Lucy sat there with a red face, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Rinse your mouth with this." Shun handed her a chocolate-flavored ice cream.
"…"
"Do you think I'm a kid?" Lucy said, though she took the ice cream anyway.
"No, that would be messed up, considering what we did."
"…"
Silence settled between them, with Lucy, the talkative one, busy eating her ice cream.
"I was planning to give it to you before the S-Class exam next month anyway, but here you go." Shun handed over the celestial spirit key connected to Virgo.
"…"
Lucy was extremely frustrated but didn't utter a single word, taking the key angrily. Once she had it, however, her expression softened.
"It's that gorilla woman's key, right? I hope we can get along…" Lucy muttered softly, to which Shun didn't answer. He was a scumbag, but being a spoiler was where he drew the line.
"…Let me go home too. If we stay too long, I can already imagine some people will have a problem with me."
"Before that, take this." Shun handed her a clear white diamond key, the same one the seven dwarves use to summon him.
"This is?" Lucy asked, though she could somehow tell this wasn't just jewelry.
"It's a key that can summon a very powerful person, someone even stronger than the Celestial Spirit King. Use it when you are in danger."
"…"
"All right, let's return."
When Shun was about to perform the act to teleport, Lucy asked, "Wait… what are we?"
"Huh? Isn't that obvious?" Shun spoke some mysterious nonsense. Then, Shun teleported them without waiting for Lucy's response.
In the past few days, Makarov and the chairman of the Magic Council had become quite close, both being stressed out by Shun.
"To think they would return in just a day…" Makarov muttered with a smug face as he drank his beer.
Despite his small skirmishes with Shun, the reasons for which he didn't even understand, he was a proud old man. Shun would never tell the reason to anyone, because it was as if someone were angry at another person because they did something in their dream.
"Yes… finally it happened." The chairman sighed with relief.
As they were busy asking the group that returned early about the details of their short journey, a sound echoed: Tremble!
"!"
Out of nowhere, a figure slowly started to materialize from the round table's shadow.
"I'm back." Before long, the dark figure materialized into someone familiar.
"You brat, learning weird magic again?"
"Something like that." Shun was quite interested in the magic he stole from Serena, especially the darkness element. "Anyway, the mission is completed."
"Yeah, we heard it. Before anything, I would like to show our appreciation." The magic council chairman had a big smile while expressing his gratitude. "Now that we have time, I want to ask for details about your wish earlier."
"Go on." Shun took a seat with them.
"You said a tournament to decide the strongest guild. So will it be a battle only?"
"That sounds fun!" Natsu, with his newfound strength, had a grin just imagining it, until Shun spoke.
"No, while the battle will be the main event, there should be many other varieties of games. Hmm, like a point-collecting rule. I'll leave you guys to think about the annoying stuff."
"…"
"We'll first have to make posters and attract investors. We need at least two weeks for the news to travel," the chairman explained, referencing the behind-the-scenes work.
"I see. Anyway, I expect the results within the year."
"T-The year?! It's already November, so there's not much time…" The chairman was troubled. His joy at finishing his long mission to keep Shun from dealing with Serena didn't last long. Instead, this new stress was much heavier. If he were to fail this mission, 'with Shun's reputation of being petty to the level of banning strangers from SHFC for the slightest offense, what would he do if I broke the promise with him?' The chairman felt a new, heavier headache.
Meanwhile, a now half-drunk Makarov spoke up.
"I thought you would be all about a strength-based tournament just to show off…"
Hearing this, Shun closed his eyes for a moment.
"Mhm, about that… I believe there is more to life than just being strong and incredibly good-looking."
"…"
"Pfft-! Bwahahaha!" Makarov spat out the beer he was gulping down and started laughing crazily.
'Is this old man drunk already?' Shun was disgusted as he had already enveloped himself in a paw bubble shield in under a second.
"It's the first time I hear you laughing at my joke."
"It's the first time you've been funny."
Shun and the two old men spent an hour talking about the tournament and other small things. Since the old Makarov was drunk and letting out his spit when talking or laughing, Shun spent the time inside his paw bubble shield.
'Now I'm kind of starting to understand the celestial dragon suits.'
"By the way, there is the S-Class promotion exam next month," Shun suddenly changed the topic. "As a guild master, I'm leaving everything about the exam and its details to you, Makarov. If you have anything to complain about, say it now. If you stay silent, we'll take that as you agreeing." Shun, purposefully speaking loudly, gathered everyone's attention.
Makarov, who heard it, was relieved that he had a choice. If he had a choice, who would want to work? Just when he opened his mouth and spoke loudly…
'Mute.' Shun cast his favorite Devil Fruit ability.
To the confused crowd in the guild, Makarov's mouth was moving, but he didn't make a single noise.
"Master? Stop fooling around."
"…"
Makarov's mouth was still moving.
The bizarre situation completely sobered him up.
At this point, the people realized he wasn't joking and that someone must've done something. That someone spoke right after.
"All right, since Makarov seems to agree, I'll leave it to him. It's reassuring to have a member that's eager to work for the guild." Shun was thoroughly impressed by the older generation.
"…"
After Makarov's mouth stopped moving and he went back to drinking, Shun canceled his spell.
"I won't be around during the S-Class exam. I'll leave it to you." Shun placed his hand on Makarov's shoulder.
Feeling the serious tone in Shun, Makarov realized something must have happened. So he nodded and spoke.
Well… he tried to. Under the eyes of everyone… again, his mouth was moving without making a sound.
"…"
After messing by muting Makarov from time to time, Shun thought it's about time to retire for the night.
After saying what he wanted to say, Shun went back home after bidding goodbye to everyone. Normally, Mavis or Sorano would follow, but their attention was taken by Lucy, who had arrived a bit later than Shun. She hoped to show that they weren't together, but the people she was trying to fool weren't stupid. Poor Lucy was taken to a separate table.
"I didn't expect you to be that desperate and somewhat clever, Lucy." Sorano was totally calm while saying it, but Lucy felt threatened.
"I just found those in her pocket." Before anyone realized, Juvia had arrived and was holding two keys.
"Juvia?!" Lucy shouted, then realized the 'reward' she earned wasn't in her pocket anymore.
"Y-You guys are misunderstanding!" Lucy tried to explain, but…
"So you went with this method…"
"Didn't know there was such a simple and effective way."
Mira and Cana had arrived at their table, too. 'Just what's going to happen to me?!' Lucy screamed internally
Mira's attitude wasn't as domineering as the others, since the most she ever did with Shun was hold hands, but regardless, she was here.
Poor Lucy found herself in a cult meeting.
The next day, Shun woke up in his room. He fell into deep thought.
'So… I'm a jinchuuriki of two dumbasses, and one of them is about to disappear soon.' Shun sighed deeply. 'I have to lay low for a bit in the One Piece world after the Shiki incident. Also, there's nothing to do for a while in this world. The tournament investor meeting will take two weeks at least, according to the chairman. I guess I have to visit that world and settle the debts.'
Shun got up and looked at the bed where Mavis was still asleep. Lately, the two of them were trying to have a child. 'As for August, I'll ask for his opinion later before telling Mavis.'
Creak!
Shun left the room and made breakfast for the people who stayed the night in the house. Then, alone in the kitchen, Shun touched himself with his paw.
POP!
The next moment, Shun was high in the sky over the Kingdom of Shirone.
"Previously, I've been looking at this world with prejudiced hatred and vengeance, which wasn't even mine…" Shun sighed with embarrassment. "Since I couldn't find Hitogami or Orsted, who might have a clue to find Hitogami, out of desperation at some point I even considered nuking the planet with Fairy Heart…" Shun reminisced about his fond memories of this world.
Flashback to three years earlier.
Yawn!
Shun woke up in a house prepared by the King of the Shirone Kingdom. By his side was Hilda Boreas Grayrat, Eris' mother.
'It's about time for the deadline of my promise with Hilda…' Shun sighed. He might have to actually search for them; his plan was to just harvest the rewards without doing anything, since Rudeus, Ruijerd, and Eris would visit the Shirone Kingdom anyway. 'Did Hitogami do something and change their destination? Possible, since the future is changed from what I know. This King of the Shirone Kingdom is supposed to be dead by now, but he is still alive…'
As soon as Shun left the room, he was ambushed by someone small. Shun was tackled with the weight of less than a bag of rice.
"Morning, Aisha." Shun greeted her as he kept walking forward to go outside and breathe fresh air.
"Good morning! Master, I have prepared breakfast." Aisha spoke cheerfully, dressed in maid clothes.
"…"
'Can't really blame her, since her mother is the one raising her this way.'
"I see, let's see if your skills have improved."
"Yes!" Aisha, who was riding on Shun's shoulder, jumped down to wake Hilda up.
Soon, the usual suspects gathered to have breakfast: Hilda, her bodyguard Ghislaine, Aisha, her mother Lilia, and finally Shun. The group ate silently with Aisha observing everyone's reaction to her food. 'This little girl is learning cooking and magic from me, which are the two things I'm best at.'
Seeing Aisha paying close attention to Shun's face as he ate, Shun decided to give his judgment. Shun took a bite of the egg roll.
"Hmm. Very brave…" Shun spoke with an unclear tone, which caused little Aisha to tense up.
"!"
"…Does that mean it's bad?" Aisha asked with her eyes 'tearing up.'
'This girl is really good at acting, a natural-born manipulator.' Shun smiled at her antics.
"Unbelievable." Shun added.
"…"
The others had small smiles on their faces as they heard the two's conversation. Aisha was about to tear up for real this time.
"I have a huge problem with this breakfast."
"Really? Just tell me without restraint!"
"It's that you haven't made it for me sooner."
"!"
"Thank you, Master!" Aisha's face lit up at Shun's words.
"Because if you did, then I would know how good you are at cooking food that is bad."
"…Sorry, Master…"
"When I said bad—"
"Hey! Stop it already, Aisha is troubled, can't you see?!" When Shun was about to continue, Hilda suddenly spoke loudly as she took Aisha into her protective embrace.
'This woman really adores children and beastfolk, and she's also easy to fool… perfect manipulation target for Aisha.'
The two people who never met in the original timeline were interacting and became as close as mother and daughter. The group enjoyed a polite yet warm atmosphere, as if they were a noble family of this kingdom.
Until…
"Hilda."
"…Yes?"
"The promise I made with you, the deadline is pretty soon, right?"
"…"
"I'll fulfill the deal today."
"What? Really?" Hilda got up as soon as she heard and hugged Shun. She was about to meet the daughter who went missing during the teleportation disaster.
'This unwavering belief in my words is… weird, but not bad.'
The relationship between the two had gone from a purely contractual one to a bit better.
'An adult with a bald head, a red-haired girl, and finally a blonde child with an enormous amount of magic power have entered through the city gates a moment ago.'
"Let's meet them then. Aisha, go bring them; they just entered the city."
"Yes?"
"It's a group of three." Shun explained their appearances. 'In the original timeline, their actions were different due to the Prince of this kingdom doing weird things.'
"Leave it to me!" Aisha spoke with a big smile, as if she were a child doing her first errand.
"Is Rudeus-sama really here?" The usually quiet Lilia asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, there's a kid with an impressive amount of magic power."
The middle-aged women in the room were all elated to reunite with their important ones. Meanwhile, Shun wasn't really feeling anything out of the ordinary, except some sadness. 'Eris… I somehow became the stepfather of my favorite character, huh?'
After nearly an hour, little Aisha had a smug smile on her face, having completed her first-ever errand. The guests, Shun, and the middle-aged women squad were facing off, sitting on sofas on two opposite sides in the living room of the mansion given by the King of Shirone.
"Mom!"
"Eris!"
The two figures who came with Eris and the original breakfast squad watched them from behind as they hugged each other. Rudeus was observing the white-haired man sitting on the opposite side. Shun broke the ice.
"Hello, I'm Shun. A humble mage that primarily focuses on time and space types of magic."
"…"
'Aren't those the most overpowered types of magic?!' Rudeus thought, but kept his poker face.
"Hello… I'm Rudeus Grayrat." Rudeus made a gesture of the Asura nobles as he introduced himself.
"Ruijerd Superdia."
Once the group finished introducing themselves, Eris and Hilda had finished their reunion and were now exchanging information about how they had been doing and who had died. When Eris heard how her father and grandfather died, she cried uncontrollably. It might've been different if Hilda wasn't here, but in front of her mother, she had nothing to hide. Once she finished crying, Eris turned to Shun.
"…Thanks for taking care of my mother." She surprised Shun and everyone else who knew her. Eris didn't blame Shun for not saving her father or taking advantage of her mom. 'Probably not to make things hard for Hilda, huh? Was she always this considerate?' Shun was touched.
"…Um, we sincerely thank you for taking care of our family." Rudeus took the lead before Eris could say something wrong.
"No problem."
"So… now that we've reunited, I was thinking we should go search for the rest of our family together…"
"!"
Rudeus' sudden talk of departing from Shun's side attracted everyone's attention. The one who reacted the most was Aisha.
"Is that so…" Shun wasn't surprised by this.
'I'm glad this guy isn't a psychopath who would start saying, "If you want them back, fight me!" or something in that direction.' Rudeus sighed in relief.
"About that, when I first met them, I was planning to let them go if they found a safe place or their families."
"Really?"
Shun's righteous words caught everyone off guard.
"You've got a brain and a potential that could probably protect them." Shun complimented the blonde kid.
"T-Thank you very much."
"However…"
'Here it comes!' Rudeus was waiting for something like this.
"While I didn't lie earlier about my main magic, I do dabble a bit with fortune-telling. Just now, I accidentally happened to see your future."
Shun created a magic sphere that worked like a camera in the Fairy Tail world for the fortune-teller atmosphere.
"!"
"W-What?!"
"What are you trying to say?" Ruijerd, Eris, and Rudeus' reactions varied.
"I see a future full of misfortune. Your future is like that of a cursed man." Shun said as he smiled a bit, which totally made him look like a villain.
"Hey, stop talking nonsense! Who would believe such dumb lies! Rudeus is very strong!" Seeing Rudeus sweating nervously, Eris stood up protectively.
"I agree, he is strong and all. In fact, even when manipulated and betrayed in the future, he won't die."
"?"
"But everyone around you will die because of your choices. So I can't let them go with you. I've grown attached to them over the years. Though I don't consider myself a good person, I won't let them go to their deaths."
"…"
"…Like Eris said, who would believe such words? Do you have proof?!" Rudeus got himself together as he asked.
"Hmm, let me see." Shun said as he grabbed the magic sphere from the Fairy Tail world. He grabbed it, squished his face into it, and looked closer.
"…"
While the words spoken by Shun were sinister, the sight was comedic.
"So… it all started when someone you worship got sick."
"!!"
Rudeus and Lilia reacted strongly to Shun's words.
"It's not an incurable disease, it seems… but it requires god-rank detoxification magic."
"…"
"To steal a book containing this magic, you will make an enemy of an entire country. While you're strong enough to survive anywhere, everyone around you will be targeted. The rest isn't needed to be said, right?"
"…"
The room became totally silent, unsure of what to say. They didn't think Shun would make up this on the spot.
"Even if…"
"Huh?"
"Even if what you said is true, it's not a problem if we just make sure Master stays healthy, right?" Rudeus, despite feeling the urge to vomit as he was the one who believed the story to be not completely false, made a reasonable argument.
"That would've been true if everything I said wasn't orchestrated by someone."
"W-What?!"
"All right, I've talked too much. All I'm trying to do is explain the reason why I won't let them go with you. I don't care about your future at all."
"…"
The room turned silent with visible tension. Rudeus wouldn't usually believe such words, but…
'It could be true. If it's for Roxy, I would really take those actions…'
"So… what do you suggest now? Do you want to try using force to get your way?" Shun spoke with the tiniest bit of a smile on his face. Currently, he was hiding his presence and magic power, so he could be seen as an average guy.
"…"
Aisha and the three middle-aged women were speechless by this blatant provocation against a child. However, the reactions from Rudeus' party were instant. Ruijerd tightened his grip around his spear while Eris pulled out her sword.
'No, no, no, no way. Fighting a time and space magic specialist? I would have a better chance winning a fight against Paul.' Rudeus shook his head to shake off his thoughts and was about to respectfully refuse, but…
"If you want a fight, then we'll take it. Don't get cocky just because you've got some tricks! There is no mage stronger than Rudeus!" A redhead from his party spoke louder than anyone in the kingdom.
"!"
"Eris, stop it." Rudeus, who had many thoughts in his head, chose the most important one: stop Eris from talking further.
"All right, let's fight then." On the other side, hearing Eris, Shun got up from his seat. "If any of you can touch me, it's your win."
"Huh?" Rudeus was confused. Him and Eris aside, Ruijerd was definitely a top-tier fighter in this world, stronger than Paul. 'Could this be resolved simpler than I thought?'
"Rudeus! We can win, he is getting too cocky." Eris cheered Rudeus.
"Master, beat them up!" Aisha cheered Shun.
"…"
The irony of Rudeus' sister cheering for the opposite side and Shun's stepdaughter cheering for the opposite side happened. Just when Shun was about to bully them for fun…
Crash!
"I'm Almanfi of the Radiant. Lord Perugius wants to talk to a guy named Shun."
"…"
The poor door, which had served Shun and his friends for the last three years, had completely broken down.
"What? Perugius?"
"I feel like I heard that name before…" Rudeus muttered. Then, "Rudeus, that guy is the guy from back then," Eris and Ghislaine reminded him.
"Bring him to me if you want to talk." Though Shun wanted to take revenge for the broken door, he held himself.
"!"
Shun's totally normal logic had somehow made the white-suit guy with a mask, named Almanfi, angry.
"If you don't come peacefully, I'll just have to use force." Almanfi spoke elegantly as he drew his short sword.
"Hey, fox. I already have a prejudiced view toward the people of this world. Don't try anything." Shun explained his position, warning the guy to back down. Showing this much patience would surely surprise Makarov or Sengoku if they ever saw this scene.
However, Almanfi completely ignored him and rushed forward. He was as fast as if he used one of the six marine styles, Shave. Meanwhile, Rudeus sighed in relief. 'Phew, his attention is drawn to someone else. I got lucky, now that I think about it. I'm really lucky. Even when I died, I got reincarnated, and now when in grave danger, some random guy is taking the aggression of this dangerous guy.' Rudeus was thanking the gods, Hitogami, and whoever was up there.
Rudeus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then… when he opened them again in less than a tenth of a second later…
The proud servant of Perugius had small holes all over his body.
"!!!"
"Huh?"
Thud!
Almanfi fell to the ground, only now blinking his eyes slowly. "W-What happened… to me?" As he struggled to finish his sentence, Almanfi's body shattered into small magic particles and disappeared. Luckily, the rude intruder didn't bleed and make the scene disturbing.
The room turned silent once again until…
"I saw it! Master, you used that again, didn't you?" Aisha spoke with beaming eyes.
'This girl didn't have much interest in the magic of her own world after watching me use magic from the Fairy Tail world. So I've been teaching her lost magic. well, not teaching, just showing her some usage and giving her books, but… she is a genius. She can see me in the world of stopped time, meaning she already has a grasp on Arc of Time. She is most interested in the Arc of Embodiment, too; she is just like a miniature version of myself.'
'Well, enough about that. More importantly, isn't she supposed to be scared or something, since someone died in front of her? Is she turning into one of those yandere types? Hope not, I'm scared of them.' Shun sighed, then shook his head.
"Something like that, but more importantly, why are there so many visitors today? Was it some special day?"
"Not that I know of." Hilda answered. She didn't care that some intruder died or not; it was their fault.
"…I think it might be because there is a rumor going around." Rudeus spoke nervously as he rubbed his hands together for some reason.
"Rumor?"
"Yes. There is a rumor that the Magic God has taken residence in the Shirone Kingdom. The crime rate has dropped to its lowest in history, and the land price has skyrocketed." Rudeus dropped a bunch of news on them.
[A/N: Changed it to Magic God, since Mage God sounds dumb af.]
'So the King is distributing rumors to bring benefits to the country. He is surprisingly capable.' Shun didn't mind his name being used in exchange for the free housing they got.
"I see."
'As expected, it's this guy!!' Rudeus now thanked the Lord Almanfi in his heart.