Heading Home
After wandering around for two whole months, exploring several towns in the surrounding area, and finding nothing new or interesting, Riyao and his group finally made their leisurely return home.
It's not that Riyao and his friends are too playful and can't stop themselves.
After the guild disbanded, Riyao opened a small tavern in Magnolia, intending it as a base for his companions to return to at any time.
But who could have imagined that this tavern would become so incredibly popular as soon as it opened, packed with people every day, with the threshold almost worn down by all sorts of mages and patrons who came from far and wide.
If they keep going at this level of enthusiasm, the name of Fairy Tail will be on everyone's lips every day.
Two months of wandering around outside is just right; once the shops are closed, the hype will naturally cool down over time.
Once the public had almost forgotten about them, Fairy Tail was able to truly and smoothly fade from the public eye, saving them a lot of trouble.
Along the way, they drove their carriage, stopping frequently to visit several familiar guilds, and even made a special detour to Lucy's large manor for a visit.
Lucy almost couldn't leave that day.
Leila her daughter's hand, wiping away her tears, refusing to let go and insisting that Lucy stay at home a little longer.
Lucy reluctantly agreed to be made to change into three elaborate and heavy dresses in front of the mirror, and then accompanied a group of nobles in tailcoats to a dull dinner party.
During the meal, the uncles and aunties kept talking about territory taxes and caravan profits. Lucy sat in her chair laughing so hard her cheeks were stiff, and kept kicking Riyao's leather shoes under the table for help.
In the end, Lucy clung to Layla's arm and pleaded with her, swearing and promising to come back to see her soon, before Layla reluctantly let Lucy go.
Besides Lucy's house, they also made a special trip to the Magic Library Levy wanted to visit, and spent a day there.
Levy a whole day and night. This magical library was truly amazing; it even had magic like the Arc of Time, which was just outrageous.
Lisanna kept talking the whole way, insisting on going to the zoo. Riyao, annoyed, had no choice but to turn around and head to the kingdom's largest zoo.
Upon arriving at the park, Lisanna's eyes lit up when she saw some rare animals. She immediately rolled up her sleeves, intending to use her Take Over Magic to absorb those rare beasts into her body to test the feel of it, but Mirajane quickly stopped her.
For the second half of the trip, everyone accompanied Wendy back to the Worth Woodsea to see the ruins of the Cait Shelter.
Returning to the old place, the guild that was once established deep in the forest has long since turned to dust, leaving only an empty space overgrown with wildflowers.
Wendy stood in the middle of the open space, gently stroking the old wooden stake with her small hand. She didn't cry; instead, she smiled and talked about her life in Fairy Tail. Carla stood quietly beside her.
For most of the journey, Cana was drinking, drinking wherever she went, and when the small flask at her waist was empty, she would replace it with a large wooden barrel.
Every evening at dusk, Riyao pulls back the carriage curtain, you can always see Cana lying in the corner of the carriage with her cheeks flushed. When she's had too much to drink, she'll randomly hug someone to sleep, sometimes it's Lucy, sometimes it's Levy, and she'll be half asleep.
When the group finally swayed back to Magnolia's little nest, they were completely exhausted.
Everyone rested in their own soft beds for several days before finally deciding to open the tavern for business.
Business hours now depend entirely on my mood; I can open whenever I want, and stay home and sleep whenever I don't. There are no overdue payment notices or deadlines, so life is quite free.
The afternoon sun was warm and pleasant.
Riyao sat under the Parasol Tree in the courtyard, a pot of freshly brewed hot tea beside him, enjoying the peaceful life.
Just as he picked up his teacup to take a sip, a slight noise suddenly came from the dense Parasol Trees overhead.
The five dragon eggs on the tree stirred. Igneel and the others woke up, their shells glowing with a faint magical light, as they instinctively tried to hatch.
Riyao paused, looked up at them, and rolled his eyes at the tree branches.
"Don't hatch yet! I can't proceed to the next step without Natsu and the others here."
Upon hearing Riyao's words, the dragon egg quieted down, and the magic surging on its shell subsided.
A deep, gruff voice emanated from the red-flamed dragon egg; it was Igneel's voice.
"Riyao? What's our situation now?"
"Hmm, I don't quite understand either. Although it has a physical form, it can't be considered a life form, nor is it an inanimate object. It's more like Celestial Spirit."
Riyao raised his hand and scratched the stray hairs sticking up on the top of his head, pursing his lips in a somewhat troubled manner.
"You haven't fully recovered yet; you need to rely on other creatures to continue surviving. You can continue to reside in Natsu and the others."
Riyao finished speaking, even dragons like Igneel, who had lived for hundreds of years, still couldn't understand what was going on.
Logically speaking, the destruction of the physical body means death, so how can it be like being stuffed into an egg where one is neither alive nor dead?
But they have big hearts; they've all died once, so what's this?
Igneel shook the fiery red dragon egg, his voice filled with curiosity.
"By the way, where are Natsu and the others? It seems like only Little Wendy is around here."
Riyao picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, crossed his legs, and shrugged without a hint of guilt.
"I tricked them into going out for training. Our guild has disbanded now. If we leave them in Magnolia, they might just tear our house down while they're bored."
The black lines appearing on the five dragon eggs make for a pretty good reason.
Just then, the dragon egg on the other side of the treetop, which was glowing with a bluish-white light, swayed gently. Grandine's voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of smugness.
"So that means I can be the first to hatch. I've already called Wendy back."
Riyao continued to communicate with the dragons, briefly explaining what happened after they were absorbed by the Parasol Tree.
They hadn't been talking for long when the wooden gate outside the yard was suddenly pushed open, and Wendy rushed back, extremely anxious.
Wendy's eyes were red and she was about to cry. She was running around in a mess, one of her shoelaces was untied, and her whole little face was pale.
Wendy stumbled and was about to fall.
With Riyao speed, Riyao put down his teacup and swayed slightly as he caught Wendy, who was about to fall. He could feel Wendy trembling slightly; she was clearly terrified.
He lifted Wendy up in one arm, Wendy sat on his left arm like a baby.
Why is Wendy crying?
Wendy clutched the fabric of Riyao's shirt tightly with her two little hands, sobbing softly.
Grandine said she didn't have much time left.
???
Igneel and the others, along with Riyao, were all completely baffled.
Time is running out? We were having a perfectly good chat inside the eggshell just now, how did it suddenly turn into a deathbed speech?
The white, swirling dragon egg shook violently. Grandine was somewhat embarrassed, and her voice was incredibly weak.
"I just woke up, so my magic control isn't very good yet. There might be some misunderstandings in my expression."
Riyao held Wendy in one arm, staring up at the dragon egg. Riyao and the others were somewhat speechless.
What kind of mistake could possibly result in something like this?
Then, another series of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.
Mirajane and Lucy rushed back. They were terribly worried when they saw Wendy running out of the tavern crying, and they chased after her all the way back.
"What happened? Is Wendy alright?"
Mirajane stepped forward, picked Wendy up, and held her tenderly in her arms, wiping away her tears.