Throughout the entire afternoon, the young man was in a state of observation and contemplation, constantly using his knowledge to explain Statiw's magic.
As the evening banquet began, more and more people approached the young man to socialize with him.
While casually yet politely dealing with those who came to socialize, the young man remained in a state of contemplation.
Perhaps noticing his state, everyone who came to socialize would, after greeting him, politely leave after only a few words.
Throughout the entire night, Statiw dealt with this seemingly very important young man.
However, this young man was also quite persistent; from beginning to end, he never asked about the magic, determined to uncover its principles through his own observation and ability.
Unfortunately, in the end, he was unsuccessful.
Thinking about it, Statiw's Pict Magic was different from the standard version.
Although the standard magic could materialize characters, it was essentially magic power construction.
His materialization was different; apart from him controlling them with his own consciousness, the characters he materialized were genuinely flesh and blood.
Because of this, the young man always believed that the characters in front of him were real people.
Therefore, even with his extensive knowledge, trying to find the principles of this magic from them was utterly impossible, because the direction of his efforts was already wrong.
On the other side, the entire Colt family was very satisfied with his behavior of capturing the young man's attention and performing only for him.
For them, as long as this young man was satisfied, other people did not need to be considered at all.
So, when they found that the young man was very interested in his magic performance, the patriarch specifically came to instruct him to ensure that the other party left satisfied; as for the other guests, they were entirely left to Cana.
She did not disappoint her employers' expectations.
She stood on the stage, changing various brilliant colors, and various illusions created a dreamlike scene on the stage.
She even successfully attracted the attention of the little rascals in the audience with illusions combined with the stories she told, and they only left reluctantly when the banquet ended.
Moreover, the reward they received was not only what the employer gave; during the banquet, from time to time, people would hand her notes with blessings written on them, hoping she could use fireworks to project these blessings into the sky.
Of course, one thing had to be noted: the signature at the bottom had to be clear.
The day after the banquet ended, the two took a train back to Magnolia.
On the train, Cana excitedly pulled out a bottle of low-alcohol wine, celebrating with Statiw and saying, "Come, let's celebrate the completion of our mission."
"Alright," he nodded in agreement, then asked in confusion, "Speaking of which, I wonder who that young man really was; he seemed to have a very high status."
"Who cares about that? We just need to get our reward, no need to bother with other things," she said indifferently, holding up the wine bottle, filling two glasses, and handing one to him.
"That's true," he did not refute.
Just from the behavior of those people at the banquet, it was clear that such people were the same no matter what world they were in.
Half an hour passed quickly.
After getting off the train and returning to the guild, a familiar scene once again came into view.
Pushing open the guild's door, he saw Natsu and Gray fighting fiercely in the center of the guild.
The other people in the guild, fearing that the world would not be chaotic enough, stood on both sides of the battlefield, shouting loudly.
From the cheers of these guys, it was clear they had set up a betting pool, and everyone was cheering for their chosen bet.
"Hey, what are the odds now?" Statiw, seeing this situation, quickly walked over to Macao and asked.
"Eh? You're back?" Hearing someone ask him a question, Macao stopped and turned his head, realizing it was him.
"Just got back, who set up the game? What are the odds now?" he asked again.
"What else could they be? The same as before, only..." Macao hadn't finished speaking when Erza pushed the door open and entered the guild.
"Oh no," his expression froze at the sight of her.
The next second, she leaped onto Natsu and Gray's battlefield, raised both fists, and delivered a heavy blow to each of their heads, saying, "Don't you two ever learn? As companions, you should love each other, and even if there are conflicts, you shouldn't resolve them by fighting."
"Damn you, Erza, I'm going to kill you!" Struck by her heavy blow, Natsu suddenly jumped up from the ground and swung his fist at her.
"Hey, do you want to die?" Gray yelled at him in horror at his actions.
However, no sooner had he spoken than Natsu flew back at ten times the speed, directly slammed into the guild wall by her heavy punch, sticking there like a photograph.
The next moment, before Gray could react, he saw her fist constantly enlarging in his eyes.
In an instant, he too was embedded in the wall like Natsu.
"Damn Natsu, I won't let you off!" Struggling to pull his head out of the embedded wall, Gray looked at him with an angry expression.
Every time, it was because of his involvement that he also had to endure her heavy blows.
"Ah, it's over. Damn it, why did Erza come back so quickly?"
The betting game ended, and everyone who had placed a bet lost everything.
Sitting at a table in the guild, Macao grumbled, looking displeased.
"Hmm?" Hearing his grumbling, her sword-like eyebrows raised, and she immediately entered disciplinary committee mode, lecturing the rowdy guys in the guild: "You guys, seeing those two fighting, not only did you not try to stop them, but you even gathered together..."
As she called out names one by one, the guild instantly fell silent, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
It wasn't until she finished her lecture, handed over her mission, and left the guild that the others began to breathe loudly.
"I didn't expect Erza's presence to grow stronger and stronger; if this continues, future days will be difficult," Statiw said, lying on the table, watching her leave.
Wakaba, next to him, puffed on his pipe, blew a smoke ring, and agreed, "Indeed. However, Erza and Mirajane's strength is growing rapidly; they might even get a spot for the S-Class Mage assessment this year."
Thinking of the S-Class Mage matter, Macao's face showed an expectant expression as he looked at her receding figure outside the door and said, "If the two of them can really become S-Class Mages, they will be the youngest S-Class Mages in our guild's history. It's truly something to look forward to."