In sharp contrast to the seaside city with a mild climate, Magnolia upon return was already wrapped in silver.
Snowflakes fell rustlingly, laying a soft white blanket on the roofs and streets.
The shop windows along the street flickered with decorative lights and golden-red ribbons with Christmas elements that had been arranged long ago. The residual warmth of the festival interweaved with the chill of winter.
Shane stopped, reached out his hand somewhat curiously, caught a falling snowflake, and watched it quickly melt into a dot of coolness in his palm.
In his previous life, he lived in the south where snow was rarely seen. This winter scene of the north country before his eyes held much novelty for him.
"Seems we just missed Christmas."
Gray scratched his trademark spiky hair, his tone carrying a bit of nostalgia. "Last Christmas, I spent it in the guild with Cana and Levy, getting smoked quite badly by those uncles who drank too much."
"Christmas—" Erza repeated in a low voice.
An image of herself changing into a Santa Claus outfit involuntarily appeared in her mind.
Feeling like that outfit seems—pretty nice?
Erza blinked. Not wearing such clothes on the festival day made her inexplicably regretful.
"Speaking of which," Shane pinched his chin, "In the seaside city, there was indeed some festival atmosphere, only I was too busy laying out the plan to catch someone and didn't pay much attention."
Speaking of "catching someone," he subconsciously looked back and glared at Ultear, who followed quietly behind them with a somewhat dejected expression.
The black-haired girl was already anxious about her undecided future. This inexplicable glance made her subconsciously bite her lip, her thoughts even more chaotic.
What does he mean? Is he warning me? Or impatient?
Along the way, Ultear had been hesitating whether to speak out the intelligence about "that person" as a bargaining chip.
But thinking that she might be regarded as a traitor by him and lose the qualification to go to the "New World" promised by the other party, she constantly dismissed this idea.
Incredibly conflicted.
Shane was completely unaware that his casual glance had triggered so many reveries in the other party.
For him, the primary goal was always Brain. As long as the scourge Brain was resolved, everything else was secondary.
Ultear was at most an unexpected gain in the process of solving the problem.
If not for Gray caring, he might not even have the interest to use "Eyes of Karma" to probe her past. It would be easier to just interrogate her and then kill her with a sword.
But precisely because he had seen her karma with the Eyes of Karma and knew her evil deeds were not obvious at present, Shane felt it was troublesome now.
Sigh—can't use force.
Go back and ask the Master, see if he has magic like Veritaserum or Truth Spell.
But Shane didn't hold much hope for this. With Master Makarov's personality, even if there was such magic, he probably wouldn't agree to use it for interrogation.
Thinking of this, Shane couldn't help sighing again.
So troublesome, really so troublesome.
Continuous thinking made his mood a bit dull.
He raised his hand, a wisp of Heart Fire quietly jumping and extinguishing at his fingertip.
Just right, with this, heating water is much more convenient.
Later, I'll fence off that area in the backyard, make an open-air hot spring, and soak in the bath while watching snow and admiring the moon.
He urgently felt the need to do something to heal his exhausted body and mind; otherwise, he would really get depressed.
"Speaking of which, is it okay that the Winter Tail Fish commission wasn't completed?"
Erza's serious voice interrupted his thoughts. She had a serious personality and had been thinking about this all the way.
"Should be fine," Shane gathered his thoughts and answered. "This is a seasonal commission for most guilds. One less completion from us won't have much impact."
Saying this, he also felt a bit guilty. He took two Lacrimas from the guild for free before departure, but the commission wasn't completed.
"Mhm, also forgot the souvenir for the little old man—" He stopped abruptly.
Erza, following behind him, was caught off guard and bumped into his back.
"What's wrong?" She rubbed her nose and asked.
Shane rubbed Erza's smooth long hair naturally, but his gaze turned brightly to Gray. "Gray, how much money—do you still have on you?"
Stared at by this gaze, Gray felt creeps in his heart and retreated repeatedly subconsciously. "Not, not much! Really!"
A supremely "kind" smile bloomed on Shane's face. He leaned closer a few steps and said in a gentle tone of discussion, "Lend a little? No, guild rules say members can't borrow money. Give me a little; I want to buy a souvenir for the Master."
Looking at Shane's approaching face, Gray scolded himself inwardly for being afraid of this guy when he wasn't asking him for a favor right now.
He steadied his mind and forced himself to be calm. "No—"
About half an hour later, Shane, who had just walked out of a "Magnolia Specialty Boutique," tossed an exquisitely packaged Christmas-style decorative box and sighed, "A bottle of local fruit wine actually costs 30,000 Jewels. As expected of a specialty store specializing in ripping off tourists; really ruthless harvesting."
Erza nodded in deep agreement. In her opinion, the money for two bottles of this fruit wine was almost enough to buy a longsword like the one she used before. Indeed very unworthy.
Forming a sharp contrast with the two nonchalant people was Gray, following behind them, clutching a deflated wallet, looking as if he had lost color and turned gray.
His eyes were hollow, muttering unconsciously, "My savings—the last 30,000 Jewels—"
Ultear watched this scene coldly from the side, an inexplicable pleasure surging in her heart, feeling that this idiot Gray totally deserved it.
At the same time, she confirmed again that Shane was a shameless bastard who showed no mercy even when exploiting companions.
Actually, three young people wearing only thin clothes, plus a bound captive—such a combination walking on the street should have been quite eye-catching.
But most residents of Magnolia just glanced hurriedly and didn't cast too many curious looks.
After all, Magnolia was the headquarters of Fairy Tail. Residents whose nerves weren't thick enough and hearts weren't strong enough had long considered moving.
Chatting, the group soon arrived in front of that familiar guild building.
Looking at the flag with the Fairy Tail emblem printed on it above, a subtle sense of belonging surged in Shane's heart, and he sighed, "Finally back. Feels like haven't seen it for a long time—"
Just as he was about to push the door in, he caught a glimpse of a figure standing beside the guild gate out of the corner of his eye.
It was a girl who looked very young, with smooth purple shoulder-length hair, wearing thick winter clothes, pacing uneasily in front of the guild gate. Her small hand raised and lowered, seeming to be experiencing an intense struggle inside.
Shane raised an eyebrow, changed direction, and walked over lightly.
He patted the other party's shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing in front of the guild?"