Be My Son

For the next few days, whenever he had free time, Riyao would venture into the mountains and valleys surrounding Magnolia to find any lone dragon-slaying minions.

Having gotten nothing, he completely gave up on the idea of recruiting underlings and simply stayed back in the guild, slacking off and wasting his time.

That day, he crouched down and tiptoed to get close to Cana, who was hiding in the corner of the bar playing cards and drinking. He covered his mouth and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

Their furtive behavior made it seem like they were plotting to break into Makarov's hidden pension stash at the bottom of a wine barrel.

"Cana, can you get me a dress?"

Riyao nudged Cana's waist hard with his elbow, winking and looking excited.

Cana was counting her cards when he bumped into her, causing half of her juice to spill out and wet half of her cards. She immediately glared at him sideways, but before she could even raise her voice, Riyao pressed his hand over her mouth. She managed to break free and asked in a low, surprised voice.

"What are you doing?! Why would you give up being a proper mage and want a skirt?"

Don't you think my small face would look beautiful in women's clothing?

Riyao let go, then smugly leaned over to look at himself through the fogged glass of the bar, touched his chin, and practically wagged his tail with pride.

Cana put down her cards, crossed her arms, and slowly scanned him from head to toe three times. From his dazzling high golden ponytail to his broad shoulders and narrow waist, she raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"Then why don't you just go to the store and buy it yourself? What's the deal with using me as a tool?"

The moment this was mentioned, Riyao's face fell, and he slammed his hand on the bar, making the row of glasses on it rattle and clatter.

"I sneaked up to the store three times! I went in and asked, and although the owner didn't kick me out, she politely refused. Don't you think they were being unreasonable? All I wanted to do was try on a dress!"

Cana nodded quite seriously and said in a deep voice, "That's excessive."

Riyao immediately nodded in agreement, bobbing his head like a rattle-drum. "Right, right! I knew it!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Cana picked up her glass, took a large sip of ale, and slowly finished the rest of her sentence with unwavering composure. "I meant you're way too abnormal. They were absolutely right to kick you out."

Riyao was just about to roll up his sleeves, ready to argue with Cana.

"This handsome guy dares to break through aesthetic constraints, not be called perverted! This is called pursuing beauty!"

Then a loud "Boom! Bang!" was heard at the guild entrance, making the glasses on the bar jump and bounce.

The guild gate, which was already half-destroyed by the guild's base-destroying maniacs, lost a solid 10 points of health on the spot.

The already crooked door hinges wobbled three times, and it looked like it was about to fall straight off the door frame and lie flat.

A gust of wind blew in through the gap, and a boy with short, cherry-pink hair, exuding the air of the mountains, rushed in, his fists clenched tightly, and he shoved aside two kids who had come to watch the commotion.

Standing in the very center of the guild hall, he shouted at the top of his lungs, his fearless and reckless spirit hitting people right in the head.

"Have you ever seen Igneel? That's my father, a giant Fire Dragon."

Riyao was about to say something about stealing his subordinate, but he held back. The entire guild fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop.

There was a full two and a half seconds of silence; even the hands that were about to touch the cards froze in mid-air, and those drinking forgot to swallow their drinks.

The guild was silent for two and a half seconds.

A burst of laughter erupted, nearly ripping off the remaining half of the guild's roof.

Macao, with a pipe in his mouth, leaned against the fireplace, laughing so hard that the pipe fell to his feet, clutching his stomach and yelling.

"Kid, are you out of your mind? Do you know what you're saying? A dragon is your father?"

Wakaba leaned on the gambling table, laughing so hard he swayed, and answered the questions slowly and deliberately.

"Young man, where did you come from, you wild mountain child? The dragons disappeared hundreds of years ago."

Gray, who had been leaning against the bar with his arms crossed, watching the commotion, casually retorted in a loud voice that the entire guild could hear, "You idiot, Coalhead! What nonsense are you spouting!"

Cana leaned against the liquor cabinet and casually remarked, "Gray, your clothes~"

Gray looked down and his face turned bright red. His entire upper body was completely naked. He immediately started frantically searching for his clothes like a headless fly, and his embarrassing appearance only made the laughter grow louder.

Natsu completely ignored what they were laughing at. His pink hair was practically standing on end with anger, his fists were clenched so tightly they were cracking, his brows were furrowed, and he was shouting at the top of his lungs that he was not convinced.

"Impossible! Just a few days ago, I was having dinner and hunting with Igneel! He only disappeared a few days ago!"

Makarov, the professional child abductor, immediately brightened up. He tossed aside the matter of how Riyao him earlier, and strolled leisurely over to Natsu with his hands behind his back.

Her face was plastered with an adorable smile that could make anyone sick, and she was surrounded by pink bubbles that seemed to say, "Come to my guild and you'll get food, lodging, and can even destroy my house as much as you want."

He immediately activated the skill [Child Kidnapping. MAX], speaking gently yet piercingly, "Child, I'm not lying to you, dragons have indeed disappeared for hundreds of years."

Riyao leaped out from behind the bar, skipping over Makarov and rushing straight to Natsu, grinning broadly and opening his arms as if to be his father. "Be my son! Hahaha!"

Makarov's face turned as black as ink on the spot, and without saying a word, he raised his hand and delivered a full-power "Iron Fist of Love" to Riyao's head.

Riyao shot out like a cannonball, crashing through the guild's back wall with a loud bang. He was completely embedded in the crack, leaving only his round, plump butt sticking out in the hall, which was quite conspicuous.

On the other side of the wall, a stray kitten that had been hiding in a pile of junk and stealing leftover dried fish was startled by the sudden appearance of a large, living person, and its fur stood on end like a little hedgehog.

Riyao, covered in dust and dirt, poked half its head out of the hole, its face smeared with wall grime. It forced a smile at the ruffled kitten and greeted it in a soft voice, "Meow~"

The fluffy kitten wasn't buying his attempts to get close; it grabbed the half-eaten dried fish and pounced on it with a howl.

With its pink paw pads and sharp little claws, it unleashed a series of powerful "Meow Meow Punches" that landed squarely on Riyao's face.

After scratching him, without waiting for him to cry out, it grabbed the dried fish and darted out of the gap in the backyard, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Only Riyao was left with a face covered in light pink cat paw prints, rubbing his face and cursing at the empty opening.

In the main hall, Makarov used his "Fairy Tail is your home" rhetoric to sweet-talk the innocent dragon slayer who had just come out of the mountains, making him dizzy and agreeing to join the guild without saying a word.

Makarov stroked his white beard, his eyes narrowing into slits with laughter, unaware that he had just acquired the title of Fairy Tail's future number one demolition boss.

After a while, the Riyao cricket emerged from the hole in the wall and stayed there, as if it were playing some strange game.

After the Riyao down, in the very center of the hall, the newly arrived pink-haired boy Natsu and Gray, who had just found his clothes and fastened his pants, were somehow arguing.

In their haste, the two leaned forward, face to face, nose to nose, so close they could count each other's eyelashes, their eyes meeting with a sizzling, spark-like exchange.

The palpable tension, the "I disliked you from the first glance" vibe, almost made the guild's chandelier sway.

The guild members who had initially gathered around to watch the spectacle instantly and in perfect unison took three large steps back, pulling out small chairs and bottles with a clatter.

Their eyes shone like live light bulbs, eagerly awaiting the start of this brawl between the two hotheads—they were incredibly knowledgeable about the situation.