Lyon's cheeks flushed red from being scolded, and he opened his mouth, just about to talk back.
At that moment, Yuka and Sherry, who had been shrinking in the corner as background props this whole time, finally came online.
The two of them rushed over—one clamped a hand over his mouth, the other grabbed his clothes—forcing Lyon down and holding him in place.
"Lord Kabe, we'll do as you say."
"See? Your little underlings get the point even if your pig brain doesn't."
After another jab, Kabe finally looked over at the twin-tail girl and suddenly tossed out:
"And you—at a glance I can tell you're not a true fan of mine. You don't even know the thing on my waist is a tail, not a belt."
As he spoke, he deliberately loosened the "belt," and right in front of everyone, let his tail slip free and swish twice to show it off.
Yuka, Lyon: "!!"
Ultear: "…"
Sherry: "…Is this guy… a natural airhead? He still remembers that from earlier…"
Seeing everyone frozen stiff, completely speechless, Kabe instantly felt bored. He waved his hand, shooing them away like flies.
"All right, go on, get lost. Follow the plan and take your pig brains with you."
Yuka, Sherry: "Yes!"
Lyon: "Mmmmmm!! (Who are you calling a pig brain?!)"
After the two of them finally dragged the muffled, struggling Lyon away, Kabe at last had the quiet he needed to talk to Ultear alone.
He turned around and held his hand out toward the girl, his expression serious and his tone downright earnest.
"Ultear, come be my daugh— cough, I mean… come join our guild."
Ultear's face darkened. She had to forcibly suppress the urge to smash a crystal orb over his stupid head and ground out her reply through clenched teeth:
"No need. As for what you've told me, I don't fully believe it yet.
For that, I need to go and confirm it with my own eyes."
As she spoke, she paused, turning her head to glance at the ice statue before she continued:
"And I need to personally make up for the sins I've committed."
"In short—you're gonna go atone."
Kabe understood her thinking and withdrew his hand.
"Even though I don't think all of this is your fault, what's done is done.
If you can pay back even a little, that's still something.
But remember this—you owe me a big favor now. Don't you dare go off and die easily.
At the very least, there are still people in this world waiting for you to come home."
"Home… huh."
Looking at this man who was clearly absurdly strong, undeniably handsome, yet somehow also utterly unreliable,
Ultear slowly let out a relieved little laugh.
On her face bloomed the brightest smile he'd seen from her since they met.
"I understand. If I get the chance, I'll visit Fairy Tail and meet this 'family' of yours you keep talking about.
But for now, I have to go."
After saying that, she took one last look at the ice that had become her mother, then turned and strode out of the cavern.
Kabe clasped his hands behind his back and watched her silhouette disappear around the bend of the tunnel.
Only then did he finally exhale a long, relaxed breath.
Pulled Ultear back onto the right path two years ahead of schedule…
Still a bit late, maybe, but at least I've managed to nudge the story a little.
"But seriously… how am I supposed to move this big guy out of here? I can't just hang it up on the wall as a mural."
He looked up at the towering ice statue, twenty or thirty meters high, cold mist still curling off its surface.
Kabe's mind suddenly went blank for a second—and then he whirled around and bolted for the tunnel entrance.
"Lyon! Get your ass back here! You made this mess, so you're gonna help clean it up yourself!!!"
Once he left, the cavern fell silent again, leaving only the giant statue, wrapped in ancient ice, standing there motionless.
Then suddenly—
A sharp crack rang out. A few chunks of ice, for no apparent reason, slid free from the sculpture and dropped down,
plunging into the underground pool that connected to the sea outside with a series of plop, plop splashes.
In the next instant, everything went quiet again, as if nothing had ever happened.
In the end, Kabe gave up on expecting anything useful from Lyon and the others.
He just did it himself—personally hauling the giant ice statue out of the underground cavern and carrying it all the way to the seashore.
Once he strolled casually to a stretch of flat beach and gently put down the six-to-seven-hundred-ton block of ice…
He turned around and saw Lyon and the others, mouths hanging so wide open their jaws were practically scraping the sand.
"Hey now, close your mouths. Don't stand there looking like you've never seen the world before."
Lyon didn't even seem to hear him. He just stared blankly at Kabe, asking in a daze:
"You… are you really the same age as me?"
Kabe was amused enough to chuckle.
"Of course. Why else would I be called the strongest of the younger generation?
Go back and train some more, kid."
He clapped Lyon's shoulder with a big reassuring smack, giving him some half-serious encouragement,
then turned to Yuka and the other two.
"As for you three—once you're back at Lamia Scale, you make sure to say Brain tricked you into all this.
Then take everything you did and pile it on his head, with extra drama and detail.
Add some spice, really sell it.
With me vouching for you, Granny Ooba isn't going to make things too hard."
"We… we can really go back to Lamia Scale?"
All three of them lit up in surprise, then hurriedly bowed to Kabe in unison.
"Lord Kabe, thank you for your kindness!"
He gave a slight nod and accepted their thanks without the slightest modesty,
then shifted his gaze back to the thoroughly deflated Lyon.
"And you? Want to come back to Fairy Tail with me and reunite with your junior, Gray?"
"With Gray? No way!"
The moment he heard Gray's name, Lyon refused on reflex, not even thinking about it,
as if Gray were some annoying fly he'd rather swallow his tongue than be around.
Before Kabe could even ask further, Lyon went ahead and laid out his own plans.
"After what happened today, I fully understand how weak I really am.
I do want to join a guild to train myself—but not Fairy Tail.
I'm going to Lamia Scale.
After all, I'm the one who brought them out here.
I owe their guild master an explanation.
I think my strength is decent, so I'll just sell myself to Lamia Scale… as compensation."
"Lord Lyon!" x3
Yuka and the others cried out in excitement, huddling up around him.
They had lived and fought together for over a year.
They already shared a deep bond.
If they could keep working together in the same guild from here on out, that would be perfect.
"Damn… turned down twice in one day.
Guess I really was not born to be a human trafficker."
Kabe muttered under his breath. But seeing the four of them wrapped in that thick camaraderie,
he decided not to push it any further.
"All right then, at least you're taking responsibility like an adult.
We'll part ways here. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
With that, his body rose slowly into the air. He looked down and gave them a casual wave—
and then shot up toward the sky.
Down below, the others didn't even have time to be shocked that he could fly…