Chapter 324: Rollercoasters Are Scary!
Chapter 324: Rollercoasters Are Scary!
"Hmph, piece of cake!" Gray received the ball with a bump, sending it high into the air."Take this!" Gray jumped with all his might and delivered a powerful spike aimed at Natsu's side.
BAM!
The volleyball rocketed toward Natsu with incredible speed.
"Natsu, Gray! Let's go! It's time for dinner!" Noah called out to them.
Hearing Noah's voice, Natsu and Gray stopped their game. After packing up their things, they and Happy, who had been watching from the sidelines, walked over to the group.
"How was your nap? Wendy-kun and the girls said you were all sleeping on the beach," Gray asked Noah with a hint of concern.
"Mhm. It was great. I feel completely refreshed after that nap," Noah smiled.
"That's good," Gray nodded with a smile.
"Food! Food! A feast! The food here is definitely going to be delicious!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, his eyes practically glowing.
"Food!" Happy cheered, raising a paw.
"Let's go find Wendy-kun and the girls first. Once we meet up with them, we'll go eat," Ultear said to Natsu.
"Wendy-kun? Over this way!" Natsu twitched his nose, sniffed the air, and bolted off in a specific direction.
"Wait for me!" Happy took to the air and flew after him.
Noah and the others couldn't help but chuckle at Natsu's antics before following him.
When they caught up to Natsu, they found he had already located Wendy-kun and the others.
"Brother Noah!" Wendy-kun and her friends called out happily when they saw the group approach.
"What did you guys play today?" Noah asked as they got closer.
"We rode the bumper cars, the carousel, and a bunch of other things!" Wendy-kun answered excitedly.
"The most famous attraction here is supposed to be the giant roller coaster that loops around the entire theme park, but Wendy-kun and the others absolutely refused to get on it," Carla chimed in from the side.
"Carla, it looks so dangerous!" Wendy-kun shivered just thinking about it.
"I fly you around in the sky all the time, and you're never scared then, are you?" Carla asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Because you're different, Carla! I'm not scared when you fly me into the sky," Wendy-kun said with utter sincerity.
"Hmph," Carla huffed. Although she didn't say anything else, a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"Were you guys scared too?" Noah asked, looking at Yukino-kun, Meredy-kun, and Lucy.
"It looked like it was going really fast. My legs started shaking just watching it," Lucy said, glancing up at the coaster tracks twisting through the sky and shuddering.
"It was a little scary," Meredy-kun admitted.
"Mhm! Mhm!" Yukino-kun nodded frantically, agreeing with her friends.
"Aww, a scared Yukino-kun is so cute! Let your big sister give you a hug!"
Without waiting for permission, Sorano scooped Yukino-kun up into a tight embrace and began rubbing her cheek against her sister's.
"Sister~" Yukino-kun weakly tried to push her away, but failing to move her, she just let Sorano cuddle her.
"I'll go on the roller coaster with you tomorrow," Sorano finally pulled back slightly and said to her.
"Really?" Yukino-kun's eyes sparkled at the promise.
Since arriving, she naturally wanted to play with her sister. But seeing Sorano and Ultear hanging around Noah, it was obvious they wanted to spend time with him first.
So, she didn't say anything and went off to play with Wendy-kun and the others. Aside from her sister, her friends were the ones she wanted to play with the most anyway.
Still, a small part of her had felt a little disappointed, as Sorano was her favorite playmate. Hearing that her sister would join her tomorrow made her incredibly happy.
"Of course! Tomorrow, we'll conquer this entire theme park together!" Sorano declared confidently, then turned to Noah and the others. "You guys should come too! Let's ride everything in the park!"
"Good idea. We haven't played anything today. Let's do the whole park tomorrow," Noah agreed to the suggestion.
Since arriving at the resort, Noah's group had done nothing but sleep on the beach. Looking at Natsu and Gray, it seemed they hadn't done much either besides playing volleyball.
"Awesome! We'll ride everything tomorrow! Happy, what should we ride first?" Natsu asked excitedly.
"How about the vertical drop coaster first?"
"I think the bumper cars are great too! Just smashing into each other like Bam! Bam!" Natsu mimed holding a steering wheel, looking absolutely thrilled.
"Then tomorrow we'll start with bumper cars, then the vertical coaster, then everything else!" Natsu and Happy began eagerly planning their itinerary.
"Right now, the most important thing is dinner. It's almost time. I heard the food here is quite good," Noah interrupted their planning.
The sun was already dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of gold. It was the perfect time for dinner, and having slept all afternoon, Noah felt the urgent need to refuel.
"Oh yeah! Food!" Natsu punched his palm, drool already beginning to pool at the corner of his mouth.
"Food!" Happy looked much the same.
"Is it really that good?" Happy asked Noah.
Noah nodded. "According to the info I gathered, yes."
"Let's go! Time to eat!" Natsu yelled and prepared to sprint off.
Noah was quick to grab his arm and pull him back. "Do you even know where the dining area is?"
"No. Where is it?" Natsu looked back at Noah with genuine confusion.
"If you don't know where it is, why are you running so fast?!" Lucy couldn't help but yell at him.
"Follow me. I'll take you. But we need to go back to the rooms and change first. We can't go to the dining hall in our swimsuits," Noah said, taking the lead. Natsu and the others followed him back toward the Holiday Inn.
Once everyone had returned to their rooms and changed into regular clothes, Noah led them downstairs.
One entire floor of the Holiday Inn was dedicated solely to dining.
"This whole floor is for food. Each of you has a room key card. Just hand the card to a chef, and you'll get your food for free. That applies to everything on this floor. The cost of meals is included in the room price, so eat as much as you like," Noah explained.
When booking the rooms, Noah had distributed the key cards. Not only did they cover meals, but they also granted free access to most of the resort's facilities.
"Happy, let's go! Time to feast!" Hearing Noah's explanation, Natsu called out to Happy and charged into the dining area.
"Aye! Feast time!" Happy flew after him.
"Eat whatever you like. Just remember not to stuff yourselves too full. There's another activity planned for later," Noah told Ultear and the girls.
"What activity?" Sorano asked curiously.
"You'll see when the time comes."
Since Noah didn't elaborate, Ultear and the others didn't press the issue.
"Carla, Yukino-kun, Meredy-kun, I think there's a dessert section over there!" Wendy-kun had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the sweets.
"Dessert? Strawberry cake?" Erza caught the keyword and instantly snapped her head toward where Wendy-kun was pointing. Confirming it was indeed the dessert section, she immediately started walking that way.
Noah quickly grabbed her shoulder. "You can't just eat strawberry cake. That's not a proper meal."
"It can be a proper meal..." Erza mumbled quietly. Under Noah's stern gaze, her voice grew smaller and smaller.
"You need to eat some real food first. Then you can have dessert, and you can eat your strawberry cake."
Noah turned his gaze to Wendy-kun and the younger girls. "The same goes for you girls. You have to eat a proper meal before you get dessert. And don't eat too much, understand?"
"Understood~" Wendy-kun and her friends replied in unison.
Satisfied with their response, Noah nodded. He led them to the main food area and personally made sure they ate enough nutritious food before allowing them to go wild at the dessert stations.
Once everyone was full, Noah gathered the group together again.
"Natsu, didn't you eat a bit too much?" Noah asked, looking at Natsu's visibly bulging stomach.
"Urp... it was too delicious, so I ate a little extra," Natsu burped, patting his round belly with a satisfied smile.
"So delicious," Happy echoed, patting his own distended stomach.
"Idiots," Carla sighed, looking at the two of them.
"Noah, didn't you say there was another activity? What is it?" Sorano asked.
"Well, there's a casino located underground beneath the hotel. Do you guys want to go check it out?" Noah suggested.
"A casino? I wanna go!" Natsu was the first to agree enthusiastically.
"Oh? I suppose I could go take a look," Gray added, his interest piqued.
"A casino... I don't think we should go," Wendy-kun said softly.
"Mhm. You girls are too young anyway; you can't go in. I'll take you back to your room to rest first," Noah said, looking at Wendy-kun, Yukino-kun, and Meredy-kun. The casino was no place for kids.
"The rest of you can head down first; it's right on the lower levels. I'll drop them off upstairs and catch up."
Ultear and the others nodded. Natsu and Happy, despite their bulging bellies, were already rushing toward the stairs. Ultear and the rest followed at a more leisurely pace.
Noah escorted Wendy-kun and her friends back to their suite. Carla naturally stayed with Wendy-kun.
After making sure the girls were settled in their room, Noah told them to contact him through the lacrima if they needed anything. He closed the door and headed toward the underground casino.
He had already set up protective barriers in all three suites, ensuring he would be instantly alerted if anything went wrong.
~~~
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