When Shane woke up the next morning, he found himself staring blankly out the window.
Yesterday, the look on Reedus's face as he painted—so focused, so satisfied—had left a deep impression on him.
That kind of earnestness toward life made Shane a little envious.
Thinking it over, his trip to Duke Everlue's estate hadn't been urgently life-or-death. It could've been delayed by a day.
And when he remembered Erza sitting there yesterday, puffed up with anger in front of two empty plates, a thread of guilt tugged at him.
She'd even bought him cake. Slipping out without a word really hadn't been right.
"At least until the key gets delivered to Heartfilia," Shane murmured to the morning light outside, "don't rush. Live properly."
Having made up his mind, he got up briskly, washed up, lit the stove, and fried eggs. Soon the kitchen filled with the rich scent of oil and egg.
Once breakfast was ready, he went to Erza's door and knocked softly.
It seemed she'd already been awake—almost the instant his knock landed, the door clicked rapidly open from inside.
Erza stood in the doorway wearing neat everyday clothes, her hair combed perfectly, a bright smile on her face that clearly said: I've been awake for ages. I was waiting for you.
Shane thought her little tricks were getting more frequent lately—though he had to admit they were kind of cute. He didn't call her out. He just stepped aside to let her out.
"Eat."
At the table, they chatted about guild gossip in an easy, relaxed mood.
Erza was clearly pleased that Shane had made breakfast and actually knocked this time. She didn't say it outright, but the smile in her eyes was brighter than usual.
After eating, Erza did a quick tidy-up and headed to the guild.
Shane stayed home, carrying out his plan: get stronger, but don't be impatient.
He let his mind sink into the sea of consciousness, guiding his magic to circulate slowly with his breath.
Normally, he wouldn't stop unless he felt obvious progress—he'd push until he hit his limit.
But today, since he'd decided to slow down, he didn't force it.
When the sun neared noon and the light turned a little hot, he gently guided his magic back to stillness and ended the meditation naturally.
Since he had something else to do later, he didn't go to the guild for lunch. He threw together something simple and called it good.
Then he carried a chair into the yard, leaned back lazily, and half-closed his eyes, letting the warm sunlight wrap around him—like it could melt the urgency he'd been stockpiling in his bones.
While his mind was blanking out, he remembered something the real estate agent had casually said when they bought the house:
"Deep in that forest, there's an old woman who's… kind of strange. You rarely see her."
"Strange-tempered… and during New Year, nobody's going to visit her, right?" Shane thought.
With nothing else to do, why not pay a neighborly call? It counted as "taking life seriously," too.
He picked out a few decent-looking fruits from the New Year supplies Erza had bought, put them in a small basket, and walked into the deeper forest.
The farther in he went, the more apple trees there were.
The gnarled branches were bare, but he could imagine how lush they'd be in spring and summer.
"Seems this neighbor really loves fruit trees," Shane thought, glancing down at the basket.
Good thing he hadn't brought apples. Showing up with apples in the middle of an apple grove would've been painfully awkward.
With the excellent perception granted by Arash's Clairvoyance, Shane didn't waste much time. He quickly found clear signs of human habitation in a more open forest clearing.
What surprised him was that the "house" wasn't a normal cabin of wood or stone.
It was a massive ancient tree that would take several people to wrap their arms around.
And set into the thick trunk was an old-fashioned wooden door.
If not for that door, he would've assumed he'd gotten the wrong place.
"Anyway… this has to be it," Shane muttered, growing even more curious about his unseen neighbor.
"Hopefully she's an interesting elder like Grandpa Rob or Master Makarov."
He walked up and knocked lightly, raising his voice.
"Hello? Anyone home? I live on the edge of the forest. I'm a Fairy Tail mage."
He deliberately named the guild so he wouldn't be mistaken for someone suspicious.
Silence.
He waited. No response.
Not giving up, he knocked again, harder.
This time—
Bang! The door was yanked open from inside.
A figure appeared in the doorway: rare pink hair, neatly combed, a cloak decorated with dragon fangs, and a face completely expressionless.
Feeling that coldness, Shane forced a friendly smile and extended the fruit basket.
"Um… hello. I'm your neighbor. This is—"
Bam!
Before he could finish, the door slammed shut even harder, nearly hitting his nose.
Shane's smile froze. His mouth twitched. He was about to try again—
Creak.
The door opened again.
This time, the pink-haired granny was holding a broom that looked extremely sturdy.
"Go away! Go away! Get out!" she snapped, swinging the broom at Shane's head and shoulders. "I hate humans! I hate them! Even human kids—I hate them too!"
Shane was caught off guard, stumbling into a messy dodge as he backpedaled.
"Wait, I just—"
"Leave!" The broom came even faster.
Seeing there was no talking her down, Shane hurriedly set the fruit basket on the ground by the door and retreated at once.
Behind him he could still hear the broom slicing the air and the old woman's grumbling complaints.
Only when Shane's figure disappeared did the old woman finally stop swinging.
She glanced down at the basket and snorted.
"Makarov's little brat, huh? Humans are such a pain. Bringing fruit baskets to butter people up…"
Even as she said it, her eyes swept over the fruit. After hesitating a few seconds, she bent down and picked it up anyway, still muttering:
"Honestly… Fairy Tail types always do these unnecessary things."
Far away, Shane withdrew his Clairvoyance view and couldn't help laughing.
She'd accepted the fruit basket so carefully, but her mouth was still that sharp.
"At your age, and you're still trying to act tsundere…" He shook his head. Whatever irritation he'd felt was already gone.
Back home, he went straight to his desk.
Not going to the guild today wasn't just for peace and quiet—he had something important to do.
He'd mastered Requip magic. That meant Arash's "ammunition armory" could finally come online.
He was going to use today to design a dedicated set of arrows for Arash.
And, while he was at it… he could finally fire up the forge again.