Keppel Coolidge, our guild master's grandson. Next to him are Doc Curry, Rudy Lake, and Lainey Zeller. These four are all descendants of our guild's founding elders. This time, I was supposed to bring them along to experience what doing regular quests in the guild is like, but I never expected any of this to happen. Fortunately, you helped out, otherwise I wouldn't have the face to go back and face everyone."
Keppel looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, with a slightly slender build. His golden hair shone dazzlingly in the sunlight, though it looked a bit messy right now, casually falling across his forehead and adding a touch of unrestrained handsome charm. His fair face was dotted with a few faint freckles, which made his already handsome features even more distinctive. Overall, despite his thin frame, Keppel could still be considered a handsome young man.
Doc's overall image was very similar to Keppel's, except that his golden hair was cropped into a neat, short buzz cut, giving him a much more spirited and clean-cut look.
As for Rudy, he was the most robust of the four. Despite his young age, his solid muscles strained tightly against his clothes, as if they might burst through at any moment. Judging by how severe his injuries were, he must have stepped forward bravely to shield the other three from the attack when danger struck. If not for his fearless heroism, the other three would likely have been much more seriously injured.
Finally, there was Lainey, a girl with vibrant, eye-catching red hair that seemed to hint at her lively personality. At that moment, her bright, large eyes were sparkling, and her gaze was locked firmly on Alan and Laxus, filled with curiosity and excitement.
Just looking at these four, each possessed a unique charm and style: Keppel's handsomeness carried a hint of wit; Doc's efficiency bore a sense of decisiveness; Rudy's strength displayed bravery; and Lainey's beauty contained liveliness. Yet, when the four of them stood together, for some reason, an air of utter goofiness naturally radiated from them, which was truly baffling.
After a brief round of self-introductions, the atmosphere gradually became relaxed and pleasant. At this point, Lainey could no longer contain her inner excitement and issued a sincere invitation to Alan: "Big brother Alan, can I call you that? Thanks to your help this time, we managed to escape safely. To express our deepest gratitude, would it be possible to invite you both to return to the guild with us? We'd like to hold a banquet for you, okay?"
Hearing Lainey's words, Alan subconsciously wanted to politely decline. However, before he even had a chance to speak, Laxus, as if he had planned this all along, eagerly jumped in and shouted, "Yes! Absolutely no problem! I'm the biggest fan of all kinds of banquets!" With that, Laxus playfully lowered his body, leaned close to Alan's ear, and whispered softly, "Big bro, think about it, making new friends is a rare opportunity for growth, right? Besides, judging by how they acted just now, these people clearly aren't bad folks, am I right?"
Alan looked at the excited Laxus, couldn't help but shake his head helplessly, and finally compromised with a nod, smiling bitterly as he replied, "Fine, since you've already said so—"
Having received Alan's affirmative answer, Keppel and the others immediately began to cheer, their joy overflowing.
Soon after, under Ur's orderly direction, everyone sprang into action. They first found an extremely thick tree branch, then worked together to securely bind the newly subdued tiger to it. Keppel and the four of them stood firmly in position, exerting their strength together to lift the heavy branch, and slowly began marching toward Onibus. Meanwhile, Ur walked at the back of the procession, enthusiastically telling Alan all about their guild.
When the group entered Onibus, evening was already falling. The Cat's Pupil guild was located not far from the city gates of Onibus.
As Alan and Laxus drew closer, the Cat's Pupil guild headquarters came into view as nothing more than a modest, two-story tavern. The building looked a bit weathered, but it exuded a unique warmth.
The two slowly stepped through the front door, and once inside, they were surprised to find that this so-called guild had only a dozen or so members in total.
At that moment, Keppel was standing in the center of the spacious hall, excitedly recounting the thrilling details of what had happened earlier, while the other members sat gathered around, occasionally bursting into gasps of exclamation.
Just then, several elderly men walked slowly toward Alan and the others, and Ur quickly introduced them to Alan and Laxus:
The old man standing at the very front had a kind face yet deep eyes. He was the master of Cat's Pupil — Bickslow Coolidge, who was also Keppel's biological grandfather. Flanking Bickslow Coolidge on either side were Damon Curry and Uriel Lake, two elderly men who were the grandfathers of Doc and Rudy, respectively.
Alan and Laxus looked at the three elders before them with a trace of confusion in their eyes. Sensing what they were thinking, Ur explained, "Lainey's family members unfortunately passed away while carrying out a difficult mission, leaving her all alone. Because of that, she has become the precious treasure of every single member in our guild." With that, Ur sighed softly, turning his gaze toward Lainey, who was standing quietly not far away, his eyes filled with deep affection.
At that moment, Bickslow stepped forward and gave Alan and Laxus a heavy embrace, followed closely by Damon and Uriel, who also stepped up to hug the two of them. Then, with a somewhat emotional expression, Bickslow said to Alan and Laxus, "Young masters, thank you both so much for your help today. Keppel and the other three are the last remaining new generation of Cat's Pupil. If anything happened to them, we honestly wouldn't know what to do. Thank goodness for you two!" Beside him, Damon and Uriel also had red-rimmed eyes as they looked at the two young men with deep emotion.
Without waiting for Alan and Laxus to say anything, Bickslow climbed directly onto a table in the center of the hall and shouted excitedly: "To welcome and thank young master Alan and young master Laxus, let's start the banquet!!"
"Arooooohhh—!!"