Chapter 164: The Exam Begins
"We have no choice. The tickets are already bought and everyone's accounted for, we can't just swap to a horse-drawn carriage last minute."
Makarov sighed. He had a headache just thinking about it. He hoped that once everyone got on the train, they'd at least try to behave.
Wishful thinking.
The moment they boarded, a wide circle of empty seats formed around the nine guild members. All the other passengers instinctively kept their distance from this group of peculiar misfits.
Rhodes figured that if he brought a few more people next time, they wouldn't even need to book private compartments, they'd get the same treatment for free.
Cana, realizing her fellow candidates were such a chaotic bunch, finally relaxed a little. With her nerves eased, she started observing Mest closely.
Mest, who was currently gnawing on the back of the train seat, caught Cana staring and immediately grew wary.
'Did she notice something? Was my act slipping?' He bit the seat even harder.
Nearby, Joey was flexing his muscles for his teammates. Despite the chilly weather in the carriage, he was still shirtless, making people wonder if he had trained under Gray at some point.
Mickey's sharp gaze swept across the other contestants like she was ready to throw down right then and there.
Max and Joey were joking around, with Max even reaching out to pinch Joey's biceps—clearly, their friendship was genuine.