Strauss

Mirajane clenched his fist and delivered a solid punch to Riyao's chest, the force so great that Riyao let out a muffled groan.

Riyao froze for a second, then immediately fell straight backward, rolled around on the grass, clutching his waist and howling like a pig being slaughtered.

"Oh my god, my kidneys are killing me!"

Lisanna rushed over to help him, but Mirajane lightly kicked Riyao's butt, looking utterly speechless.

"What are you yelling about! I hit your chest, okay?! Who has a kidney in their chest?!"

Riyao lay on the ground, groaning earnestly, and retorted with a righteous indignation.

"Everyone's body is different, you're a girl, you wouldn't understand. You hurt me, you have to 'stay with' me! I'm hungry~"

"Pah! You're just pretending! You're being a scoundrel, aren't you!"

Mirajane was so angry she laughed.

"Sister, Brother Riyao is sweating so much, he looks like he's in a lot of pain..."

Lisanna tugged at Mirajane's sleeve, her heart softening completely.

"He was faking it all. This guy is obviously a habitual freeloader!"

Mirajane wasn't fooled.

As a result, Riyao lay in place, slowly casting out the bait, humming a perfectly timed tune.

"Oh dear~ If someone could make me something delicious to fill my stomach, maybe I could stand up again after eating this."

His little scheme was written all over his face; it was obvious he was just shamelessly trying to freeload. Mirajane gritted her teeth, seeing how stubbornly he wouldn't leave, and finally took him home. She couldn't just leave this guy at the door and let people laugh at her.

When I got home, all I was served was simple wheat porridge and a pot of wild vegetable soup, with hardly any oil in it; it was so simple it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was rudimentary.

But Riyao wasn't picky at all. He sat down and wolfed down his food, eating with more gusto than anyone else. After finishing one bowl, he wasn't satisfied. He reached out and snatched the bowl that Mirajane had half-eaten and put it into his own bowl, finishing it in just a few bites.

Mirajane was so angry that her knuckles turned white from gripping the chopsticks so tightly. If Lisanna hadn't stopped her, she would have thrown this shameless bastard out on the spot.

Riyao leisurely picked up a toothpick, waved his hand magnanimously, and said, "Calm down, calm down. I, Riyao, never take advantage of others. I'll pay for this meal."

After saying that, he took out a heavy bag of gold coins from his backpack and placed it on the wooden table with a "clatter." Several gold coins rolled out, making Lisanna's eyes widen in amazement.

"This is too much! It's just a simple meal, we can't accept so much!" Lisanna quickly pushed the gold coins back.

Elfman quickly nodded, stammering, "Yes, yes, it's just a meal, there's no need... to..."

Mirajane frowned and pushed the bag towards Riyao. The strong-willed girl refused to accept money from a stranger for no reason. "Who wants your money! Although my family isn't rich, we don't stoop to making money like this!"

Riyao raised an eyebrow, not arguing with her. He reached into the bag, grabbed most of the gold coins, and put them back in his own bag, leaving the other half neatly on the table. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he pointed out the window, shouting, "Hey! Someone's taking a dump outside!"

Mirajane and the other two instinctively turned their heads in the direction he was pointing, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

When he realized something was wrong and turned around abruptly, Riyao was nowhere to be seen in the room. Only the small bag of gold coins sat peacefully in the center of the table.

From the woods outside the village, Riyao's cheerful shouts drifted over, landing in the courtyard.

"Remember this! When you come to Magnolia sometime, remember to visit me at Fairy Tail!"

The three Strauss siblings stared at the pile of gleaming gold coins on the table, speechless for a long time. Mirajane crossed her arms, pondered for a couple of seconds, and then uttered a precise summary.

"So this guy is just a rich man's stupid son who sneaked out to wander around?"

Lisanna held the fruit candy she was clutching to her face; the colorful wrappers shone brightly in the sunlight. She immediately softened her tone and spoke up for him, "Riyao is a good person!"

The words had barely left the courtyard when Riyao, who had already slipped out of the village and was climbing up the grassy slope, suddenly sneezed so loudly that he almost tumbled back down the slope.

He covered his nose, wrinkled his face, and muttered, "It must be that little brat Mirajane talking about me behind my back! She's such a cheapskate, all I did was steal half a bowl of rice from you!"

In the village, Elfman, his face flushed as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, stammered for a long time before finally getting to the point.

"Then, what about this money? Are we really going to accept it?"

Mirajane stroked her chin and pondered for exactly two and a half seconds before decisively making a decision, "Hmph, since he's shamelessly shoving it at us, then we'll just spend it! It's no big deal. At worst, we can just return it to him at Fairy Tail when we go to Magnolia. Anyway, we've already left our names with the guild; he can't just run away, can he?"

Riyao spent the whole afternoon wandering around Magnolia, exploring every mountain valley and streamside around the area. His original plan to pick up lone Dragon Slayer as his underlings was completely ruined. He didn't even see a trace of Natsu or the others, let alone touch a single dragon hair.

He pursed his lips, deciding he had nothing better to do anyway, and turned to stroll back towards the guild, intending to join in the fun.

After wandering around for most of the day, Riyao walked to the stream, squatted down, scooped up two big mouthfuls of cool water, and looked up to see his reflection in the water.

She immediately began to admire her reflection, her tail practically wagging in the air, and muttered in a high-pitched voice, "Wow, isn't this a perfect handsome guy? Look at those bright green eyes, so piercing! And that long golden hair tied in a high ponytail, so elegant! And those features, so exquisite."

He suddenly stopped, gasped, and shrank back.

"Hmm~ Why does he look more and more like that Archbishop Otto? My old problem of being face-blind to foreigners is acting up again; I'm only able to match him by his hairstyle."

After patting the water droplets off his face, Riyao strolled into Magnolia City.

I just turned the corner.

A women's clothing store with lace curtains caught my eye. In the window, there was a sky-blue dress with floral trim. When the wind blew, the hem swayed gently, making Riyao's eyes widen.

He stood at the shop entrance, stroking his chin, when a bold idea suddenly popped into his head. He rubbed his hands together and grinned mischievously.

"I was so shy in my past life, I didn't even dare touch the hem of a skirt. But in this life, I'm in a place like Fairy Tail, where there are hidden dangers. What's there to be shy about? I'll definitely go in and try one on, see how it goes! With my face, I'll definitely look good in women's clothes, hehe..."

He was overjoyed and was about to step into the store.

Suddenly, his collar tightened, and he was lifted up by the back of his neck by a hard, ruthless hand, just Tathagata the monkey holding a staff in the palm of Buddha's hand, unable to even struggle.

The familiar smell of tobacco, mixed with the low pressure, drifted down the back of his neck. Without even turning around, Riyao could guess who had grabbed him with the dirt in his big toe.

Makarov, pipe in mouth, blew smoke rings directly onto Riyao's forehead, his white beard bristling with anger, and a heavy snort came down from above.

"Riyao, what are you planning to do, you brat?"

Riyao was lifted off the ground and swayed three times. He immediately transformed into a well-behaved boy, turned his head and squeezed out a standard sweet smile with eight teeth, his voice so soft it could stretch out sugar threads.

"Grandpa, it's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! I just went in to take a look with a research attitude, I really didn't have any wild ideas!"

Makarov shouted into Riyao's ear, "I heard everything!!"