Over the next few days, the two of them quietly slipped into "hibernation mode" at home.
For Shane, it was pure laziness—at last he had a perfectly legitimate excuse to fully zone out. No debt to think about, no training to plan. He sprawled on the couch like a salted fish that had lost all ambition.
Erza's reason was simpler: she just liked being with Shane. Even if they did nothing at all—just sitting together reading, polishing swords, or occasionally going out to stroll around with guild friends—she felt completely satisfied.
What made Shane feel the most relieved during this time was that, after that night, Erza finally went back to normal.
She returned to being that dignified, upright, occasionally airheaded knight girl.
That suffocating "sleep with me" demand never happened again.
Shane let out a huge sigh of relief. He really did prefer sleeping alone. Having the whole bed to himself, flipping over however he wanted—that freedom was the true essence of sleep.
…
Before he knew it, a whole week slipped by in comfortable decay.
When Shane noticed the date on the calendar creeping toward the end of the month, he finally realized how fast time had passed.
"Erza."
One morning after breakfast, Shane set down his milk and said, "I'm going to that seaside city again—check on everyone at the Tower of Paradise, and also talk business with Noel's master. Want to come?"
"Mm."
Erza paused while wiping the corner of her mouth, then nodded without hesitation.
She didn't have anything urgent going on, and she'd been missing Grandpa Rob and Millianna too—maybe she'd get to see them this time.
…
Neither of them was the type to dawdle.
With Shane's dragon wings, even crossing half of Fiore took only half a day.
But to Erza's disappointment, when they reached the familiar inn, the owner gave them the same answer as last time.
Grandpa Rob had taken Millianna traveling somewhere else and still hadn't returned.
"It's okay."
Seeing Erza's slight droop, Shane patted her shoulder to comfort her.
"They're free now—they can go wherever they want. We'll have plenty of chances to meet again. Next time we'll just write ahead and set a date."
"Mm." Erza nodded, quickly pulling herself together.
"Come on. Let's handle the important stuff first."
Shane led her through the streets like it was routine, heading straight to the smithy where Noel worked.
But when they arrived, Shane froze.
"...This is really the place?"
The old smithy he remembered—full of heat, smoke, and constant clanging—was gone.
In its place stood a grand building that had swallowed the shops on both sides and expanded several times over.
Four stories tall, with an imposing marble facade and a gold sign hanging above the entrance.
Through huge glass windows, rows of gleaming metal goods were displayed inside.
This wasn't a smithy anymore—it looked like a full-blown commercial guild.
"Tch… business really blew up."
Shane stood at the entrance, staring at the drastic transformation in amazement.
Only…
His gaze landed on the greeters at the door.
"Noel's master's taste is kind of awful…"
Two neat rows of tall, cute girls stood outside. Every one of them wore a bright red qipao with a sky-high slit, sheer stockings on their legs, and sweet smiles—despite the winter wind.
Those long legs were drawing constant double-takes from passersby.
"This marketing strategy is aimed in the wrong direction," Shane complained to himself.
If he were running a smithy, he'd put muscular guys at the entrance—because steel, sweat, and raw strength made people believe you understood iron.
This flashy stuff just wasn't Shane's aesthetic.
"Welcome~"
As Shane and Erza stepped up, the greeters swarmed them with sugary voices.
Erza didn't even blink, perfectly calm, as if she hadn't noticed anything.
"Ahem… so…"
Shane cleared his throat, about to introduce himself—then abruptly stalled.
He realized he still didn't know Noel's master's actual name.
Even though the man had spoken highly of him before, Shane had never asked. It was… awkward.
"I'm here to see… uh, Noel. Is he in?"
He could only use the apprentice's name.
"Oh, you're here for Supervisor Noel."
The lead greeter—a poised girl with neatly pinned black hair—reacted fast.
After taking in Shane and Erza's unusual presence, she didn't look down on them for being young. If anything, she became even more attentive.
"Please come with me. Supervisor Noel is upstairs in his office."
They passed through a showroom packed with armor and fine weapons, and were led to an office on the top floor.
Knock knock.
"Come in. What is it?"
A tired but gentle voice came from inside.
The door opened.
Behind the desk, the boy buried in a mountain of orders didn't even look up—he asked out of habit.
"Noel."
Shane called with a grin.
At that familiar voice, the boy snapped his head up.
"Shane?! Erza?!"
When he recognized who was standing behind the qipao girl, Noel practically sprang out of his chair.
"You're here!"
Jellal had mentioned Shane might visit after the new year, but Noel hadn't expected him so soon.
"Yo. Long time no see."
Shane walked in, looking around.
"Man, Noel—this hasn't even been a year, right? And you've already got an office like this?"
They'd all been "prison buddies" in the Tower of Paradise. Seeing Noel thriving like this genuinely made Shane happy.
"Heh… yeah."
Noel scratched his head shyly, that manager's sharpness melting away into the introverted boy Shane remembered.
"It's… it's okay. Master led me through it."
They sat on the sofa and caught up, and naturally the topic turned to how the shop had transformed so dramatically.
"Honestly, this happened because of you, Shane," Noel said with a sigh as he poured them tea.
"Me?"
Shane held his cup, baffled. "What does this have to do with me? I didn't invest any money."
"It wasn't money," Noel explained.
"It was the forging techniques you taught Master back then!"
"You let people watch, and you even explained the principles. Master got a lot out of it—he basically treats you like an idol."
As he said it, Noel's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"After that, Master decided to follow your example and spread that 'open sharing' spirit. He arranged the techniques you taught and not only used them himself—he taught them for free to every blacksmith in the city."
"Everyone kept meeting up to exchange ideas, so their skills improved fast, and the relationships got tighter. Eventually Master said, 'Forget it—let's unite,' and formed this merchant guild."
"And somehow… it worked insanely well. Before we knew it, it grew into this."
"So that's what happened…"
Shane stared, genuinely shocked.
He didn't feel sour at all about "someone using his techniques to make money."
Instead he felt that strange butterfly-effect awe—how a casual lesson had, in the hands of a principled old craftsman, reshaped an entire city's smithing ecosystem.
"Your master… has real vision," Shane said sincerely.
Sharing and lifting everyone up—that was the real reason this guild had grown so strong. They deserved this success.
"Yeah. If things weren't so crazy at year-end, Master was going to personally go to Magnolia to thank you," Noel said, gesturing helplessly at the paperwork mountain.
"But business is too good. Even me—someone who just wants to hammer steel—got dragged into office work. It's really not my thing."
"It's his capability, not mine," Shane waved it off. "No need to thank me."
Noel chuckled, then sighed in mild frustration.
"Right now Master has basically cornered the ordinary ironwork market for several nearby cities. But it's a shame…"
"A shame about what?"
"We don't have any top-tier magical weapons," Noel admitted.
"We can produce a lot, but we don't have that high-end 'signature product' that can make a name."
"Those truly wealthy mages still look down on our stuff. If we had that, we could scale way bigger."
At that, Shane's tea cup paused midair.
They had the mass market and the production capacity—
and what they lacked was the high-end core product.
Shane's lips slowly curled up.
"Well then… isn't this perfect?"
~~~
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