Wendy's little face was flushed red, a smile on her face that made her look even cuter. Her gaze turned toward the surprised Mira beside her.
"Mira?"
Moen spoke up to remind her, and only then did Mira react. She somewhat flusteredly took Wendy's gift.
"Th-thank you, Wendy."
Mira spoke her thanks. She was clearly still not very used to accepting gifts from others, but at least she was much better than the first time she accepted a gift from Moen, and her reaction was far more normal.
The apron Moen gave her was the first gift she had ever received from someone else in her life. That apron had been carefully treasured by her and never used even once. To her, it carried special meaning.
"Alright, with the throat lozenges Wendy gave us, recording definitely won't have any problems now."
Moen said with a smile as he led everyone into the recording studio.
"Come on, everyone, moisten your throats first."
After entering the room, Moen opened the small box of throat lozenges and handed one to everyone. After all, everyone was going to put in effort.
"Ugh~ it's a bit bitter."
Wendy put the lozenge into her mouth and immediately frowned. Although she had asked Granny Polyusica to prepare it, she herself hadn't tasted it.
"It's fine. It's just a little bitter at the beginning, then it turns into a cooling sensation. It feels extremely comfortable on the throat."
Moen commented. One could only say that it truly lived up to being Granny Polyusica's product. It worked so well it was beyond words, he felt that even a throat clogged with years-old phlegm would immediately be cleared.
If these throat lozenges were taken to be sold—
They would definitely sell like crazy. But selling them was impossible. Moen was very self-aware about this. In front of Granny Polyusica, he really had no face at all. There was no way she would specially make these throat lozenges for him to sell. If he dared to bring it up, he would definitely be thrown out. Granny Polyusica truly showed no mercy.
Moen's gaze fell on Wendy, who was adorably scrunching her face. The little girl liked sweet foods and really disliked sour or bitter things. Clearly, these throat lozenges weren't very much to her taste.
'Granny Polyusica seems to be especially patient with Wendy. Compared to others, there's a very obvious difference in how she treats her.'
Moen thought to himself. He didn't have the clout to get Granny Polyusica to help him, but maybe this little Wendy could?
"Brother Moen, is there something on my face?"
Being stared at by Moen, Wendy grew a little embarrassed. She touched her face, suspecting that maybe she hadn't wiped her mouth clean after eating cake.
"It's nothing. These throat lozenges are really effective. It would be great if Granny Polyusica could make more."
Moen shook his head and expressed his thoughts.
"The process seems pretty complicated. Granny said this also counts as a type of magical potion product. It's very precious, so she probably can't make too many."
Wendy recalled what Granny Polyusica had said and answered.
"?"
Moen looked astonished. No, wasn't this difference in treatment a bit too much?! She even explained things like this in detail to Wendy?! She even told her the principles behind making it?!
Normally, when everyone else went there, aside from getting scolded, there was basically no communication at all.
But thinking about it, it wasn't completely incomprehensible. After all, everyone only went to her when they were injured, and Granny Polyusica hated seeing people get hurt the most. Getting scolded was perfectly normal.
'Actually, even making fewer wouldn't be a problem. People who need it would be willing to pay a high price. For people with throat ailments, this throat lozenge is practically a miracle drug, an instant cure.'
Although he thought this in his heart, Moen didn't say anything more. Granny Polyusica had already retired. Encouraging her to make medicine to sell would be forcing her too much.
Moreover, once the medicine gained fame, it might attract more ill-intentioned people to disturb Granny Polyusica.
Moen's idea had just been a momentary impulse, and after thinking it through more carefully, he directly abandoned the thought.
'If I really wanted to sell it, learning to make it myself wouldn't be impossible. If I can't learn healing magic, learning powerful medical skills and alchemy would also work. After learning, making it myself would be more convenient.'
Moen thought this to himself and then added another "to-do item" to his list—learning medicine and alchemy from Granny Polyusica. Whether she would be willing to teach him was another matter.
"That's about it. Let's begin."
After finishing the throat lozenges, everyone adjusted their condition. Moen announced the start, and the girls all responded enthusiastically.
Mira walked up to the microphone and briefly tested the sound. She looked at Moen, then glanced at Erza. The competitive fire in her eyes had already ignited. She wanted to show Erza the results of her learning over these days! She hadn't gone to Moen just to fool around!
"Start?"
Moen tilted his head, signaling to Mira.
Mira nodded seriously, indicating that she was fully prepared.
The music began. The familiar prelude was perfectly reproduced. Everyone in Fairy Tail had their own musical specialties, so forming a band was no problem at all. This accompaniment was recorded by Moen together with everyone over the past few days.
"Ho-wa-oh"
Mira opened her mouth and immediately entered the zone. Her vocal talent was truly excellent. The kids who had never heard her sing before were all stunned. They clearly hadn't expected Mira to be this outstanding. Of course, mainly because Mira was usually so rough around the edges, just like how no one expected her cooking to be so good either.
Once the song ended, everyone was shocked. One Moen, one Mira, both were natural-born geniuses for this line of work, huh?!
Mira had only been learning on and off for half a month, yet the effect of her singing was not bad at all. Maybe because she only practiced this one song, and maybe because of Erza's stimulation, this time her performance really didn't feel much worse than when Moen sang it.
"How was it?! Erza!"
After finishing, Mira was very excited and immediately went to ask Erza.
"Very good. Truly surprising."
Erza's expression was serious as she gave her evaluation with a sincere nod. She honestly acknowledged Mira. It was wrong of her to have doubted Mira before, and she was willing to apologize for it.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you earlier."
Erza spoke solemnly and apologized seriously, so straightforward that Mira was completely stunned and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"Ah, it's fine… as long as you know you were wrong."
Mira replied dryly, suddenly realizing that Erza didn't seem so annoying after all. This person was actually not bad.
'Crap! That momentum dropped too early.'
Seeing Mira's state, Moen shook his head helplessly. This wasn't the official recording yet. The harmonies hadn't even been added.
"Ahem, next round the harmonies will be added."
Moen spoke up to remind everyone. This was their first group rehearsal. The effect still needed to be observed. If it didn't work, they could still make adjustments.
"No problem!"
The girls answered in unison, and Moen also took out the Lyra constellation's lyre, personally adding a bit more atmosphere.
"Don't drag us down this time!"
Mira looked at Erza. She had already proven herself. Now it was Erza's turn. Once harmonies were added, if the effect worsened or something went wrong, Erza would also bear responsibility.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely be fine."
Erza said with certainty. The two started competing again, which finally made Moen let out a breath of relief. Mira's momentum had returned.
"Buzz!"
Magic power surged, and the sound of the lyre rang out. Mira opened her mouth and began to sing once more. Moen softly followed with harmonies, laying down the tonal foundation and guiding the girls into rhythm. With his participation, everyone's condition immediately adjusted to its peak, making the entire song even more beautiful.
After this take was recorded, Moen checked the result and nodded with great satisfaction. This version was chosen!
"Yay!"
Seeing Moen nod in satisfaction to indicate the recording was successful, the girls immediately cheered happily, jumping around to celebrate.
'Juvia did it! Juvia did it!'
Juvia kept muttering softly to herself. Wendy beside her was also very happy; the two shy and timid girls had truly found companions.
"Later, everyone come to my house. I'll treat everyone to a meal."
While everyone was still lively, Mira suddenly raised her hand and said loudly, causing the crowd to instantly quiet down.
"You're cooking?"
Moen was the first to break the silence, asking with some anticipation.
"Yes, I'll cook."
Mira shifted her gaze away and nodded as she answered. She had previously wanted to invite Moen to eat at her home but hadn't been able to bring herself to say it. This time, using the successful recording as an excuse to invite everyone together, she had indirectly achieved her goal of inviting Moen over.
"Then that's great! We have to go!"
Moen immediately replied, a look of anticipation on his face. He had been waiting for this for a long time, Mira's cooking was truly excellent.
"Yay~"
The other girls were also very happy. Everyone had enjoyed the previous gathering at Mira's house, so naturally they were willing to go again.
"Later, let's call Natsu and Gray as well."
With good food involved, Moen didn't forget the two juniors. However, Mira said there was no need, Elfman would call them. The girls could just go straight home without going back first.
"Well planned~"
Moen looked at Mira and said with a smile. He could tell she had prepared this in advance; it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment idea.
"Cough cough! Not at all!"
Being called out by Moen, Mira coughed twice and her face heated up a bit.
"Haha, I'll organize things here first. You all go ahead."
Moen joked with a laugh, then gestured to Mira that he still needed to organise the recorded song, telling them to go back and prepare first.
"Alright, we'll wait for you at home."
Mira regained her composure and nodded. It was perfect timing for them to prepare the ingredients first.
After the girls left, Moen finished organizing everything not long after.
Next came the release. Moen had already found a distributor earlier, it was the company that sold "Magic Phonographs." After Moen contacted them, the Magic Phonograph company happily accepted.
This was exactly their business. They directly stated that they would release the song simultaneously on various music players and distribute physical records everywhere. They were even willing to produce a standalone record for this single song, fully committed to capitalizing on Moen's traffic value.
The representative song of the Fairy Tail Guild, produced and written by the "Rose Star" and the author of The Great Detective Holmos, no need to say much elsewhere, but in the Kingdom of Fiore it would definitely sell explosively. Just Moen's current fame alone would draw countless buyers.
However, since the record only contained this one song, Moen requested a very low price. He wasn't going to engage in exploitative practices, one song was priced as one song. Of course, with production costs involved, there was still a slight markup.
Moen could only say that he had minimized his own profit as much as possible and used his influence to get the Magic Phonograph company to concede on pricing.
For the sake of future cooperation, the Magic Phonograph company gritted their teeth and accepted it. Their goal was simply not to lose money.
Moen's fame was there, and the quality of the song was there as well. The people at Magic Phonograph weren't foolish, they certainly wouldn't offend Moen. On the contrary, they wanted to coax Moen into signing with them.
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