Bastard Dad

Guild mages made their living by taking quests and earning rewards. The first-floor hall of the Fairy Tail guild had a quest board with a large number of quests, offering rewards of up to one million J.

Fairy Tail also had a quest board on the second floor. Compared to the one downstairs, it had a pitifully small number of quests, but every one offered a reward of at least one million J.

The ordinary quests on the first floor were rigorously divided into five difficulty levels: A, B, C, D, and E. They were a proving ground for ordinary mages.

The lowest-ranked E-Class quests were often filled with the mundane details of everyday life.

They might involve helping an elderly woman with limited mobility at the east end of town carry heavy firewood for winter, putting on an elaborate maid outfit to serve customers for a day at a newly opened café on the corner, or helping a wealthy merchant find his missing pet cat.

As the ranks rose to A-Class, the highest level, so did the danger. Mages might be sent to slay exceptionally ferocious dangerous monsters, explore ruins deep in the mist, or even accept assignments from the Magic Council to wipe out dark guilds that knew no limits.

A-Class quests were full of uncertainty, and even seasoned mages could fail.

On the second floor, however, quests started at S-Class, with Ten-Year Quests and 100-Year Quests above those. A moment of carelessness could very well cost a mage their life.

Only those who passed the guild's rigorous examination and became S-Class Mages could take them.

Ten-Year Quests, as the name implied, were peak S-Class quests that had been posted for over ten years, or even decades, yet remained uncompleted.

As for "100-Year Quests"... those were no longer mere tasks. They could be called a graveyard for mages.

Over that long span of time, quite a few mages had tried to complete them.

Those who failed a Ten-Year Quest could still return alive and boast to their friends about the sights along the way.

But for every mage who went on a 100-Year Quest, there was a grave.

100-Year Quests could be called the ultimate goal of all mages.

As the guild's current strongest S-Class Mage, Gildarts frequently took S-Class quests, and even Ten-Year Quests.

As for 100-Year Quests, Makarov wouldn't let him go to his death, for one thing, and Gildarts himself also felt his chances were a little iffy.

In fact, during the years Gildarts had single-handedly upheld the guild's reputation as its strongest fighter, on Fairy Tail's second floor, which symbolized supreme honor and strength,

There should have been another S-Class Mage standing there: Laxus's biological father and the guild master Makarov's own flesh and blood, "Ivan Dreyar."

One day, Makarov had suddenly expelled him from the guild. Nobody knew why, not even his own grandson Laxus. Laxus had kept asking why, but Makarov avoided the subject, leading to one consequence.

Riyao would often gaze up at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle and sigh helplessly. "What a shame, what a real shame. All because of that awful family he grew up in, because of that unreliable father, he ended up the way he is now."

"Where did that cheerful, sunny boy who loved to laugh and followed Master Makarov around, sweetly calling him Grandpa, go?"

"And now? He's turned into a cold boy who just puts on headphones and acts brooding, with a paranoid personality and prickles all over him. It's a great loss to the world of magic, a distortion of human nature, a collapse of moral..."

Every time Riyao finished sighing, a certain phenomenon would occur.

"Bastard Riyao, die! Lightning Dragon's Crushing Fist!"

"I know, I understand it all. Boys will be boys. Monstrous Strength: Serious Punch."

→_→~←_←

The two would start fighting as naturally as could be. Why? Because Riyao deliberately sighed beside Laxus every time.

Makarov sat on the bar, watching Laxus with a complicated look in his eyes. Gildarts leaned against the bar and laughed heartily, rubbing Cana's head with his large hand.

Cana slapped Gildarts's hand away in disgust and said huffily, "Bastard Dad, haven't you stayed at the guild a little too long?"

"Ah, little Cana, are you sick of Daddy already?"

Gildarts clutched his chest, feigned disbelief, and reached a hand out toward her.

Cana was already immune. This was another trick Riyao had taught Gildarts, and it had worked a little at first.

The emotion she had felt when they recognized each other as father and daughter a month ago had gradually turned to annoyance as Gildarts stuck to her every day.

In particular, Gildarts had originally wanted to take Cana home to live with him, but the moment he opened that intact door, she had turned around and gone straight back to the guild dormitory without the slightest hesitation.

Riyao had followed behind them, looking as though he'd expected this and recording the beautiful moments of life, but Cana had dragged him away too.

"Uncle Idiot, your home's decorated pretty nicely. The ventilation's great, hahaha."

"Brat, what do you know? This is... this... this is manly-style decor."

"Brother Riyao, ignore him. Come on, I want to go back and live in the guild dormitory."

"Ah, Cana, don't go! Daddy will patch up these holes right now."

"Uncle, is it possible Cana's afraid her muddleheaded old father will smash her to pieces one night on his way to the bathroom?"

"Bullshit! What's old about me?"

"Dad, you idiot, is that the point?!"

Back in the present, Cana's tone softened a little. Looking at Gildarts, she said seriously, "Dad, I can manage on my own. You don't have to stay at the guild all the time for my sake. Everyone at the guild is here to keep me company."

Makarov chimed in, "That's right. You have to give a child some space, or you'll suffocate her."

Gildarts was itching to go. It would have been a lie to say he wasn't tempted; it was in his nature to love adventuring all over, seeing sights he'd never seen before and experiencing different local customs.

After Cana and Makarov persuaded him, Gildarts was about to set out on another journey after a month away.

Just then, Riyao, having finished fighting Laxus, came trotting over. He patted Gildarts on the shoulder and said earnestly, "You can leave, but aren't you forgetting something?"

Gildarts started brainstorming. He thought of the drink he hadn't finished, the underpants he hadn't put away, and whether he'd flushed after using the bathroom.

He looked at Riyao in confusion and asked blankly, "Forgot what? What is it? Stop speaking in riddles, brat. If you start hemming and hawing like last time, I'll beat you up."

"Uncle Idiot, Cana!"

"You mean take Cana on a quest? No, no, that's too dangerous!"

Riyao rolled his eyes and curled his lip.

"Uncle Idiot, leave Cana some living expenses! And give me some support money while you're at it."

Gildarts slapped his forehead and said in sudden realization, "Oh, right! I'll get it now."

"Wait, no. Cana's living expenses make sense, but what the hell is this support money for you? You're asking for another beating, aren't you, brat?"

Riyao said with complete confidence, "What if Cana gets hurt sometime in the future? That's nothing, but if she gets a scar, won't you need me to step in?"

The two bickered back and forth, Makarov joined in, and Cana smiled with her lips pressed together at the side.

In the end, Gildarts left a sum of money with Makarov for him to take care of Cana, as well as spending money for Cana herself.

As for Riyao, he got a fist from Gildarts and was still embedded in the wall.

Gildarts set out on his adventure into the morning sunlight.