Walking down the main street in the center of town, Makarov was greeted warmly on both sides by the local residents. Every so often someone would wave and call out to him, and the old man would always smile and nod in response.
As for the lifeless-looking child following at his side, the townsfolk were at most a little curious, giving Kabe a few extra glances, but no one stepped forward to ask anything. After all, they were already used to this. Every now and then, their Guild Master Makarov would go out for a trip, then come back with one or two children in tow.
At this point, everyone in town would occasionally, and kindly, joke in private that Fairy Tail had gathered up most of the local kids, and that compared to a mage guild, it was starting to look more like a daycare center.
The only thing different this time was that the child Makarov brought back seemed especially shy. From the moment he had appeared, he had kept his head down, not saying a single word.
...
They passed almost all the way through town before Makarov finally stopped with Kabe in front of a building near the lakeshore.
The building had several stories. Its roof was laid with red tiles, and on the very top a golden dome sat as a decoration. Three flags flew beside it, fluttering in the wind, bearing the symbols of the Kingdom of Fiore, Fairy Tail, and the Magic Council.
Across the front of the first floor, in the most eye-catching spot, hung a huge signboard with a pale purple "FAIRY TAIL" written over a gold background. You could not mistake it for anywhere else.
Makarov glanced sideways at Kabe, who still looked like his soul had left his body, and gave up the idea of proudly introducing the guild to him. Instead, he simply lifted his short leg and kicked the doors of the guild hall wide open, roaring inside,
"Quiet down, you brats! I could hear you yelling from way out there. Do none of you know how to restrain yourselves and behave for once?!"
Such a dramatic entrance naturally drew every eye in the hall at once.
But the members were long used to getting yelled at, so none of them took the Master's scolding seriously. The first thing they did was look past him, toward the small, listless kid following behind.
"Hey, hey, Master, where did you pick up this unidentified little brat this time? Come on, if you keep doing this, people really are going to think our guild is a daycare. Can't you stop for a bit?"
Makarov's sharp gaze snapped toward the complainer.
The speaker was a young man with a bit of stubble on his chin and deep blue spiky hair. Right after he finished, the youth next to him, the one with a pompadour hairstyle and sunglasses, chimed in as well.
"Yeah, seriously, Master. These little brats squawk all day long, it's enough to drive anyone crazy. Next time you go picking, could you please bring back an eighteen or nineteen year old, curvy, gorgeous lady instead?"
"Oh, that's a good idea. As expected of you, Wakaba."
The pompadour's suggestion immediately won the approval of all the single men in the guild.
Only Makarov and the pack of children who had just been despised by the adults looked like they had swallowed a fly, their faces dark with displeasure.
"All of you, shut up!"
As he roared, Makarov's arm swelled up like an inflating balloon. Then, under the terrified eyes of the guild members, his massive fist came crashing down, smashing Macao and Wakaba, chairs and all, straight into the floorboards.
"Eeeek! The Master snapped!"
Realizing what was happening, the Fairy Tail members scrambled to get as far away from the two unlucky guys as possible.
But Makarov had no intention of letting the others go. Every single one who had complained just now, without exception, got chased down and punched into the floor, one by one.
While Makarov was busy applying violent discipline to the guild, a dark-skinned girl in an orange-yellow checkered dress quietly walked up to Kabe, who was still lost in his thoughts.
"Hey, are you okay? Don't mind those two stinky old uncles. They just drank a bit too much and were joking around. In Fairy Tail, we don't care about your background or your personality. As long as you like this guild and treat everyone here as comrades, then we'll all be your family."
As she spoke, two other kids about her age came over to join her, surrounding Kabe.
They looked him over from head to toe with all kinds of curious and probing gazes, examining this new partner who kept his head down and would not say a word.
From the moment he entered the town, Kabe had been silent. Now, at last, it seemed his internal meltdown had run its course. Slowly, he raised his head.
In that instant, he saw three faces that were both familiar and strange to him.
The girl who had been talking to him was Cana. The boy, bare-chested and barefoot with only a pair of blue shorts on, was Gray. And the girl who had already put on a silver-white armor dress so early was Erza.
'No Natsu or Mirajane yet? Looks like I arrived pretty early in the timeline.'
He had at least watched Fairy Tail two or three times. It took him only a second to roughly figure out when he was.
Gray folded his arms across his chest. Seeing that this guy still had not said a single word after all that time, he frowned, annoyed, and waved his hand in front of Kabe's face.
"Hey, you, did you hear me or not?"
"Gray! That's too rude."
Erza could not stand Gray's behavior and immediately spoke up to stop him.
She had only joined the guild less than half a year ago herself. Looking at Kabe made her think of the way she had been when she had first come to Fairy Tail. Maybe this boy had gone through something bad too, and was at a time when he needed other people's concern and comfort. They should be a little more patient with him.
On the other side, Kabe only paused to think for a moment before his awareness fully returned to reality.
Seeing Gray looking impatient because he would not speak, Kabe raised his hand, pointed at his own ear, and said apologetically,
"Sorry, I can't hear you. Could you speak a bit more slowly? I can read lips."
Screech.
In an instant, cold sweat broke out on the backs of all three kids. Gray in particular bent forward at a ninety-degree angle and apologized in a panic.
"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry!!!"
Seeing this, Kabe's lips curled up. A mischievous smile of success spread across his face.
The very next second, a gigantic fist larger than he was came crashing down and sent him flying, slamming him straight into the wooden bar and embedding him there. Cana and the other two stared, mouths hanging open, their minds completely blown.
A few seconds later, the massive fist slowly shrank back to normal size. Makarov walked over with a dark expression, scolding as he came.
"You little brat, don't play such nasty jokes on your comrades. I don't remember you having any kind of disability!"
And Kabe, who had been punched into the bar, wriggled out as if nothing had happened. Under the three kids' stunned gazes, he clutched his aching nose and shot back,
"Quit talking like you've decided everything on your own, you damn old man. What comrades? I never said I was joining this guild!"