"Weekly Sorcerer, huh…"
The corner of Shane's mouth twitched.
That magazine was less an authoritative weekly for the magic world and more a chaotic mix of gossip and swimsuit spreads.
Erza actually bought it pretty often. According to her, it was for studying outfits and keeping up with fashion.
So whenever he was bored, Shane would occasionally pick up an issue or two and flip through them as well.
To be fair, the covers really were eye-catching—beautiful female mages in revealing outfits, posed boldly enough to grab anyone's attention.
As for the actual content…
It was mostly half-true mage anecdotes mixed with all kinds of hearsay and tabloid romance rumors.
"Maybe it'll become a proper, respected publication in the future, but right now… if the old man thinks a magazine this unserious is going to fix the guild's image…"
"Yeah… that's hard to judge."
He seriously suspected the dirty old man just wanted to use the interview as an excuse to get acquainted with the models through the reporters.
Or maybe he just wanted to satisfy his vanity, and that was why he was forcing Shane to do it.
But thinking of the old man's "if you dare refuse, I'll hammer you into the ground" expression, Shane could only let out a long sigh.
At this point, there was no escaping it.
"What a pain…"
Rubbing his throbbing temples, he hadn't even had time to enjoy the fame boost from "defeating a Wizard Saint in one blow" before one headache after another came looking for him.
Just as he was still worrying about how to deal with those gossip-hungry reporters when the time came—
Tap tap tap—
A flurry of hurried, panicked footsteps suddenly came from the entrance.
"This is bad! This is bad!"
Lisanna had come back. Her usually sweet, smiling face was now full of panic, and even her bangs were out of place from running.
"Master! Big Brother Shane! Natsu… Natsu set Central Park on fire!"
"What?!"
Makarov's eyes bulged so wide he nearly stopped breathing.
Staring in shock, he cried out,
"How is that possible?! Natsu may be a brainless idiot, but he's still a proper Fire Dragon Slayer Mage! How could he possibly lose control of fire?!"
Thinking of the Council issue he still hadn't finished dealing with, the old man clutched his chest, feeling his heart twitch violently.
Couldn't he get even a little peace for just one day?
"An idiot and a brainless fool… Master, just how hopeless do you think he is?"
Shane stood off to the side with his arms crossed, looking thoroughly entertained.
"It's not that he lost control!"
Lisanna explained between breaths,
"Natsu somehow got his hands on a really powerful flame and insisted on eating it. But it was too hot for him to handle, so the second he let go… the park caught fire!"
"What flame?" Makarov froze.
A flame hot enough to burn even Natsu—a Dragon Slayer who literally ate fire—was definitely no ordinary fire.
"Um… it was crimson, and it felt really familiar. Kind of like…"
Lisanna tilted her head up, trying hard to remember the feeling of that flame.
The moment Shane heard the word crimson, his expression stiffened ever so slightly, and he immediately realized something.
"Forget that for now."
He stepped forward at once, cutting off the conversation, his expression turning serious for once.
"The priority right now is making sure no one's hurt and keeping the damage to a minimum."
Without giving anyone time to react, he swept his gaze across the room and began issuing orders.
"Gray, Ur, with me. We're going to the scene and putting out the fire."
"I'm coming too!"
Erza stepped forward immediately as well, her face stern.
"I can handle evacuating people and maintaining order."
"Tch. Why should I have to go clean up the mess that idiot made?"
Gray clicked his tongue in irritation and complained, but his body had already honestly stood up.
Bang!
Before he could finish grumbling, a heavy fist came down on his head.
"Ow!"
Gray clutched his head, furious but not daring to say anything.
Ur casually yanked off her outer coat and tossed it aside, revealing the bra-like top underneath, which barely contained her impressive curves.
Every old pervert in the guild instantly had their attention pulled toward that mature, full figure, their eyes practically bulging out of their heads.
Ur completely ignored the lecherous stares around her, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at Gray with absolute authority.
"I don't remember teaching you to say something that disloyal. If a comrade gets into trouble, of course you go help!"
"Yeah, yeah… I got it…"
Gray held the lump on his head, looking pitiful.
Then, following her example, he stripped off his shirt—and his pants too—and tossed them aside, preparing to head out bare-chested.
"It's not like I said I wasn't going…"
Ever since Ur had joined the guild, he had actually become a lot more well-behaved.
But that terrible habit of "taking off his clothes the moment anything happened" seemed not only untouched—it had apparently gotten even worse now that his master was "setting an example."
Shane's gaze flicked toward the shirtless master-disciple pair, and in his mind, he silently marked "correct Ur's bad habits" as a five-star emergency priority.
The first thing to deal with once Ultear came back—definitely that.
"Let's go!"
He pushed those thoughts aside for the moment and waved everyone forward.
Under his lead, the group charged toward Central Park in force.
Watching Shane's calm, decisive back as he handled the emergency, Makarov—left behind at the bar—felt both proud and ready to beat his own chest in frustration.
"That composure under pressure! That natural command of the situation!"
"This is exactly what a born guild master should look like! So why is he so stubbornly unwilling to take over?!"
…
…
By the time they arrived at Magnolia Central Park, thick black smoke was already billowing into the sky, and the air reeked of burning.
At the center of the fire, Natsu had spread both arms wide like a mother hen protecting her chicks, stubbornly standing in front of the giant ancient tree in the middle of the park.
He was desperately driving up his own flames to create a firebreak, trying to block off the spreading crimson blaze around him.
But aside from that, when it came to the grass, the fences, and everything else, he was completely helpless.
Every now and then, Natsu would rush up, open his mouth wide, and try to swallow the flames—but each time he ended up getting burned so badly he rolled around on the ground yelping.
"He actually thought to use his own fire to create a barrier and stop the flames from spreading?"
Watching the scene, Shane's eyes flashed with surprise.
"With Natsu's single-celled brain, he shouldn't even have that kind of fire prevention concept. Was that just pure instinct?"
"Enough talking! Put out the fire!"
Gray shouted and slapped his hands together, cold air surging off his body as he prepared to cast a large-scale Ice Make spell.
Ur raised her hand as well, and the temperature around them plummeted.
"Wait."
Shane stepped forward and stopped the master and disciple just as they were about to act.
"There's no need to make this so complicated."
Then he lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The crisp sound came through with startling clarity even over the crackle of the flames.
"Come back."
In the next instant—
A miracle happened.
Those crimson flames that had been rampaging everywhere, flames even Natsu couldn't swallow, suddenly stopped spreading as though they had heard their master's call.
They gathered in from all directions, turning into tame red fire snakes that slithered toward Shane's palm.
In the blink of an eye, the huge blaze vanished without a trace.
All that remained was a small crimson flame quietly burning in Shane's hand—yet radiating terrifying heat.
"This is…"
Ur's eyes widened in surprise.
She had never seen Shane use this kind of ability before. It was almost as if the flames themselves were alive under his control.
"I knew it!!"
Gray pointed at Shane and shouted,
"The moment Lisanna said it was a flame even Natsu couldn't swallow, I knew something was wrong!"
"This has to be your Heart Flame, right?!"
"No wonder you came running over so eagerly this time! So the real culprit was you!"
"How is this my fault?"
Shane remained perfectly calm, looking innocent.
"I was just being nice and sharing some fire with Natsu so he could satisfy his cravings. I never told him to go wild and burn down the park!"
"This is obviously his problem!"
"Heh."
Gray folded his arms and sneered.
"You can argue all you want. I'm telling the Master the second we get back. Let's see how you explain yourself then."
"Oh?"
Shane didn't argue.
He simply clenched his fist at an unhurried pace, making his knuckles crack sharply, then returned Gray's expression with a matching cold smile.
"…"
Gray looked at Shane's enormous fist, then remembered that this guy had crippled a Wizard Saint just yesterday.
He very wisely chose to shut up and quietly edged backward behind Ur.
In Fairy Tail, a bigger fist might not solve every problem—but it definitely solved ninety-nine percent of them.
Meanwhile—
After confirming that the citizens—already long used to Fairy Tail causing trouble—had skillfully evacuated on their own, Erza finally had a free hand.
"Idiot!!"
She charged forward in one huge step and delivered a perfect over-the-bridge back throw to Natsu, who was still bouncing around frantically.
Bang!
Natsu was slammed face-first into the dirt as Erza glared at him furiously.
"Who told you to eat random things?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!"
"Mmph! Mmph! Erza, I'm sorry!" Natsu wailed.
"That's really not the main issue here…"
Watching from the side, Lisanna could only let out an awkward laugh, not knowing what to say.
In the end, all she could do was offer a weak consolation:
"Well… at least nobody got hurt. That's what matters."
Ignoring the one-sided "loving education" Natsu was currently suffering through, Ur walked over with a curious expression, staring at the flame in Shane's hand as it bounced and changed shape at his will.
"This kind of freedom in how it changes…"
As a master at the peak of Ice Make Magic, she immediately recognized something familiar in it.
"It feels a little like Make Magic."
"Shane, is this Fire Make?"
Ur couldn't help asking.
Although Shane had saved her before, what he had mainly shown back then was his astonishing speed and those dragon wings. He hadn't really fought with magic in front of her.
"Mm… not exactly."
Shane scratched his head, not entirely sure how to define it himself.
Heart Flame was an extension of his soul. In a way, it was even freer than Make Magic.
"At most, the effect is just kind of similar."
"Oh…"
Ur nodded thoughtfully, and the admiration in her eyes deepened.
"But still, Shane, you're so young, yet you know so many kinds of magic—and you're good at all of them too. That's really impressive."
"No, no, you flatter me."
Shane waved his hand modestly, a little unnaturally avoiding Ur's direct gaze.
After all, Ur was that "bad woman's" mother. Facing this beautiful, full-figured future mother-in-law always left him feeling a little awkward and uneasy.
At that moment, Gray finally couldn't hold back from cutting in. His tone was sour, but what he said was fair enough.
"Master, don't let him fool you."
"Even though Shane's a total bastard with a rotten personality who loves bullying people, he's still one of only two S-Class mages in our guild."
"And now he's beaten a Wizard Saint too. So yeah, his strength really does speak for itself."
"S-Class Mage?"
Ur looked at Gray curiously.
Of course she had heard the title before, but the value of "S-Class" varied wildly from guild to guild.
So she had never been totally clear on what that rank actually meant in Fairy Tail.
"Yeah."
Gray explained,
"Basically, Shane earned that title by defeating every competitor in the guild's annual S-Class trial."
"It's a really hard exam. Every year, only the strongest one gets promoted."
"And what practical use does it have?"
Hearing "so difficult to obtain," Ur immediately became interested, her eyes lighting up.
"Uh…"
Gray got stuck.
He dreamed of earning that title himself, but when suddenly asked what it was actually good for, he found himself weirdly speechless.
He scratched his head and struggled for a while before managing,
"It lets people know you're really strong? And respected?"
"Idiot."
Erza, who was still in the middle of disciplining Natsu, finally couldn't stand it anymore. Even while busy, she lifted her head and answered for him:
"Of course it's not just for empty prestige."
"Becoming an S-Class Mage means you're qualified to enter the guild's second floor and take on the kinds of jobs that ordinary members are absolutely forbidden from touching—S-Class jobs, Ten-Year jobs…"
"These missions are much more dangerous, but in exchange, the rewards are dozens, even hundreds of times greater than normal jobs."
"I see…"
Ur nodded slowly, the light in her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Since arriving in Magnolia, she had already heard that Shane was working with a major merchant guild now and earning a lot of money every month.
And as for herself…
The moment she remembered that even the house she lived in now had been rented with money her daughter shoved into her hands before leaving, her pride as a mother took a critical hit.
Too miserable.
Even if nobody else cared, Ur herself really couldn't stand it.
If Ultear came back one day and discovered that her mother was still living off her daughter's support, that would be far too humiliating.
More importantly—
Ur's gaze drifted, seemingly without meaning, toward the high-spirited black-haired boy beside her.
And if those two kids really did end up together in the future…
Then in order to make sure Ultear wouldn't just get dazzled and "won over with money" by this brat—and to make up for everything she owed her daughter all these years—
She had to save up a solid family fortune.
She had to make money.
And not just a little money.
A lot of money.
So then—
Right in front of everyone's astonished eyes, Ur suddenly pointed at herself and asked with complete seriousness:
"So this S-Class trial…"
"Can I take it too?"
~~~
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