"Then…",Ignoring the various ambiguous gazes, Phoenix's eyes shifted, pausing briefly on a girl with scarlet hair, and finally settling on a black-haired boy who was shirtless and only wearing underwear.
From the beginning, he hadn't participated, instead seeming somewhat withdrawn.
"Oh, this is a newcomer who joined not long after you and Mavis left. His name is…"
Thinking Phoenix was curious about the boy, Makarov cleared his throat and began to introduce him.
"I know."
Raising his hand to interrupt Makarov, Phoenix walked up to the boy, who seemed unwilling to look him in the eye and had turned his gaze towards the door.
"Gray, we meet again."
"…"
The boy's expression changed, but he remained silent.
"Huh? You really do know Gray!"
As if remembering something, Makarov slapped his head and said, "I remember now! When Gray first joined the guild, he seemed to have asked about you, but so many years have passed, I didn't recall it immediately."
"How about we go outside and talk?"
Phoenix didn't linger and walked towards the door. Gray's expression shifted slightly, but he still followed him.
"Mavis, they are…"
"It's some… heavy topics."
Because Phoenix had noticed Gray's presence from the moment he stepped into the guild, he deliberately omitted the scene of meeting Ur and others when recounting his past journey. The extremely intelligent Mavis naturally saw through this. After all, it might involve someone's painful past, so Mavis didn't explain in detail the reason for Phoenix knowing Gray. The reason she concluded it was a sad past was because Gray joining Fairy Tail already indicated everything.
By the river.
After reaching this spot, Phoenix stopped. He found a relatively clean place and casually sat down, then patted the grass beside him, saying, "Come sit!"
"…"
Gray raised an eyebrow, but still sat down next to Phoenix.
Phoenix didn't speak, and Gray had no intention of speaking either. The two let the silence continue, seemingly neither wanting to break it.
After a long while, Phoenix sighed softly and stood up.
"Let's go back!"
"You…"
Gray turned his head, looking at Phoenix in surprise. Originally… originally he had thought… "Everything that should be known, I already know. There's no need for you to bring up those sad things again. Let go of the past! The road ahead still needs to be walked."
"Let go… of the past…"
Gray clenched his fists.
"Let go? How could I possibly let go! I caused Ur's death! I killed her! A mere phrase like 'let go,' how could that end all of this?!"
Pat, pat, pat… Tears streamed down his face. Gray stepped forward, pressing his hands firmly on Phoenix's shoulders.
"Why… why didn't you save her when you knew everything? Why didn't you tell me anything when you foresaw the outcome? Why… why now, you don't hit me or scold me! Even a good beating would be fine, at least then I would feel a little better…嗚嗚…"
Phoenix glanced briefly at the hands pressed on his shoulders. They were very strong, causing a faint pain, but Phoenix didn't pay much attention. Meeting Gray's pained eyes, Phoenix said calmly, "I don't know what happened in the end. I can only occasionally see fragments of the future. Even if I had continued then, my words might have been forcefully interrupted by your teacher, Ur! She loved you very much, so she didn't want my words to cause you any irreparable harm. All I knew was that until the very end, she had no regrets!"
"Bastard…"
Gray released his hands, letting his legs weakly fall to the ground. Tears soaked the ground, but Gray seemed oblivious.
"Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard—I am a complete and utter bastard! At that time, I clearly hadn't let go of my hatred. At that time, I clearly should have cut ties with Ur long ago. At that time, I clearly should have chosen to leave! Why! Why was I so useless! You had already warned me, but I shamelessly stayed there! I am a hopeless bastard!!!"
"…"
Phoenix didn't interrupt, letting Gray vent to his heart's content. Perhaps, being able to completely release the greatest darkness in his heart was a good thing. Even if it couldn't be completely resolved, it might bring a lot of relief.
Half an hour later, seemingly finally recovered, Gray wiped away his tears, stood up, and said apologetically, "Sorry, you saw my ugly side. Also, thank you for being willing to listen to my endless nonsense."
"It's not ugly. The sight of someone crying bitterly for their loved ones can be said to be the most sincere and beautiful scenery in the world. Here… are you feeling better?"
Pointing at Gray's chest, Phoenix asked calmly.
"Ah, much better. In these past few years, there hasn't been a moment better than this. Although it's still hard to forgive myself, I will try my best to change."
Gray chuckled, seemingly having recovered quite a bit, and Phoenix also showed a hint of a smile.
"Alright, we've wasted enough time. Let's head back quickly."
When Phoenix and Gray returned to the guild, a human tragedy was unfolding within.
"Waaah! You armored woman, don't be so arrogant! I'm going to beat you to a pulp!"
Natsu, with a large bump on his head and a bruised and swollen face that made him almost unrecognizable, angrily pointed at the scarlet-haired girl Phoenix had noticed earlier.
"Then come and try!"
The scarlet-haired girl's eyes turned cold. She instantly drew two swords and began to slash and hack at Natsu. Natsu, who had been shouting happily, immediately changed his expression and ran around the guild, while the scarlet-haired girl waved her two swords, chasing relentlessly.
"Er… Erza!!"
Gray's face instantly changed, his teeth chattering slightly, and a hint of pity was revealed in his eyes as he looked at Natsu.
"Hmm, what, is this scarlet-haired girl very powerful?"
You're not that old either!
Gray couldn't help but inwardly grumble, then looked at Erza, who was chasing Natsu, and said softly, "Naturally, she's no match for you, but for me, she's an insurmountable mountain."
"Hoo hoo hoo~ It seems you've suffered quite a bit at her hands."
Phoenix covered his mouth and chuckled cunningly, a teasing look on his face.
"…"
Gray gave Phoenix an exasperated look and said helplessly, "Don't just make sarcastic remarks! Erza is the most serious girl. If there's any noise or commotion in the guild, she'll definitely go and take care of it."
"Disciplinary committee?"
"There's no such thing!"
"The Guild Master's illegitimate daughter?"
"That's even more baseless nonsense!!"
"Hmph, that's strange then. Could it be that she's destined for a life of toil?"
"…"
Gray was already speechless.
But to prevent Phoenix from misunderstanding Erza, Gray briefly explained, "Erza is a very troubled girl. Although she never talked about her past, when she joined the guild a year ago, she was wearing ragged clothes and would secretly cry when she was alone. Now her personality has gradually become much more cheerful, and we all try to cooperate with her. Well, there's also the reason that we're no match for her."
"That's just referring to yourself!"
"Haha~"
Gray immediately started to laugh foolishly.
"Waaah!! Help me!"
Natsu, cornered by Erza, screamed for help, realizing he had nowhere left to run.
"Hmph! Just accept your punishment!"
Erza snorted coldly, her sharp sword held horizontally, and she swung the flat of the blade fiercely at Natsu.
Crack—!
Erza suddenly felt her hand lighten. Iron filings flew as the front half of her longsword completely shattered.
"Ho… how is that possible?!!"
"Waaah, I almost died!"
Seeing Erza stunned, Natsu quickly ran out.
"Phoenix, don't bully girls!"
Makarov, who was sitting at the bar carefully talking with Mavis, naturally kept an eye on everything happening in the guild. When he saw Erza's longsword suddenly shattered, Makarov instinctively turned to look at Phoenix, and indeed saw him with a sly smirk.
"Phoenix?"
Erza suddenly spun around, her eyes sharply glaring at Phoenix.
Swish!!
A perfectly intact longsword was once again in Erza's hand. She pointed it directly at Phoenix and shouted sternly, "Phoenix, I challenge you!!"