"Ew~ Ur, this weird old man is such a pervert."
Meredy could not take it anymore. Tugging on Ultear's skirt, she spoke with open disgust.
Hearing that, Makarov's face darkened. He smacked Kabe on the back of the head and scolded him,
"What kind of tastes you have is your own business, but don't go corrupting little kids."
Kabe scratched the back of his head and replied matter-of-factly,
"At that age, anything they should know, they already know. Why would they need me to corrupt them?"
He pointed at the still-disgusted Meredy, and Makarov, who had been about to continue lecturing him, fell silent on the spot.
Meredy's little face also flushed bright red at his words.
She shook Ultear's arm hard and said in a stern voice,
"Ur, anyone can be my dad, but this pervert absolutely cannot!"
Ultear said helplessly, "Don't say nonsense. Kabe... is a good person."
Meredy immediately retorted, "But he's a pervert."
Well then. It seemed Kabe's image in Meredy's heart was not going to be fixed anytime soon.
Looking at the little girl glaring at him angrily, Kabe snickered inwardly.
Teasing kids really was the most fun thing there was.
And since the guild's old brats had all grown up by now, Meredy joining had conveniently filled that empty spot.
Life in the guild was going to be a lot more entertaining from now on.
As he happily imagined all that, he did not notice at all that behind him, Laki was already rapidly writing down every one of his words and actions into a small notebook.
...
"Food's ready! Everyone take a break and come eat!"
At noon, Lisanna, who had been assigned to the logistics team, raised a loudspeaker and called out.
The exhausted crowd, after working hard for half the day, immediately dropped what they were doing the moment they heard food was ready and swarmed over.
"Get to the back and line up! If anybody dares shove, I'll crush his skull!"
Wearing an apron, Mira stood there with one hand on her waist and the other waving a giant ladle, openly threatening everyone.
Wakaba, who was standing at the very front, looked at Mira in that outfit with a face full of suspicion and disbelief.
"Don't tell me you made the food, Mira. Is anything you cook even edible?"
He had barely finished speaking when Mira swung the iron ladle straight into his face and sent him flying.
"Idiot. Like I'd ever cook for trash like you lot."
As she spoke, she stuffed that same ladle, the one she had just used to smack Wakaba, into the rice bucket and scooped out a full serving into a plate.
"Who's first?"
Seeing that, everyone collectively took a step back.
No one wanted to accept a lunch mixed with the grease from Wakaba's face.
Kabe, who had been "working hard" all day with his hands behind his back, walked over just in time to see that scene, and immediately frowned in displeasure.
"You're all guildmates, so what's there to be picky about?!"
After saying that, he mercilessly yanked Macao out of the crowd and shoved him to the very front.
Then Kabe himself quietly went to the very back of the line and began waiting there.
Macao: "I...!"
...
"What a terrible person."
Standing somewhere in the middle of the line, Meredy watched the whole thing and lowered her opinion of Kabe by yet another level.
"Hm? A kid I haven't seen before. Is she a new guild member?"
When it was Meredy's turn, Mira muttered that to herself as she looked at the little girl, then kindly gave her three full spoonfuls of food.
"Thank you, big sister~"
Sensing the goodwill in her, Meredy sweetly thanked Mira like a well-behaved child.
Carrying her food, she followed Ultear and sat down at an empty table.
Sorano and Juvia were seated there too.
Since they were all new members, Ultear had actually gotten along fairly well with them.
Nibbling on her spoon, Juvia looked at tiny little Meredy and asked curiously,
"So this is your daughter, Ur? She's so cute."
Ultear nodded. "Mm. Her name is Meredy. She's only eleven."
"Eleven..." Sorano suddenly thought of her younger sister, who still had no news of her, and could not help saying with hope in her voice, "When Yukino joins us one day, the two of them can keep each other company."
"That would be nice. I'd like Meredy to have a playmate her own age too."
Ultear naturally had no objection and agreed at once.
And just like that, these three girls, the oldest not even eighteen and the youngest only fifteen, very naturally shifted the conversation toward the subject of how to raise a child.
The movement on their side quickly attracted plenty of attention.
Before long, Erza, Cana, and Levy each arrived carrying trays and joined in on the discussion.
Listening to these older sisters, who were only a few years older than she was at most, seriously discussing educational plans for her as if they were experts, Meredy felt like crying without tears.
She desperately wanted to shout at all of them that she was no longer some three-year-old child who still needed milk!