Back to the present.
Time continued to pass, and the guild members gradually began returning to the guild hall. Laki was back to her usual self, though she would occasionally stole a shy glance at Yuuki. Kinana, on the other hand, acted completely natural and went about her duties as a waitress as usual. She even casually chatted with Yuuki while serving the meal Droy ordered.
As for Yuuki, he was thinking about what he should do next. It was already clear to him that the current timeline he was in was 7 years after Fairy Tail's core members had disappeared. And based on what Romeo had told him and the current state of the guild, they should be reappearing anytime soon.
Once they returned, he would finally get to meet the beautiful mages of the guild. Just thinking about it made Yuuki laugh in his heart. He then glanced at the back of his right hand, where the black Fairy Tail guild mark was displayed as he said. "Soon, the real battle will finally begin."
"Yuuki-nii!"
Just as Yuuki was thinking to himself, he heard a child's crisp, melodious giggling. Turning around, he saw a little girl wearing a cowboy hat running toward him from the guild's entrance.
The moment Yuuki saw the adorable little girl, his expression softened, since she was simply too cute.
"Asuka, careful." Yuuki quickly crouched down and caught Asuka as she leapt into his arms.
"Geez, what if I hadn't caught you?" Saying that, Yuuki tapped Asuka's cute nose causing the little girl to let out a lovely giggle.
"Ehehehe, I knew Yuuki-nii would catch me." Asuka smiled as she hugged Yuuki with her tiny arms.
"Asuka, you're bothering Yuuki. I'm sorry about that, Yuuki." Bisca apologized as she entered the guild with Alzack, who wore a wry smile.
Yet, Yuuki wasn't bothered at all. In fact, he was happy that the cute little girl liked him so much. "It's fine. She's not bothering me at all."
"Hear that, Mom? Yuuki-nii said I'm not a bother!" Asuka proudly placed her tiny hands on her hips, looking quite smug.
This action left Bisca and Alzack unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Geez, where did this child learn that from?" Bisca said helplessly.
Asuka had met Yuuki just yesterday, when Bisca and Alzack brought her to the guild during the party. At that time Asuka's eyes shined like a star as she saw Yuuki for the first time. And she immediately became attached to him, which even made Alzack to be slightly jealous.
"By the way, are you guys going on another quest?" Yuuki asked Alzack while holding Asuka in his arms.
"Not for the moment. We just completed a quest yesterday, so we plan to rest for a few days before taking on another one." Alzack explained as he took a seat at the same table as Yuuki.
"Also, there aren't many quests available at the moment, so we should give the others a chance to take them," Bisca added. She then turned toward Kinana.
"Kinana, could you get me a tea, a kid's lunch, and two regular lunch sets?" she asked, placing their order.
"Sure thing." Kinana replied before heading into the kitchen.
"I see." Yuuki nodded, thinking that it made sense. Given the limited number of quests on the guild board, they had to divide them fairly so the other members would also have a chance to earn an income.
Bisca didn't have to wait long before their order arrived. As Kinana placed the food on the table, she didn't forgot to make eye contact with Yuuki. And whether intentionally or unintentionally, her soft fingers brushed against Yuuki's thigh, leaving him momentarily speechless.
'Is this girl really doing it on purpose?'
Watching Kinana's swaying hips as she headed back toward the counter, Yuuki sighed. She became much expressive just after they spend a night together.
Nevertheless, Yuuki began chatting with the husband-and-wife duo as they ate. Jet and Max would occasionally join the conversation as well, asking Yuuki about his life before joining Fairy Tail.
This continued until the guild's doors were opened by a group of uninvited guest. Seeing them, the members of Fairy Tail immediately frowned as they already know exactly who had come to cause trouble.
"Tsk. Those mages from Twilight Ogre are here to cause trouble again." Bisca clicked her tongue, glaring at the mages from another guild.
"Oh?" Yuuki's attention was immediately drawn to Bisca's words.
"I don't like them. They bullied mom and dad before." Asuka, who was still munching on her food, frowned adorably as her cheeks was smeared with sauce.
Yuuki was amused looking at Asuka adorable face. He picked up a napkin from the table and gently wiped the sauce from her round cheeks, causing the little girl to giggle.
"Don't worry, Asuka. I'm here. I won't let them harm this guild." Reassured by Yuuki's promise, Asuka nodded with a bright smile before happily continuing her lunch.
Twilight Ogre was the guild that had taken over Magnolia after Fairy Tail was forced to leave because they could no longer afford the guild's expenses.
"Oya, your guild is still quite even in the middle of the day. No wonder you became such a loser guild." The person leading the Twilight Ogre said.
"Teebo, what are you doing here?" Macao stepped forward and demanded the man in lead named Teebo with face filled with anger.
With his hands in his pockets, Teebo looked at Macao and the others with a mocking grin. "We're here to collect this month's payment."
"Ugh."
"Macao, you still haven't paid the loan?" Wakaba asked, glancing at the frowning Macao.
"I told you to call me Master!" Macao yelled at Wakaba before turning toward Teebo.
"We haven't had many decent quests these days, so you'll have to wait another month before we can pay the loan!"
Another member of Twilight Ogre chimed in with a mocking laugh. "Don't forget who took over your loan and helped you. Kekeke."
"We would've never asked for your help if we'd known the interest would be this outrageous!" Jet said while clenching his fist.
However, one of the Twilight Ogre members took offense. "What? Say that again, you jerk?!"
"Stop it, Jet!" Macao quickly intervened before things could get out of control. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Just wait until next month. We'll pay you by then."
Teebo didn't reply. Instead, he suddenly grinned and raised his leg, aiming a kick at Macao. However, before his foot could reach him, someone stepped in and stopped the attack.
"Yuuki!" everyone exclaimed.
They never expected Yuuki to actually block Teebo's kick. In fact, they hadn't even seen him move. Just moments ago, he had been sitting at the table with Asuka at the inner part of the guild hall, yet somehow, he was already standing between Teebo and Macao.
However, the others still had no idea just how strong Yuuki truly was. Bisca and Alzack, on the other hand, simply sighed in relief as they recalled the strength Yuuki had displayed before.
"Oh, a new face?" Teebo sneered. "I didn't expect your declining guild to actually recruit another loser."
"Don't insult Yuuki!" Laki, who was standing alongside the other Fairy Tail members, couldn't help but subconsciously defend him. The others quickly joined in as their voices were filled with indignation.
"That's right! How dare you say that?!"
"You're the loser for bullying others!"
They began shouting at the Twilight Ogre members, their voices overlapping as the guild hall filled with noise until Yuuki raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.
"…Yuuki, you don't have to do this." Macao, whom Yuuki had just helped, felt touched but also troubled, knowing that Teebo might make things even more difficult for them today.
Yuuki looked back at Macao and the others, reassuring them with a calm smile.
"Don't worry, Master. Leave this to me."
Teebo found it amusing that a new member of such a weak guild could show so much confidence. However, he didn't think much of Yuuki and simply treated him as entertainment. It had been a while since anyone from Fairy Tail had dared to fight back.
"You've got some guts, newbie."
"I say, Teebo, Master already said he'll pay next month. So why do you need to be such a brute and attack others?" Yuuki asked, a knowing smile on his face.
Teebo simply burst into laughter at Yuuki's question before looking down at him with a cold, arrogant expression.
"Because we're strong, and you're weak. That means you have no right to negotiate." Teebo said smugly.
"Oh? So, according to you, as long as someone is strong, they can do whatever they please?" Yuuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly. And the same applies to you." With that, Teebo signaled to his guild members to start destroying the things inside the guild hall.
This enraged the members of Fairy Tail.
"Teebo, don't go too far!"
However, the Twilight Ogre members ignored their warnings and prepared to start causing a mess.
Just as they were about to do so, Yuuki pointed a finger toward the Twilight Ogre members, causing everyone to look at him in confusion.
However, Yuuki paid no attention to their reactions. Instead, he simply whispered two words under his breath. It was low but everyone heard it clearly.
"Icicle Castle."
In the next second, every member of Twilight Ogre was completely frozen in place. They didn't even have time to react before they got trapped inside a pillar of ice.
As for the Fairy Tail members, aside from Bisca and Alzack, everyone else was too dumbfounded to say a word. Their mouths hung open in shock, including Laki and Kinana.
They never expected that the young man who just joined their guild and have slept with them together would actually be this strong. Realizing this, Laki gulped as a shy blush spread across her cheeks. Kinana, on the other hand, looked excited as her face tinged with a faint pink hue.