It took a while for Mira to snap out of it. She saw Gray waving his hand back and forth in front of her, snapping his fingers. Gray asked, somewhat confused, "What were you and Master talking about? Why do you look like you lost your soul as soon as he finished speaking?"
"Nothing, nothing." Mira looked a little flustered, but quickly returned to her usual smiling demeanor and said to Gray, "Do you want some beer?"
Sure enough, Gray, the simple-minded man, was drawn by Mira's words and said, "Please!"
Meanwhile, Chen Fan found Romeo. Romeo was sitting on the stairs, his head buried in his knees, looking rather sad and very lonely, like a lost puppy in the bustling streets of Magnolia.
Chen Fan walked over and sat next to Romeo, deliberately making a slight sound, an acknowledgment of his presence. Romeo heard the sound, looked up, saw Chen Fan, and quietly said, "Brother Chen Fan."
"Are you thinking about what kind of person your father is?" Chen Fan calmly said to Romeo, his voice gentle, without coercion.
"Yes, a lot of other kids said Dad is just a cowardly drunk, a Mage or something..." Romeo's expression became a little agitated, his eyes dim, a reflection of his pain.
But Chen Fan cut him off with a wave of his hand, a gesture to stop. Chen Fan said, "I don't know what you think of your father, but I know your father is a great man. This isn't about whether he's a Mage, but simply about him as a father."
Seeing Romeo's confused expression, Chen Fan continued, "Let me tell you a story. Do you want to hear it?"
"Yes!" Romeo nodded firmly, his eyes brightening slightly, drawn by the offer.
Chen Fan said, somewhat reminiscently, as if telling a tale from a distant past, his voice low. "Once upon a time, there was a family, but the family wasn't warm. The father drank and gambled, the mother worked hard every day, and the little child could only play in the mud alone every day. Sometimes, he was even beaten by his drunken father, and his mother was also beaten for protecting the child. One day, the mother couldn't take it anymore, and then the family split up. But the father didn't raise the child. However, the mother always brought the child along, giving the child whatever good food there was, and brought the child along when she worked. However, the child's father never came to see the child once. When the child was bullied by others, he didn't know what to do, but he never told his mother. He didn't know how to tell his mother..."
As he uttered these words, tears actually welled up in his eyes, making Romeo stare blankly. He had never seen Chen Fan like this, because in his impression, Chen Fan was always smiling, kind, and approachable. And the word 'crying' was truly very, very far from Chen Fan.
Chen Fan seemed to feel the atmosphere was a bit heavy, so he stopped. Seeing Romeo staring blankly into his eyes, he quickly turned his head, wiped his tears with the back of his hand, and then turned back and said, "I've gone off-topic. Anyway, remember that your father is a very great man, okay?"
"Yes." Romeo nodded firmly, a faint smile beginning to appear on his lips.
Seeing Romeo being so well-behaved, Chen Fan patted Romeo's head and said, "Since you're so good, I'll tell you some good news. Your father isn't dead, and he'll be back soon."
Romeo said excitedly, jumping up, "Where is he?! How do you know, Brother Chen Fan?!"
"Brother, I can use Divination Magic! You must keep it a secret, okay? This is our secret!" Chen Fan said mysteriously, putting a finger to his lips, a small smirk.
"Yes, I know!" Romeo nodded excitedly, his eyes sparkling.
Just then, a voice from afar shouted, "ROMEO!" Natsu, supporting a wounded and slightly battered Macao, returned and called out to Romeo, his voice relieved.
"DAD!" Romeo excitedly threw himself onto Macao, almost knocking the still-injured Macao to the ground, creating a brief, touching moment, tears of happiness.
After finally regaining his balance, Macao told Romeo, "I'm sorry for making you worry. My apologies."
"It's okay, I'm a Mage's son, aren't I?" Romeo wiped tears from his eyes, proudly, his voice trembling.
"Next time you see those naughty kids, tell them, 'Can your dad beat 19 monsters?'" Macao said somewhat smugly, smiling proudly, his chest puffed out.
"Yes!" Romeo nodded, wiping his nose, his eyes filled with determination.
Seeing this, Chen Fan placed the food Mira gave him into Macao's hands. As soon as he touched Macao's body, he immediately regulated Macao's Magic Power flow, stimulated his metabolism, and his wounds healed immediately, as if they were never there. This was the effect of his healing ability, far surpassing ordinary Healing Magic.
Macao immediately felt all his body's wounds healed, and instantly knew it was Chen Fan who had acted. "Sorry, I've troubled you again."
"If we're brothers, don't say such things. Rest well and recover your spirits. Treat Romeo well in the future, he worried about you a lot," Chen Fan patted Macao's back, a faint smile on his lips. Having said that, he gave Natsu and Lucy a glance, then they walked back to the Guild together, leaving two long shadows under the setting sun.
At this moment, Romeo jumped down from Macao and shouted loudly towards Chen Fan and their retreating figures: "BIG BROTHER NATSU, BIG SISTER LUCY, THANK YOU! AND BROTHER CHEN FAN, I'LL KEEP OUR SECRET WELL!"
They waved their hands, their backs to Romeo, and soon disappeared into the remnants of the sunset light.
"Bored, so bored, so incredibly bored!" Chen Fan sprawled on the table, shouting loudly like a child who had lost his toy, his voice reverberating throughout the hall.
"If you're bored, go do a mission," Mira told Chen Fan from beside him, as she gracefully arranged wine glasses, without looking up.
"No," Chen Fan said firmly, his head shaking, an absolute resolve in his eyes. He genuinely couldn't be motivated for missions; for a rich person like him, missions were truly optional, like a Mage who no longer needed to search for treasure.
"Then sing me a song," Mira told Chen Fan with a smile, a curious glint in her eyes. This bewildered Chen Fan; he didn't expect Mira to actively ask him to sing for her. This was a first!
Chen Fan touched Mira's forehead suspiciously, his brows furrowed. "Mira, did you take the wrong medicine?"
"SLAP!" Mira immediately slapped Chen Fan's hand, the sound of the slap echoing, and said sharply, "You're the one who took the wrong medicine! Is it so wrong for me to want to hear you sing?!"