A Conversation About Growing Up

"Oh, so this is the guild? Demon, demon... ba?"

Natsu seemed to have difficulty reading; he tilted his head, looking at the guild's sign, unable to understand it, and looked completely confused.

Makarov chuckled as he walked over to Natsu and began his daily sermon, "It's Fairy Tail! Does Fairy Tail even exist...?"

Eleven didn't continue listening to the old man's brainwashing of Natsu about joining the guild, but instead followed Gildarts into the guild.

Everyone in the guild hadn't seen Gildarts for a long time, and they all gave him a warm welcome. Even Mest and Mira, who joined the guild later, had never seen Gildarts before, and they were very curious about this man who would change the entire city's layout just by returning.

Gildarts greeted his familiar companions with a smile, staggered to the bar, ordered a beer from the receptionist, then turned and leaned against the bar, enjoying the bustling activity in the guild.

Eleven followed suit, ran over, ordered a juice, and then, imitating Gildarts, crossed his legs and faced the guild hall, pretending to be deep and serious.

"It feels like there are a lot more kids in the guild now that I haven't been back for a while," Gildarts, taking a sip of beer, somewhat puzzled as to why his guild seemed to be getting younger and younger.

"Really? I think it's fine." Eleven also took a sip of juice, mimicking Gildarts, and said in a deliberately indifferent tone.

Since discovering that Gildarts might have designs on Maria, Eleven stopped following Gildarts around like before and always tried to appear more mature in front of Gildarts. However, his deep-seated admiration for Gildarts made him unconsciously start imitating Gildarts again.

Thinking about it carefully, Gildarts is actually a good match for Maria, but Eleven still feels uneasy. He once seriously analyzed his own feelings and concluded that this might be the legendary father-in-law's dissatisfaction with his son-in-law!

Fortunately, he didn't tell Maria, or he might have been beaten to death.

Gildarts, hearing Eleven's nonchalant tone, looked over with some surprise. "Oh? You've become quite mature since I last saw you. What's wrong? Grown up?"

As he spoke, the unscrupulous uncle made a circle with his left hand, then stuck a finger into the circle twice with his right hand, gradually revealing a lewd expression on his face.

Eleven frowned, trying hard to figure out what Gildarts's hand gestures meant, but this really touched on a blind spot in his knowledge, leaving him completely bewildered.

But not wanting to lose face in front of Gildarts, let's just take it literally; he has indeed grown a lot in the past year.

"Of course! I'm not a child anymore!" Eleven puffed out his chest, deliberately showing a hint of pride.

"Huh, really?" To everyone's surprise, Gildarts looked genuinely taken aback by Eleven's answer, even putting down his drink. He was clearly intrigued by the topic. "Not bad, kid. How old are you? 13... no, 14, I guess. You're getting on in years~ Hehehe. Who's that person? Do I know them?"

After saying that, the middle-aged man slept with his arm around Eleven's shoulder, while his eyes darted around among the girls in the guild, trying to guess who Eleven's girlfriend was.

Eleven: (゜-゜)???

Eleven was even more confused now. He had a vague feeling that he and Gildarts might not be talking about the same thing, and he couldn't keep up with the conversation at all. What did "the other party" mean? What did my growing up have to do with other people?

I really don't understand, what is this middle-aged man looking at with that lewd expression?

Just as Eleven was struggling with how to answer without revealing his ignorance, Cana walked over gracefully with her hands behind her back.

"Gildarts, welcome back. What are you all talking about?"

Cana had initially been secretly watching Gildarts from the sidelines, too shy to approach and say hello. But when she saw Eleven and Gildarts chatting happily, even putting their arms around each other, she felt a genuine envy and a deep sense of loneliness.

Thinking back to Eleven's advice to her, she suddenly felt that she really should do something, otherwise, if she always didn't even dare to speak, how would she ever be able to reunite with her family in the future! So Cana bravely stepped forward.

"Hey, Cana! Eleven and I were just talking about some men's stuff." As Cana approached, Gildarts's expression instantly returned to its confident, sunny smile, as if he and Eleven had really just been discussing some "righteous" topic.

With Cana's interruption, Eleven was finally free from answering Gildarts's questions and couldn't help but give Cana a grateful look.

Suddenly remembering that Cana was actually Gildarts' daughter but had never had the courage to acknowledge her, Eleven decided to help Cana as well.

"Gildarts, Cana has grown a lot during this time. She can even be a match for me sometimes!" Eleven decided to praise Cana in front of Gildarts, especially regarding her combat abilities.

To everyone's surprise, Gildarts looked incredulous upon hearing Eleven's words, even accidentally Crush the wine glass in his hand. His gaze darted back and forth between Eleven and Cana, his mouth opening and closing as if he couldn't utter a word.

Gildarts pulled Eleven into a tight embrace, turned his back to Cana, and whispered in Eleven's ear in surprise, "Hey, really? Cana's only 12 years old, right? Can she really be your match?"

Although Eleven didn't quite understand why Gildarts was speaking so mysteriously, he wasn't lying, so he answered confidently, "Of course it's true! Well, although she couldn't last a minute, she's still pretty amazing!"

Gildarts' expression twitched slightly after hearing Eleven's words. He didn't know what to say, feeling that his usually proud driving skills were actually useless today. He could only silently sigh at how amazing young people were these days!

Thinking of this, Gildarts turned to look at the pretty Cana with pity. Sigh~ the little girl is still so young, she doesn't understand anything. If her parents found out, they'd skin that brat Eleven!

Cana was tilting her head, curiously trying to eavesdrop on what the two were saying, when she suddenly noticed Gildarts looking at her. Her face flushed red, and she lowered her head shyly, not daring to meet Gildarts' gaze.

"Sigh~" Gildarts sighed helplessly when he saw Cana's shy expression, and slapped Eleven hard on the head. "You brat, you better treat Cana well from now on, you hear me?"

"Oh, oh! Of course, you don't need to tell me!" Eleven's head throbbed with pain, and he was even more baffled by Gildarts's words. Wasn't that obvious?