The busy renovations took a week. When Statiw finished everything and returned to the guild, it was as lively as ever.
"Oh, finished painting the walls?" Statiw had just entered the guild and hadn't gone far when Gray, sitting nearby, noticed him. He raised his drink cup and greeted him.
"Ah, finally done. Such a big house, and with only me, it was too tiring." Statiw sat down next to Gray, let out a long breath, and replied, feeling completely drained.
"Only you? Didn't Mirajane go to help?" Gray was surprised by his words and asked, somewhat confused.
"Sigh, don't even mention it. That Mirajane, when she gets angry, she loves to smash things. Because of her, I had to replace two walls in my house." Statiw sighed deeply, a helpless expression on his face.
"Is that so?" Gray said, speechless, "Then you really had it tough. But wouldn't it be fine if you just didn't make her angry?"
"Of course I don't want to make her angry. But Mirajane has been acting strange these past few days, getting angry for no reason. Especially when I accidentally say something." Statiw rolled his eyes at Gray and said with a troubled expression, "I hope this is just a phase, otherwise, life will be difficult later on."
"I hope so." Gray just patted his shoulder. As for Mirajane, he avoided her as much as possible, so he would never get involved. And there was nothing he could do to help with these matters, so he could only let Statiw suffer through it. At most, he could only wish him well.
Of course, Statiw also understood that no one else could help him with these matters, so he didn't say anything more. At this moment, he noticed that the guys in the guild were unusually gathered in front of the quest board. Usually, the mages of Fairy Tail had a three-days-fishing, two-days-sunning attitude towards life, so this many people gathered in front of the quest board was a rare sight.
"What's going on? Why are those guys gathered at the quest board again?" Statiw asked, pointing in the direction of the quest board.
"Oh, that." Gray looked in the direction he pointed and replied, "While you were busy tidying your house, for some reason, many wealthy aristocrats specifically came to our guild to commission quests. Most of them were for banquet performances and such. You know, these kinds of quests are easy, risk-free, and pay well, so they're very popular…"
"I see." As Statiw understood, he somehow recalled the young man he and Cana met when they went on a banquet performance quest last time.
"What's wrong? You look like you've discovered something." Gray saw him suddenly lost in thought and asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Nothing, just remembered doing a similar quest before." After being roused by Gray, Statiw shook his head.
"That was the time with Cana, right?" Gray said with a smile.
Just as he finished speaking, and Statiw was about to answer, Master Makarov on the second floor, standing on the railing, shouted loudly, "Alright, everyone listen up. I am going to announce the list of participants for this year's S-Class Mage Exam!"
"Huh?" Statiw was surprised to hear his words, "I didn't expect it to be this time already."
"Yeah, haven't you noticed?" Gray pointed to the people gathered in front of the quest board, "If it weren't for today's announcement of the S-Class Mage Exam roster, those guys would have already taken quests and left the guild. They wouldn't be waiting in the guild for so long. I think Master Makarov probably thought of this, which is why he's announcing it so early, right?"
Just as Gray finished speaking, Master Makarov on the second floor shouted loudly, "This year's participants for the S-Class Mage Exam are: Erza Scarlet!"
"Oh————!" After he called out her name, everyone in the guild immediately cheered.
"I didn't expect Erza to be the first one." Statiw heard him call out her name, turned to Gray, and said, "Since Erza is selected, then…"
Before he could finish, Master Makarov had already begun announcing the next participant: "Mirajane Strauss!"
"Oh————!" After Mirajane was announced as a participant, the guild's cheers erupted once again.
"Sure enough, if Erza is qualified to participate, then Mirajane certainly is too." Gray now had an understanding look, with a hint of envy in his eyes, and said, "I really envy them both. They just became adults and are already qualified to participate in the S-Class Mage Exam and become an S-Class Mage. However, envy aside, with their strength, they certainly are qualified to become S-Class Mages."
As Gray was speaking, Master Makarov on the second floor waited until the cheering ended before announcing, "The two individuals above are this year's participants for the S-Class Mage Exam. This mission is to go to the Monster Forest, kill the man-eating Green Wyvern there. Whoever completes the mission will receive S-Class Mage qualification. You have one week to prepare and can invite one non-S-Class Mage as your assistant to help you complete the mission."
As his words fell, the entire guild began to buzz. Most people were discussing this year's S-Class Exam mission. A few, after he finished his announcement, went to the quest board to take down the quest requests they had already chosen and proceeded to the counter to register for the quests.
Just then, Natsu, who had been standing far away, suddenly ran up to Master Makarov and shouted loudly, "Master Makarov, why are you letting Erza and Mirajane participate but not me? I want to become an S-Class Mage too!"
"This idiot." Gray's mouth curved slightly as he suddenly heard Natsu's shout, and he whispered.
"Who are you calling that, Gray?" Although his voice was very soft, only Statiw heard him. But Natsu was different; he could clearly hear Gray's voice from far away, and then he turned his head to glare at him.
"I'm talking about you, fire-breathing idiot!" Seeing that Natsu had heard his voice, Gray simply said loudly, "You're not even an adult yet, how could you be qualified to participate in the S-Class Mage Exam?"
"What did you say? Who's the fire-breathing idiot?" Natsu didn't pay attention to anything else, but he heard Gray's insult clearly, and immediately started jumping and running over to fight him.
At this moment, Master Makarov suddenly extended his arm very long and slammed it onto Natsu's head, saying, "Gray is right, you are not an adult yet, you are not qualified to participate in the S-Class Mage Exam."