Troia

Since Natsu, the demolition mastermind, officially joined Fairy Tail, the frequency of guild brawls has noticeably increased.

Often, it's Natsu and Gray who start things, getting involved with many other members.

Makarov's wealth is inversely proportional to the frequency of guild brawls.

At that moment, Makarov, with a half-smoked, unlit cigar dangling from his lips, slumped on the bar table, sighing as he looked at the bill.

I suddenly miss the days when I was just an ordinary member, and I could be the demolition boss.

These kids are even more troublesome than before, causing minor disturbances every three days and major upheavals every five, tearing down guilds faster than saving money.

Now he has reason to suspect that the second-generation Precht ran away because he couldn't stand the commotion.

He shook his head to clear his mind of the strange thought, then waved towards the easel in the corner.

Beside the easel, Riyao, sporting a topknot hairstyle reminiscent of Nezha, was leaning to one side as a model, while Reedus was applying paint to the canvas with a paintbrush.

Riyao, caught a glimpse of Makarov's gesture, and his alarm bells went off instantly. He closed his eyes and pretended not to see it.

"You brat, come here right now!"

When Makarov saw that he was pretending not to see him, he started yelling at the top of his lungs, shaking his cigar off the bar.

Riyao covered his ears with one hand, shook his head like a rattle drum, hummed an off-key Doraemon song, and deliberately smeared paint all over his face.

"Oh dear? The paint on the Reedus is almost dry, I can't hear you!"

Reedus is finished.

The background is a bar counter. Riyao is leaning against the bar counter, his head slightly tilted, his eyes closed, and the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. Besides his bun, there are several large bumps on his head that Makarov punched. Overall, he looks a bit dead... well, very peaceful.

Makarov blew on the cool boiled water and calmly took a sip.

Natsu and Gray stood trembling beside Riyao, not knowing why Makarov had summoned them.

"Stop pretending, get up quickly, I have something to tell you."

Makarov kicked Riyao's bun.

"It's definitely not good news, I don't want to hear it."

Riyao wiped the paint off his face, sat cross-legged on the ground, and deliberately made a resistant gesture.

"I also need to be a model; Reedus's painting is going to be hung on the guild wall."

"If you handle it well, I'll allow you to participate in the S-level assessment this year."

Makarov lit the water, glancing at Riyao's reaction.

"Then I demand a direct promotion to S-rank!"

Riyao sat up abruptly, trying to get a higher reward.

"Never mind then."

Makarov drank half of the flammable boiled water.

"Hey! No, no!"

Riyao quickly raised his hands in surrender, saying demurely, "Tell me about it first, what if I'm interested?"

"Take Gray and Natsu out on a quest."

Makarov poured whiskey into the glass.

Natsu instantly bristled, clenching his fists and jumping up.

"Huh? Why should I take on jobs with this cunning bastard?!"

"That fire-breathing idiot is right!"

Gray seconded the motion.

Makarov ignored their complaints, took a sip of his flammable oolong tea, and pushed the order form towards them.

Riyao held the commission form he had just pulled from the guild counter between his fingers, his brows furrowed into an infinity symbol.

His entire face was filled with utter bewilderment, and he uttered a drawn-out question, "Huh? Star-Moon Grass?!"

Upon hearing this, Gray immediately leaned closer, his eyes widening even more than the ice hockey puck he had just made.

"Star-Moon Grass? Never heard of it! What kind of herb is that?"

Natsu, his face covered in crumbs from the honey pancakes fresh from the guild cafeteria, munched on them and tugged at Riyao's arm, his cheeks bulging.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?! What does it say up there?!"

The two turned their heads simultaneously, rolling their eyes so wide they could circle the guild three times over. This son-in-law...

Riyao glanced down at the order form again, and his gaze froze the moment it landed on the location field at the bottom. His fingers trembled so much he almost tore the paper, and he raised his voice in disbelief.

"What?! The Tidal Forest?! That wretched place is not only ridiculously far away, but it's also teeming with ferocious monsters. A month would be a fast time to get there and back!"

He instantly understood Makarov's ulterior motive: he wanted to send Gray and Natsu, those two demolition maniacs, to that wretched place to suffer! And he wanted to drag him down with him.

I had just made eye contact with Makarov and was about to slam my fist on the table and complain about this lousy request when the old man suddenly pounced on me.

A pair of wrinkled little hands covered his mouth, the beard on his chin sticking up like little flags from the sudden movement. He leaned close to his ear and whispered, deliberately drawing out the tone.

"You don't want your S-Class Exam to fall through, do you?"

Riyao's eyes widened instantly, his pupils freezing in place as if in an earthquake. He never expected that this usually upright-looking old man with thick eyebrows and big eyes would say such a thing!

In the end, he could only hang his head, looking dejected like a frostbitten eggplant, and sigh resignedly as he clutched the commission form.

"Fine, fine, I admit defeat."

Riyao tossed his neatly packed mage's bag over his shoulder, pondered for a moment, and thought, "I shouldn't have forgotten anything—phone, charging cable... oh no, those aren't here."

(╥╥)

A moment later, Natsu, his face covered in crumbs from eating a honey pancake, dragged Riyao over. As soon as they turned into the plaza, they saw the sturdy security guard Lao Wang, grabbing Gray by the back of his collar.

They dragged him towards the guard post like a ruffled chick, his Gray chest making people dizzy, and he was kicking his legs high in the air.

"Riyao, Natsu, save me!"

Riyao stopped in his tracks, looked up at the sun at a 45-degree angle, and exclaimed how nice the weather was.

Natsu was laughing so hard he could barely stand, clutching his stomach and jumping up and down, slapping his thighs. "Haha! Gray, you actually got dragged away by the security guard? That's so lame!"

Riyao rolled his eyes in exasperation and stepped forward to explain to the security guard. Fortunately, Gray had done this kind of thing many times before, and the security guard, Lao Wang, knew the Fairy Tail members, so they were released quickly.

The train started moving with a clang, and just fifty meters from the station, Natsu's half-eaten pancake fell to the ground with a thud.

His face instantly turned as white as Gray's ice crystals, his knuckles gripping the armrest of the seat turned white, his stomach churned, and he leaned against the carriage wall, dry heaving.

"Whoa... This metal box is shaking like it's been breathe fire by Fire Dragon..."

Gray, having shaken off his earlier embarrassment, leaned over and poked Natsu's puffed-up cheeks, laughing so hard he almost fell over.

"Haha! Natsu gets carsick? You're Dragon Slayer! That's so weak!"

"This is... a side effect of Dragon Slayer Magic..."

Riyao thought for a moment, then unleashed "Troia" on Natsu instantly revived and started fighting with Gray.

Natsu gets motion sickness so early, what a gift! I wonder if it's a matter of his constitution, considering he was modified by Zeref.