The moment Gildarts' words fell, the entire guild hall seemed to have every sound sucked out of it.
It was a silence so sharp, it could split stone.
Mugs froze midair, conversations cut off in throats, even the creaking of wood vanished. Every gaze locked onto the black-haired boy standing in the center of the hall—eyes filled with scrutiny, suspicion, and an uncontainable curiosity.
The silence lasted only three seconds.
Then, a far more explosive wave of noise erupted!
"You've gotta be kidding! Gildarts actually called a newbie a monster?"
"Who the hell is this kid? Some disciple from a hidden sanctuary or something?"
The uproar boiled like scalding water—voices tumbling over each other from every corner.
And then, right at the peak of the commotion, a small but weighty figure leapt down from the second-floor railing.
Thump.
With a light sound, Master Makarov Dreyar landed silently, not even stirring a speck of dust, standing firmly before Hoshino Arashi.
He lifted his head, his wrinkled face calm, but in those seemingly cloudy old eyes burned a sharp, soul-piercing light. This wasn't mere observation—it was a judgment that reached into one's very essence.
Makarov said nothing, but inside his heart, waves surged violently.
He couldn't sense the limits of this boy's magic power.
It was there—vast, immeasurable, yet utterly restrained. Not a river, not an ocean, but an entire universe of silent starlight—containing the power to create and to destroy.
Pure to the extreme, powerful enough to make even a Wizard Saint's heart tremble.
After a long pause, the sternness on Makarov's face slowly melted into a warm, grandfatherly smile.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail, child."
His voice wasn't loud, but it cleanly cut through the noise of the hall.
"If even that idiot over there recognizes you, we've no reason not to."
He turned toward the bar and called out—
"Mira! Come help our new family member with his guild mark!"
"Okay, Master~!"
A voice soft enough to melt snow rang out.
The crowd instinctively parted, and from the bar walked a young woman with a waterfall of silvery-white hair, carrying a tray filled with magic stamps of various colors. Mirajane Strauss moved gracefully, her every step balanced and calm—the tools in her tray not even trembling despite the chaos around her.
"Hello, I'm Mirajane. Pleased to meet you."
She stopped in front of Arashi, giving a gentle bow, her blue eyes gleaming with genuine warmth.
"Where would you like your mark? And what color would you like it to be?"
Arashi looked at her—the smile that could melt any barrier—and felt the last thread of distance within him dissolve.
He raised a hand, pointing at his left collarbone.
"Here."
"As for the color… silver."
"Alright."
Mirajane moved delicately, lifting the silver stamp engraved with the Fairy Tail insignia. After dipping it lightly into special magical ink, she pressed it gently against his skin.
A soothing warmth spread instantly from the point of contact—
not burning, but alive, as if something within him was connecting to the soul of the guild itself.
When the stamp lifted, a Fairy Tail emblem shone upon his skin, glowing with a faint, silvery-white radiance like starlight.
In that moment, the drifting soul that had wandered since the day Hoshino Arashi crossed into this world finally found its harbor.
A sense of belonging—pure, strong, overwhelming—filled his chest.
As the light of the mark faded, Makarov raised his arm high.
"Welcome, new family!!!"
BOOM!
The entire guild erupted into thunderous cheers. Countless mugs clinked together—beer splashing, laughter roaring. A grand, wild welcome party began in full swing!
In a quieter corner near the bar, a faint bubble of calm seemed to form.
The fortune-telling mage Cana Alberona was hugging a massive barrel of alcohol, gulping it down noisily. She set it aside, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and tilted her head toward Erza Scarlet, who was sipping crimson juice.
"Hey, Erza."
"That new guy… is he really as ridiculous as Gildarts made him sound?"
Erza's hand tightened slightly around her cup.
Images flashed in her mind—the memory of that calm yet devastating battle on the sea, the sight of an entire fleet erased beneath tranquil starlight. Even now, the memory made her spine shiver.
She didn't elaborate. She took a slow sip of juice, then replied with solemn weight.
"All I can say is… he's someone…"
She paused, searching for the right word.
"…someone Gildarts would willingly call a monster."
Her voice was quiet—
but the sentence landed like a stone shattering still water.
And that exact phrase drifted, word for word, into the ears of a nearby black-haired boy.
Bare-chested, his bronze skin traced with the lean, defined lines of muscle, and a deep-blue guild mark stamped on his chest—
Gray Fullbuster froze mid-motion.
His dark eyes sharpened instantly, a faint chill spreading through the air.
The spark of battle in his blood ignited at once.
"Tch."
A soft, dismissive click of his tongue escaped between his teeth.
"If someone can make Gildarts say that… I wanna see it for myself."
"Hey, Gray," Cana murmured lazily without even looking up, "I'd advise you not to go looking for trouble."
But that warning only poured oil on the fire.
Gray stood abruptly—chair scraping against the floor with a piercing squeal.
Ignoring Cana, ignoring every curious gaze that followed, he strode straight toward the center of the room, where Hoshino Arashi was still surrounded by Mirajane and a flock of chattering girls.
Every purposeful step he took made the crowd instinctively part before him.
A "friendly" welcoming match was about to begin.
(End of Chapter)
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