"Gildarts, you idiot… you're still here?"
Staring at the smoking ruins, Shane let out a long sigh and rubbed his throbbing temples hard.
Stuff like this was a nightmare to explain—better to just dump it on Makarov. That was the smart play.
Decision made, he looked down and lied with a straight face.
"Don't freak out. That's something Magnolia gets sometimes… uh, a 'natural phenomenon.'"
"Huh?"
"If you care that much, ask one of the elders at the guild once we get there."
"A-a natural phenomenon?!"
Elfman swallowed hard, pointing at the carnage below—his voice cracking.
"B-but there were people on that street just now! That was obviously man-made!"
"I didn't see anything."
Shane went full ostrich mode—ears plugged, eyes shut—giving them no room to think or dig deeper.
"Hold tight—we're going down!"
"Waaah!"
Amid their yelps, Shane dove like a meteor, dragging all three with him as he accelerated toward the most obvious building in the city.
…
A moment later.
Their feet hit solid ground again, and the violent drop left all three siblings dizzy and dazed.
"W-we're… here already?" Lisanna patted her chest, staring at the old but imposing building with curiosity.
Before they could even recover from the flight, Shane strode forward and shoved open the guild's doors.
"Creeeak—"
"Um…" Elfman started to straighten his rumpled collar, trying to look presentable for his future teammates—
Then—
BOOOOM!!
The instant the doors swung wide, a shockwave of heat and noise slammed into them—loud enough to rival the street demolition they'd just seen.
"Take this!! Eat my fist!!"
"Damn it, Gray! Put your clothes on! Are you trying to spread your pervert disease?!"
"Shut up, droopy-eyes! Wanna fight?!"
"Hahahaha! Another round!"
Alcohol, sweat, splintering furniture, and every kind of pointless yelling mashed together into a full-on assault on their eardrums.
"…This… is the guild we're joining?"
The three siblings froze in the doorway.
Lisanna shrank behind Mira. Elfman's mouth fell open.
Even Mira—staring at the chaos—went stiff.
Their excitement about the future dropped a few notches.
"You coming in or what?"
Shane, completely unfazed, stepped over the threshold first.
He raised a hand to greet someone—when a random empty bottle came spinning out of nowhere, whistling toward the entrance.
Mira's eyes sharpened. She started to lift her arm to block—
But Shane didn't even turn his head. He casually reached out sideways.
Smack.
He caught the flying bottle cleanly in his palm.
"Thanks."
He lifted it and shouted into the hall, "What, you're buying me a drink as soon as I get back? Sorry—still underage. No alcohol for me."
Then he set the bottle on a nearby table like nothing happened.
The entire hall was a warzone.
A black-haired kid in nothing but boxers was roaring atop a table.
A pink-haired kid wreathed in flames was riding someone's shoulders and breathing fire.
In the corner, Cana wasn't even pretending anymore—chugging straight from a bottle.
Tables and chairs were airborne. It was basically a free-for-all brawl.
"Erza stayed home for two days and the guild's already lost its mind…"
Shane sighed and led the three siblings—who were basically petrified—through the "battlefield" like Moses parting the sea.
"Yo! Shane! You're back?!"
Natsu spotted him first. His eyes lit up, and he literally kicked Gray away to spring over, landing right in front of Shane.
"What's an S-rank job like?! Did you fight anyone crazy?! Duel me!"
"Go play somewhere else."
Shane planted a hand on Natsu's head and spun him aside like a basketball.
"I'm not babysitting you right now. I've got real business with the old man."
Ignoring Natsu's "Hey! Don't look down on me!" yelling, Shane headed straight for the back bar.
There, Makarov—now wearing a flashy orange vest—was sitting on the counter, swishing a drink and watching the kids fight like it was entertainment.
Zero intention of stopping anything.
Shane couldn't help grinning.
Hope he's still this cheerful when Gildarts shows up with the "bill."
Tap tap.
He walked up and knocked on the bar.
"Master."
"Hm?"
Makarov finished the last sip, smacked his lips, and finally looked up.
When he saw Shane—and the three kids behind him, clearly newcomers—he blinked, then his eyes brightened.
"Oh, Shane, you're back."
He didn't ask about the kids first. Instead, he asked with genuine concern, "How'd the job go? You hurt?"
"Relax. Took care of it cleanly."
Shane nodded, then stepped aside to reveal the siblings.
"We can talk about the job later. These three…"
He paused, then gave the simplest version.
"Kids I met at the job site. Long story—anyway, they want to join the guild, so I brought them back."
"Oh? That's great!"
Makarov didn't pry into the "long story." He just looked them over kindly, then nodded with a smile.
"Fairy Tail always welcomes new family."
His arm stretched like rubber as he reached into a cabinet behind the bar and pulled out a red stamp.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail. Who's first?"
The three siblings exchanged weird looks.
No background check? No strength test? He hadn't even asked their names and he was already stamping them in?
Shane instantly recognized the expression—because he'd made the exact same face once.
Still, after a quick glance at each other, they stepped forward.
"I'm Mirajane Strauss."
As the eldest, Mira spoke first. "This is my younger sister, Lisanna Strauss, and my little brother, Elfman Strauss."
Once he saw the paperwork was underway, Shane lost interest in the rest of the "Where do you want the mark? What color?" routine.
He quickly jogged back to the entrance, crossed his arms, leaned on the doorframe, and craned his neck toward the direction they'd flown in from.
He was waiting for Gildarts.
More specifically, he wanted front-row seats to Makarov's face when the wrecking-ball uncle came back to "report expenses."
But after a while, the street was still empty.
"Tch. Why's he taking so long? Don't tell me he got lost again?"
Shane scratched his head, exasperated.
"What are you looking at?"
A familiar female voice came from behind him.
Shane answered without turning, "Nothing. Just waiting to see—huh?"
He processed who it was and turned.
Mira, who'd just been doing her registration, was standing right behind him.
"You're done already?" Shane blinked. "That was fast."
"Yeah." Mira nodded, still scanning the noisy guild hall like everything was new and strange.
"Where'd you put the guild mark?" Shane asked casually.
"Here."
Without any hesitation, Mira yanked up the left side of her skirt, exposing her thigh.
Against her pale skin, the white Fairy Tail emblem stood out sharply.
Shane paused for half a beat… then went back to neutral.
Thanks to Erza, he'd built a tolerance for girls with zero sense of "this is embarrassing."
"Left thigh, huh. Suits you."
He gave it a quick glance, then looked away immediately—eyes returning to the street outside.
Seeing him still distracted, Mira got curious. She dropped her skirt and sat on the doorstep beside him, copying his posture as she looked down the road.
"So what are you really watching for?"
Right then—
At the end of the street, a familiar orange-red figure appeared, hands in his pockets, humming some random tune as he strolled toward the guild like he was out for a pleasant walk.
Judging by his carefree expression, he had zero awareness he'd just created a "natural disaster."
Shane's grin widened.
He patted Mira's shoulder lightly and said, amused, "There. Look."
"Our Magnolia 'natural phenomenon' is back."
~~~
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