The deafening cheer rattled the entire guild hall, nearly blowing the roof clean off the building.
Erza watched as everyone in the guild celebrated, laughed, and cheered entirely because of her arrival.
Her heart swelled with an indescribable warmth, and a bright, genuine joy broke through her features.
“Erza, follow me.” Cain led Erza through the crowd, bringing her over to Cana and Gray.
“This is Cana Alberona, and this is Gray Fullbuster.” “Hello, everyone.
I’m Erza Scarlet.” After the three of them exchanged pleasant greetings, Cain turned to Cana.
“Cana, once the banquet wraps up, do you mind showing Erza to the girls’ dormitory?” “Pfft, we’re all guild members here.
No need to be so polite about it,” Cana said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Oh, right.
Cana, I brought you a souvenir.” Cain reached into his pouch, pulled out one of the pristine Marine Pearls, and handed it over.
Staring at the beautiful, shimmering pearl in her hand, Cana grinned happily.
“Hehe!
Then I won’t stand on ceremony.
Thanks!” Standing right next to her, Gray stared with wide, expectant eyes, fully waiting for Cain to pull out another prize for him.
But Cain simply closed his pouch and adjusted his jacket, completely ignoring him.
Gray instantly realized this jerk hadn’t prepared a single thing for him.
“Cain!
Why didn’t I get a gift?!” Cain looked at Gray with a face full of utter disbelief.
“You’re a dude.
What the hell are you going to do with a pearl?” “I…
I…” Stuttering and completely unable to find a logical counter-argument, Gray flushed with embarrassment and rage.
“You absolute bastard, Cain!
Die!” With a loud yell, Gray lunged forward, and the two boys instantly crashed to the floor, aggressively wrestling each other.
“Gray!
Your clothes!” Cana yelled at the top of her lungs.
But Gray was currently locked in a passionate, high-stakes grapple with Cain and was completely deaf to her warnings.
Cana let out a long, exhausted sigh and turned to Erza.
“Just ignore them.
That’s just how immature boys handle their problems.” Erza nodded slowly, looking slightly confused but deeply fascinated.
What had originally started as a petty wrestling match between Cain and Gray somehow managed to cascade across the room.
Within minutes, the entire guild hall had devolved into an all-out, chaotic tavern brawl.
Uh oh…
Cana winced, staring at the flying chairs and tables, frantically trying to construct a cohesive explanation so she wouldn’t terrify the newcomer.
But before she could speak, Erza’s remaining eye lit up with absolute awe.
“Is this what a family feels like?
It’s wonderful…” “Uh…
yeah, I guess so…” Cana mumbled, completely dumbfounded.
Well, at least the rookie wasn’t traumatized.
That was a win.
Eventually, the massive riot was forcefully put down by a thoroughly sobered-up Makarov.
Cain, after delivering a cheerful ‘see you tomorrow’ to Erza, threw his arm around Gray’s shoulders, and the two battered boys limped out of the guild hall together.
Returning to his personal estate, Cain sank deep into a massive stone bathtub filled with steaming hot water, letting out a blissful sigh.
“Ah…
now this is living the high life~” That’s right.
Cain had officially purchased his own private luxury villa.
Where did that kind of money come from?
It certainly wasn’t from grinding low-level delivery errands, nor was it from robbing the corrupt rich.
The seed money had come entirely from his grueling hours studying under Granny Porlyusica.
During his deep dive into pharmaceutical alchemy, he had successfully engineered a revolutionary formula for a scar-removal ointment.
The healing and skin-regenerating effects of the cream were nothing short of miraculous.
Recognizing the commercial potential, Cain had approached Madame’s Perfumery to strike up a partnership.
He provided the proprietary formula for a clean 50% equity stake, while the perfumery handled the mass manufacturing, premium packaging, distribution, and marketing for the remaining 50%.
Originally, Cain had felt that since he was only providing the intellectual property, a 30% stake would be more than fair.
But the store owner had stubbornly refused his humility, absolutely insisting on a dead-even 50-50 split.
It wasn’t until he returned to the dorms that night that his adult brain finally connected the dots.
The merchant wasn’t being altruistic; they were treating him with absolute reverence purely because he wore the Fairy Tail emblem.
After all, the Master of their guild was one of the legendary Ten Wizard Saints.
Once he realized the political weight behind the deal, Cain immediately reported the arrangement to Master Makarov, offering to donate 20% of his personal shares directly to the guild’s treasury.
However, Makarov had completely waved it off with a grandiose, alcohol-fueled laugh, casually telling the boy to keep his pocket change.
In reality, the old man simply assumed a kid’s homemade skincare cream would generate virtually zero revenue.
Yet, to everyone’s absolute shock, within a mere three months, the scar-removal ointment exploded into a massive commercial phenomenon across the entire Kingdom of Fiore, with trade demands rapidly bleeding into the neighboring sovereign states.
Naturally, a few corrupt syndicates and rival merchants grew envious of the massive cash flow, but the moment their intelligence network discovered the powerhouse guild standing directly behind the product, all hostile corporate greed instantly vanished into thin air.
In those short three months, Cain’s personal dividend payout shattered the 50-million-Jewel mark—a sum equivalent to completing ten standard S-Class missions back-to-back.
(S-Class requests typically paid anywhere upward of a million Jewels; here, assuming a baseline of 5 million per high-tier contract).
The exact day his massive payout cleared, Cain bypassed the cheap rentals and immediately purchased a lavish private estate.
Upon discovering the true scale of the wealth he had casually waved away, Makarov could frequently be spotted weeping silently in dark corners of the guild.
Of course, Cain wasn’t a freeloader.
He immediately cut a massive check, donating 10 million Jewels directly to the guild, alongside a binding contract promising a substantial monthly endowment moving forward.
The sheer volume of cash caused Makarov to weep tears of pure ecstasy, publicly decreeing that Cain was the most saintly, perfect child to ever grace the earth.
Recalling the image of the legendary Wizard Saint clutching the donation check and sobbing hysterically, Cain couldn’t help but chuckle in his bath.
But thinking about it practically, he couldn’t blame the old man.
Leaving the rest of the rowdy members aside, Gildarts’ monthly structural property damage invoices alone were enough to give the Master chronic migraines.
And now, young Laxus was starting to show his own explosive, destructive potential on missions.
Thank god the uncle-and-nephew duo brought home massive payouts from their high-tier contracts, but even then, the guild’s net savings were consistently bordering on zero.
After all, these people threw massive, expensive banquets at the drop of a hat and broke furniture like it was a competitive sport.
After finishing his luxurious soak, Cain wrapped a plush robe around himself and descended into his private underground library.
The basement archive spanned roughly 2,100 square feet, though currently, the vast majority of the custom hardwood bookshelves stood entirely bare, with only a tiny handful of shelves housing actual literature.
But Cain was patient.
He believed that, given enough time, his collection would easily rival the great archives of the world.
He lit a custom-blended stick of calming incense he had hand-rolled himself, brewed a fresh cup of tea, and carefully laid out the ancient manuscript he had received from Baron Ross.
He pulled a lamp closer and began to read.
As the hours ticked silently away, Cain finally closed the brittle pages, letting out a contemplative hum.
“Well, there wasn’t a single direct translation regarding the ancient Dragon Language…
but the historical context and lost lore in here are still a massive goldmine of information.” The Next Morning.
Cain strolled into the guild hall to find Cana and Erza already sitting together, happily enjoying a lavish breakfast platter provided by the counter.
Originally, Fairy Tail didn’t offer complimentary meals to its members.
But a few weeks back, Cain had casually suggested to the Master that providing free, high-quality nutrition three times a day would serve as an incredible retention benefit for the members.
Backed by Cain’s massive monthly donations, the flush-with-cash Makarov hadn’t even hesitated, instantly authorizing the policy.
This luxury made the already hyperactive guild hall infinitely more lively.
Seeing that Erza had finished her breakfast, Cain walked over to their booth.
“Morning, Erza.
Grab your things, I’m taking you to a specific place.” Before Erza could answer, Cana raised a warning fist, shooting a playful glare at him.
“Hey, Cain!
You better not try to bully little Erza out there.
Otherwise, my fists are going to have a very serious conversation with your face.
Clear?” Cain blinked, amazed.
It had been exactly one night, and the two girls were already thick as thieves.
Just as he opened his mouth to deliver a witty comeback, Erza beat him to the punch.
“Don’t worry, Cana!” Erza declared with absolute, unwavering confidence.
“Cain would never bully me!” Cana blinked, entirely caught off guard by how fiercely Erza defended the blond kid.
She stood frozen for a second, feeling like an overprotective idiot who had just stepped into a joke.
“Hahaha!
See?
Relax, Cana, I’m on my best behavior,” Cain laughed, reaching out to fondly ruffle Cana’s soft brown hair before gesturing for Erza to follow him out the door.
Once the double doors clicked shut behind them, Cana finally snapped out of her daze.
She let out a sharp, embarrassed “Hmph!” and immediately stomped over to the request board to hunt for a decent mission.
Even though the guild covered her baseline food expenses now, a girl still needed to earn her own Jewels for new clothes and personal supplies.
Meanwhile, Cain led Erza completely outside the city limits of Magnolia, heading straight along the dirt trail cutting deep into the heart of the forest.
As they walked beneath the dense green canopy, Cain took a comfortable pace and explained the situation.
“Granny Porlyusica has an intense, legendary hatred for humanity, which is exactly why her clinic is built so far out in the wilderness.” “Granny Porlyusica?” Erza repeated, adjusting the strap of her armor.
“Mhm,” Cain nodded, casting a gentle look at her.
“Her medical expertise is unmatched on this continent.
I’m taking you to see her because I’m confident she can permanently fix the damage to your right eye.”