"No, seriously, are you kidding me—" Lucy couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth. "Daphne was able to invent something like that?"
"Manga? Cellphone?" Mavis, the First Master, hearing these novel terms, moved the white wing-like decorations on either side of her head up and down. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, locked firmly on the "cellphone" in Macao's hand.
"Uh—" Macao felt completely uneasy being stared at with such "burning" intensity by the First Master. He instinctively handed over the phone. "First Master—would you like to take a look?"
Mavis's eyes lit up, and she was seconds away from immediately accepting, but she suddenly remembered who she was: the First Master of Fairy Tail! She was a mature, reliable, well-traveled adult! How could she show such eagerness over a junior's belongings?
Forcing down her inner curiosity, she lightly cleared her throat, trying hard to look poised and indifferent. She tilted her chin slightly. "Ahem—I'm, I'm not that curious. After all, I'm a grown-up who has seen a lot of the world. I'm the Guild's First Master, you know."
Despite her words, her eyes kept darting uncontrollably toward the phone.
Watching the First Master, whose appearance and personality were so much like a little girl, everyone's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. The same thought popped up in everyone's mind:
(She's totally a little kid, just like she looks.)
Cana, standing nearby, saw the whole exchange and a smile played on her lips. She pulled a card from her belt pouch, and with a soft 'poof,' the card transformed into a brightly covered manga book.
She leaned in close to Mavis, a "sincere" smile on her face, and offered the manga. "First Master, I just love sharing things I enjoy with others. This manga tells a really exciting story. I thought it was so interesting, so I especially wanted you to read it too, to share the happiness."
Hearing this, Mavis's heart instantly swelled with joy. The little white wings on the sides of her head even flared out slightly because she was so happy. She fought the urge to snatch it immediately, pretended to contemplate for a few seconds, and then "reluctantly" nodded.
"Hmm—well, since it's a thoughtful gesture, and you like sharing so much, then I suppose I'll just have to take a look."
"After all, I am the mature and reliable First Master."
She took the manga from Cana's hands as she spoke. The moment she received it, she eagerly flipped to the first page. After only a few glances, her face was immediately filled with surprise, and she became completely immersed in the world of the manga. She was reading with great relish, and the single golden 'ahoge' (antenna hair) on her head began to swing back and forth involuntarily.
Cana looked at that golden strand of hair, which looked incredibly soft to the touch, and a deeply "treasonous" and mischievous thought suddenly crossed her mind. She wanted to reach out and give that ahoge a little 'boop.'
After thinking about it for a few seconds, she couldn't control her restless hand and began to raise it.
Before her hand could get close, Erza, who had instantly seen what she was up to, delivered a swift hand chop to her head.
"Ouch!" Cana cried out in pain, quickly pulling her hand back. She looked at Erza, annoyed. "Erza! Why did you hit me?"
Erza narrowed her eyes, staring at Cana with a look of judgment. Her tone was serious. "What were you—planning to do to the First Master just now?"
"Uh—nothing, nothing at all," Cana's eyes instantly drifted, and she looked away guiltily. "I—I was just going to ask the First Master what she thought of it. If she liked the story yet?"
The commotion snapped Mavis out of her absorption in the manga. She suddenly realized she had been acting too invested, too un-"mature." She quickly closed the book (but still clutched it tightly), tried to adopt a serious expression, and after a moment, gave a gentle nod.
"Yes, this manga—it is indeed quite excellent."
"It has many very interesting and novel concepts. The story is also quite engaging."
She gave her objective assessment, but the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her true delight.
Hearing the First Master's approving review and seeing her obvious interest in new things, Makarov cautiously stepped forward to extend an invitation. "Um—First Master, would you like to come back to the guild with us?"
"You can see for yourself how the guild has grown over the years, and check out some of the other things there, like many more fun manga and other gadgets Daphne has invented."
Hearing this, Mavis was immediately tempted! The golden ahoge on her head began to swing back and forth wildly, as if it had a life of its own, moving so fast it was almost a blur!
She struggled to maintain her "dignity" as the First Master, putting on a show of serious consideration. After pondering for a few seconds, she gave a solemn nod.
"Hmm—alright. As the First Master, I do indeed have the responsibility and duty to personally confirm what the current Fairy Tail looks like in the eyes of the people of Magnolia."
(And of course, checking out some manga and cool magical devices is totally allowed too!) she secretly added in her heart, her emerald eyes shimmering with anticipation.
Lucy: (== Her whole thought process is written on her ahoge. The First Master is really easy to read.)
Just then, Mavis seemed to remember something. She turned and her gaze fell on Roger.
"There is one more thing that makes me very curious."
"What is this 'Contract Magic' you all were talking about?"
"Is it similar to Celestial Spirit Magic? But I recall that this type of magic is usually unable to form contracts with humans, right?"
"I can explain that for you," Mirajane said with a smile, stepping forward and telling her everything related to Contract Magic.
"I see," Mavis nodded thoughtfully after understanding the specific process. She then pointed a finger at herself, her eyes wide with a hint of excitement and uncertainty. "So—can I sign a contract with you?"
Roger felt a flicker of surprise at the golden exclamation mark above her head. Why would a thought projection trigger the contract? Despite the confusion, he didn't dwell on it. He simply nodded and smiled. "Of course. After all, you are the genius who created Fairy Tail's Three Great Magic Spells."
With that, he signed the contract with Mavis. The moment the contract was complete, the system prompt sounded:
{[You have obtained the Super Magic Spells: Fairy Sphere and Fairy Glitter] (Roger)}
{[You have obtained the Trait: Fairy Body] (Roger and Mavis)}
[Fairy Body: The whispers of the primeval forest and the realm of dreams begin to flow in your blood. You are no longer purely mortal, but are gradually approaching the embodiment of a nature spirit.]
Core Effects:
[Illusion Mastery:] All Illusion-type Magic effects are increased by $30\%$, Magic Power consumption is reduced by $20\%$, and the difficulty of the enemy detecting your illusions is permanently increased.
[Plant Manipulation:] Can freely perceive and manipulate the growth and actions of plants.
[Spirit Communion:] Can communicate on a conscious level with most animals and magical plants.
[Weather Influence:] Can slightly guide and manipulate weather changes within a one-kilometer radius.
[Fairy's Blessing and Prank:] Once a day, you can apply a short-term "Luck Blessing" or "Prank" effect to one target.
The moment the system prompt ended, a golden light burst forth from both Mavis and Roger. The gold light on Roger only flashed briefly, as if quickly absorbed by his body. But the light on Mavis grew stronger and stronger, completely enveloping her like a small sun. After reaching its blinding peak, the light slowly receded like a tide.
When the light completely faded, Mavis's figure reappeared. She first blinked in confusion, then seemed to realize something. She cautiously raised her hand and gently pinched her own cheek.
"It's warm! I can feel it!!"
She clearly felt the warmth and texture of a living body transmitted from her fingertips. She immediately closed her eyes, sensing the power within her. A moment later, she excitedly opened her eyes, and the white wing-like decorations on her head flapped rapidly due to extreme happiness. She couldn't help but jump lightly in place, raising her hands and cheering loudly.
"Wow! This is wonderful!!"
"I have a body again!!"
"And it's not that cursed body anymore! Yay!!"
Her eyes sparkled with tiny stars. "I can go taste delicious cake! I can feel the wind blowing on my face! I can—I can do so many things I could only watch others do before!!"
This ecstasy instantly froze when she accidentally made eye contact with Makarov, who was standing at the front of the group. Both of them stiffened simultaneously. The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
The next second, Makarov seemed to suddenly realize what was happening. He violently lifted his head, placing a hand on his forehead, pretending to be seriously observing the weather. He spoke in an extremely unnatural, loud voice: "Oh! Th-The sun is so nice today! It feels so warm on my skin, truly comfortable!"
The surrounding guild members were momentarily stunned, then immediately caught on. They all copied the Master, starting to earnestly "study" their surroundings: "Right, right, the Master is absolutely right! Look at that tree over there; it really looks like a tree!"
"Yes, yes, and the flowers here look a lot like flowers!"
"The weather today is really—uh—"
"Today—" Mavis's little face flushed "swoosh," turning as red as a ripe apple. She lowered her head in embarrassment, her toes curling up shyly. She corrected him in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz: "It's cloudy today—there's no sun."
This made Makarov, who was desperately "gazing at the sky," freeze. He awkwardly lowered his hand, scratching the back of his head with a dry, forced laugh. "Ha, haha—is that, is that so? Maybe—maybe I'm just getting old, my eyes are failing me, I was mistaken, mistaken—"
He quickly changed the subject, gesturing with a "please" toward the coastline. "R-Right! Everyone at the guild must be waiting anxiously! First Master, let's take the boat back to the guild quickly! Everyone will want to see you!"
"Mm—okay." Mavis nodded gently, but the blush on her face hadn't faded yet.
Seeing that the First Master was no longer dwelling on being caught acting like a child, Makarov secretly sighed with relief.
The whole group headed for the beach and boarded the boat waiting for them.
On the deck, Roger called up his system panel and glanced at the information:
[Name: Roger]
[Level: Demigod Class]
[Faith Value: 2.1 Million]
[Magic Power: 670 Million / 670 Million]
(The level changed from 'Dragon King Class' to 'Demigod Class'—it looks like absorbing that shred of the Law of Evil and the Law of Destruction allowed me to break through the limit.)
(My Magic Power has also grown to an astonishing number over these four years, thanks to the combined effect of 'Grimoire Heart's' power and the Power of Devour, along with the automated growth from the unsealed guild members.)
(But—the fact that the Faith Value is still growing is quite unexpected. It reached 2.1 million?)
(I was clearly in a coma for these four years and didn't do anything—why are so many people still providing faith?)
He pondered for a few seconds, temporarily pushing the question aside. He turned his attention to Macao, who was steering the boat, and asked, "Macao, how did you know the Tenrou Island seal would be lifted today?"
Macao pointed to the guild mark on his body and explained, "It was because of this—the mark started glowing."
"Glowing?" Roger frowned. (Is this also an effect of the Tenrou Tree?)
"That's right," Macao nodded. "Just this morning, all the guild members, no matter where they were, had their guild marks start flashing in sync, like some kind of signal light."
"We immediately thought of the missing Tenrou Island, since it's always been called our guild's Sacred Ground."
"We figured it might be a warning from Tenrou Island, so we came."
"The moment we reached the vicinity of Tenrou Island, the island, wrapped in the sphere of light, became visible. After the light sphere broke, we were able to enter Tenrou Island and found you all."
"It is strange, though," he recalled, pointing to the sea on the right. "After Tenrou Island vanished, we immediately organized search parties to this sea area."
"But at the time, the entire area was filled with terrifying purple electric arcs. Ships would be instantly destroyed if they got too close, so we couldn't get in."
"Thankfully we had Daphne," he said with relief in his voice. "She specifically researched and built ships with a special anti-electric coating on the hull, which allowed us to safely reach this area."
"But the few times before, we came up empty-handed. We couldn't find any trace of Tenrou Island."
"Everyone was very worried back then, and even—afraid you had met a tragic end, since the opponent was the one and only Acnologia, who only existed in legends—"
"But later, Ur reminded us."
"She said that as long as people who had a contract with you could still gain Magic Power after defeating others, it meant you had to be alive. After all, if the caster of this type of contract magic dies, the contract is bound to fail."
"And you being alive meant everyone else was definitely okay, too."
"So, we speculated that Tenrou Island was likely sealed or hidden by some powerful protective magic."
"Everyone should be safe, just temporarily unable to leave."
"During this time, we even promoted the Chaos Cult that Cana created back then. We thought that, like in the manga, if people's love or faith could give you great power, maybe it could break the seal sooner."
"Unfortunately, it didn't do much. So, we've been coming back every year to check if you had reappeared, until today, when the guild marks sent out a signal."
Hearing this, Roger immediately realized where the extra Faith Value had come from.
Not far away, Lucy, who had also overheard the conversation, propped her chin on her hand, gazing out at the quickly passing sea. Her thoughts were racing:
(Four years—a whole four years.)
(It feels like the S-Class Exam was only yesterday, it's so clear.)
(But, Cana also successfully got promoted to S-Class! Now we can team up for S-Class requests!)
(That way, the pay will definitely be much better! After I pay the rent, maybe I can save up a lot of money to buy some nice clothes or—)
Lucy suddenly froze, stunned as if struck by lightning!
(Rent—four years?!)
She gasped sharply, screaming in a voice that was almost a shriek, which startled Happy's fur into standing on end: "That's right! THE RENT!!!"
"I was on Tenrou Island for four years, so I owe my landlady four full years of rent!!!"
She immediately started counting on her fingers, her face growing paler and paler. "$70,000 Jewel a month, that's $840,000 Jewel a year, times four years—that's 3,360,000 J!"
After calculating that astronomical number, she felt her legs go weak. Her left hand slapped her forehead with a 'smack.' Her body swayed, looking heartbroken and on the verge of fainting. "I'm ruined! I'm completely ruined! 3.36 million J! How many jobs do I have to take to pay that back?!"
She suddenly thought of an even more terrifying possibility, and her voice became tearful. "Wait a minute! I haven't lived there for four years! Did the landlady already throw all my stuff out and rent the apartment to someone else?!"
Cana walked over and patted her shoulder in comfort. "Well, look on the bright side. Now you can take S-Class requests with me. I can give you a bigger cut of the reward."
"S-Class requests pay really well. If we're lucky, you can pay off all that rent with just two jobs."
"And if the apartment really did get taken back, you can just move into the guild's women's dorm with the rest of us. It's really lively there."
Lucy looked utterly miserable, reluctantly accepting reality. "QAQ Okay—I guess that's all I can do now."
"I hope I can find some high-paying requests as soon as possible to earn the rent back—"
The boat traveled very fast. With Lucy's gloomy expression, the outline of Hargeon Port soon appeared before their eyes.
After getting off the boat, Macao pressed an inconspicuous button on the side of the vessel. A faint mechanical whirring sound rang out. To everyone's surprise, the sizable boat began to automatically fold and shrink, its components cleverly combining and tucking away. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a metal box only the size of a briefcase!
"Wow! That's amazing!" Lucy was about to exclaim her admiration, but then she saw a 'click' sound above the metal box, and two familiar-looking Dragon Horns popped out! The two horns overlapped and ultimately formed the handle for the box.
Lucy's mouth twitched. "←—↑ It's been four years, and Daphne's obsession with dragon horns hasn't changed a bit—"
"Look quickly! Those people over there—are those Fairy Tail mages?" A girl by the port noticed them and pointed in confusion.
Her friend looked closely and immediately started screaming excitedly. "It is! It's them! The black-haired one—oh my gosh! Could that be the rumored King of Nightmares, Roger?!"
"And Miss Mirajane! This is my first time seeing her in person! She's even more beautiful than in the magazines!"
"Didn't they disappear four years ago? Have they come back?!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Take pictures! We're definitely the first ones to photograph their return! If we post this, the likes and shares are going to explode!!"
In an instant, a burst of 'Click! Click!' camera shutters mixed with the blinding white light of cell phone flashes descended upon the Fairy Tail members like a sudden storm.
Lucy subconsciously shielded her eyes with her hand, looking at the phones in the passersby's hands that were constantly flashing and making sounds. She was astonished. "Are they—taking pictures? Are cell phones that common now? So many people have them!"
She squinted, looking closely at the phones, and then her expression grew even more speechless. "And—why do all those phones have dragon horns on them too?! I remember the one Macao was holding didn't!"