The Fairy Tail Guild was as lively as ever, with people drinking and chatting in small groups.
Riyao lay on the bar counter, boredly playing with tarot cards. These cards were the medium for Card Magic that Macao and Wakaba had recommended to Cana.
Suddenly! The guild fell silent as a figure appeared in the center of the hall. Riyao covered Cana's eyes; this scene was still too early for the current Cana. She tried to pry his hands away.
The figure spoke up, "This is Fairy Tail, right?"
Makarov stepped forward, looking the other in the eye, and said, "Yes, child. Is there something you need?"
Gray looked up and said, "I am Gray Fullbuster. I want to join Fairy Tail."
"Every lost child is welcome here. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Gray."
The guild atmosphere boiled over; it seemed everyone was very welcoming to the new member. Gray's eyes turned slightly red, looking like he was about to cry. It was such a harmonious scene.
Riyao said insensitively, "Um, before that, maybe, could you... put on some clothes?"
"Ah! When did my clothes fall off?"
Gray hurriedly picked up his clothes from the floor and put them back on, his face flushing red. Everyone in the guild burst out laughing, though there was no mockery in their laughter.
Makarov gestured for Riyao to handle the reception, putting on his full Master's persona. Riyao helplessly pulled out a Membership Application Form from under the bar and handed it to Gray, adjusting the stamp.
"Gray, what color do you want? And where should I stamp it?"
"Let me think."
"Wait, do you want it stamped on your butt?"
"How is that possible?!"
"Then why did you take your clothes off again?!"
"Ah! Since when?"
Cana's eyes were covered by Riyao once again.
After a ridiculous farce that left everyone between tears and laughter, the procedures were successfully completed. An ice-blue Fairy Tail Guild emblem was stamped on the right side of Gray's chest.
Gray went up to Makarov and said, "Master! Please tell me how to dispel the effects of Iced Shell!"
Makarov pondered for a moment and said, "The only way to dispel Iced Shell is for the person who used the magic to die."
Gray slumped to the ground in despair, like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.
"Young man," Riyao squatted down and unceremoniously poked Gray's pale, dejected cheek with a finger that even had some cold water on it from somewhere. "You look like a salted fish bought from the market that's been sitting in the sun for three days—even the flies would avoid you. What, did your glass heart, molded by ice magic, shatter into pieces just because you heard the conditions for dispelling Iced Shell? Can't even pick up the pieces?"
Gray stared blankly at the guild's rough wooden floor, as if a flower might bloom there. He didn't even have the strength to swat away Riyao's teasing and mockery.
Master Makarov's words were like a rusty, blunt knife, repeatedly cutting at his heart.
"The only way to dispel it is for the person who used the magic to die." This sentence replayed infinitely in Gray's mind, echoing with despair.
Iced Shell. That was the forbidden magic his teacher, Ur, had cast at the cost of her own body and life to seal the undying demon Deliora. Ur hadn't truly died; she had turned into eternal ice, forever trapped on the northern snowy mountains. Gray's obsession had always been to find a way to dispel Iced Shell and turn Ur back into a human. But now, the cruel reality told him that dispelling the ice was equivalent to killing Ur with his own hands.
"What do you know..." Gray's voice was terrifyingly hoarse, as if his throat were filled with dry ice shards. "That was Ur... She became like that to save me! If the price of dispelling the magic is for her to truly die, then I... what am I supposed to do?!"
Gray snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot and swirling with pain, self-reproach, and endless confusion. He stared intently at Riyao, as if trying to find a flaw in this cynical man's face that could refute reality.
Makarov stood to the side and sighed deeply, his small frame appearing exceptionally heavy at this moment. He understood the child's pain, but as the Master, he could not weave hope out of false lies. Some cruel truths are necessary paths for growth.
Riyao said nonchalantly, "What do I know? I know you're acting like a coward right now!" Riyao suddenly grabbed Gray by the collar and lifted him halfway off the ground. "I don't know why Ur went to that extent, but the way you're acting now is the greatest insult to her sacrifice!"
"Shut up!" Gray was deeply stung by the words "coward" and "insult," and the negative emotions suppressed in his heart exploded instantly. He slammed his hands together, and a surge of frigid magic erupted from him.
"Ice-Make: Lance!"
Dozens of incredibly sharp ice spears condensed in mid-air instantly, carrying a bone-chilling frost as they shot mercilessly toward Riyao at close range.
Riyao didn't dodge and took the full force of the attack. The ice spears pierced his body, blood spilled out, and he collapsed to the ground.
Gray looked at Riyao in horror and ran over in a panic. "Why didn't you dodge? You definitely could have dodged that, right?"
Riyao reached out tremblingly to touch Gray's face.
"Gray... you must... carry on my dream..."
"No, you bastard, don't do this!"
Protagonist, dead. The End! (✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ
The reaction of the others: ㅍ_ㅍ
Makarov couldn't watch any longer. He jumped down from the bar and landed straight on Riyao. "Stop playing around, Riyao. You're about to make Gray cry."
Gray watched as Makarov jumped onto the 'critically injured' Riyao, unable to comprehend the situation.
Riyao retracted his lolling tongue, blinked, and stood up while patting his butt. Golden patterns covered his body, and his wounds healed visibly to the naked eye.
"Old man, I wasn't done playing yet."
"Hahaha, that kid Riyao is always scaring the newcomers."
The guild members roared with laughter. This atmosphere somehow suppressed the sorrow in Gray's heart.
Gray stared blankly, his eyes revealing a look of pure, innocent stupidity.
Riyao waved a hand in front of Gray and said cheerfully, "Alright, don't just sit on the floor. Come on, I'll take you to the Guild Dormitory to pick a room."
Gray's brain finally finished rebooting, and he jumped up shouting, "You bastard! Do you have any idea how scary that was?! Hey!"
Riyao led the way with a smirk, and Cana followed along to watch the fun.
"Oh, Gray, you don't understand. This is... my unique way of saying hello."
"Riyao-niichan, the price was your clothes being ruined."
"Bastard, bastard!"
"By the way, your clothes fell off again."
"Ah! Since when?!"
"Hahahaha! Who on earth did you learn this stripping habit from? It's practically a god-tier skill! You can walk down the street and strip naked without even noticing. From now on, why don't we just call you 'Exhibitionist Gray'!"
"Shut up! Just help me find my clothes!" Gray roared in exasperation, but his body followed Riyao and Cana's lead. The three youngsters walked toward the Guild Dormitory in the glow of the setting sun, laughing and bickering. Through Riyao's crude but direct "greeting," the haze in Gray's heart was forcibly dispelled quite a bit. His tight nerves finally relaxed, and he began to show the vitality and noisiness appropriate for his age.