In the early morning, the sun was partially obscured by a few white clouds, appearing only as a not-too-dazzling spot of light.
Now, the sun is already high in the sky, casting bright but not overly hot rays on the cemetery, spreading over the three people's bodies.
The cemetery is behind the Kardia Cathedral, and Lisana's grave is rather inconspicuous here.
There have been several showers recently, but Lisana's grave doesn't look dirty.
"Lisana, we've come to see you." Mira squatted in front of the grave and spoke softly, "You probably don't know yet, but the guild was recently rebuilt, and it's as lively as before. Everyone is full of energy... of course, Elfman and I are too."
Mira talked about many big and small events that had happened, even mentioning the pajama party at the girls' dormitory a few days ago.
When speaking of amusing events, Mira would chuckle lightly, as if she were truly chatting with Lisana.
Laughing at a loved one's grave cannot be considered disrespectful.
Compared to a sorrowful expression, Lisana in another world would probably hope to see her sister and brother happy.
Mira also believes that Lisana can see and hear.
"And then... there's another important thing I have to tell you."
A pretty pink hue appeared on Mira's face as she stood up and took Rhode's arm, "This is Rhode, he came to see you before, and... he proposed to me last week."
The two exchanged glances and bent down together to place flowers in front of the grave.
No need for Rhode to say anything, Mira herself explained the wedding plans thoroughly.
After saying everything that needed to be said, Mira looked at the gravestone in silence for a while.
Finally, she reached out to touch the name on it, smiling, "Sister will try hard to be happy, and of course, take good care of Elfman, so... you have to do your best over there too, don't worry about us."
"Well... that's all for today, we'll come to see you next time."
Eventually, they had to leave. Mira took Rhode's hand, and Rhode waved goodbye to Lisana, then held Mira's small hands with both of his.
Mira smiled at him, conveying with her eyes that she no longer needed extra comfort.
"Let's go, Elfman."
Elfman stood still: "You guys go ahead, sister, I want to spend some time alone with Lisana."
Mira looked at Elfman, recalling that he hadn't said much. Has her brother grown up to the point where even his sister can't be told certain things?
"Alright, be sure to come back early."
"Got it."
Elfman watched the two leave the cemetery, and only when they were out of sight did he quietly squat down, brushing away nonexistent dust with his hand.
"Hey, Lisana, sister wasn't lying, she really is getting married. The sister we all worried might never marry..."
He looked around nervously before continuing: "And it's not under duress, nor is she deliberately hiding the past... although sister has changed quite a bit, it's still hard to believe..."
"And that Rhode... what a man!"
Elfman simply sat cross-legged in front of the grave, rambling on by himself, talking to his sister.
...
Rhode and Mira didn't wait for him on purpose; it's already the end of the month, and there were things at the guild waiting for them to do.
On the way back, Mira bought a newspaper and handed it to Rhode: "Here, I forgot to buy it this morning."
Rhode had the habit of keeping up with the news every day, a habit developed when he was catching up on common knowledge about this world.
He glanced at it casually, not expecting today's headline to be "Hartfelia Group Bankrupt, Leader Jude Missing."
"Lucy's family?" Rhode found it incredible.
The last he saw news of the Hartfelia Group in financial trouble was a week ago, and he didn't expect it to go bankrupt so quickly.
Such a large railroad group, how could it go bankrupt just like that, and the leader is missing?
"What's wrong?" Mira hadn't looked closely before.
"Something happened to Lucy's family." Rhode stopped in his tracks and handed her the newspaper.
"How could this be?" Mira quickly scanned through it, concerned, "Lucy might not know yet; let's hurry back and tell her."
Though Lucy said she had severed ties with her family, that was still her father, and with him missing, she should look for him.
But before they could return to the guild, they saw an acquaintance staggering over.
"Gajeel?"
"How did he end up like this?"
His hair was disheveled, clothes dusty and partly torn, with some blood on his forehead and mouth, and bruises on his arms.
He looked like he'd been through a tough fight.
Rhode's first thought was that Natsu had come to the guild to pick a fight with him today. However, although Natsu was a bit reckless, at most he would leave a black and blue, not to the extent of drawing blood.
Gajeel glanced at them and walked past without stopping.
"Hey, what happened?" Rhode wanted to understand whether it was directed at Gajeel or the guild.
Even if it was personal, Gajeel was now a recognized member of the guild by the old man, and they couldn't just ignore it.
But Gajeel seemed unwilling to involve them, throwing back a "Nothing happened, mind your own business!" without even turning around.
The two exchanged looks and could only return to the guild to ask about it.
...
The atmosphere in the guild was the same as usual, just missing the mightiest troublemakers.
Even Lucy wasn't in the guild.
Others were noisy if they had to be, making trouble if they wanted to, drinking if they needed to, chatting if they wanted to. The president, upon seeing the two return, leaped off the counter and sneakily ran upstairs.
Obviously, he had stolen some booze.
This made Rhode breathe a little easier; nothing major seemed to have happened.
He checked the task records first.
"'Seeking Magic Classroom Teacher to Guide Children,' Agent... Gajeel?"
Rhode looked at the agent's name several times. Gajeel as a teacher? Somehow it just didn't seem right.
Judging by his appearance, he had just left, and it couldn't be that he was beaten by the kids' parents for being unreliable.
He showed the record to Mira, who was just as puzzled, unable to figure it out.
But Reby hesitantly sat down beside them: "Sister Mira, Rhode, we just met Laxus."
Reby looked rather troubled, seemingly not in a good mood.
Mira asked, "Laxus? Did he say something excessive again?"
Reby whispered, "Laxus hit Gajeel, and he hit hard."
So it was him! Rhode and Mira finally knew why Gajeel was covered in injuries.
But didn't he say he didn't care about the guild? Why suddenly attack Gajeel?
Rhode frowned, "What's going on?"