Magnolia's sky was soaked in warm orange-red. They'd left in early light; now it was full dusk.
Shane trudged along, face full of humiliation.
"Those profiteers… should all be lined up and shot," he ground out as soon as they stepped off the train, all his earlier brightness gone.
The loot he'd worked so hard to collect from Eisenwald was "tainted goods" from a dark guild. That, plus being in a rush to sell, let the merchant guilds collude and crush the price to something visibly insulting.
He'd already executed them a hundred times in his head on the ride back.
"Selling them at all is lucky," Erza said evenly at his side. "With that many explosive lacrima, there's no way they'd let us on the train if we kept them."
She was very content. They'd earned nearly 400,000 J overall—more than enough for a while, in her view.
"…You don't get it," Shane muttered, heart bleeding.
He still had a trial that literally required buying a house; he needed cash. What really burned was being so blatantly fleeced.
"At least Everlue paid quickly," Erza tried to soothe him like a child, her tone a bit stiff but gentler than usual.
She remembered the duke's chalk-white face—first rattled by Shane's sword, then by the basket of lacrima, then by the news Eisenwald was basically wiped out. He'd shoved the money over like he was afraid any delay would get him killed too.
Shane acted as if he hadn't heard. He brooded all the way. The Tower of Heaven had been the same—crushed by bottom-feeders on price.
"No. This can't go on. I need a reliable trading partner. Erza, keep an ear out too," he said, clapping hard as if to shake off the bad mood.
"Okay," Erza nodded, filing it away.
Talking, they reached the guild door. The setting sun gilded the FAIRY TAIL sign, but Shane frowned.
"Why's it so quiet today?"
Usually, they could hear the hall's roar from outside—the shouting, the clinking. Now it was… still.
Something wrong? A chill pricked him.
They were new, but he still felt a bit of responsibility. He met Erza's eyes; she clearly felt it too. They pushed in.
The hall wasn't empty—in fact, plenty of people were there.
They just weren't loud. Most drank in silence or spoke in low tones; a heavy air hung over the room.
"What happened?" Shane slid up to Macao at the bar and kept his voice low.
"…" Macao looked up, a bit helpless, but didn't answer in time.
"Enough, Ivan! I don't want to see you right now. Get out of my sight!"
Makarov's voice—thick with anger, disappointment, and deep fatigue.
Shane understood at once. He glanced at Macao for confirmation, and the man took a deep drink before muttering, "That's the master's son…"
So, family business. No wonder everyone looked like they wanted to disappear.
"Hmph. You'll learn I'm right," came a sly, hard-edged voice—harsh, but with that oily undertone.
Boots thudded down the stairs; a tall, burly man with a black goatee strode from the second floor, aura saying stay away.
He didn't look left or right, just shoved the doors and vanished into the street.
That's the master's son? Shane watched his back, noting how nothing about him—face or presence—matched Makarov.
The old man appeared at the second-floor rail right after him; the anger was gone, replaced by his usual smile.
"Forget killjoys!" He clapped his hands. "Time to throw a party. As for the reason…"
His gaze swept the hall and landed on the returning pair; his eyes brightened and he raised his arm high.
"To celebrate Shane and Erza's first job together—and their safe return!"
"OOOHH!!"
He always knew how to light the room. Before he'd finished, the guild was cheering, cups raised, the earlier gloom blasted away.
"Huh? That was fast," Shane said—then a huge, foaming mug of beer filled his view.
Amber waves under white foam; cold droplets running down the glass; the faint smell of malt.
"Kid—first big job. How's it feel? Wanna try?" Macao leaned in, eyebrows dancing, mischief back in full force.
Shane eyed the beer; his throat moved.
"No."
Erza stepped in at once, blocking him like a mother hen.
"Kingdom law—no alcohol under fifteen," she said, arms folded, brows drawn tight as she glared at Macao and Wakaba, who were clearly instigating.
Under that stare, Shane straightened his face, nodding vigorously. "Right. Erza's right. Minors don't drink." Then he bolted. "I'm going to find Cana and Levy—I brought gifts."
He slipped away from the battlefield, scanning the slightly chaotic hall until he spotted them by a window.
Cana and Levy sat cross-legged on the floor, using odd-colored toys as pieces on a hand-drawn grid, playing some kind of game.
Shane watched for a bit, baffled by their rules but amused by the strange little pieces.
He didn't interrupt, just watched. Better bored here than back where Erza was laying down the law.
By now she was fully in disciplinary-committee mode—hands on hips, lecturing Macao and Wakaba about overdrinking. The two grown men looked thoroughly chastened and didn't dare talk back.
"Won!" After a while, Cana jumped up, punching the air.
Levy tilted her head, suspicious. "Cana… you didn't cheat, did you?"
"Win's a win. No cheating," Cana sniffed.
"Mmff." Levy puffed her cheeks, face full of protest.
Seeing her mood dip, Shane picked his moment. "Levy—this is for you."
He held out the plain-looking glasses.
"What…?" She took them, slid them on at his nod—
—and her sulk vanished, replaced by sparkling delight.
"Wow! These are Gale-Force Reading Glasses!" She pushed the frames up, studying the room with them. "I read about them—they say they boost reading speed from 2 to 32 times! I've wanted a pair forever!"
~~~
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