"That just now had to be a hallucination from sleeping too long… Yeah, definitely a hallucination."
Shane desperately tried to hypnotize himself.
The air around them still carried the raw, earthy smell of freshly turned soil.
"Um… Shane-nii."
Beside him, Elfman still had tear tracks on his face as he mercilessly twisted the knife a little deeper.
"That big tail behind you just now… was that some new kind of Take Over magic you learned underground?"
Shane took a deep breath.
He had only just seen daylight again. The last thing he wanted to do was waste brain cells thinking about something like this.
So he simply closed his eyes, pretended he hadn't heard the question, and changed the subject.
"I heard every word you two were saying up there."
When he opened his eyes again, a wicked grin spread across his face.
"So, in the interest of proper manners… I'll start by granting that little wish of yours, Elfman."
With that, he casually stepped forward.
Squish.
Instead of the solid feeling of his foot landing on firm ground, the step he'd only put a tiny bit of force into sank into the dirt like it was soft swamp mud. His whole lower leg plunged straight in, stopping only when his knee finally caught.
"Huh?"
He froze for a second.
Almost on instinct, Shane tensed his leg to yank it back out.
But the instant the command reached his muscles, a completely unreasonable amount of terrifying force exploded out of his leg.
There was no buffer, no transition. His whole body lurched backward like he'd been hit by a cannonball, sending him toppling uncontrollably.
With a dull splat, Shane—who had crawled out of his grave less than three minutes ago—planted himself right back into the pit in a flawless upside-down fall, still warm with his own body heat.
There was a brief, two-second silence at the edge of the pit.
Then Mira completely lost it. Clutching her stomach, she burst into helpless laughter.
"Pfft—hahaha… You slept so long you forgot how to use your own body?"
"…"
Shane's face went black.
This time, he learned his lesson. Holding his breath, he carefully reined in the strength in his muscles and slowly climbed back out by bracing himself against the sides of the pit like a baby learning how to walk.
How much time had actually passed?
Shielding his eyes from the glaring sunlight, he finally got a good look at himself.
It wasn't just the qualitative change in his power. His once slightly thin teenage frame was completely gone, replaced by the tall, balanced build of a fully grown man, with clean lines and defined bones.
"Getting stronger while AFK is great and all, but…"
A breeze brushed past, and Shane suddenly shivered.
He looked down at his completely bare body, then back up at the siblings standing at the edge of the pit, openly studying him without the slightest embarrassment, and instantly felt a surge of indignation.
"Hey! If you had enough attention to notice weird details like the tail, couldn't you at least have reminded me to put some clothes on first?!"
"Huh?" Elfman scratched his head awkwardly. "Well… Gray and Ur are always stripping at random too, so I kind of got used to it…"
"How innocent. You've already grown into an adult, but you're still embarrassed over something like this?" Mira covered her mouth, her narrow eyes curving into crescents.
Looking at the sheer evil on the girl's face, Shane ground his teeth inwardly.
He'd actually thought, for one brief moment, that the fact she'd comforted her brother meant she'd matured a little.
Now it seemed that aside from her body, her personality hadn't improved at all.
Too lazy to bicker with her, Shane shifted his thoughts and switched class cards in his mind.
As a faint shimmer of magic washed over his body like ripples, a signature kimono instantly appeared on him.
Once dressed, Shane casually condensed a bronze mirror in front of himself with magic and carefully examined what he looked like now.
The boy in the mirror had fully grown into his features, losing the last traces of youthful immaturity.
But maybe because the years of sleep in the underworld had been too peaceful, his face hadn't sharpened into anything especially fierce.
Paired with the long black hair that hadn't been cut in years and now fell all the way down his back, he gave off a gentle, almost androgynous beauty when standing still—soft and fluid like water.
"Very pretty," Mira said as she leaned closer, still teasing mercilessly.
Shane ignored her.
With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the mirror, then turned around. The joking look on his face faded completely, and his eyes turned serious.
"How long was I asleep?"
The atmosphere dipped.
"Three years…"
Elfman, clearly unable to watch his sister keep messing with him anymore, finally answered in a low, heavy voice.
"No. More accurately… almost four."
"Shane-nii, you fell asleep on January 4th, X779. Today is already the first day of X783. January 1st."
"A full four years…"
Shane murmured, his expression going blank for a brief moment.
Then he let out a helpless laugh.
"What a shame. When I closed my eyes, I was still thinking I'd sleep after the New Year."
He stepped forward and, doing his best to hold back his strength, patted Elfman on the shoulder—now broad and solid.
"You remembered the exact date that clearly? You've gotten dependable."
"It's not just because he has a good memory. The Night of the Moonless Sky that year caused such a huge commotion that people all over Fiore still remember it."
Mira cut in from the side, her tone carrying that familiar edge of complaint.
"You really are trouble, you know that? Even going to sleep, you had to make such a huge scene first. Elfman and I came all the way out to help you that time, so don't even think about pretending you don't owe us."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I won't forget."
Shane conjured a hair tie and casually tied the long black hair at his back into a loose bundle.
After all this time, who knew what Erza and Ultear looked like now?
How many new faces had joined the guild?
Countless thoughts surged through his mind, but he forcibly shoved aside the urge to start catching up.
Right now, something heavier stood in the way.
Shane took a deep breath and deliberately softened his tone.
"So, if I'm paying you back… then start by telling me everything. From the beginning. About what you mentioned up there just now… about Lisanna."
"You're not going to ask about everyone else in the guild first?" Mira's eyes widened slightly, clearly surprised.
"Shouldn't there be more important things you want to know than Lisanna?"
That was what finally made Shane uneasy.
More than anyone, he knew just how much the white-haired girl in front of him loved Lisanna.
But now that he'd brought up the subject of something happening to her, Mira's reaction was… too calm.
It made sense, but it also felt almost forced.
Like she was deliberately holding herself in place.
Shane lightened his tone on purpose.
"That can wait. You two didn't go through all the effort of digging me up just because you missed me that much, right?"
People only really grow after something bad happens to them.
Shane thought that, when someone is on the verge of collapsing under guilt like Elfman, then as the older sister, even if Mira's own grief is just as deep…
she probably has no choice but to force herself not to show even the slightest weakness and act like she always has.
Mira was silent for a moment, then gave a small smile and shook her head.
"Let's talk once we get back to the guild."
"Too much has changed over the years. Everyone's different now, and so is the guild. You'll have to get to know it all again yourself… so don't get too shocked, okay?"
With that, she clasped her hands behind her back, stopped looking at Shane, and turned to walk off first.
"Hiss…"
Watching her light, quiet steps from behind, Shane drew in a breath.
He couldn't help turning toward Elfman and asking with his eyes, Is she… really okay?
"…"
Elfman didn't answer immediately.
It was a long while before he finally lowered his head and said,
"Ever since Lisanna di— disappeared, my sister's been like this."
"She takes everything in stride. She's even stronger than before. She hasn't cried once."