‘Do these people seriously make enough money to drink all day without ever working?’
The thought crossed Noah’s mind almost every time he walked into the guild.
Take Wakaba, for example.
The man was already well into adulthood, yet he seemed perfectly happy leaving his wife and child at home so he could spend every day drinking and bragging at Fairy Tail.
Sometimes Noah genuinely wondered whether Wakaba somehow had more disposable income than he did, and Noah owned a successful shop.
‘Wait… does the guild have some kind of retirement plan?’
Noah suddenly frowned.
‘Don’t tell me I’ve been forgetting to pay into social security all these years.’
And speaking of Wakaba, naturally that brought to mind his old—
Noah caught himself.
His old drinking buddy, Macao.
“Huh? Where’s Macao?”
“Oh, he was injured on a job. He’s still recovering.”
Noah blinked.
‘What?
These guys actually go on jobs?’
Elsewhere, the still-recuperating Macao would probably have answered that raising a child cost money.
Meanwhile, Gray and the others had barely begun telling everyone about the more interesting parts of their Galuna Island job when a furious roar echoed through the guild hall.
“You bastards finally came back!”
There he was.
The moment Noah heard that familiar voice, he knew exactly who had arrived: the loudest and most hot-blooded troublemaker in Fairy Tail, the protagonist of the original story, and a Fire Dragon Slayer—
Natsu Dragneel.
‘Sorry it took twenty-three chapters to finally let you show up.’
Naturally, Natsu had not arrived alone.
Beside him was Happy, the blue Exceed who had been inseparable from him since birth.
And then there was the newest member of Fairy Tail, who had joined during the few days Noah and the others had been away on Galuna Island: Lucy Heartfilia, the sheltered daughter of an extremely wealthy family.
Gray took one look at the furious Natsu and immediately grinned.
‘Knew it.
He’s absolutely pissed.’
“Yo, Natsu! You’re already back?” Gray asked, barely hiding his amusement.
“So? Did you find the Fire Dragon King?”
Natsu glared at him.
“You’ve got the nerve to ask?! You all teamed up to trick me! We’re settling that right now!”
Happy cheerfully added fuel to the fire.
“Aye! Natsu got tricked really badly!”
Cana opened her mouth to explain.
“That was because—”
“And you went on an S-Class job with Noah while I was gone!” Natsu shouted, flames practically bursting from him in envy.
“Damn it! That’s so unfair!”
Gray was enjoying himself far too much to bother explaining the whole Fire Dragon rumor anymore.
This moment was exactly why he had gone to Galuna Island in the first place.
He folded his arms and immediately began showing off.
“That’s right! We did an S-Class job. What are you going to do about it?”
His grin widened.
“S-Class jobs aren’t anything like the little jobs you normally take, Natsu. You’re still nowhere near qualified.”
“What did you say, droopy-eyes?!” Natsu roared.
“You wanna fight?!”
Gray’s shirt somehow disappeared almost instantly.
“Anytime! I got even stronger on that mission. Beating you will be easy!”
“You got stronger from one mission?” Natsu shot back.
“That just means you were weak to begin with!”
Within seconds, their usual argument became their usual fistfight.
Punches flew.
Chairs toppled.
Tables went airborne.
Natsu and Gray went straight for each other’s faces with the comfortable familiarity of men who did this almost every day.
Cana watched them with open exasperation.
“They’ve barely gotten back together and they’re already fighting. Do men seriously have nothing else in their heads?”
Elfman immediately objected.
“Idiot! A real man settles things with his fists!”
Then he charged into the fight.
Cana’s eyebrow twitched.
She joined too.
“Stay out of this!” Natsu and Gray shouted together.
The brawl instantly became a four-way free-for-all.
Noah ignored them and walked over to the bar.
“When did Natsu get back?” he asked Mira.
“Yesterday. He was pretty angry when he realized he’d been tricked.” Mira smiled.
“Oh, and he brought a new member back with him!”
Noah and Loke both looked toward Lucy.
Lucy noticed them looking and quickly approached.
“I’m Lucy. Nice to meet you!”
There was a touch of nervousness in her voice as she gave them a small, polite bow.
She was the newcomer here, while the people standing in front of her were clearly important members of the guild.
She definitely did not want to make a bad first impression.
Somewhere, a certain author would probably insist that **** was common courtesy when meeting someone for the first time.
Lucy had already experienced some of Fairy Tail’s chaos when she joined yesterday, but Gray and several others had been absent.
Which meant she had yet to witness the guild’s actual daily routine.
‘So she really did join while we were gone.’
Noah smiled and nodded at her.
“Lucy, huh? Nice to meet you. I’m Noah.”
With his short red hair neatly styled, sapphire-blue eyes, and an easy smile that made him seem both approachable and dependable, Noah cut an impressive figure.
His mostly black outfit was accented with dark gold, while the white-and-gold magic robe draped over his shoulders added an understated elegance.
At first glance, he looked exactly like the sort of refined, exceptionally powerful Mage people imagined when they heard the title “Sage.”
Lucy’s eyes widened.
‘Wow!
That’s Noah—the Sage!
Sorcerer Magazine called him the strongest Mage of the younger generation!’
She had never expected to meet him in person so soon.
‘He looks even gentler and more dependable than he does in the magazines.
I guess someone called the Sage really does have a completely different presence from Natsu.’
Then Noah opened his mouth again.
“Never thought that simple-minded Natsu would eventually learn how to lead innocent girls home with him.”
Lucy froze.
‘Uh…’
‘That tone of voice…’
‘Did I judge him a little too quickly?’
Loke smoothly stepped forward with his standard charming smile.
Lucy immediately recognized him too.
‘Oh!
Loke!
He’s always near the top of Sorcerer Magazine’s “Mage You’d Most Want as a Boyfriend” rankings!’
Loke gently took her hand.
“I’m Loke. How about we share a romantic evening together tonight?”
“No.”
Lucy rejected him instantly.
Another illusion shattered.
‘So this one’s just a playboy!’
Lucy pointed hesitantly toward the increasingly destructive brawl.
“Um… shouldn’t someone stop them?”
“No need to worry about it,” Noah said casually.
“Ignore them. This happens every day. You’ll get used to it.”
Lucy stared.
‘Every day?’
She had thought yesterday’s chaos was already absurd.
Apparently, she had simply caught the guild on a quiet day because half the usual troublemakers were missing.
She laughed weakly.
“Ha… ha… If this happens every day, Mira must have a hard time dealing with all the repairs.”
Mira gave Lucy her usual gentle smile.
“Oh, yes. Just keeping track of the bills and collecting payment keeps me very busy.”
Noah immediately disagreed.
“How is that a hardship? If I got to collect money every day, I’d be delighted!”
Even if the money technically belonged to the guild.
Lucy had no response.
“…”
Across the hall, Natsu’s fists burst into flame.
“You people are getting in my way!”
Gray pressed one fist into his opposite palm as freezing air spread around him.
“Let’s settle this in one move!”
Elfman roared as his right arm began transforming.
“OHHHH! A REAL MAN FIGHTS WITH HIS FISTS!”
Cana pulled a deck of cards from her pouch.
“I’m already in a terrible mood! Anyone want to help me test my new cards?”
And why was she in such a bad mood?
Because on the return trip, she had finally gritted her teeth and bought Noah’s new deck.
Yes.
In the end, her desire to become stronger had defeated her instinct to protect her wallet.
She had bought all ten cards for five hundred thousand Jewels.
Technically, “bought” was generous.
She had signed an IOU.
Every time Cana remembered the financial disaster awaiting her over the next few months, her irritation rose another level.
Loke turned the ring on his finger and stepped toward the fight as well.
“Heh. Now this is getting exciting.”
Natsu grinned.
“LET’S FIGHT!”
Magic exploded throughout the guild hall.
Flames, ice, crushing force, lightning, and brilliant light erupted almost simultaneously as colorful Magic Circles spread across Fairy Tail.
And Lucy, standing in the middle of it all, finally began to understand what kind of guild she had joined.
End of Chapter 23