"Dad, we're back!"
"Oh, Romeo. You guys took a while this time. Did something happen?" Macao, who was sitting at the counter with his friend, Wakaba, turned around and looked at Romeo.
His full name was Macao Conbolt, Romeo's father and the current master of Fairy Tail. Through his and his friends' efforts, he had managed to keep the guild alive despite its overall strength deteriorating significantly, and preventing Fairy Tail from being disbanded.
Seeing his son's appear excited, Macao was confused. Ever since Natsu and the others had disappeared, Romeo had rarely expressed himself so openly, let alone smiled like this.
Yet now, seeing him so happy nearly brought tears to Macao's eyes. It felt as though his son had finally begun to recover from the loneliness he had carried since their guilds core members disappearance.
"Master, we have completed the quest."
Alzack stepped into the guild, followed by Bisca and another young man whom they had never seen before.
There weren't many members left in the guild since the disappearance of its core members, so the hall was fairly spacious. The remaining guild members were busy with their own activities, drinking, eating, painting, cleaning, and so on. However, when they noticed Alzack's group returning from their quest, they turned their attention toward them and greeted them.
"Yo, your quest shouldn't have been that hard, right? Why did you guys take so long? Did you take a detour?" Max Alors asked.
He was a slim man with dark yellow hair, wearing an open-collared black shirt with rolled-up sleeves and loose dark blue pants with torn hemlines.
"Well, that's because we…" Alzack was about to answer when another guild member interrupted him as they look at the extra person with them with curiousity.
"Hey, hey, who's this guy with you? Don't tell me you guys kidnapped him?" A man dressed like a silly dancer asked while moving around in a bizarre, strange dance.
"Don't be rude, Vijeeter!"
"Argghh!"
Max smacked Vijeeter on the head, sending him tumbling to the ground as his eyes spun from the impact, leaving him dizzy.
Max couldn't help but shake his head at his guildmate's antics before turning his attention to the person Alzack's group had brought back with them. Like the others, his curiosity was also piqued by the mysterious, handsome young man.
"But, yeah, who is this person you brought with you?"
"Woah, so handsome!" A woman with glasses and purple hair tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon couldn't help but mumble. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the handsome young man she was seeing for the first time.
Her name was Laki Olietta, one of the few female members who had remained with Fairy Tail throughout the past seven years.
Like her, Kinana, who was working as a waitress, also nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, he's very attractive."
A light blush spread across Kinana's face as she said that. There was just something incredibly charming about him, even when he wore nothing more than a neutral expression.
Macao heard what the two women said but wasn't surprised by their reactions. He nodded in agreement. "I can't deny that his appearance is really above average. He was just like me when I was young. Sigh…"
"Mm, I miss those days."
Wakaba Mine, Macao's friend and partner, shared his nostalgia as he coolly flicked his hair, seemingly reminiscing about his younger days.
However, their antics thoroughly creeped out the two women.
"Ugh, here they go again…" Laki said, dark lines appearing across her face as she stared at the two old fools.
Kinana was much more tolerant and simply laughed awkwardly. "A-Ahaha… let them, at least they're happy."
Seeing everyone descend into chaos once again, Romeo felt embarrassed that Yuuki had to witness this side of their guild. However, when he glanced at Yuuki, Romeo sighed in relief upon seeing that he didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, Yuuki was even smiling and chuckling as he watched the guild members bicker with one another.
And yes, the extra person who had returned with Alzack and the others was none other than Yuuki.
"This guild is pretty lively." Yuuki commented.
Hearing his words, Romeo smiled earnestly.
"Yeah. Our guild is really easygoing."
Yet after saying that, Romeo couldn't help but remember the days when their guild still had its core members. A sense of longing appeared on his face as he reminisced about those joyful times.
Watching Romeo's expression, Yuuki could tell what he was feeling, so he chose not to interrupt his moment.
Instead, he turned his attention back to the guild. Even though there weren't many members left, Yuuki had to admit that they were still fighting on and living happily together. It was admirable, especially considering how many people had already abandoned the guild and was on the verge of disbanding.
Sweeping his gaze across the mages who would soon become his comrades, Yuuki's eyes stopped on the two girls at the counter, who were watching him curiously with feverish faces.
Yuuki gave them a faint smile, causing the two girls to quickly look away in embarrassment.
"Mm, he's a prodigy."
"Yeah, just like the two of us when..."
"SHUT UP, YOU TWO!!!"
Laki and even Kinana could no longer tolerate the nonsense nostalgia from the two old fools, causing them to yell at Macao and Wakaba and finally silence them.
"Ehem!"
Alzack coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. Just like that, the bickering stopped, and everyone turned toward him curiously.
Seeing that he got everyone's attention, Alzack nodded in satisfaction before introducing Yuuki.
"Everyone, I know you're curious about the person we brought with us, so let me introduce him to you all."
Alzack paused for a moment before continuing under everyone's watchful gazes. "His name is Tenma Yuuki. He saved us while we were returning from our mission, and we also invited him to join our guild."
"Hi, everyone. I'm Tenma Yuuki, an independent mage. I hope we get along well." Yuuki said this with a bright smile, dazzling everyone, especially Laki and Kinana into silence.
"Um…"
Seeing every single one of them frozen in place, Yuuki had no idea what had happened to them. Yet, a second later, the guild hall erupted into cheers.
"OHHHH!!!"
"Finally, a new member!"
"Hello, newbie! My name is Droy! Do you like to eat?"
"Is that really the first thing you'd say to someone you just met, Droy?!"
"Shut up, Jet!"
"So handsome."
"Watch my new dancing technique, Yuuki-kun!"
Everyone was overjoyed and celebrated Yuuki's arrival, leaving him a little overwhelmed by their warm welcome. Still, seeing their genuine smiles and laughter made him feel comfortable.
As the celebration continued, Macao stepped forward to welcome Yuuki. Seeing this, the guild members gradually quieted down, lowering their voices as their attention turned toward him.
Walking up to Yuuki, Macao looked at him before speaking.
"Yuuki, is it?"
Yuuki nodded. "Yes, um…"
"My name is Macao Conbolt, Romeo's father and the current master of Fairy Tail. You helped Romeo and the others, I can't thank you enough for that." Macao said sincerely as he extended his hand toward Yuuki.
Yuuki accepted it and shook his hand firmly.
"Nice to meet you, Master. And honestly, I just couldn't leave them when they were in trouble, so you don't need to be so formal about it."
Hearing Yuuki call him 'Master' made Macao smile. He could already tell that Yuuki was a good-natured young man who would fit in well with their guild.
"Nice to meet you, Yuuki. And again, thank you for helping Romeo and the others. Also…"
Macao smiled warmly.
"Welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild."
"Wooooo! Let's party all night!"
"Alright! No one's going to sleep tonight!"
"Nab, choose a quest already and let's drink!"
Now that their master had officially welcomed Yuuki, the real welcome party began. Meanwhile, Yuuki smiled as he watched everyone celebrate his arrival at the guild.
"This kind of feeling is… not that bad, right, Thana-chan?"
[…Yeah, yeah.]