Makarov and Riyao stood to the side, watching the scene of the mother and daughter hugging tightly and weeping endlessly; even the two grown men couldn't help but feel a stinging sensation in their noses.
Makarov tremblingly pulled a crumpled tissue from his pocket, blew his nose hard, and wiped the corners of his eyes.
Riyao also reached out, grabbed a tissue, and wiped his face haphazardly, then spat a sunflower seed shell out of his mouth without changing his expression.
The shell traced an arc through the air and landed precisely in the trash can in the corner.
Ur turned her head while crying, looking at Riyao with teary eyes, her voice filled with sobs and a hint of panic.
"Riyao, why can't I stop these tears?"
Riyao sighed, leisurely stepped forward, and reached out to fiddle with the mark on the back of Ur's neck.
He manually turned off the tear-inducing setting on the mark as cleanly and decisively as turning off a faucet.
Ultear stood to the side, watching helplessly as Riyao performed all sorts of operations on her mother.
The expression on her face went from confusion to shock and then to speechlessness. Finally, her entire face was covered in dense black lines, and the corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably, the amplitude of the twitching looking exactly like she had been electrocuted.
Sensing Ultear's murderous gaze, Riyao quickly covered his face with both hands, revealing only his eyes through his fingers, his voice muffled as it came from behind his palms.
"Don't look at me. It's my first time making a doll, so I'm a bit rusty. The tears are genuine; they're just hard to stop, haha."
That "haha" was said with particular guilt, the trailing note drifting upward.
Ultear raised her head from Ur's embrace, and just as she was about to say something, everyone finally saw her face clearly.
Half of her cheek was pressed with various deep and shallow indentations from the wood, crisscrossing her skin, making her look both comical and pitiful.
Riyao's gaze fell upon those marks, his lips abruptly pressed into a straight line, and he twisted his neck, forcibly turning his head to the other side.
His shoulders began to tremble slightly—once, twice, three times—until he finally couldn't hold it back anymore.
He let out a "pfft" of laughter, the sound short and sharp, as if squeezed out from between his teeth.
Ultear's face turned bright red instantly. She grabbed the Crystal Ball on the table, held it high above her head, and gritted her teeth.
"Let me commit one last wrong deed!"
Riyao's smile froze on his face instantly. Without a word, he greased his feet and scurried over to Makarov's side in a flash.
He reached out with both hands and lifted the unsuspecting Makarov in front of him like a shield.
Makarov's two short legs dangled in the air, his mustache bristling with anger.
"You brat, put me down! Do you know anything about respecting your elders and cherishing the young?"
Riyao peeked half his head out from behind Makarov and nodded solemnly.
"I do. 'Elders cherish the young'—it means the elder loves the child, right?"
"What about the 'respect' part at the beginning? Did a dog eat it?!"
Makarov turned his head and roared at him.
"It wasn't me who ate it, anyway."
Riyao blinked, looking completely innocent.
"Bang!"
A solid rap landed on Riyao's head. Makarov retracted his fist, and only then did Riyao cover his head and quiet down, still muttering things like "an elder acting undignified."
Ur held tightly onto Ultear's arm from behind, finally managing to snatch the Crystal Ball from her hands.
Ultear's chest heaved violently, and her glare at Riyao was full of "I'll make you pay one day."
After the commotion, Ultear calmed her breathing, straightened her clothes, and prepared to head back.
Staying here too long would indeed invite unnecessary trouble.
Just as she turned to leave, Riyao suddenly reached out, rubbing his thumb and index finger together toward her.
Ultear stopped, turned back, and furrowed her brows in confusion.
"What?"
Riyao opened his palm, facing upward, and shook it righteously.
"Pay your mother's medical expenses."
Ultear's fists clenched again instantly, her knuckles cracking audibly.
She took a deep breath, then another, repeating it several times before barely suppressing the urge to beat him up.
She realized that she always lost her composure in front of Riyao; this person was simply the ultimate test of her emotional management.
Come to think of it, the first time she lost her composure dates back to when Ultear had just infiltrated the Council.
That day, Riyao happened to be following Makarov to the Council to pay compensation, and they brushed past each other in the hallway.
Riyao, not knowing which nerve had gone wrong, suddenly belted out a soulful rendition of "Mother is the Best in the World," the singing echoing through the solemn corridors of the Council, lingering in the air.
Ultear was sitting nearby helping with meeting minutes, and the moment she heard the song, the quill in her hand snapped in two with a "snap."
She stared daggers at Riyao's punchable face, with only one thought in her mind.
Stuff the Crystal Ball on the table into his mouth, deep enough so he could never sing again in his life.
Riyao actually always had a good impression of Ultear, and he had long wanted to tell her the truth.
But he kept holding back, because he wasn't sure if Ultear would believe him. If she didn't, it might attract later enemies, making the situation difficult to handle.
It wasn't until he saw the possibility of Ur recovering on Karna Island that he chose to reveal the truth.
After all, there was no more powerful evidence than Ur herself; a living piece of wood standing right in front of her was more effective than any explanation.
Ultear snapped back to reality from her memories, grumpily pulled a heavy money pouch from her bosom, and tossed it to Riyao.
Then she channeled her magic, her figure rapidly transforming amidst a flash of light, and in the blink of an eye, she turned into an inconspicuous young man.
She walked to the window, braced her hand against the sill, and nimbly vaulted out, her movements clean and decisive, disappearing into the shadows of the street in an instant.
Riyao looked down at the heavy money pouch in his hand and chuckled, sat down on the floor, dumped all the money out with a clatter, and began counting it happily.
His technique for counting money was quite skilled; he flipped through the bills one by one with his thumb and index finger, muttering to himself.
Makarov's eyes lit up, and he didn't care about his image as Master anymore.
He scurried over, squatted beside Riyao, and used both hands to help sort the money into piles, looking as serious as if he were handling major official business.
Ur rested her forehead on one hand, looking down at the old man and the young man happily counting money on the floor, and shook her head helplessly.
She sighed, turned, and walked toward the door, reached out to grab the doorknob, and pulled it gently.
"Ouch!"
Accompanied by a series of successive exclamations, Gray was the first to land face-first, falling flat on his face.
Juvia fell on top of his back, causing Gray to let out a muffled groan under the weight.
Following closely behind, Lucy, Levy, and Lisanna piled on one after another, forming a precarious mountain of people at the doorway.
Only Mirajane nimbly dodged to the side the moment the door opened, elegantly avoiding the disaster, standing steadily in place without even ruffling her skirt.
Mirajane's gaze passed over the people sprawled on the floor and locked precisely onto the pile of money in front of Riyao.
Her eyes brightened, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"Hmm? Where did all that money come from?"
As she spoke, she walked over with light steps, crouched down beside Riyao, and naturally joined the money-counting team.
Her fingers flew, counting even faster than Riyao.
Riyao looked up with a chuckle, his face full of pride.
"Medical expenses paid by the patient's family."
( ﾉ ∇ ︎ 〃 )
Makarov rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining with anticipation, and leaned over to ask in a low voice.
"The compensation you promised?"
Riyao glanced at him sideways and replied in a cool tone.
"I don't handle the money."
Before the words had even faded, Mirajane had already gathered all the money on the floor with lightning speed, stacked it neatly, and stuffed it into her own pocket.
She looked up, revealing a cheeky smile that was sweet yet shrewd, and beneath that shrewdness was a hint of cunning.
"Hand over the bills."
Makarov didn't say a word; he nimbly turned and walked to his desk, pulled open a drawer, took out a thick stack of bills, and handed them respectfully to Mirajane with both hands.
Riyao's gaze swept over the stack of bills, his eyes suddenly narrowing. He reached out, pulled one out, and held it up to inspect it carefully.
His expression turned unfriendly instantly, and he slowly turned his head to look at Makarov.
"Old man, why are there foot-washing receipts mixed in with these bills?"
Makarov's smile froze on his face, and he scrambled to grab the receipt.
"Hahaha... I grabbed the wrong one, I grabbed the wrong one."
He let out two dry laughs, then suddenly realized something, widened his eyes, and asked.
"Wait, how did you recognize it at a glance, you brat?"
Riyao snorted, crossed his arms over his chest, lifted his chin slightly, his tone full of pride and righteousness.
"Hmph, don't try to sow discord between me and Mira; she's the one who took me there."
As soon as these words were out, Makarov looked as if he had been struck by lightning; his mouth hung wide open, and his jaw nearly hit the floor.
He stiffly turned his head, looking at Mirajane with an expression of disbelief.
Mirajane's cheeks flushed slightly, and she guiltily turned her head away, her gaze drifting toward the ceiling, her voice laced with an unnatural panic.
( ◔ ◡ ◔ )
"Don't listen to his nonsense; he's the one who dragged me there, saying he had to test whether that shop was reputable or not."