When she heard that, Ultear was about to snap back—how exactly had things "gotten better" when the shackle was literally still on the floor?
But before she could open her mouth, Shane nodded and said, like stating a simple fact, "Yeah, I guess it has. We've more or less formed a cooperative relationship."
Then, as if remembering something, he turned to Erza. "So you don't have to hate her quite so much. It looks like the Bureau of Magical Development was destroyed by her."
He paused and added an old saying from his previous world: "Judge people by what they do, not what they think. She tried to do bad things before, but failed because she wasn't capable enough.
"Taken together, she's done far more good than evil."
He rubbed his chin, then concluded, "Friend is a stretch. Let's just say… she's a passerby whose name I happen to know."
It was technically accurate—and even somewhat complimentary.
But in Ultear's ears, it rang painfully grating. Especially the "not capable enough" part, which made her spoon freeze halfway to her lips.
"The Bureau was destroyed by Ultear?" Erza, on the other hand, was visibly shocked.
She snapped her head around, eyes suddenly shining. The way she looked at Ultear shifted from wary to something almost fervent, as if seeing her for the first time.
She leaned forward unconsciously, voice full of earnest confirmation. "Really? That place… the one that imprisoned and hurt so many people—you destroyed it?"
Ultear was absolutely not equipped to deal with someone as straightforward as Erza.
That direct gaze felt like staring into the sun—intolerably bright. It made her skin crawl.
She turned her face away, deliberately cooling her tone. "Something like that. But don't get the wrong idea. I only did it for myself."
She made sure to stress the second half.
"Oh. So you're a good person," Erza said, apparently not hearing that part at all. Her eyes lit up even more.
She hopped up and rushed back to the kitchen, then returned with a bowl so full of rice porridge it was nearly spilling. She set it very seriously in front of Ultear.
"Eat more!"
"Hey, Erza. I'm not full yet," Shane protested, staring at his own empty bowl.
Hadn't he just said they'd treat her as a named passerby? Why was she getting VIP service now?
Ironically, the one who really perked up because of that reaction was Ultear.
She shot Shane a sideways, provoking look and let a faint, victorious smile tug at her lips.
Then she lifted her spoon and began to eat slowly, almost daintily, as if savoring something exquisite.
"…Fine," Shane muttered, gloomily sipping the last of his thin porridge. Privately, he thought:
We've only known Ultear a few days and Erza's already leaning to her side. If this keeps up, I'm doomed.
Erza didn't think that far. She finished her own bowl in a few gulps and asked, "Shane, what's the plan for today?"
He set his bowl down and sighed. "I promised Cana we'd help out at that little chapel in the west of town. Christmas just passed. Those kids are probably going wild."
He couldn't help griping. "And who bargains down a reward? That job was listed at 50,000 J. She haggled it down to 30,000.
"If I weren't soft—cough I mean, if we weren't broke, I'd never take a loss-making job like that."
"I love children. I'm going too!" Erza said at once, eyes lighting up with big-sister energy.
"Sure," Shane nodded. "More hands, faster work. Sooner done, sooner paid."
After a quick cleanup, he led the two out the door.
Erza was practically skipping; Ultear, on the other hand, reluctantly bent to pick up the shackle with a "You asked for this yourself" look from Shane and snapped it back around her slender ankle.
Magnolia's winter streets were still blanketed in snow. There weren't many pedestrians, but there were plenty of staring eyes.
People here had seen all kinds of weird things—but two people walking together with fifty meters of chain between their ankles was still something new.
Ultear kept her face perfectly blank and walked straight ahead as if those looks didn't exist.
Erza seemed not to notice the stares at all—or simply didn't care. Her head was full of plans for the work ahead.
"So where exactly are we going?" Ultear finally asked, voice cool.
"Not the cathedral," Shane said. He pointed toward the edge of town. "A small chapel over there. Father Brock's a good man. He takes in a lot of homeless kids. Cana—one of our guildmates—is living there for now."
The chapel looked old. Its white walls were worn, but everything was kept spotlessly clean.
They pushed open the heavy wooden doors and warm air washed over them, full of children's bright laughter.
Inside was a different world. A dozen kids of various ages ran, jumped, and shrieked in play.
Father Brock stood among them in an embroidered priest's robe, his white hair shining softly in the light.
When he saw them, he smiled and came forward. "Shane and Erza, I assume? Thank you so much for coming to help."
His gaze flicked over Ultear, pausing for a moment on the shackle at her ankle. Surprise flashed in his gentle eyes, then softened into quiet acceptance. "And this is…?"
"This is Ultear. You could say… she's here to help temporarily," Shane said.
"Welcome, child," Father Brock said, smiling as warmly as ever.
After a bit of small talk, the work began.
There wasn't anything special to do—mostly playing with the children and taking down the leftover decorations from Christmas.
Erza quickly disappeared into the throng. She really did have a natural big-sister aura; in no time she was being dragged into hide-and-seek, then begged to show off her Requip armor transformations, each change earning a chorus of amazed squeals.
Shane accepted his fate and took on cleaning duties, wiping pews while scanning for their supposed client. "Cana, that little crook, isn't even here…"
Ultear stood alone in a corner, expression unreadable as she watched the kids run and laugh.
"Big sis, your hair is so pretty. It's like silk."
A little girl with pigtails approached, clutching a worn-out cloth doll.
Ultear blinked, glanced down, and frowned slightly, saying nothing.
The girl wasn't shy. She pointed at the shackle on Ultear's ankle. "Is that shiny thing an anklet?"
"…No." Ultear shot a venomous glare toward Shane, who was lugging a bucket of water in the distance.
"Oh." The girl clearly didn't really get it, but she reached out and took Ultear's dangling fingers in her warm little hand. "Come play with us, big sis!"
The tiny touch made Ultear's whole body stiffen.
Her first instinct was to pull away—but when she met the girl's clear gaze, the movement stalled.
After a moment of silence, she let herself be pulled, shuffling stiffly to the edge of the play area.
She still didn't join in. She just stood there quietly. But when the ball rolled toward her feet, she'd pause, then gently kick it back.
When a little boy fell and started crying, she'd crouch down and wipe the dirt off his face with her sleeve.
All those tiny gestures didn't escape Shane's notice as he took a breather.
The corner of his mouth tugged upward.
"For someone pretending so hard to be a villain, you're doing a decent job," he thought.
~~~
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