There are quite a few apple trees planted around Porlyusica's treehouse.
It's the harvest season now, and the trees are laden with red apples.
She occasionally picks a few baskets to exchange for some daily supplies in town.
Before Makarov was sent here, she was picking apples.
Now that he's gone, Porlyusica plans to continue.
Perhaps she could pick some more to send to the guild as a token of sympathy... if they win this battle.
No, this reckless guild will definitely win, right?
Porlyusica looked in the direction Makarov had left and suddenly got angry: "That's why I hate humans! All they know is how to fight day in and day out, and history is all war history!
Makarov is such a huge idiot, doing this kind of thing at his age, if he wants to die, just go ahead and die!"
She kicked over a basket full of apples, and the red apples rolled away, with the furthest one being picked up by a hand wearing a black glove.
Porlyusica was startled; she hadn't noticed when this person had arrived at all.
Looking at the strange person wrapped tightly from head to toe in the middle of summer, Porlyusica uttered his name: "Mystogan?"
"Can I eat this?" Without waiting for her answer, Mystogan slightly pulled down his scarf and took a bite.
"Don't eat my things without permission!" Porlyusica said fiercely,
"What are you doing here? Although I hate human wars, you're still their companion, right? Why aren't you leaving this place?"
She kept cursing about 'hates,' 'annoying,' 'idiot,' but in the end, she was helping the guild to gain powerful combat strength.
Mystogan raised his hand, and dozens of Ghost flags flew into the air, fluttering down.
"Did you handle all the Ghost branches by yourself?" Porlyusica showed a surprised expression, this person...
Is quite reckless too, as expected of Fairy Tail.
She said with disdain: "Don't throw trash everywhere!"
Mystogan crunched on the apple, only speaking after he finished: "Collecting the president's magic power took a bit of time, but... it seems I didn't get to use it."
"Because besides you, there was also a quite capable brat, Makarov got lucky," Porlyusica said with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth, immediately restraining it, "But he's also an idiot."
Mystogan didn't engage her topic: "I want another apple."
Warm had already sneaked out of the house, crunching on the spilled apples.
These were thrown on the ground by the old lady herself, they shouldn't be needed, right?
Warm's logic was rather simple.
"You two... if there's nothing else, get out of here quickly!"
...
"We defeated Ghost!"
"We won!"
"We won!"
"We defeated one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"
Cheers echoed one after another, everyone was laughing, jumping, shouting, and hugging each other.
To vent all the frustration of the past two days at once.
Lucy felt tears welling up in her eyes, all of this started because she ran away from home, and now that everyone is safe, it's such a relief.
Natsu, who could barely walk, went to Lucy, placed his hand on her head, and flashed a radiant smile:
"Lucy, no one can take away a Fairy Tail mage casually. If you want, just stay in the guild!"
Lucy wiped her tears and nodded heavily, her face blossoming with a smile: "Okay!"
Erza, lying on the ground, had just thought of getting up to save Rhode, but now it seemed unnecessary.
She gazed at the blue sky, with that beautiful firework still vivid in her memory. Natsu and Rhode seemed to have some remarkable potential hidden inside them.
Gray, arms folded, smiled but discontentedly said: "Seriously, in the end, Natsu stole all the limelight."
Elfman felt that his participation in the last move was full: "That's what makes a man!"
"I think Rhode was even more impressive, not to mention Mira, even Erza completely followed his arrangements, though she was involved in discussing the plan."
Loki felt a bit nostalgic, as that woman once beat him half to death.
Kana, quite at ease, put her arms around Gray's and Loki's necks, smiling brightly:
"Don't say it like that, it's everyone's strength. Let's call everyone back for a celebration banquet, fighting is so exhausting, I want to have a good drink!"
Loki's expression was normal, this kind of intimate contact happened every day, it was commonplace for him, but Gray was somewhat blushing.
Kana quickly released him: "Hey, can you even find your clothes?"
Gray looked down, left with only shorts and a bunch of bandages: "Huh?!!"
Rhode was now lying in Mira's embrace.
Mira asked worriedly: "How are you?"
Rhode rarely wanted to break away proactively in such a situation: "I'm fine, where's Wolian? Why is the telepathy cut?"
Mira asked: "What's wrong?"
"Ghost's branches are still silent, we need him and the sniper team to stay alert, those who previously laid down their weapons can't be completely ignored, and Joseph needs to be restrained so he can't cause any more trouble, and..."
Rhode rattled off a bunch, as the war ended, there were still many loose ends to be tied up.
Trivial matters can be put aside, but things concerning everyone's safety must be properly handled.
Watching him rush into the crowd and pull out Wolian gave him a ton of instructions, Mira showed a faint smile.
Was it because of this way of doing things that she liked him back then?
Mira frowned, covering her shoulder, as her mood relaxed, the injuries began to hurt.
Joseph's final counterattack wasn't easy to bear, which means Rhode should be even more injured, right?
She hurried over, following closely beside Rhode.
Under Rhode's arrangements, everyone resumed their busy activities.
They suddenly felt a familiar and warm magic power.
Macao, sharp-eyed, was the first to spot the familiar figure: "President!"
Everyone saw Makarov unscathed, speaking over each other in surprise:
"President, you're okay?"
"President! We won!"
"We defeated Ghost!"
Makarov opened his mouth wide, dumbfoundedly looking at the Ghost ruins and the bugs chomping messily on them, at Joseph tied up like a dumpling, looking again at the disheveled but joyous kids...
Who am I? Where am I? Am I still dreaming?
The unbelievable truth was laid before him, Makarov momentarily didn't know how to react.
"President... you're finally here..." Rhode collapsed, caught by Mira who'd been watching him closely.
The three Void Nest Insects that constantly produced worms from afar disappeared, as did the River Crabs patrolling farther, and the Beaked Birds on alert disappeared too.
Any Ghost reinforcements, any hidden tactics, at this moment were all tossed to the back of Rhode's mind.
With the President here, there's nothing to worry about.
Rhode's nose tingled, feeling like he might cry.
With the lives of dozens of comrades weighing on his shoulders, the burden was overwhelming.
Rhode was terrified of taking a wrong step, of missing something, of any oversight...
But now it's alright, everything's alright.
Mira held him with a bit of heartache, speaking softly as if comforting a child: "It's alright, everything's alright now."