The midday sun streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting colorful splotches of light on the wooden floor of the Fairy Tail Guild hall.
Ezreal leaned lazily against the bar, his fingertips lightly tapping the condensation-covered lemonade glass.
Yuumi curled up on his lap, her tail occasionally flicking against his wrist.
"So you're saying—" Cana took a small sip of juice, stating idly, "the Heartfilia family just dropped seven A-rank requests this week? And at a ten percent premium? That's a bit much!"
Mira, who was wiping a row of glass cups, smiled gently at the remark: "Mr. Jude certainly values this collaboration. To show his sincerity, the Master specifically assigned each request to our most reliable members."
"Huh?!" Natsu suddenly sprang from his seat, his fists uncontrollably bursting into flames, "Then why wasn't I given one?! I'm Fairy Tail's strongest Fire Dragon Slayer Mage!"
Laki walked over, expressionless, carrying a bucket of ice water: "Because last week you burned the client's two carriages to cinders."
Before she finished speaking, the entire bucket of ice water splashed over Natsu's head.
"Pfft!" Natsu spat out a mouthful of water, his flames hissing out, his hair plastered wetly to his face, "Hey! That was just an accident! And didn't the client already forgive me?"
Ikaruga, sitting by the window and wiping her tachi, chuckled at his words: "You still need to change your impulsive personality."
"What do you mean impulsive?!" Natsu turned to rush over, but Gray grabbed him by the collar.
"Save it, flame brain." Gray rolled his eyes, "Careful you don't get sliced into sushi."
Happy and Yuumi were squatting on the bar, competing to snatch a dried fish.
Hearing the commotion, Happy licked his paws and said: "Aye~ Natsu is so childish."
Yuumi, meanwhile, elegantly curled the dried fish with her tail, lightly jumped back into Ezreal's arms, and turned to stick her tongue out at Happy.
"Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe left the day before yesterday," Ezreal said, scratching Yuumi's chin, "Cana completed an escort mission yesterday, Marcus just left this morning, Gajeel and Elfman went to the North—."
"They're taking our route!" Droy suddenly hung upside down from the ceiling, the sunflower decorating his bean sprout hairstyle swaying left and right, "I heard a super~ awesome barbecue place just opened there! They use special snow beef from the North!"
Jet pulled him down: "Shut up, you. Last time your 'awesome' place gave me diarrhea for three days."
He turned to everyone, recalling with a pained expression, "That restaurant's signature dish was actually 'Stargazy Pie,' with fish heads staring at me from inside the pie!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Cana slapped the table and asked: "What about the remaining two requests?"
"Erza took one with her newly recognized younger siblings," Mira said, putting down the wiped glass, "They've been gone for two days."
"Younger siblings?" Natsu tilted his head, flames once again uncontrollably erupting from his hair, "When did Erza get younger siblings?"
Ezreal took a sip of lemonade: "Shô, Millianna, and Wally, they were all Erza's childhood companions. A few days ago, someone asked me to look after them, so I brought them to the Guild."
"Wait," Gray suddenly interjected, "You mean those three new people? I saw Millianna grooming Happy the day before yesterday."
"That's right." Ezreal nodded, "Shô uses Card Magic, his strength is decent, but he always likes to say strange lines before playing a card."
"I know!" Natsu suddenly raised his hand, "Yesterday when he was playing cards with me, he said something like 'Let the winds of fate guide my cards,' but he still didn't win against me!"
Everyone burst into another round of laughter.
Yuumi lifted her head from Ezreal's arms: "Millianna is good at Cat Magic, she bought me ten boxes of premium dried fish yesterday!"
Happy immediately flew over to chime in: "Aye! She even knitted me a little hat!"
With that, he pulled out a blue knitted hat from behind his back, with the words "Happy" clumsily embroidered on it.
"She's just a bit too enthusiastic," Ezreal smiled helplessly, "Yesterday she tried to groom all the felines in the Guild, even the stray cats outside were groomed three times, and she didn't even spare Macao's tiger-striped scarf."
Ikaruga's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, and the tachi in her hand hummed faintly.
"Wally uses Gunner Magic," Ezreal continued, "and he can split himself or anything he touches. He's a nice guy, but he always pulls people into discussing movies—."
"Don't even mention it!" Jet clutched his head in agony, "Yesterday he forced me to listen to three hours of 'The Ram Man vs. The Iceberg and The Black Wolf Monster'! Why would there be a movie like that in a magic world! Even more terrifying is that he can use magic to recreate movie scenes!"
Droy asked curiously: "Did he split himself in half to play the Ram Man and the Black Wolf Monster?"
"No," Jet said, looking utterly defeated, "he forced me to play the iceberg."
The entire Guild instantly erupted into deafening laughter.
Cana was slapping the table, laughing so hard she almost slid off her chair; Natsu was rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach; even Ikaruga turned her face away, her shoulders subtly shaking.
Cana wiped away her laughing tears: "So that's why Erza has been taking them on missions lately? No wonder we haven't seen her around."
"She's very Happy," Mira added softly, her eyes gentle, "Since they arrived, Erza has been smiling more."
Everyone fell silent for a moment, a hint of melancholy seemed to drift through the air.
Natsu suddenly jumped up, breaking the silence: "Then when they come back, let's have a party!"
"Agreed!" Happy raised his dried fish.
"I want to eat a whole roasted ox!" The sunflower on Droy's head shook excitedly.
"I'm on a break from alcohol recently, so I'll just drink all kinds of juices!" Cana raised her juice glass high.
Just as everyone was chattering about the menu, the Guild doors were suddenly pushed open.
Levy stood at the entrance, panting, clutching a stack of brand new books, her glasses still smudged with ink, her cheeks flushed from running.
"Everyone!" she exclaimed excitedly, her voice trembling slightly with emotion, "My book has been published!"
In an instant, everyone gathered around. On the cover of the book in Levy's hands, the gold-embossed "Levy's Story Collection" shimmered in the sunlight.
She carefully handed a sample copy to each person, her fingers trembling slightly from nervousness.
"These are sample copies," she explained, blushing, "I reorganized those stories Ez provided and wrote them into a collection of short stories…"
Natsu roughly flipped through the pages: "Wow! Are there any fighting scenes? I want to read the most exciting parts!"
"Idiot," Gray appeared behind him at some point, snatching the book, "This is literature, it should be savored slowly."
He elegantly opened the title page, then suddenly frowned, "Wait, why is Ezreal the protagonist of the first chapter?"
"Do you have any objections?" Ezreal raised an eyebrow, "Someone as handsome as me is usually the protagonist."
A collective "Tch" came from the group.
"Because those stories were originally material provided by Ez," Levy pushed up her glasses, her voice gradually becoming more confident, "I re-polished the writing, adjusted the structure, and the editor-in-chief at the publishing house said my rewrite made the stories even more…"
Her words were interrupted by Natsu's loud voice: "That's not fair! I want to be the protagonist too!"
"My Ice-Make Magic must be described with the coolest poses!" Gray struck a pose, ice crystals shimmering at his fingertips.
"Please be sure to describe me as invincible!" Cana raised her juice, her other arm around Levy's shoulder.
Mira chuckled softly, covering her mouth: "It looks like we'll have to get Levy a bigger notebook first."
Levy was surrounded, her eyes shining behind her glasses: "Actually… I want to write about everyone's adventure experiences doing requests as stories, so I wanted to ask for your permission…"
The Guild instantly erupted.
"I want to be the male protagonist in the chapter about fighting the Dark Guild!"
"My Dragon Slayer Magic needs to be described as cool and flashy!"
"Remember to write about me outsmarting the enemy!"
Ezreal stood at the edge of the crowd, shaking his head with a smile.
He opened the book in his hand; on the title page, Levy's delicate handwriting read: "Dedicated to Fairy Tail—my eternal home."
Sunlight streamed through the window onto the pages, gilding the words with a warm, golden edge.
In the hall, the laughter and arguments of his companions intertwined, drifting towards the distant, azure sky.
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