July 7, X777

This is a crucial turning point in Fairy Tail.

Riyao, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, was wandering aimlessly across the meadow outside Magnolia, legs crossed.

As for why the chapter titles already state it, shouldn't we follow the plot to see if there are any Dragon Slayer who have just graduated from the Dragon's Guild?

Picking them up as underlings is a great idea. They're all strong and resilient, so they'll be there to take the hits from the guild leader's iron fists. It's a huge win!

After searching all morning without finding a single dragon scale, they stumbled upon the village where Mirajane and her brother lived by sheer chance.

Riyao squatted on the earthen slope, picking at the grass and pondering: That makes sense Magnolia Magnolia the surrounding area.

When he couldn't figure out the problem, he would scratch his head, and the more he scratched, the more frustrated he became, so he simply lay down on the grass and rolled around until he was covered in grass clippings.

That's strange. Beforehand, he recognized Cana and reunited with that idiot old man without any prior incident, so why did helping Erza heal her eyes trigger the curse?

If changing the future isn't the triggering condition, then what is?

I really need to go check out the ruins that jerk mentioned when I have time, but the problem is... Riyao rolled to the edge of the earthen slope and "thump" hit his head.

He scrambled to his feet, clutching his head and grimacing. He needed to reach S-Class to find the ruins! That greedy old man Makarov wouldn't let him go, and that idiot uncle wouldn't miss a single word—wasn't this just completely blocking his progress?!

After rolling around enough, Riyao stopped with a "smack" and patted off the burrs and grass clippings from its rear end.

Forget about it. Since we've already stumbled upon Mirajane's village, it's always good to come and make an appearance beforehand.

He crouched low, hunched his shoulders, and cautiously made his way into the village, taking one step at a time.

He had made up his mind that if he heard any strange or unusual laughter, he would turn around and run away, so as not to suffer any loss.

But to Mirajane, who was watching his younger siblings picking wild fruit nearby, his furtive hiding among the tree stumps made him look exactly like a human trafficker sneaking into the village!

"Who are you! What do you want?!"

A sudden, clear shout startled Riyao, causing him to drop the grass in his mouth. Without thinking, he took off running, but after only a meter, he slammed on the brakes. Something was wrong!

Why am I running? I didn't do anything wrong! He stiffly turned his head, not even noticing the half-prickly burr stuck to his back, and scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly until wrinkles appeared on his face.

Haha, hello there~

The girl in front of him, dressed in a ripped short jacket, was dressed like a typical delinquent. Her eyes were so bright they seemed to be glowing. Mirajane stared at Riyao, his eyes wide, and he secretly whistled to himself.

Wow, the teenage version of Mirajane is so amazing! She's even prettier than that gentle tavern sign girl in the guild! (ﾉ∇︎)

Mirajane clenched her fists and slowly walked over, scanning him up and down. Riyao also openly looked back at her. Mirajane's brows furrowed even more, and she became so vigilant that she almost stretched her guard up.

What do you do? What's your name?

Riyao leisurely straightened his wind-blown collar, struck what he thought was a cool pose, and began spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"I am a pilgrim from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land, on a pilgrimage to the West."

Mirajane was completely stunned, three big question marks appearing on his forehead, and he thought to himself, "Where did this lunatic come from?"

She clenched her fists so tightly they cracked, not bothering to beat around the bush, and pressed closer, determined to give this madman who spouted nonsense a couple of punches to wake him up.

"What Great Tang of the Eastern Land? What pilgrims? What are you doing sneaking around behind my house? Are you trying to kidnap my younger siblings?!"

Riyao stroked his chin, pondering: Putting aside the fact that I'm really not here to kidnap children... it seems like what I said makes sense!

A wicked plan raced through his mind, and he immediately put on a pitiful expression. His legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the grass, waving his hands like rattles, his voice trembling.

"No, I didn't. I'm so young, how could I possibly abduct a child?"

He mentally added, "I'm here to scout the place, I'm here to stage an accident, I'm here to take a dump—all for the old man!"

He looked at Mirajane, who had walked up to him, and said, "I'm here to take a dump, you believe me?"

→_→

Mirajane's lips twitched for a long time, almost cramping, before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Should I believe it?"

As soon as she finished speaking, two small heads popped out from behind a nearby tree; it was Lisanna and Elfman.

Riyao glanced at her and saw the little girl with pigtails bouncing around like a little squirrel, just as lively and adorable as the rumors said.

Looking at Elfman again, Riyao cursed inwardly.

You're such a clingy girl-pinching maniac! You pinched Lisanna's neck quite a bit later on, so there's reason to suspect that he was the one who pinched Lisanna long neck!

Lisanna reached into her pocket, pulled out a crumpled tissue, held it up to Riyao, winked, and said seriously, "I heard you, you're here to take a dump, right? Here, take this tissue."

Elfman stood behind his sister, his face flushed like a ripe apple. After fidgeting for a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a soft voice, "Um... could we... go somewhere else?"

Mirajane's temples throbbed, and he reached up to touch his forehead, feeling as if his blood pressure was about to burst through the top of his head.

Once Riyao realized the act was almost over, he patted his bottom, stood up, and smiled warmly. He took three fruit candies wrapped in colorful wrappers from his pocket and handed them to Lisanna.

"Oh, little sister, you're so cute! Here, brother will give you some candy."

"Lisanna! Don't eat anything of unknown origin!" Mirajane immediately shouted to stop her.

Riyao clutched his heart instantly, his face falling as if he had been deeply shocked.

"How can my above-ground actions be considered suspicious? Let me introduce myself. My name is Riyao, just listen to that name, how sunny! I'm a mage from the Fairy Tail guild, known as the Super Invincible Awesome Healing Mage, a legitimate registered mage, and I'll pay ten times the price if you're not!"

After he finished speaking, he proudly raised his head and patted his chest loudly. Lisanna and Elfman had hardly ever seen any mages outside.

Upon hearing "super, invincible, awesome," their eyes instantly lit up like two little lanterns, their faces filled with undisguised admiration.

Mirajane glanced at him sideways, her eyes clearly saying, "Do you think I believe you?" She crossed her arms and slowly exposed him, "Didn't you say you were a pilgrim from the Great Tang of the Eastern Land?"

Riyao waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about the important thing."

"If you don't care about the important things, then what should I care about? You?!" Mirajane roared, her voice so loud it made the leaves on the trees nearby fall to the ground.

Riyao hesitated for a moment, scratched his cheek, and gave an embarrassed smile, "Well... it's not impossible~"

Mirajane: "..." I can't take it anymore, I really can't take it anymore!