Cana's loud exclamation drew everyone's attention.
She kept turning the elegant glass bottle to examine it carefully, even trying to smell the cork.
"Do you really like wine, young lady?" Jude asked, amused.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Cana nodded repeatedly.
Though she no longer drank straight from wooden barrels, wine remained her greatest love.
Layla stepped forward to introduce the vintage to Cana. "This is a custom hand-painted bottle. The grapes used to make this wine are Riesling harvested two weeks later than the usual grape-picking season, ensuring a concentrated flavor while maintaining a refreshing taste. The flavors are condensed, accumulated, and perfectly balanced in sweetness and acidity, with a lingering finish."
"Most importantly, after the wine is finished, the beautiful bottle can still be used as a decoration," Layla smiled.
"I love it! Thank you!" Cana's eyes sparkled with sheer delight.
"Oh no, I didn't bring any wine... What terrible shopping advice you all gave me," Gildarts muttered from the corner.
Seeing Cana so excited over a bottle, Gildarts pulled Raizel and Laxus aside and started grumbling in a panic.
"What are those three doing? Sneaking around like that," Erza noted, raising an eyebrow at the whispering men.
"Who knows?" Mira smiled.
The trio's panicked actions were noticed by a few others, but fortunately, no one paid much attention as they happily continued unwrapping gifts.
"You're wrong, old man. It's not about the gift itself, but the person giving it," Raizel patted Gildarts' shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Is that so?" Gildarts looked back and forth between them, sweating.
Laxus nodded in agreement. "That's right. You still have a lot to learn about women old man."
Another type of gift was perfume, specifically chosen by Layla, as Jude wasn't very familiar with cosmetics.
When it came to high-end perfume, Layla knew her stuff.
She counted off each scent on her fingers for the girls.
"Citrus Basil, Sandalwood Rose, Clear Pomelo Ebony, Driftwood Vanilla, and Neroli Vetiver."
Each elegant bottle came with a 10ml travel sample inside the packaging, and soon the girls were opening them to take a whiff.
"This Citrus Basil might be the most suitable for you all. It's overall fresh and soft, perfect for summer use. It's refreshing without being overpowering—a great perfume for active young women," Layla recommended.
"The bottle is so pretty too!" Levy held the perfume bottle up to the light, almost unable to put it down.
The glass bottle was round, in a pale gold color, with carved floral patterns and delicate silk tassels on top.
The cap even had a polished round crystal. Moreover, the intricate carvings on the bottles differed slightly for each specific perfume.
"It seems they have a fundamental misunderstanding about what 'inexpensive gifts' mean," Raizel whispered to Lucy.
With such exquisite crystal bottles, they hardly looked cheap.
And they'd bought so many bottles of perfume—Raizel counted enough for each girl in the guild to have five, with some left over.
Even including Carla, it was the same.
But Raizel thought Layla might have prepared some for the boys too, since many men use cologne too.
Like that show-off Loke, who was currently sniffing various samples with Macao to figure out which scent suited him best.
And then there was Gray, who was being aggressively pestered by Juvia about which perfume would suit her on a date...
"Don't worry, that's just how they are," Lucy nodded seriously. "But it's fine—for them, this really is pocket change."
Actually, she used to be exactly like that too, until she ran away, started traveling, and learned how hard it is to earn rent money.
She used to spend lavishly without a second thought.
"The other two items are premium Christmas chocolate gift boxes and custom Christmas mugs," Layla announced.
Fortunately, the other two gifts probably weren't too expensive: square artisan chocolates in Christmas colors with festive frosting designs, and heavy pink ceramic mugs shaped like Christmas trees.
"I quite like this mug," Raizel smiled, glancing at the unpacked cup in his hand.
"Would you like wine, tea, or coffee?" Mira fully embraced her role as the guild's barmaid, attending to Layla and Jude at a clean table.
Ur, Gildarts, and Jude and Layla ended up chatting together, since they were all around the same age and had experienced similar generational shifts.
There was also the even older Makarov sitting at the bar counter nearby, and Mavis—who was actually the oldest but looked very young—listening in and chiming in occasionally from her perch on a stool.
"We'll have black tea, please," Layla smiled.
"Master Makarov, thank you so much for taking care of Lucy this year. Let me toast you with tea instead of wine," Jude offered, raising his cup.
"Not at all! I should be thanking you for allowing Lucy to join Fairy Tail," Makarov laughed warmly.
Both sides clinked glasses.
Raizel joined them at the table as well. After all, he was the one who invited Jude and Layla, so he couldn't just leave them be.
But Raizel was clearly overthinking it—Makarov was a slick, charismatic old man, and Jude was a seasoned businessman with extensive social experience.
If he wanted to, Jude could easily make people feel completely at ease in conversation.
Layla also had a very easygoing, polite personality, and the group chatted happily together for hours.
"We need to go purchase the fresh ingredients and supplies for tonight's feast," Ultear said as she approached Raizel's table later.
"Would you two like to come explore Magnolia's shopping district with us?"
"Maybe next time. It's too cold outside for my bones," Layla declined gracefully due to the weather.
"And the cobblestone roads aren't in good condition right now with the snow. Forget it," Jude added, sipping his tea.
Makarov smiled. "No problem, you can come for next year's Fantasia Harvest Festival! Magnolia is much more lively and warmer then."
"Yes, you're welcome to visit then," Raizel agreed.
Layla smiled wryly. "Actually, we originally planned to come watch the parade last year, but Jude suddenly had urgent business to attend to, so we couldn't make it in the end."
"No worries, I'll definitely make time next year," Jude nodded firmly, holding his wife's hand.
...
Those willing to brave the cold gathered at the main entrance.
Seeing there were enough people for carrying bags, Raizel said: "Let's split into two groups to cover more ground. Buy whatever you want, don't worry about saving the guild's money today."
"But no more weird toys. The guild has enough already," Ultear reminded the boys sternly.
Over the years, Natsu and the others had bought all sorts of strange magical toys, most of which were used only once before being violently broken or stored in the guild's dusty storage room—including rapid-fire snowball fight guns and pressure water guns.
The guild storage was full of them.
"Alright, let's go," Mira put on her heavy coat and joined the members at the entrance.
Mira needed to buy some specific ingredients.
She hadn't fully decided what to make for the grand dinner yet and needed to see what fresh meats were available at the market.
Raizel, Mira, and Ultear's group went to the farmer's market to buy ingredients, while Erza, Kagura, and Cana's group went to browse the commercial shopping district for decorations.
Raizel walked to his regular butcher shop and was surprised by the owner's new setup.
"Your business is really expanding—roasting whole lamb for Christmas too?" Raizel noted, looking at the massive spits over the fire.
"Gotta make money where you can! Want some?" The shop owner was a burly man in his thirties who had inherited his father's culinary skills and showed signs of expanding the family business.
This was probably something new he learned himself, as he previously only roasted smaller poultry like chicken and duck.
"How many pounds per lamb?" Raizel asked, doing the mental math for the guild's appetite.
"About twenty-something pounds of meat after roasting."
"Then give us three whole lambs, plus ten roasted chickens and ten roasted ducks. Start roasting them now, and we'll come back later this evening to pick them up."
Although roasted lamb was quite filling, with the guild full of literal monsters and big eaters, there was no need to worry about leftovers.
Natsu, Laxus, and Elfman would show you what dietary cruelty meant.
"By the way, let's buy some fresh salmon. I'll make smoked salmon for everyone," Mira said, clapping her hands together as if suddenly remembering a recipe.
"New recipe?" Ultear asked.
She hadn't seen Mira make any complex salmon dishes before.
"Yes! This will be my first time making it since learning it from a magazine," Mira nodded with a confident smile.
"No problem. With your skills, anything you make will be delicious," Raizel praised.
Many of Magnolia's prepared food shops were open despite the snow, and thanks to the city's recent economic development, there were more and more specialty stalls.
Raizel noticed that some even specialized in wild game.
"This is pan-fried venison, venison sausage, smoked venison, and my personal specialty—stir-fried venison, though that one needs to be made fresh in the wok," the shopkeeper boomed.
He was a rugged man standing over two meters tall, a good half head taller than Raizel, enthusiastically introducing the hot dishes to him.
"I'll take them all. Give me a large batch of every one of them." Raizel's eyes lit up.
Though he hadn't tried this specific shop's food before, the savory aroma alone told him it would be incredibly good.
There had been quite a lot going on recently with Tenrou Island, so he hadn't had much chance to leisurely explore the winter market.
Moreover, the prepared dishes already looked and smelled excellent—all that remained was to bring them back to the guild and feast.
---------
Read 50 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator