"Welcome back, Gildarts!" Mira greeted him with a warm smile.
Gildarts looked a bit dazed. Seeing the guild looking so different, he didn't even recognize it. He turned to Mira and asked, "Excuse me, miss, is there a guild named Fairy Tail nearby?"
"This is it!" Mira laughed.
Gildarts stared at her for a long time before a memory finally clicked. "You're... you're Mira!"
"That's right!" Mira replied cheerfully.
Gildarts recalled what Mira used to look like. The change was massive! He then looked over at Lucy and Wendy. "The guild has gained quite a few new faces!"
"Mmph mmmph!" Natsu, covered head to toe in bandages, grunted at Gildarts.
Gildarts jumped in surprise. A literal mummy had just hopped in front of him. "You... you're Natsu! What happened to you?"
"Natsu tried to pick a fight with Chen Fan and got thrashed," someone explained.
"Mmmph mmmph mmmph!" Natsu continued to mumble.
Gildarts looked down at Happy. "What is he saying?"
"Aye! He says he wants to fight you."
"You want to fight me in that state?"
"Mmmph mmmph!"
Gildarts looked at Happy again. "He says he'll come find you as soon as his injuries are healed. He told you not to run away."
"Me? Run? Haha! Fine! I'll be waiting!" Gildarts laughed.
"Gildarts really is a man among men."
"The old man is as powerful as ever," Gray and Elfman added.
Gildarts walked toward Makarov, the crowd parting to make way for him. He carried an aura of dominance that commanded respect from everyone. In some ways, he was more suited to be the Master than anyone else. Even Chen Fan had always pushed for Gildarts to take the position; Chen Fan felt it was too awkward for someone like himself, who didn't even use magic, to be the Master.
Makarov was currently locked in a scuffle with Chen Fan, the two of them seemingly evenly matched. Chen Fan had to admit that these wizards were incredibly sturdy; they could take hits all day and keep going. Usually, unless the level gap was massive, fights were decided by who ran out of magic firstor by who had the better "cheats."
"Master," Gildarts said, addressing Makarov.
Makarov and Chen Fan stopped their scuffle. Makarov straightened his clothes, hopped back onto the counter, and asked, "How was the quest?"
Gildarts went quiet for a moment before shaking his head with a wry smile. He rubbed the back of his head. "No good. That thing was a bit too much for me."
Silence fell over the Fairy Tail guild. You could have heard a pin drop. Gildarts was a legend. Even though Chen Fan had been stealing the spotlight lately, it was still hard for them to accept that the lazy, joking guy who hung around every day was truly a top-tier powerhouse. But Gildarts was different. He had been known as the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail since long before anyone could remember.
In the hearts of the guild members, they chose to believe what they had always known. Regardless of who was truly stronger between Chen Fan and Gildarts, Gildarts was an absolute monster. For him to fail a mission... just how terrifying was that quest?
"Now, now...! Coming back in one piece is what matters, right Master?" Chen Fan jumped in to break the tension. Makarov nodded. "Indeed. No one who has ever taken that quest has returned. Gildarts, you are the first to come back alive. That is a feat in itself."
"Gildarts, long time no see. You're as manly as ever," Chen Fan said, patting Gildarts on the shoulder.
"Uh... who are you?" Gildarts blinked, having no memory of the person in front of him.
Chen Fan was stunned. He yelled at Gildarts, "It's me! Did you seriously forget me? Is your brain filled with nothing but women?"
Hearing that, Gildarts froze. The tone was so familiar. In all of Fairy Tail, only one person would dare talk to him like that. "You're Chen Fan..."
"What, do I not look the part?"
"It really is you, you little brat! Long time no see! You've actually become this handsome? I bet you've tricked a lot of girls!" The usually calm Gildarts burst into a boisterous laugh and gave Chen Fan a big hug.
"Not that many, maybe ten or twenty!" Chen Fan bragged. For some reason, Chen Fan was obsessed with the fact that his luck with women couldn't match Gildarts'. He refused to lose to him.
"Let me tell you, I saw quite a few beauties on this trip," Gildarts said, a lecherous smile growing on his face.
"Really? Tell me everything. Any young ones? I like the Loli-Busty types."
"Oh, there were. I met them in the Darus Kingdom. The women there..."
Everyone else in the guild slapped their foreheads and sighed in unison. Here we go again.
Lucy and Wendy watched them, completely lost. "What's going on?"
"What is it? Are Chen Fan and Gildarts that close?"
"Gildarts has a 'habit' of hitting on girls, and Chen Fan used to follow him around. It was quite an enviable sight back then!" Loke's voice suddenly rang out.
"Loke! How did you get here? And since when is hitting on girls a 'habit'? That makes him a serial offender!" Lucy retorted in shock.
"Long time no see, Lucy. I came out because I missed you. Don't you miss me, Lucy?" Loke said affectionately.
"Didn't I try to summon you yesterday? You stayed hidden in the Celestial Spirit World and refused to come out!" Lucy said flatly.
Loke's hand, which was about to reach for Lucy's chin, froze. He rubbed his head and laughed nervously. "Aha... haha! Yesterday... yesterday I was busy. You know how it is, as a man... there are always a couple of days a month."
"Shut up! You creep!" the women in the guild shouted, their faces flushed red. It wasn't that they didn't understand Loke's crude implication; they were just appalled that he'd actually say it.
"If you ever say something that disgusting again, I'll give you a lesson you'll never forget," Erza threatened.
Loke jumped, knowing Erza wasn't joking. He quickly waved goodbye to Lucy and fled.
"How terrible! It looks like there's another idiot in the bunch," Carla remarked.
"Don't say that, Carla. Brother Chen Fan looks so happy, and when he's happy, I'm happy too," Wendy told her.
Mira and Erza overheard her, and they immediately began to worry about Wendy's future. Chen Fan wasn't exactly a saint; surely he wouldn't make a move on Wendy, would he? The thought occurred to both of them simultaneously.
Mira caught Erza's eye and nodded. Erza nodded back. They decided they couldn't let Chen Fan spend too much time with Wendyor at least not until they had given Wendy a "certain type" of education.
"Wendy! Come out with me for a bit. I have something to do," Chen Fan suddenly called out.
"Okay, I'm coming!" Wendy called back. She turned to Carla. "Let's go, Carla! Brother Chen Fan is calling for us!" Carla spread her wings and flew over.
"Mmph mmmph!" Natsu grunted.
Everyone looked at Happy, the only one who could translate "Natsu-speak." "He says he wants to go too."
"Then come along!" Gildarts said. He and Chen Fan walked toward the wall, laughing and chatting.
The moment Gildarts touched the wall, it crumbled into dust. Lucy jumped in surprise. "He really is weird too. Is everyone in Fairy Tail a freak?" she complained.
"Speaking of which, is Chen Fan really that much of a womanizer? He hasn't really tried anything with anyone lately. Even his flirting has toned down," Lucy noted suddenly.
Mira and Erza were taken aback. They thought about Chen Fan's recent behavior. While he still talked a big game, he hadn't really been doing much.
Erza recalled the time Chen Fan had touched her while they were on Nirvana. It had been over two weeks since then, half of which Chen Fan had spent locked up in the Magic Council.
Suddenly, the women felt a strange sense of loneliness. If Chen Fan knew what they were thinking, he'd probably jump for joy. By now, however, Chen Fan had already arrived at Gildarts' house with Wendy, Carla, Natsu, and Happy.
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