"Is this the outside world?"
With her emerald-green eyes wide open, Hisui leaned against the side of the large basket and looked outside.
The Princess of the Kingdom of Fiore, who had been born and raised deep within the palace, was visiting the world outside the "Golden Palace" Mercurius for the first time.
"Isn't it quite fun to come out and walk around?"
Moen asked with a smile. A princess who grows up inside the palace can indeed receive an excellent education, but coming out to walk around and see the complete world is also essential. Otherwise, in the end she would only become a lofty aristocratic ruler.
"Mm! The outside world must be more interesting than inside the palace, right?"
Hisui's eyes widened, filled with excitement and anticipation. It was her first time going out, her first time traveling far away, and she would even be living outside for a long time. Naturally, her emotions were difficult to keep steady.
"Of course. It's much more interesting than inside the palace."
Moen looked at Hisui and felt that the child was rather pitiful.
Although calling a princess of a nation pitiful does carry the feeling of "why not eat meat porridge," growing up alone in the deep palace without any friends of the same age was indeed a kind of misfortune.
Even if they were not born as well as Hisui, not as "noble in status," and many of them were even orphans who did not know who their parents were, the children in Fairy Tail certainly lived more happily than Hisui. They had a more complete childhood.
But then again, Hisui ultimately carried the future of the Kingdom of Fiore on her shoulders. Her childhood could not be devoted solely to happiness. That would be somewhat irresponsible to the future of the kingdom.
So by accepting Hisui as a disciple, Moen also carried a bit more responsibility on his shoulders, a responsibility related to the future of the Kingdom of Fiore.
Especially since King Toma had allowed Hisui to follow him to Fairy Tail, this was practically entrusting the matter of raising and educating Hisui entirely to him. Naturally, it brought a bit of pressure.
However, growing up in Fairy Tail, no matter what happened, Hisui would not grow crooked. That alone was already very good. With proper values, a sense of responsibility, and a sense of justice, she would at least never become a foolish ruler. That could already be considered a successful upbringing.
The crows flew quickly along the way. It did not take long before they arrived at Magnolia, landing beside the lake in the backyard of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall. Everyone in the guild was already very familiar with Moen's large crows.
During the journey, Hisui had been quite excited at first, but after a while the wind blew her into complete dizziness and she curled up. By the time they arrived and she climbed out of the large basket, her excitement had gradually faded. During the latter half of the trip, curled up inside, she had almost fallen asleep.
"Big Brother Moen! You're back!"
Not long after Moen and Hisui landed, a group of children had already rushed over after hearing the news. Once they saw Moen's crows, they immediately ran over and surrounded him, chattering noisily.
Hisui widened her eyes in surprise at the scene, watching her Master Moen surrounded by a group of children about the same age as herself, many of whom were girls.
"Big Brother Moen, did the mission go smoothly this time? Did you run into any trouble? My fortune-telling shows there shouldn't have been any major problems."
"Big Brother Moen, you finally came back! I've already memorized the text you taught me last time. Can I learn a new one now?"
"Eh, who is this child? Juvia hasn't seen her before."
The children chattered noisily, asking about Moen's situation. Of course, they had also noticed Hisui standing behind him.
Juvia looked at Hisui with curiosity, a faint hint of vigilance hidden in her gaze, another pretty girl.
"No trouble, I'll teach you a new one when I have time. This child is Hisui. She is my disciple and also a new companion of the guild."
Moen successively answered the questions from Cana, Levy, and Juvia. As for Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, who had been constantly chattering about who had defeated whom these past few days, he simply responded with casual "mm-hm" sounds to brush them off.
"Hisui, come and get to know everyone."
Moen called Hisui forward and introduced her to everyone. Quite a few people were present. Only Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman were absent. The three siblings had gone on a mission together. They had not gone far, just within Magnolia city.
"Hello everyone, I'm Hisui. I'm very happy to meet you all~~~"
Hisui stepped forward, smiling as she greeted everyone. She appeared graceful and natural, showing no stage fright at all.
If nothing else, King Toma's education of Hisui had clearly been quite successful. The little girl's personality and her ability to interact with others were both excellent.
Hisui's natural and graceful manner naturally brought quite a bit of goodwill from everyone. They all introduced themselves to her in return.
Meeting a group of companions around her own age all at once made Hisui excited again. She tried hard to remember each person's name and characteristics so that she would not mistake them later. However, this concern was unnecessary, because each of these children had very distinctive personalities.
"Big Brother Moen, why did you say she's your disciple?"
Natsu asked curiously. He was not the only one curious about this. Everyone had noticed Moen's earlier statement.
"Because I accepted Hisui as my disciple. She's learning magic and learning the harp. This is very formal. Hisui's father also agreed and even allowed her to come to the guild with me."
Moen said with a smile, which made everyone freeze for a moment.
Although Moen was fairly tall and did not really look like a child, his age was still there. Could he already accept disciples?
In the children's understanding, something as formal as accepting a disciple usually involved a large age difference, and the master was usually elderly. For example, the pairing of Master Vltava and Moen looked like a normal master and disciple relationship.
Although Moen and Hisui also differed by a few years in age, it still felt somewhat strange. At first, everyone had not thought their relationship would be like this.
"Then Big Brother Moen, should I formally become your disciple?"
Levy pointed to herself and asked somewhat blankly.
The reason she asked this question was naturally because she was also learning from Moen. What she was learning was language—or rather, not just language. Levy had already discovered that the language Moen was teaching her, called Chinese, was also a kind of magical script.
So if one insisted on putting it that way, she was indeed learning magic from Moen as well.
"That doesn't count. Only learning Celestial Spirit Magic counts."
Hearing Levy's question, Moen could not help but laugh. His "master-disciple system" clearly only worked for matters related to Saints. Teaching Levy Chinese was not affected by the Saint System.
"Learning Celestial Spirit Magic?! The magic you use, Big Brother Moen?!"
Gray widened his eyes and asked in surprise.
He had always been very interested in Moen's Diamond Dust Fist, and had wanted to learn it from Moen, but he had never had the courage to bring it up.
And now, Gray felt even more unable to ask to learn it, because he would absolutely never take another master. He already had a teacher, and he would forever have only that one teacher.
"Yes. What Hisui is learning is the magic of the Lyra constellation."
Moen nodded and answered Gray's question.
Although Gray had never said it aloud, Moen knew that Gray had always wanted to learn his Diamond Dust Fist. Even several years in the future he still remembered it. Moen had learned this from Gray in the future.
"..."
Gray clenched his teeth and suppressed the thoughts in his heart. No matter what, he would definitely never take another master.
"Does Hisui have a place to stay yet?"
Erza walked up to Hisui and asked her.
"Not yet, but Master seemed to say earlier that I should stay in the girls' dormitory?"
Hisui tilted her head and looked at Moen, asking about his arrangements.
"That's right. Erza, please help arrange it. Hisui will also stay in the dormitory. Please show her around."
Moen looked toward Erza. Matters concerning the girls' dormitory were something he could not help with. Grandma Hilda no longer allowed him to enter the girls' dormitory. Even saving her life could not change the old lady's principles!
The dorm supervisor of the girls' dormitory, Grandma Hilda, had already recovered and returned to her post. She had not actually suffered any serious injuries.
"Leave it to me."
Erza immediately agreed. She herself had a strong sense of responsibility and enjoyed helping others, so naturally she would not refuse something like this.
"Hisui, follow Erza to the dormitory. If you have any problems, you can tell everyone directly, or go find Dorm Supervisor Grandma Hilda. She can help you solve any problems in daily life."
Moen looked at Hisui and instructed her. After all, men and women were different. When it came to daily life matters, he truly could not help much.
But everyone here were good kids, so the atmosphere in the girls' dormitory would naturally not be bad. Besides, with Grandma Hilda taking care of them, there was nothing to worry about. Living in the girls' dormitory would definitely save a lot of trouble and help Hisui integrate into the group more quickly.
"Okay, Master. Erza, I'll be troubling you~"
Hisui nodded seriously, then bowed to Erza in thanks.
This action made Erza somewhat flustered for a moment. She hurriedly waved her hands, indicating that Hisui did not need to be so serious.
"We're companions, Hisui. This is what I should do."
Erza explained to Hisui.
It was hard to imagine that these words came from the lonely and eccentric little armored girl from three or four years ago, but that was the magic of Fairy Tail.
"Companions…"
Hisui froze for a moment and repeated the word.
Within the Fairy Tail Guild, this word seemed to carry a different meaning, a meaning that moved people.
'The guild where Master belongs is indeed very different.'
Hisui sighed inwardly. Looking at Master Moen, who was surrounded by the children with a bright smile that seemed to shine upon everyone, she felt that her master had truly been right. Life in the outside world was far more interesting than life inside the palace.
Under Erza's guidance, Hisui arrived at the girls' dormitory. The luxury of the dormitory surprised her somewhat.
Although it certainly could not compare with the Golden Palace Mercurius, considering the price, the dormitory was absolutely worth it.
When she first heard that the dormitory fee was only 100,000 J, Hisui had thought it would be a very shabby place. She had not expected it to be this luxurious. The facilities were complete, and it even had a large swimming pool and a large bathhouse.
"Grandma Hilda, this child is Hisui. She's Moen's disciple and has just joined the guild. She'll also be living in the dormitory from now on. Please register her for us. We've already chosen a room."
After showing Hisui around and choosing a room, Erza brought her to Dorm Supervisor Grandma Hilda to register.
Before coming to the dormitory, she and Moen had already taken Hisui to register at the guild. With Moen as the recommender, Hisui's guild membership naturally encountered no obstacles. The guild stamp was placed directly.
"Moen again? Why does that guy always pick up little girls?"
Hearing Erza's words, Grandma Hilda could not help but complain.
"And they're always pretty little girls."
After glancing at Hisui, Grandma Hilda added another complaint.
"Besides me, are there others?"
Grandma Hilda's remark made Hisui curious. So she wasn't the first girl her master had brought back?
"There's also Juvia and Wendy. Do you remember who they are?"
Erza smiled as she answered Hisui's question.
"Wendy, the gentle and cute little girl with a talking cat beside her named Carla. And Juvia is the blue-haired girl who always murmurs to herself quietly. Right?"
Hisui thought for a moment and gave her answer.
"That's right. You're quite quick at remembering people."
Erza looked surprised. She had not expected that after just that brief meeting earlier, Hisui had already clearly remembered Wendy and Juvia and even remembered their characteristics.
That reaction from Erza was quite reasonable. There had been so many children, and everyone had only briefly introduced themselves. After that, most of the time they had surrounded Moen, and they had hardly spoken with Hisui. Yet her observation ability and memory were impressive.
"I didn't have anything else to do, so I memorized everyone's names."
Hisui said with a smile. It was also out of politeness. If she called a new friend by the wrong name, it would be very rude.
"You're impressive too. As expected of someone chosen by Moen."
Erza sighed in admiration, although her words carried a bit of ambiguity.
"Someone chosen…"
Hisui's face turned red. She was not that special.
"?"
Erza looked at Hisui strangely, wondering if the girl was sick. Why had her face suddenly turned red?
"..."
Seeing this scene, Grandma Hilda shook her head. She suddenly felt a little worried about Erza. This child was truly rather dull when it came to matters of feelings, and Moen's personality was also rather…
"Achoo!"
Moen suddenly sneezed loudly. He rubbed his nose, feeling as though someone was speaking ill of him behind his back.
As for catching a cold, with his current physical condition, that basically did not exist. No virus could defeat his immune cells. If any virus could survive for two seconds inside his body, it would only be because the white blood cells were moving too slowly.
Rubbing his nose, Moen then walked into the theater. He had come to find Master Vltava. While he was away, the matter of teaching Hisui the harp would have to be entrusted to Master Vltava and Lyra's Celestial Spirit, Lyra. After all, he also had missions to carry out.
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