"Hard? What do you mean?"
Gray scratched his messy hair, his eyes carrying a kind of clear, uncomprehending innocence.
He narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between the two women in the yard, whose auras were both fully unleashed, but he still couldn't understand the strange atmosphere.
Shane didn't want him digging any deeper. He grabbed Gray by the shoulder and forcibly turned him halfway around so his back faced them.
"About our agreement to deal with Deliora together… I may need to delay it a little longer. I still have some other matters to handle."
"You've only been awake for a few days. How do you already have so much to do?" Ur walked in through the yard gate, puzzled.
"It's related to Grimoire Heart. I really can't pull myself away right now."
Hearing that, Gray's expression turned anxious at once. He no longer cared about the commotion nearby and hurriedly said,
"But Lyon seems to be secretly planning something dangerous…"
He never had anything nice to say about that senior disciple, but the fist clenched at his side exposed what he really felt.
"If it's urgent, then maybe you don't have to wait for me. You can go confirm the situation first?" Shane thought for a moment and gave a compromise.
"What kind of joke is that!" Gray raised his voice.
"We clearly agreed to go together and put an end to that part of our past. If you, the witness, aren't there, then what meaning does killing Deliora even have?"
"Mm…"
Shane opened his mouth, just about to reassure him, when a bone-chilling cold suddenly crawled up from his ankle.
At some point, fine ice crystals had formed on the ground—the sign that Ice-Make magic was about to activate.
Behind him, the air around Ultear had already grown cold enough to mist.
On one side was a battlefield that could turn into a battlefield at any moment. On the other was Gray, stubborn and noisy right next to his ear.
Shane felt a headache coming on. Pressing his fingers to his temple, he promised, "It shouldn't take too long. You can wait for me first—"
Before he could finish, his vision suddenly blurred.
Deep in his consciousness, the urgent rustling of pages rang out, as though some heavy book had been blown open by the wind.
The Book of Heroic Spirits, glowing with faint golden light, appeared in his mind and finally stopped on one page. Several clear lines emerged:
[Trial: Subjugation of Calamity]
[Requirement: Completely kill the demon Deliora]
[Completed]
Shane's voice cut off abruptly like a severed tape, and his whole body stiffened.
Why did the trial suddenly show as complete at this exact moment?
Completed now?
Deliora… was dead?
His face darkened, and his mind immediately sank into the book.
The page had indeed been stamped with the mark of completion, and even the corresponding two permission rewards had already been issued.
But this sudden "surprise" did not make Shane happy at all.
According to the Book of Heroic Spirits' usual settlement pattern, if he had fulfilled the promise and personally slain the demon together with Ur and the others, there was a very high chance the trial completion rating would have risen.
Although, because of his sleep, this trial had been delayed for four whole years, so he likely had no chance of getting a perfect double-permission reward anymore.
Still, if the completion rating had been high enough, maybe it could have dropped some extra little item.
Now that was all gone.
"What happened? Your expression looks terrible."
Noticing the gloom that flashed across Shane's face, Ur asked with concern.
"Deliora is dead."
There was nothing to hide about this. Shane withdrew his mind and gave the answer directly.
The surrounding air fell silent for an instant.
"How is that possible?!"
Gray stepped forward, and Ur sucked in a sharp breath. Their voices almost overlapped.
Although they had no idea how Shane had learned this information from afar, out of long-standing trust, they did not doubt its truth.
"Could it be because of Lyon?" Shane did not know the exact situation over there, so he could only ask for confirmation.
"It's possible." Ur's shoulders sank slightly, and her eyes turned complicated.
As his teacher, she knew better than anyone how stubborn the disciple she had raised could be.
What she didn't understand was this: Lyon had finally managed to transport Deliora's frozen body to that strange island, so why would he suddenly choose to act now?
"I'm a little worried… that Lyon may have gotten involved with someone troublesome," she said hesitantly after a moment of silence.
"Then I'll go confirm it myself!"
Gray yanked off his T-shirt, pounded his chest twice, and his eyes burned with intensity.
"Yo, you look pretty reliable. Completely different from how weak you used to be."
Seeing his fighting spirit, Shane didn't hold back his praise.
But before Gray could get smug, Shane changed the subject. "But just to be safe, you'd better bring Natsu along to help this time."
"What the hell!" Gray's rising smile instantly collapsed, and he pouted in displeasure.
"You're still underestimating me. Against that idiot student, you actually think I'd need to rely on that fire-breathing moron?"
"I'd actually prefer if you brought not just Natsu, but a few more capable guildmates too."
Shane spread his hands and looked toward Ur.
"Because Ur-senpai can't go with you."
"Why?"
Gray had absolute confidence in his own strength and didn't really care whether his teacher helped or not. He just found it strange.
Thinking back carefully, over the past few years, his teacher had stayed in Magnolia almost constantly and barely left town, even though she had once taken him traveling for training.
"I'm… a little unable to travel far right now." Ur wore a gentle smile.
After what had happened before, as someone who should not have existed in this world, she naturally couldn't move around outside as freely as ordinary people.
But of course, she couldn't say that in front of Gray, whose memories had been erased, in case he remembered.
"…Fine, I get it."
Seeing his teacher's gentle but unquestionable smile, Gray was confused, but he didn't press the matter.
"I'll go by myself, then."
While that master and disciple finished discussing things, Shane finally found an absolutely legitimate reason to intervene in the "battlefield."
He crossed the yard in a few large steps, endured two piercing gazes, and grabbed Ultear's wrist, which had already gathered a thin layer of frost.
Then he moved a little closer, pulled her in front of him with slight force, and quickly explained in a low voice that Deliora was dead and Gray was about to set out.
Mira watched their intimate movement from the side and bit her lip in dissatisfaction.
But seeing Shane's serious expression, she understood that this was important business and sensibly stayed silent.
"In that case, leave it to Gray."
After hearing the explanation, the cold around Ultear gradually faded.
She nodded and analyzed rationally, "The most important thing right now is Grimoire Heart, who are trying to sacrifice an entire city to create a key."
Gray had improved rapidly over the years. She trusted him to handle a mere Lyon.
"So, how long until your insider sends the intelligence?" Shane estimated his own mobility in his head. "With my speed, if the timing works out, is there a chance I can handle both sides?"
"Tomorrow or the day after at the latest—"
Ultear's words were interrupted by a faint vibration from her chest.
She stopped, reached in, and took out the communication Lacrima that was flashing. After seeing it clearly, she couldn't help laughing softly.
"What perfect timing."