After the parade ended, the lights on the floats gradually dimmed.
Makarov didn't, as he usually did, shrink back into that comical little old man amid the cheers. He stood atop the float, sweeping his gaze over the bustling crowd below as the festive joy on his face faded away.
He still hadn't forgotten last night's black-mud-over-the-city incident.
Yet before he could even begin to apologize, the sharp, good-humored townspeople were already laughing and shouting up at him:
"Hey, Master Makarov! What's with that face?"
"Did you forget to perform the sad part of the show?"
"It's a festival—don't you dare start apologizing, that's a mood killer!"
"Besides, it's probably just another mess your guild caused by accident. We're used to this level of chaos!"
"As long as nobody's house collapsed, it's not a problem!"
"Hahahaha!"
A wave of warm laughter rippled through the crowd.
The travelers who'd arrived early last night understood exactly what the locals meant—and laughed along with them. Only the tourists who'd rushed in today looked utterly confused.
"Wasn't that an amazing, perfect performance? Why are they suddenly talking about apologizing?"
Seeing those forgiving eyes, Makarov felt his chest warm, his eyes stinging a little.
But precisely because of that kindness, he couldn't just wave it away.
"Everyone!"
With amplification magic, Makarov's voice boomed across the entire square, overpowering all other noise.
He bowed deeply—toward every resident in the city.
"About last night… that was trouble caused by a good-for-nothing kid in our guild. It frightened and inconvenienced you. On behalf of Fairy Tail, I offer you my sincere apology!"
"I'm sorry!"
In that moment, he was deadly serious.
It was an explanation to the citizens—and a lesson put on display for the troublemaking brats in the guild.
Natsu still didn't understand what was happening and couldn't help looking at Gray. "What's up with the master? Why's he apologizing all of a sudden?"
"It's obviously because of the black-mud illusion that covered the whole city yesterday, you fire-breathing idiot," Gray explained with a weary sigh.
"Huh? What are you talking about? I went to bed early yesterday—what happened?" Natsu looked even more confused, and the vein at Gray's temple practically started throbbing.
"This moron…"
Meanwhile, the square went quiet for a heartbeat—then erupted into loud, heartfelt cheers:
"With a festival this good…"
"We forgive you!"
Makarov straightened up, and the heavy stone in his chest finally settled.
Then he threw both arms high and shouted with booming enthusiasm:
"To show our apology—and to celebrate the perfect end of the Harvest Festival! Tonight, anyone who's interested, come to Fairy Tail for a party! Drinks on the house! We're not stopping until we're all smashed!"
"OHHHHHHH!!!"
The roar of the crowd shot straight into the sky.
But amid the frenzy, Makarov's eyes cut through the sea of people and landed precisely on Shane, standing off in a corner.
He didn't say a word. He only lifted his brows—meaningfully.
Shane understood instantly.
"This party tab is going on you."
"…" Shane's face twisted into a grimace. His mouth twitched, but he didn't argue.
After all, it was his mess. Getting out of it this lightly was already the best possible outcome—he had no right to complain.
Still…
"Treating the whole city… that cost…"
He did a quick mental estimate and felt his vision darken.
It looked like, for a long time, his wallet was going to be cleaner than his face.
At this rate, he might even have to live off Erza's support.
Seeing Shane's pained, helpless expression, Makarov congratulated himself internally.
He'd made the kid remember the lesson—the price of losing control—without doing any real damage to him physically or mentally.
Perfect education.
As for the debt…
The little old man stroked his beard, his inner calculator clacking away.
Based on what he knew of Shane's strength, even a huge debt like this—if the kid just worked hard—might be painful and tiring, but he'd pay it off eventually.
And wouldn't that also motivate him to work?
Two birds, one stone!
…
The party kicked off in full swing on the open ground in front of Fairy Tail's building.
Rows and rows of tables and chairs were already set up. They couldn't seat the entire city at once, but with a rotating "flowing banquet" setup, hosting a few hundred people at a time was no problem.
"Don't be shy! Eat as much as you want! Drink as much as you want!"
Makarov stood on top of a barrel, raising a massive mug of draft beer, more excited than anyone—like a generous deity showering gifts.
Of course, he was spending Shane's money.
And everyone else in the guild got drafted as staff.
Gray was forced to use Ice-Make to produce ice for cooling drinks. Natsu was assigned to keep the grills burning. And Erza…
No one knew where she got it, but she had somehow changed into a black-and-white server outfit, carrying a tray through the crowd with brisk, professional efficiency—like she'd been trained for it.
"More beer for this table!"
"Of course. Coming right up."
The chaos and laughter didn't die down until late at night, when the party finally began to disperse.
Shane dragged his exhausted body home and collapsed onto his bed, too tired to move even a finger.
Those last few hours were easily the heaviest, busiest hours of his life.
He'd been running drinks and food, dealing with over-friendly drunk uncles and aunties tugging him around, and constantly staying on guard so Natsu and Gray wouldn't start fighting and break things at the party.
"This was worse than fully releasing Muramasa's 'Territory Creation'..."
Shane stared at the ceiling and let out a weak groan.
He turned his head, remembering how energetic Erza had been—still with enough strength left to help him clean up afterward—and couldn't help feeling ashamed.
"How long is that girl's stamina bar, seriously?"
But still…
"Festivals… are actually kind of fun."
Shane closed his eyes, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
That whole-city celebration, that warmth of everyone gathering together—it really was hard to forget.
"If only there wasn't that debt… it would've been perfect."
With that tiny consolation, he drifted into sleep.
However—
The next morning, when he took the long, long bill from Makarov's hands, he didn't feel like smiling anymore.
"Ones… tens… hundreds… thousands… ten-thousands…"
He counted the zeros at the end—an absurd number of them—until his head spun and his blood pressure shot up.
"T-Twenty million?!"
He glared at Makarov, his voice cracking.
"How can one party cost twenty million J?! Were you serving everyone liquid gold?!"
"That's with quite a few merchants sponsoring food and drinks, too," Makarov said, grinning like a fox as he enjoyed Shane's suffering. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have been anywhere near that cheap."
"Relax. The guild won't charge you interest."
~~~
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