The noisy guild hall suddenly fell silent.
It was as if someone had pressed a mute button; all the clamor, laughter, cursing, and the rustling of treasure maps vanished in an instant. A strange sleepiness filled the air, like an invisible veil shrouding the entire hall.
One by one, the guild members collapsed—some slumped on tables, some sprawled on the floor, and others slid down against the walls. Their breathing became steady and slow as they all fell into a deep slumber.
A figure walked in through the guild's main entrance.
He wore loose, deep black robes with a hood pulled low, almost completely concealing his face and leaving only the outline of his chin visible.
His footsteps were as light as a cat's, making no sound on the wooden floor, and he radiated an aura that induced drowsiness.
Mystogan.
Riyao slowly woke up from his slumber, let out a long yawn, and rubbed his sleepy eyes.
He looked down at Mirajane, who was asleep in his arms, then up at the hooded figure and spoke lazily, "Ha~ Old Mist, it's you. This sleep magic of yours is disturbing my rest."
Mystogan waved his hand as a greeting.
Without lingering, he walked straight to Makarov, pulled a request form from the request board, and handed it to Makarov for a look.
Makarov squinted at the contents of the request, nodded, and looked up to ask, "Don't you plan to lift the sleep magic?"
The mysterious Mystogan didn't look back. As he walked toward the door, he began to count down in a low, flat voice.
"5...4...3...2...1."
As soon as he finished, the members in the hall seemed to be switched back on; they opened their eyes one after another and sat up groggily.
The familiar veteran members rubbed their temples and complained with an air of habit.
"This feeling... Mystogan must be back."
"This feeling is so annoying; every time I wake up, it feels like I've been hit with a club."
"His magic is still so strong; he knocked out the whole guild in a second."
Riyao looked down at Mirajane in his arms. Her silver eyelashes were fluttering as she blinked, looking like she had just woken from a beautiful dream. Riyao reached out and pinched her cheek; it was soft and felt nice to the touch.
Mirajane murmured groggily, "Mmm... Is Mystogan back?"
Lucy sat by the bar, rubbing her eyes with her head still spinning, and asked blankly, "Who is Mystogan?"
Elfman, sitting across from Lucy with his arms crossed, explained seriously, "He's one of the candidates for the strongest man in Fairy Tail."
When he said the words "strongest," he emphasized his tone and tilted his chin up slightly, looking as if to say, "Even though I'm not the strongest, I'm still pretty great."
Gray, who was rubbing his eyes, added with a hint of helplessness, "I just don't know why he has to put everyone to sleep every time he comes back. It seems only Riyao and the Master have seen Mystogan's face."
Lucy's eyes widened, and she looked at Riyao in surprise, "Is Riyao that strong?"
Riyao picked his nose with a nonchalant expression, "How rude. Your information-gathering skills are really weak; and you call yourself a novelist."
Mirajane reached out and slapped Riyao's hand away from his nose, giving him a glare, "Mind your image."
Riyao chuckled and pulled back his hand.
Just then, a punchable voice drifted down from the second floor, sounding lazy and arrogant.
"There's also me, hmph."
Everyone in the guild looked up in unison and cried out, "Laxus?! You're actually at the guild?!"
The blonde powerhouse leaned against the second-floor railing, his signature headphones on his ears and a disdainful smirk on his lips, as if looking down at a bunch of ants.
Riyao countered immediately with a teasing tone, "The first time, you were clearly woken up by the sound of your own headphones, and only then did you realize there was someone like that in the guild."
Laxus's expression changed, and he shouted defensively, "Bullshit! That's because I'm strong! Sleep magic doesn't work on me!"
His voice echoed on the second floor, but his ears turned slightly red; that was something from a long time ago.
Gray explained to Lucy, gesturing with his fingers, "Riyao and Laxus are also candidates for the strongest man."
Lisanna leaned in from the side, cupping her face with her hands, her eyes sparkling, "Brother-in-law hasn't fought in a long time; he usually just supports Big Sister in battle, but I believe Brother-in-law must be the strongest!"
She spoke with pure admiration, her small fists clenched in front of her chest, looking like "my brother-in-law is number one in the world."
Cana leaned against a pillar, glass in hand, shaking it nonchalantly, "My old man went on a 100-Year Quest. Usually, when someone goes on a 100-Year Quest, they're presumed dead until they return. Otherwise, the strongest man in the guild would be my old man."
Although she had a smile on her face as she spoke, a hint of hard-to-detect worry could be heard in her voice. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the rim of the glass, and her gaze drifted slightly into the distance.
Natsu scrambled up from the floor, rubbing the back of his head, and looked up to see Laxus on the second floor. His eyes instantly lit up, and he shouted excitedly, "Laxus! Fight me!"
He shouted while waving his fists, flames dancing between his fingers.
Laxus looked at Natsu with disdain, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth, "Forget it. You can't even beat someone like Erza."
Erza slammed the table and stood up, fury burning in her brown eyes; the chair slid back half a meter from the force. "What do you mean by that, you bastard!?"
At the second-floor railing, Laxus spread his arms dramatically like he was embracing the world, his blonde hair looking like a ball of fire in the backlight. "It means I'm the strongest."
Natsu was the first to object, clamoring as he charged toward the stairs, "Get down here!"
He stepped onto the stairs, charging upward like a cannonball, his fists wreathed in flames.
Makarov's arm suddenly expanded, and a giant palm descended from the sky, pinning Natsu to the stairs and suppressing him like swatting a fly. "I won't allow you to go up; you're not qualified yet!"
Natsu struggled under the giant palm, still yelling, "Let me go! I'm going to beat him up!"
Laxus laughed mockingly again, his laughter echoing on the second floor.
But his eyes suddenly caught sight of Riyao—or more accurately, the crystal ball Riyao was playing with.
The surface of the crystal ball flickered slightly, as if it were recording something.
Laxus's laughter stopped abruptly.
Riyao's lips curled into a slight smirk as he gently spun the crystal ball, a playful look in his eyes.
He planned to record the current arrogant and dramatic Laxus to show to the future Laxus; it would definitely be interesting.
Laxus and Riyao locked eyes for a second, then Laxus silently retracted his spread arms and turned to walk into the shadows of the second-floor hallway.
After the commotion ended.
Lucy sat at the bar, her legs swinging back and forth, her blonde ponytail swaying gently behind her head. She rested her chin on her hand, recalling the scene where Makarov suppressed Natsu, and asked curiously with a tilt of her head, "Why did the Master stop Natsu from going to the second floor just now?"
Lisanna happened to be passing by with a tray of freshly washed glasses. Hearing Lucy's question, she kindly stopped to explain.
She placed the tray on the bar and wagged her index finger in front of her like a little teacher, "The second floor holds S-Class Quests, which are much more dangerous than those on the first floor. Only S-Class Mages can go up there."
She lowered her voice and leaned in close to Lucy, acting mysterious, "If just anyone could go up, the guild would have been torn down eight hundred times by now."
Lucy nodded in realization, then something suddenly occurred to her, and her eyes widened.
She recalled scenes of Riyao and Mirajane often going to the second floor—sometimes holding hands, sometimes with Riyao's arm around Mirajane's waist, and sometimes with Mirajane dragging Riyao by the ear...
"Eh?! So Riyao and Mirajane are also S-Class Mages?!"
Her voice rose an octave, and she almost slid off the barstool.
Mirajane happened to emerge from the kitchen at that moment, a bit of flour on her white apron and her long silver hair tied in a neat low ponytail.
Hearing Lucy's exclamation, she walked behind the bar with a smile, wiping her hands as she spoke, "That's right. Surprising, isn't it?"
She tilted her head, her silver eyelashes blinking gently. A gentle smile was on her face, but her eyes clearly sparkled with pride, saying, "My Riyao is very impressive."
Lucy held her forehead and sighed helplessly, "I can see it for Miss Mira, but Riyao is actually an S-Class Mage too? I've never even seen him fight."
She counted on her fingers; since joining the guild, Riyao had either been applying sunscreen to Mirajane, placing bets, or recording people's embarrassing moments with his crystal ball... He hadn't fought seriously even once.
Mirajane poked her cheek with her index finger, tilting her head in thought as strands of silver hair fell from her ear. Her gaze became somewhat distant, as if she were remembering something, "Riyao really hasn't fought in front of people for a long time."
She paused, her lips curling into a meaningful smile, and her voice softened, "However, he is very powerful."
Lucy keenly caught the deep meaning in Mirajane's words and was about to ask more, but Mirajane had already turned back toward the kitchen, her silver hair tracing a graceful arc in the air, leaving Lucy with a meaningful view of her back.