Shane's tone was deadly serious.
Even Gildarts had rushed back on purpose—just imagining how important this event was made it obvious.
If they messed it up… who knew how furious the old man would get?
Makarov was usually extremely tolerant with guild members, but with a rare festival like this, Shane didn't want to be the reason the old guy started hopping mad.
"Let's go back first and talk this through properly."
As he spoke, Shane didn't give Erza any room to argue—he literally herded the still-protesting girl and marched her straight home.
Back at the cottage, the two of them sat around the coffee table and launched into a "heated" debate about what to perform.
In the end, under Shane's fierce insistence, Erza reluctantly gave up her world-shattering mascot-suit ideas.
"Fine…" She let out a disappointed sigh. "Then we'll do it your way. I'll use Requip to showcase a sword dance, and you'll use fire magic to create fireworks."
Shane finally breathed out, relieved. "Now we're talking. I'll hand over Arash's entire ammo arsenal for you to use. A sky full of sword-rain plus dazzling fireworks—people's eyes are going to explode."
It wasn't the most original plan, but it was safe, flashy, and festive—solid, reliable, and hard to screw up.
Once the serious planning was done, the living room fell quiet.
Morning sunlight poured through the window, warm and soft.
Shane tilted his head and—without realizing it—his gaze drifted sideways.
At some point, Erza had already leaned against him.
She usually carried herself like an untouchable fortress, but in private—especially at home—she was surprisingly lazy.
Lately, she'd been doing this more and more: curling up beside him like a cat, saying nothing, just quietly leaning there.
Shane thought that if Natsu saw Erza like this—completely defenseless—he'd probably shout "Impossible!" and assume it was an impostor trying to scam him.
Staring at her delicate profile, something flickered in Shane's chest.
"Come to think of it…"
He realized he'd never actually asked her out anywhere, not properly.
"I heard that before the magic parade starts at night, we're free during the day."
He tested the waters. "During the Harvest Festival… want to go look around together?"
He expected her to light up the way she did when she heard "team up."
But Erza's reaction was strangely calm.
She didn't even lift her head—just gave a soft "Mm," and then, to make it worse, scooted in closer like she was claiming a more comfortable pillow.
A long moment passed.
Then she blinked, as if she'd only just processed what he said, and looked up at him in confusion.
"Harvest Festival… you weren't planning to go around with me?"
"Huh?"
What kind of bizarre logic was that?
Shane was completely thrown. "What do you mean I wasn't planning to? I'm literally inviting you right now!"
"But—" Erza, utterly innocent, started counting on her fingers in complete seriousness. "I thought you'd obviously go with me. I already planned it out. I want to try that rare sweets stall that only appears during the Harvest Festival, and watch the dance show, and—"
She rattled off an entire itinerary—places to go, things to eat—every single item clearly assuming Shane would be next to her.
Shane stared, dumbfounded.
So she'd already rehearsed their whole day in her head… with "the two of us together" as the default premise.
"…My bad," he said with an awkward laugh, reaching up to ruffle her smooth red hair.
Erza, warmed by the sunlight, tilted her head slightly at the touch.
Then, completely naturally, she reached up and wrapped a strand of her hair around Shane's fingertip.
Her calm, effortless confidence left Shane helpless.
Was she getting better at flirting or what?
He felt like she was getting harder and harder to handle.
But—
She really was adorable.
Shane silently nodded to himself, fully admitting he was weak to this.
To hide the fact that he'd just been thoroughly "handled," he cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"Ahem. Since we've decided on the plan, let's go practice outside. Better than messing up during the real performance."
"Okay!" Erza looked genuinely excited.
They went out to the open field—blue sky as their backdrop, grass as their stage—and rehearsed seriously.
Sword light flashed. Flames rose.
Even as a drill, their coordination was surprisingly good.
When they finished, they ate outside like a picnic.
With the autumn forest as scenery and the sound of wind and falling leaves, even a simple lunch felt special.
That night, as soon as Shane got out of the hot spring pool, Erza dragged him onto the couch.
"Shane—movie time!"
She enthusiastically activated a magic projection.
It was a classic adventure road movie with a male and female lead.
Erza sat close, watching intently, reacting with the occasional gasp or laugh.
Shane, though, was distracted.
He answered her comments, but his focus sank into his mind-sea.
That familiar, almost-overflowing sensation was getting stronger.
He could feel it—within today or tomorrow, Lancer's second vision would trigger.
Shane was startled.
This was over half a month earlier than he'd predicted.
And of course, that was thanks to the "human charging pack" sitting right beside him.
"Uh…" Shane turned his head, wanting to thank her.
But the words that came out—without his permission—were, "Let's watch the sequel too. Stay up a bit longer."
Erza looked at him, puzzled. She didn't understand why the guy who usually pushed bedtime was suddenly suggesting an all-nighter.
Then her eyes curved into happy crescents. "Okay."
She leaned her head onto his shoulder again, lazy as a cat, rubbing lightly like she'd found her perfect spot.
Shane was used to her casual closeness by now, so he let her.
Besides—him suggesting more movie time wasn't only about spending time with her.
He was trying to trigger the vision before the Harvest Festival started.
Visions were unpredictable, and he had no idea how long they'd last.
If it happened right in the middle of their parade performance, it'd be a disaster.
So, with all that on his mind, they stayed up unusually late.
They watched on the couch until deep night, then dozed off with heavy eyelids.
The next day—
Because he'd been half-aware of his mind-sea the whole time, Shane didn't sleep well.
For once, he woke up before Erza, quietly made breakfast, and gently woke her up while she was still groggy.
After eating, they went to the guild, discussed the Harvest Festival details and schedule with everyone, and the day flew by in a blur of busyness.
That night, when Shane finally lay back in bed again—
That familiar dizziness arrived right on cue.
Lancer's vision descended.
"Ugh—"
That nauseating stench flooded his nose again.
Thick, murky sludge—like a dam breaking—surged out from beneath him, swallowing him completely in an instant.
Suffocation hit—
But this time, Shane didn't feel that disgusting "attachment" sensation.
"Third-person?"
He realized his consciousness hadn't been forced into the flesh-mass like last time.
Instead, he was floating in the air, looking down at everything from above.
Relief washed over him—he never wanted to experience "rotting as a meat blob" ever again.
He focused his gaze downward.
In the dead, muddy swamp, that massive lump of pulsing flesh looked almost identical to how it had been when he'd left it.
Still ugly. Still twisted. Still leaking a despairing aura of death.
But beyond his current field of view—where he couldn't see—
"Glug… glug…"
In the real world, the sludge was no longer confined to that dead zone.
It was spreading outward from him in silence, seeping slowly into the surrounding land.