The four of them returned to Magnolia. As they walked down the streets of the town, Statiw looked at Mirajane and the bouncing Lisanna ahead of him, then tilted his head to Elfman beside him and said, "Elfman, how about you come with me to buy some painting tools?"
"Huh? Me?" Elfman was walking when he suddenly heard Statiw's words. He pointed at his nose in surprise and asked.
"What? No? Do you have something to do later?" Statiw looked at Elfman's surprised expression, a bit puzzled.
"No, no. I don't have anything to do." Elfman quickly waved his hands and shook his head, saying, "I'm just surprised you'd be willing to let me go with you."
"Oh? Haven't you ever gone shopping with anyone else before?" Elfman's words sounded normal, but to Statiw, they took on a different meaning.
"Natsu and Gray say I'm too slow and timid, so they don't want to play with me. My sister and Lisanna are girls, so it's not good for me to go shopping with them. So..." Elfman started to lower his head again, his two index fingers tapping together as he quietly explained his confusion to Statiw.
Looking at Elfman like this, even the more mature Statiw felt a bit speechless, let alone Natsu and Gray, who were truly mischievous kids at the moment. It would be a miracle if they were willing to play with him.
However, Elfman's personality was also a huge problem. Since he had already decided to do his best to help the three siblings, the first thing to address was Elfman's timidity and Mirajane's hot temper.
Then he thought carefully about Mirajane's personality again, and Statiw shook his head. There was no other way; he could only slowly, through language and behavior, gradually change her character.
As for Elfman, it was much simpler. He was mainly lacking in confidence because he had been suppressed by Mirajane for a long time, accustomed to following his sister's arrangements in everything. As long as Elfman's confidence was properly cultivated, he believed he would quickly cheer up.
Thinking of this, Statiw patted Elfman's shoulder and said, "It's okay, we can go shopping together from now on."
The two were discussing what they needed to buy when Mirajane, who was ahead, suddenly felt that Statiw and Elfman were getting further and further away from her. She turned around, intending to tell them to hurry up, but found them discussing something together. However, the distance was a bit far, and she couldn't hear.
"Hey, what are you two talking about?" It didn't matter that she couldn't hear their conversation. Mirajane simply stopped and waited for them to get closer before asking.
"We're discussing going to buy some things together. Later, you and Lisanna can go back first. Elfman and I will return to the guild to find you after we've bought our things." Seeing Mirajane standing with her hands on her hips, staring at them, Statiw told her the result of their discussion.
"What's the big deal? It's just buying some things, why make it so mysterious?" Mirajane had thought it was some secret, but she didn't expect that what they were discussing was merely going to buy some things. She immediately lost interest and waved her hand impatiently at them, saying, "Alright, you two hurry up and come back."
Statiw didn't want to act mysterious either, but Elfman at the moment was like a shy young girl, even speaking a little louder made him blush. What could he do? If he didn't know Elfman wasn't actually like that, Statiw might not even dare to get close to him.
The two bid farewell to Mirajane and Lisanna to go shopping. After the two left, Mirajane took Lisanna back to the guild. When entering, she violently kicked open the guild's large door. With her arms crossed, she walked straight in without saying a word, only Lisanna followed behind her, constantly trying to appease Mirajane while apologizing to the others in the guild who had been disturbed.
"Mirajane, when entering, you should gently push the door open with your hand. Don't you have hands? Violently damaging the guild's..." Mirajane had just entered the guild and hadn't even taken two steps when a girl sitting at a table near the guild counter immediately stood up and criticized her actions.
This girl was wearing a suit of armor, a sword hung at her waist, and her crimson long hair was tied into a thick, long braid behind her back. Her extremely delicate face was on par with Mirajane's, clearly a beauty. At this moment, her expression was extremely serious and earnest, her eyes fixed on Mirajane in a lecturing manner.
"Erza, last time's matter isn't over yet, take this!" As soon as she saw the girl in front of her, Mirajane called out her name and rushed forward without a word.
"Flat-chested!"
"Goody-two-shoes!"
The two girls clasped their hands together, pushing against each other with all their might, while also bumping their heads together and continuously cursing at each other.
Looking at the two of them, Lisanna seemed unfazed, as if she had seen it all before. She skipped over to the guild counter and handed over 20,000J.
"Lisanna, did you just go on a mission?" She had just handed over the money when a boy with spiky pink hair, a scaly scarf around his neck, and a badly bruised and swollen face came over and shouted at her.
"Yes, Natsu, we took our new member, Big Brother Statiw, on his first mission." Lisanna heard someone call her, turned her head, and immediately recognized the boy with the bruised and swollen face.
Not far from Natsu, at a table, sat another boy who was also bruised and swollen, wearing only a pair of shorts. He heard Lisanna's words and immediately turned to her, asking, "New member? Lisanna, are you saying there's another new member in our guild?"
At this moment, the girl sitting opposite Gray, who was doing a tarot card reading, raised her eyes slightly, then quietly said to him, "Gray, your clothes."
"Ah, damn it, when did I take them off?" Gray, reminded, looked at himself and immediately jumped up, shouting.
"Yes, it's Big Brother Statiw. He just joined this morning. But now he's already gone shopping with Big Brother Elfman." Lisanna, however, had an expression as if she was no longer surprised, looking at Gray in only his shorts, and answered with a smile.
"Hey, Gray. I saw Lisanna come back first, so that question should have been asked by me." Natsu at this moment glared at Gray with an annoyed expression, indignantly fuming.
"What? Do you have a problem? You with the upturned eyes." Gray was originally going to look for his clothes, which he didn't know where he had taken off, but hearing Natsu's indignant, annoyed tone, he immediately forgot about his clothes, turned his head, and stared at Natsu, replying.
"What did you say, you damn droopy-eyed pervert! I'm going to show you today!" Natsu, now furious, walked up to Gray, and the two butted heads, starting to curse at each other again.
The lesson that the bruises and swelling had taught them was once again forgotten by the two.