As soon as Shane and Erza stepped through the guild doors, his good mood was cut in half.
Right in the middle of the hall stood the graceful figure he'd been stewing over for days, wearing a cold expression as she accompanied her mother, Ur.
That said…
compared to the daughter's cool composure, Ur looked distinctly restless.
She was wrapped in a thick high-collared coat that covered her all the way up to her neck, and her hands kept fidgeting with the zipper at the collar, as though she wanted to tug it down for some air.
But every time she so much as tried, Ultear would shut her down with one stern glance.
"Take your hand off it, Mother."
Ultear said coldly,
"Don't go showing your underwear in a place like this. Have some dignity."
It was obvious that the sweet mother-daughter reunion phase had passed. Ultear's usual personality had already returned in full force, and she wasn't holding back in the slightest.
"But… it's so uncomfortable, Tia…" Ur said pitifully.
"…"
Looking at this bizarre mother-daughter duo, the corner of Shane's mouth twitched before he walked over.
"What are you doing here?"
He looked at Ultear, his tone still carrying some of the resentment that hadn't quite faded.
"I invited Tia to come watch, actually!"
Ur seized the opportunity to yank the zipper down just a tiny bit and answered for her first.
"Sometimes I want Tia to see how cool her mother looks too."
As she said that, Ur's gaze sharply swept over her daughter's frosty face, then shifted to Shane's obviously displeased expression.
"Hm?"
Narrowing her eyes, Ur asked tentatively,
"Did you two… have a fight?"
"No."
Both of them answered at the exact same time, even with the exact same tone.
"Phew…"
Ur patted her chest and let out a breath of relief.
Thank goodness, they were still this in sync. So it was just a little lovers' spat after all!
As far as she was concerned, Shane was an extremely satisfying future son-in-law candidate: strong, handsome, a little mean in personality maybe, but dependable.
Then she took one step back and looked at Erza, who had stayed quietly beside Shane the whole time.
"Is it because of this girl?"
Ur's expression immediately turned troubled.
To be fair, she genuinely liked a child like Erza—serious, polite, and well-mannered.
But…
"I still have to support my daughter's love life!"
Just as this devoted mother silently steeled herself to say something for her daughter's happiness—
"Tia!"
A bright, delighted voice cut off her train of thought.
The red-haired girl she had just mentally labeled as her daughter's "love rival" lit up the moment she saw Ultear and went straight past Shane to greet her.
"You came! That's great!"
"She… she calls you Tia too?!"
Seeing that her daughter still wore that cold expression, yet clearly wasn't rejecting the red-haired girl's affectionate behavior, Ur instantly felt a little jealous.
She glared at Erza in a puffed-up huff, like a child protecting her food.
"Damn it! Then I definitely won't hold back in this exam!"
"?"
Erza looked baffled, having no idea why Ur had suddenly become so hostile toward her.
"…"
Having no interest in deciphering whatever strange logic was running through that woman's head, Shane completely ignored the sudden, inexplicable sisterly bonding over there and turned toward the real culprit, who was lazily sipping alcohol at the bar.
"Master."
Shane pointed at the lively trio over there.
"This is Fairy Tail's S-Class exam. Is it really okay to let Ultear watch?"
After all, he was the examiner this time, so at least on the surface, he was supposed to care a little about procedure.
"What's the problem?"
Makarov waved a hand carelessly.
"If the test were taking place at the guild's sacred grounds, then sure, it might be a little inconvenient."
"But since you little brat insisted on setting the exam in the city…"
The old man shrugged and said in the most matter-of-fact tone possible,
"Then just think of her as an ordinary citizen who happened to pass by and decided to spectate our guild's little team-building event."
"Ordinary citizen…"
Shane rolled his eyes.
Fine.
If even the guild master didn't care, then he couldn't be bothered to care either.
~~~
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