The Fairy Tail party starts as soon as it's mentioned. Everyone raises their glasses, sings, dances, and celebrates the reunion after being apart.
After a chaotic commotion, people gather in small groups, chatting here and there, while the Celestial Wolf Group recounts their experiences.
Rhode and Mira habitually stand at the counter, naturally grouping with Laki and Ginanna.
Rhode looks at the two girls in front of him with surprise, "You two have changed quite a lot, haven't you?"
They both felt quite youthful before, especially Ginanna, but now, she might even seem older than Mira.
"Do you have the right to say that?" Laki said, "You've even shortened the distance between your hair and the ground."
"..." That familiar way of speaking, Rhode confirmed it's indeed Laki, and asked Mira. "Should I cut it?"
"No need, it looks quite handsome like this." Mira said, "I'll help you trim it later."
"Let's go with that then." Rhode always found it hard to cut short, keeping it long due to lack of barbers among wild beasts, trimming it only when it got too long.
Mira asked Laki, "They say you've been managing the bar all these years, how do you feel about it?"
Laki smiled wryly, "Managing is a bit of an exaggeration, at first it was a bit chaotic, but later... there wasn't much to manage."
Ginanna explained, "Because Magnolia now has a lot more impressive bars, dance halls, and places like that, so not many people come to an old bar like our guild.
"Then the waiters had nothing to do, some left to take commissions, others gradually left the guild... Miss Sally and Miss Ize left over two years ago."
"I see." Mira sighed, they originally hired so many people because they couldn't keep up, Rhode even tricked Lucy into joining as help...
Rhode changed the subject, "I remember Ginanna wanted to learn magic before, so what did you end up choosing?"
Ginanna said, "I initially wanted to learn Receiving Magic, but after that incident, everyone was grieving, and many things happened afterward, so I only learned some basics."
Laki gave Ginanna a glance, she didn't mention everything, not wanting them to worry.
She recalled that back then, Ginanna was a bit naive, just finding a good place to settle when disaster struck.
Under those circumstances, it was hard enough for Ginanna to return to normal life, let alone have the mindset to learn magic.
It was only after a long time that her mood adjusted a bit, which allowed her to learn some introductory knowledge.
But soon she faced a new wave of mage philosophy, leaving Ginanna bewildered about what to learn.
If she doesn't want to mention it, then there's no need to press. Laki said teasingly, "Where did Ginanna's verbal tic go, Gina~?"
It sounded much like Ginanna six years ago.
Ginanna felt a bit embarrassed, "Don't do that, I've grown up."
"By the way, Sister Mira..." Laki suddenly felt something was off, "Can we still call you Sister Mira now?"
Laki suddenly didn't know whether to consider her 19 or 25 years old.
"Call me whatever you want." Mira laughed, "You can ask Fried to check whenever you're free."
Fried's technique could identify age, using it for fun in idle moments wasn't bad.
"Let's just keep it the same." It's hard to change suddenly, Laki said, "With this happening, what about your two's marriage?"
Mira looked at Rhode, the original plan was to get married after the exam and before the New Year, so what now?
Though time-wise, the New Year is also not far off, but this New Year is not the same as that New Year.
Before Rhode could reply, Laki added, "Alzack and Bisca have already gotten ahead of you, and they even have a child."
"A child?"
Rhode and Mira were a bit surprised, with so much to talk about on the way back, this hadn't been mentioned by the two.
"A ch... child?!" Erza, who was chatting with Alzack and Bisca, was already stunned, "You, you two are married?"
Alzack grinned happily, "Yes, a daughter, named Asuka."
Bisca added, "We've been married for five years now."
"Cong... congratulations..." Erza blushed, head lowered, muttering congratulatory words mixed with what a bride typically says.
Mira smiled and glanced over there, "Erza is still the same."
Rhode held Mira's waist and asked affectionately, "How about we strike her again in a few days, Miss Demon?"
This time it was Mira's turn to blush, but she forced herself to say, "Sure... sure, I'm looking forward to Erza's expression then."
"Hey~~~~" Laki and Ginanna covered their mouths, "You've decided that quickly?"
Rhode stated matter-of-factly, "Wasn't it decided a long time ago?"
If not for that damn Black Dragon, perhaps their child would already be playing house with Asuka.
Laki remembered something suddenly, "Ah, Sister Mira, you wouldn't be like Bisca too?!"
Mira was puzzled, "What do you mean?"
"You know..." Laki's voice lowered significantly, face a bit red, "Asuka was born only six months after Alzack and Bisca got married."
Ginanna also blushed, whispering, "Yeah, I heard Bisca occasionally didn't come home at night."
"Could it be..."
Was Bisca already pregnant before they got married? Mira's face turned even redder.
She and Rhode had been... quite a few times too.
Could she already be... just hasn't been long enough to show?
Mira discreetly touched her stomach, feeling a mix of anxiety and anticipation.
She didn't know for sure yet, but they definitely shouldn't delay anymore.
Just wait for a few days, once things settle down.
Suddenly someone called out to them, "Hey, you guys, come over to get your portraits done!"
They looked over, and everyone was already gathered, waiting for them to queue up to let Lidas draw their portraits.
"Coming, how should we stand?"
"Of course, the President stands in the middle!"
Macao smugly put his hands on his hips, "Oh, me?"
"Get out of here, you're just the acting!" Wakaba disdainfully shoved him away, "Since everyone is back, of course, the president will be the old man."
Macao himself had no objections, but he couldn't help but retaliate at Wakaba, "If I can't continue as acting president, then you as the president's assistant should also step down!"
"Resign then, the real president's assistant is back anyway!"
"What did you say?!"
Makarov quickly said, "Regarding this, I have a suggestion, since we've just returned and aren't familiar with the situation, why not let you continue as acting for a while?"
"No need, nothing much to get familiar with." Wakaba quickly said, "In any case, it won't be worse than this guy!"
Macao angrily retorted, "You bastard! You weren't saying that this morning!"
Wakaba shrugged, "I was just being kind-hearted and comforting you occasionally."
"Bastard..."
Macao and Wakaba stood on either side of Makarov, leaning forward with their heads tilting.
Others laughed and watched, even encouraging them to fight.
Lidas suddenly called out, "Great, just like that! Stay like that, don't move!"
This natural, noisy, and cheerful scene he hadn't seen in six years had to be recorded quickly.
The brush danced, and an informal 'group photo' was freshly produced.
The sound of knocking was suddenly heard, and a tall figure entered the guild, smiling, "Looks like the mood is great here, am I interrupting?"
Everyone turned their heads, and some didn't recognize him at all, but Rhode found him a bit familiar, though couldn't recall the name.
Only Erza, with trembling lips, called out, "Are you... Simon?!"
The person was indeed Simon, Erza's friend from back in the Tower of Paradise.
"Who???" Lucy, Mira, Natsu, Gray, Rhode, who had seen Simon before, all showed surprised expressions.
Because this person had changed tremendously.
He used to have one eye, a metal chin, and a headscarf, not at all handsome.
But now, he had regained his eyesight, removed the metal chin, and his hair seemed well-styled, looking like a completely different person from six years ago.
Most notably, he was now wearing a very familiar styled shirt, suit, and shoes, with a guild emblem on his chest.
"Blue Pegasus?!"