Chapter 11
Elior POV
As soon as we reached the main floor, Gramps jumped onto one of the tables and raised his arms.
"WE HAVE NEW MEMBERS!"
His voice echoed throughout the entire guild hall.
The entire guild slowly turned toward us.
Gramps pointed in our direction.
"Come on, introduce yourselves!"
I took the cue and stepped forward with a smile.
"Hi, everyone. I'm Elior, and this is my little sister, Erza. We look forward to working with all of you."
I gave a small bow.
Erza quickly copied me.
"Hello!"
For a second, the entire hall went quiet.
Then the reactions started.
"Awwww!"
"Look at her!"
"She's adorable!"
Several of the women immediately surrounded Erza, their eyes practically sparkling.
Erza looked slightly overwhelmed at first.
"Brother…"
I smiled.
"Don't worry. They're friendly."
One of the women gently pinched Erza's cheek.
"So cute!"
Erza's cheeks puffed up.
"I am not a baby!"
That only made everyone laugh harder.
I couldn't help smiling.
Yeah… she's definitely going to have no problem making friends here.
The reactions toward me were somewhat different.
A few of the men looked me up and down before muttering.
"Damn, brat."
"Why does the kid look so composed?"
"Tch. Another handsome one."
I ignored them.
Looks like I've already made a few enemies.
Not that I particularly cared.
Before things could become any more chaotic, Gramps raised both hands.
"What are you waiting for?!"
He took a deep breath.
"IT'S TIME TO PARTY!"
The entire guild exploded into cheers.
"OOOOOHHHHHHH!"
Tables were pushed aside.
Drinks were raised.
Someone started playing music.
Within seconds, the guild had transformed into an even louder version of the chaos we had witnessed earlier.
I stared at the scene.
So this is a normal day here?
I looked toward Gramps.
He was laughing like a child.
Yep. Definitely Fairy Tail.
After a while, Erza became more comfortable and started spending time with the women of the guild.
I decided to give her some space and walked toward the bar.
I sat on one of the stools.
"Can I get some apple juice, please?"
The barmaid smiled.
"Coming right up."
She was a pretty brunette with a warm expression and a very friendly demeanor.
She poured the juice into a glass and placed it in front of me.
"There you go."
"Thank you."
I took a sip.
Not bad.
I looked around the guild while drinking.
Even though it was chaotic, there was something strangely comfortable about the atmosphere.
Everyone seemed to know each other.
They argued, fought, laughed, teased one another…
But there was a sense of belonging underneath all of it.
I think I understand why this place became so important to the characters I remember.
I turned back toward the barmaid.
"By the way, I'm Elior. Nice to meet you."
She smiled.
"Makino."
"That's a beautiful name."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Are you always this polite?"
I shrugged.
"I try to be."
She giggled.
"You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"
"I aim to please."
I gave an exaggerated little bow from my seat.
Makino covered her mouth as she laughed.
"You're funny."
I smiled.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
She nodded.
"It was."
Before we could continue our conversation, I felt someone lightly tap me on the shoulder.
I turned around.
A blond boy stood there.
He looked to be around my age.
His expression was somewhat stiff, and he seemed unsure of what to say.
"H-hey…"
"Hey."
"I-I'm Laxus. It's nice to meet you."
I smiled.
"The name's Elior. Nice to meet you too."
Makino looked at Laxus.
"What would you like to have, Laxus?"
He glanced at my glass.
"The same as him."
"Apple juice?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
Makino poured him a glass and placed it in front of him.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, Sister Makino."
She smiled before moving down the bar to serve someone else.
That left the two of us sitting next to each other.
Silence.
A few seconds passed.
Then another few.
Laxus stared at his drink.
I stared at mine.
Neither of us said anything.
This is getting awkward.
I took another sip.
Still silent.
I looked toward him.
"So…"
He glanced at me.
"Are you the grandson Gramps was talking about?"
Laxus blinked.
"Oh. If you mean Grandpa Makarov, then…"
He scratched his cheek.
"It should be me."
He paused.
"Probably?"
I stared at him.
Then I started laughing.
"Hahaha! Why are you asking me? I'm the new member, remember?"
Laxus's face turned red.
"What do you mean, dude?! I was just nervous!"
That only made me laugh harder.
"Sorry, sorry!"
He looked away, clearly embarrassed.
"You're annoying."
"You've known me for five minutes."
"And you're already annoying."
"That's impressive, isn't it?"
He tried to suppress a smile.
He failed.
A small grin appeared on his face.
And just like that, the awkwardness disappeared.
"So," I asked, "what do you usually do around here?"
"Train."
"That's it?"
"Mostly."
"You're serious."
"Yeah."
I leaned back.
"Do you use magic?"
He nodded.
"Lightning magic."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
So it's already developing.
Laxus was still young, but even now I could sense the enormous magical potential inside him.
His magical power wasn't anywhere near mine, obviously, but for someone his age, it was impressive.
"What about you?"
"Light Magic."
His eyes widened.
"Light?"
"Yep."
"That's cool."
"Thanks."
He looked at me curiously.
"Can you actually turn into light?"
I smiled.
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Still working on it."
That answer seemed to satisfy him.
We continued talking.
At first, it was simple stuff.
Our ages.
Training.
Magic.
The guild.
Eventually, the conversation became much more natural.
I learned that Laxus spent a lot of time training and that he admired the stronger members of the guild.
He was competitive.
A little awkward.
And definitely more serious than most kids his age.
But underneath all that, he was actually a pretty good kid.
He's much easier to talk to than I expected.
I told him about my training with Irene, my swordsmanship, and some of the basic things I had learned about magic.
I obviously left out anything about my memories of the future.
That was something I wasn't planning to reveal to anyone.
Eventually, we moved over to one of the couches because sitting at the bar for hours was getting uncomfortable.
Laxus sat across from me while we continued talking.
At some point, Erza returned.
"Brother…"
I looked down.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm tired."
She climbed onto the couch beside me and, without another word, rested her head on my lap.
I smiled and gently brushed her hair away from her face.
"Go to sleep."
She nodded sleepily.
Within minutes, she was completely asleep.
Laxus looked at her.
"She's really attached to you."
"Yeah."
I smiled.
"She's my little sister."
"You're lucky."
I looked at him.
He shrugged.
"I don't have a sibling."
I understood what he meant.
"Well, you've got a guild now."
Laxus looked around.
The loud laughter.
The arguments.
The people drinking and celebrating.
The members helping each other.
He smiled slightly.
"Yeah."
Before long, some of the older guild members joined us.
One of them started bragging about a mission he had completed.
Another immediately claimed his own achievement was much more impressive.
Soon, they were arguing about who was stronger.
Gramps eventually joined the conversation too.
He laughed loudly as the guild members exaggerated their stories.
I mostly listened.
It was entertaining.
Some stories were probably true.
Some were definitely exaggerated.
And some were so ridiculous that I wasn't sure how anyone expected us to believe them.
But nobody seemed to care.
They were simply enjoying themselves.
I looked around the guild hall.
The place was loud.
Messy.
Chaotic.
Completely insane.
Yet somehow…
It felt warm.
Like a home.
I looked down at Erza sleeping peacefully on my lap.
Then I glanced at Laxus, who was laughing at one of the guild members' ridiculous stories.
A small smile appeared on my face.
Yeah.
I think joining Fairy Tail was the right decision.
For the first time since coming to this world, I felt like I had truly found a place where I belonged.
And judging by how loud everyone was getting…
I had a feeling I was going to have plenty of interesting memories here.