"What do you mean by this?" Moana frowned, feeling insulted, as if she had just sold Yukino for cash.
Raizel shook his head quickly. "It's nothing like that, just offering a small contribution to the church. The orphanage itself accepts charitable donations, right?"
"Well... that's true," Moana nodded, as the orphanage did indeed rely on donations to survive.
Moreover, they had never discussed money as a condition for taking Yukino away, so Moana had a clear conscience.
Raizel took out a stack of donation receipts from over the years—some from Magnolia, some from Hosenka Village, and others from remote towns.
All the receipts were signed under the name "Fairy Tail".
Raizel had brought these specifically to reassure Moana, in case she doubted his character.
Moana looked at the numerous donation receipts, with amounts ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 Jewels.
A quick mental estimate put the total charitable history at over 30,000,000 Jewels.
"Not all of it was donated by me. It was collected together by our guild members over the years," Raizel explained, seeing Moana's stunned expression.
Not all the money was Raizel's; Ultear, Erza, Kagura, Mira, and even Cana, among others, had all contributed portions of their reward money to orphans, but every donation was signed under the guild's name.
"I see," Moana nodded in profound understanding.
Moana didn't suspect Raizel of forging the receipts, as she recognized some of the official orphanage seals from neighboring cities.
"For the donor on this check, please write 'Fairy Tail' as well."
"Not your own name? Well, if that's your wish." In the end, Moana decided not to pry further.
Such humble people did exist.
"On behalf of our orphanage, I extend our highest respect to you and your guild." Moana placed her hand over her chest and gave a deep, respectful bow to Raizel.
...
Raizel waited outside the girls' dormitory for Yukino to finish packing.
Yukino walked over to Raizel carrying only a small, worn canvas bag, which seemed to contain a few clothes and wasn't heavy at all.
"We'll be taking our leave now."
"Let me see you off."
"Director, thank you! Goodbye!" Yukino waved vigorously at the gate.
"Goodbye, Yukino!" Moana and several staff members waved back.
"Stand steady, or you can choose to hold onto my coat," Raizel reminded Yukino after drawing a teleportation magic circle in the dirt.
Yukino hesitated for a moment before grabbing the corner of Raizel's jacket.
A red light flashed, and Raizel and Yukino arrived instantly at the main entrance of Magnolia Town.
Yukino was very curious about the bustling city that had appeared in the blink of an eye, her big eyes blinking repeatedly at the architecture.
"Let's go. First, I'll take you to our guild hall to formally register. We'll wait for one more person to arrive in town, and then I'll take you to see your sister."
"Are we already in Magnolia? What kind of magic is this?"
"Teleportation Magic."
"Can you teach it to me?!"
"Sure, if you want to learn it, but it's very difficult."
Yukino was the first person who actively wanted to learn Teleportation Magic from Raizel.
Of course he could teach her, and if she couldn't master his spatial version, he could also teach her the simplified Jutsu Shiki version used by the guild.
Though it was a simplified version, it wasn't bad at all for a beginner.
"Raizel, this is a new face!" Local vendors occasionally greeted Raizel as they passed by the stalls.
"That's right, this is Yukino. She's a new member planning to join our guild," Raizel introduced her to the familiar grocers.
"Hello, Yukino! This is for you." One vendor smiled, handing Yukino a bright strawberry lollipop.
Yukino glanced up at Raizel hesitantly.
"Take it," Raizel smiled.
"Thank you!"
...
"I'm back!" Raizel announced, pushing open the heavy guild doors.
"Yo! You're back! Oh??? Who's... this cute little girl?" Wakaba was about to make a rude, joking remark, asking where Raizel had kidnapped this little girl from, but Raizel stopped him with a deadly glare.
After all, Wakaba still wanted to live to see tomorrow!
"This is Yukino Agria. She's planning to join our guild."
"Oh! I'm Wakaba!"
"Hello, Uncle Wakaba!" Yukino bowed politely.
"Uncle..." Wakaba groaned, feeling as if an arrow had pierced his fragile heart.
"What's wrong with calling you 'uncle' at your age? Go smoke somewhere else," Raizel reached out and shoved Wakaba aside.
"You've lost me!" Wakaba crouched in the corner, drawing sad circles on the floor and cursing Raizel's youth.
"I never had you to begin with!" Raizel waved his hand without looking back.
"Gramps, Mira, this is Yukino. She's the younger sister of Sorano, formerly of the Oración Seis. She was separated from her sister when she was young. I plan to take her to meet Hoteye and Sorano at the prison once Simon and Wally return."
"Hello, Grandpa! Hello, Mira-san!" Yukino bowed slightly in greeting to the bar.
"Eh!" Hearing a sweet girl call him "Grandpa" again, Makarov was quite pleased, his mustache twitching happily.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Yukino," Mira crouched down and gently patted Yukino's hair.
At first glance, Mira already liked Yukino—partly because they both had silver hair... And Yukino also reminded her of Lisanna when she was little, giving Mira the nostalgic feeling that Lisanna hadn't grown up yet.
"What color Guild Mark do you like? And where do you want it?" Mira asked, pulling out the stamp.
"White! On my left arm, please."
"Let her stay in the girls' dormitory at Fairy Hills. There are plenty of empty rooms anyway," Raizel spoke up after the glowing mark was imprinted on her skin.
"I kind of want her to live with me in my apartment," Mira said, touching her cheek thoughtfully.
"But Elfman is still there. Wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate for a young girl?"
The house Mira was renting had four rooms, so there was definitely enough space.
The main issue was that Elfman still lived with her.
Although Elfman was certainly not a bad person, he was loud and Yukino was already quite old for her age.
Mira explained, "Actually, Elfman is planning to move out. He told Lisanna and me a while ago, and he's already found a bachelor pad. It's closer to the guild but not too far away."
"That should be fine then. Since Elfman won't be living with you anymore, it doesn't matter."
"Where's Lisanna?" Raizel asked.
Usually, Lisanna stayed at the guild as the main receptionist.
"Oh, her? She went out on a mission with someone. Who was it again? Ah, Kinana." Mira tapped her chin lightly as she thought.
"It's a simple letter-delivery mission, but she wanted to help Kinana get used to working, so she went along."
Raizel nodded in understanding.
"Would you like to live with Mira, Yukino?" Raizel asked.
"Mm!"
Not only did Mira have a good impression of Yukino, but Yukino had also heard of the famous 'Demon' Mirajane and had a great first impression of her gentle nature.
"Great! Stay at the guild for a while, and after dinner, I'll take you back to my place." Mira smiled. "I'll take her to buy some new clothes and things this afternoon. It looks like she doesn't have many."
"Alright, if there's nothing going on this afternoon, I'll go too. You never buy anything but expensive clothes anyway, Mira."
"You're really making me lose my dignity in front of the kid..."
Raizel scratched his cheek awkwardly as Mira teased him. "Isn't that the truth?"
Mira retorted with her hands on her hips.
"Go ahead, kids, it's fine. I'll handle any guild requests that come in today," Makarov said before taking another sip of his ale.
"Yeah, we can help out too!" Macao and Wakaba chimed in from the corner, arms slung over each other's shoulders.
Makarov's head suddenly enlarged to giant proportions as he yelled at the two old men.
"I'd be thanking heaven if you two just didn't cause trouble! Help?! You're just thinking about drinking on my tab, aren't you?!"
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