Roger glanced at the purple exclamation mark hovering over Rebby's head and nodded lightly. "Alright."
"Wow!" Rebby's nervous expression melted into pure joy. She threw her arms around Cana, nuzzling against her, her voice trembling with excitement and a hint of tears. "This is awesome, Cana! I can be a hero too!"
"???" The guild members exchanged confused looks.
Roger blinked. "Hero? What's that about?"
"Huh?" Rebby froze, lifting her head from Cana's embrace, her big eyes blinking in confusion. "Didn't Cana say… only the greatest heroes get to make a contract with you, Roger?"
Whoosh—
Every pair of eyes in the guild snapped to Cana.
Feeling the weight of everyone's stares, Cana stuck out her tongue playfully, closing one eye in a classic, cheeky wink. "Ehe~"
"Ehe, my foot!" Erza marched forward, delivering a swift chop to Cana's head.
"No spreading nonsense to the newbies!"
"Ow!" Cana clutched the bump forming on her forehead, puffing out her chest defiantly. "It's not nonsense! When we take on all those missions, aren't we basically doing hero stuff?!"
She started counting on her fingers.
"Taking down magical beasts—that's slaying evil!"
"Delivering letters or finding lost items—that's helping people!"
"Crushing dark guilds—that's wiping out evil forces!"
She planted her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest and scanning the guild with a bold grin. "Tell me, which of those isn't something a hero would do?!"
"Am I wrong about us being heroes?!"
Caught off guard by Cana's whirlwind of logic, Erza paused, her brows knitting as she sank into thought. Wait… am I… a hero?!
Seeing Erza's eyes light up, clearly getting swept away, Roger sighed and steered the conversation back on track. "Don't let Cana derail you. Even if we're heroes, everyone in the guild is too. It's not like you need a contract with me to be one."
"Tch, tch, tch," Cana wagged her finger, crossing her arms with an air of wisdom beyond her years. "Wrong~"
"What makes a hero?" She clenched her fists, her eyes blazing with passion. "It's all about strength and racking up tons of missions… I mean, good deeds!!"
"Who in this guild can match the number of missions we take on?!"
Pfft—!
In the crowd, Macao and Wakaba, who were sneaking sips of beer, felt like they'd been stabbed in the chest.
The kids in the guild were so intense with missions, completing in one month what took the older members three. And their strength was growing fast too. It made the two of them—supposedly seasoned seniors—look like useless adults in comparison. Determined to keep up, they'd set Gray as their goal and went all-out on missions for a month.
By the end, they were half-dead, collapsing in the guild for three months straight. After that, they gave up competing entirely, deciding that being "useless adults" wasn't so bad after all.
Roger frowned, sensing trouble. Wait, why does Cana's logic actually make sense?!
Ever since she started pulling manga and novels with her magic, her ability to persuade—and talk nonsense—had skyrocketed. She was already this convincing as a kid; what would she do to newbies when she grew up? Trick them into oblivion?
"Woof!!"
Something fluffy brushed against Roger's ankle. He looked down, squinting. "Shiro?"
"Woof!" The little white dog barked happily, wagging its tail so hard it was a blur. Its eyes were framed by two distinct black eyebrows, and its mouth curled into an unmistakable grin.
Lisanna rubbed her eyes, double-checking she wasn't seeing things, then gasped in disbelief. "The dog! The dog's smiling!!"
"And why does its smile look… kinda weird?"
Roger crouched down, patting Shiro's fluffier-than-usual head. "You didn't have eyebrows before, did you? And your fur's gotten way fluffier."
As if understanding, Shiro flopped down, pretending to sleep, then sprang back up. It raised its left paw like a pointing finger, gesturing at Cana—who was stifling a laugh—then stood on its hind legs like a person. Spreading its front paws dramatically, it tapped its chest with a claw.
O_O! Lisanna's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe it—a dog was acting out a story, and she was pretty sure she understood it!
Clutching her forehead, her voice trembled. "Mirajane, I think I'm hallucinating. Did we accidentally eat some bad mushrooms?"
Mirajane, equally stunned but holding it together as the big sister, replied shakily, "I… don't think so."
She glanced around, noticing the rest of the guild staring, jaws practically on the floor. "No way they all ate bad mushrooms, right?"
"Hahaha!" Cana couldn't hold it in anymore. Hands on her hips, she burst into proud laughter. "See?! You're all blown away! Nice job, Shiro!!"
Shiro let out a resigned "woof," sticking out its tongue like a weary old man.
Cana scooped up Shiro, grinning as she showed it off. "Hehe! A couple of days ago, I was drawing cards. After pulling eighty slimes, I finally got a super rare dog card!"
"The card had a dog with an oval face, long ears, short legs, a black nose, and little eyes. It was called Shin-chan's Shiro, and it said if you use it on a white-furred dog, it'll gain all of Shiro's abilities!"
"Since Shiro was right there, I used it on him!" Cana nuzzled Shiro's head. "I thought it'd turn him into something epic, like a three-headed Cerberus or give him some crazy magic. But instead, it boosted his smarts! Yesterday, he even helped me water the flowers!"
"∑(O_O; A dog! Helped you!! Water flowers!!!" Lisanna's brain couldn't connect the dots.
"Shin-chan…" Roger's mind flashed to a certain potato-headed kid. No way it's that Shiro, right?
Testing a hunch, he said, "Shiro, cotton candy."
Instantly, Shiro curled into a ball, transforming into a fluffy white cotton candy puff.
Cana gaped. "Roger! How'd you know that move's name?!"
"Is that part of your contract magic?!"
Roger's face darkened. "Uh… yeah, let's go with that."
He quickly changed the subject, scanning the guild. "Where's the master? Off at another routine meeting?"
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