“Again! Why is my fortune so strong today!?”
“No matter how many times I divine, the result won’t change. Are you an idiot, Gray? You’ve got good luck, and you’re still complaining?”
“But I fell into a ditch when I went out today! I lost my wallet too! Not a single good thing happened!”
Gray slammed the table and shot to his feet, loudly accusing Cana:
“Your fortune-telling isn’t accurate at all! You haven’t even mastered your magic!”
“You little punk, you’re picking a fight, aren’t you!?”
Just as the two were about to start brawling again, Aibo was about to step in and stop them when a little girl entering the guild caught his attention.
The girl was about eleven or twelve, with short crimson hair and her right eye covered by a white eyepatch.
She carried a small cloth bag, and her clothes were tattered from head to toe, making her look like a refugee from somewhere.
Yet Aibo faintly sensed magic power from her that was no less than his own.
Was this girl a mage?
How had she ended up in such a miserable state?
“This is where… Grandpa Rob used to be…”
[It feels so noisy. Why is there another child without any clothes? Is this a perverted guild?]
“…”
Aibo looked speechlessly at Gray, who had stripped off his clothes again.
This guy was completely ruining the guild’s reputation.
Still working part-time as a waiter, Aibo sighed and stepped forward to greet her:
“Hello, big sister. Are you here to file a request with our guild?”
“…Xiu…”
The little girl stared at Aibo with a somewhat vacant look, her thoughts surfacing:
[If Xiu hadn’t gone through all that pain, Xiu would surely have been as adorable as this child…]
Aibo blinked.
Another girl with a story, it seemed—but now was hardly the time for her to look at him while thinking of someone else.
“Miss? Are you here on business?”
The girl came back to her senses and shook her head.
“No. I’m here to join your guild.”
“Ohh—Gramps! Come out and greet the customer!”
Aibo called toward the second floor, though in truth he was using Telepathy Magic to wake Makarov, who was sound asleep upstairs.
Before long, the little old man jumped down from the second floor and came smiling up to the little girl.
“Child, I’m Makarov, the master of this guild. I heard you want to join us. Can you tell me why?”
The little girl answered seriously:
“I’m Erza. Erza… S-Scarlet. Grandpa Rob sent me here. He said this was the guild he used to belong to…”
Seeing Erza hesitate, Makarov’s expression slowly grew heavy.
“Child, come with me. I think you have a lot to tell me.”
Makarov then left with Erza.
The people in the guild discussed it for a while, but soon stopped paying attention and grew lively again.
Aibo returned to the small table where Gray and Cana were sitting.
Gray tossed down his divination cards.
“Aibo, who is that person?”
“A mage—a newcomer joining our guild. She should be one of us soon.”
“She looks filthy. Can someone like that really be a mage?”
“She’s probably strong. At the very least, the magic power inside her is greater than yours, Gray.”
“Hah!? Wait, Aibo, how do you know that?”
Aibo tilted his head.
“Hmm… a feeling?”
“Tch, just you wait. Next time I’ll challenge her and show you what a truly powerful mage looks like.”
Cana shoved Gray aside and pulled Aibo down into a seat.
“Aibo, let me read your fortune. Stupid Gray actually doesn’t believe me.”
“I don’t believe in luck anymore!”
“Let me see… The Wheel of Fortune… the Ten of Cups… a fated encounter… emotional fulfillment. Aibo, today is another day overflowing with happiness for you!”
“See? You told me the same thing earlier! You’re a fortune-telling fraud!”
“Gray, I think you’re asking for a beating! Get back here!”
Cana chased Gray around the table in circles, while Aibo, sitting in the middle, let out a helpless sigh.
Compared to ten-year-old Cana and Gray, six-year-old Aibo was a little more mature.
Cana was clearly much livelier than she had been when Aibo first arrived, though he couldn’t tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
After a while, Makarov came back out with the little girl named Erza.
He jumped onto the bar counter and clapped his hands:
“Ahem! Everyone quiet down. I have an announcement! This is our guild’s new member, Erza. She was sent here by a veteran of the guild, so everyone get along with her from now on! That’s all!”
Makarov then brought Erza over to Cana’s table, pulled out a small pouch of coins, and set it down:
“Cana, you kids take Erza out to buy some daily necessities. She’s new here—”
But before the master could finish, Erza reached out and snatched up the money pouch.
With her head lowered and her face gloomy, she said:
“No need. I can manage on my own.”
Without waiting for anyone to reply, she turned and ran off.
“What the heck! What kind of attitude is that!”
Gray slapped the table in indignation.
He glanced at Gray, then at Cana, and finally turned his gaze to Aibo:
“Little Aibo, look after that child from now on and help her fit into the guild as soon as possible. She’s like you—she’s had it rough too…”
“Me?”
Aibo pointed at himself with a tiny hand and rolled his eyes adorably.
“Got it. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Gray and Cana whispered to each other:
“Did the master just look down on the two of us a little? Did you feel that?”
“Shut up. Aibo’s much more sensible than you.”
[Once again, those Dark Mage Cult bastards are behind someone’s misfortune. Those scum really deserve to die…]
Makarov left in low spirits, but Aibo heard his thoughts.
Aibo fell into thought.
So that girl was like him—her hometown had been destroyed and her family killed by the Dark Mage Cult?
Sigh, times were hard.
If she ran into trouble, he would help if he could.
“So, are we not going after her?”
Cana pointed toward the door:
“Are we really letting the newcomer go shopping alone? What if she gets ripped off?”
“Tch, didn’t Aibo say that girl’s really strong~ She made it all the way to Magnolia by herself, so what’s there to be afraid of? Back in my day…”
Aibo thought about it and decided not to follow either.
That girl was clearly very resistant to contact with people—following her would only earn him a cold shoulder.
Still, he chatted with Erza for a few moments through Telepathy Magic:
[Sister Erza, when you’re buying things, you can show the shopkeepers the guild mark on your arm. The townspeople all show our guild some respect, so you’ll get discounts on your purchases~]
[Who are you!?]
[I’m the boy who spoke to you in the guild just now. My name is Aibo. This is my magic. We’ll be guildmates from now on, so please be kind to me~]
[…Okay, thank you.]
“Levy~ Come here—let me read your fortune!”
The guild was still as noisy as ever, and Aibo began training his magic while working.
Every so often, he would use Telepathy Magic to eavesdrop on what was going through Gray’s little head, or, when he went to the kitchen to fetch food and drinks, he would change outfits and use Light Make Magic to put a halo over his head…
In short, he used magic as much as possible to grind experience points.
To others, Aibo might have looked lazy, but in truth he was secretly getting stronger every minute and every second.
When it came to working hard in secret, Aibo would not lose to anyone—that was the confidence years of relentless competitive schooling had given him.
Suddenly, the chatter in the guild fell silent.
Aibo followed everyone’s gaze toward the guild entrance and saw Erza returning in a suit of armor that did not quite fit her.
She had actually gone and bought a suit of armor?
That was what most people were thinking at that moment.