This Is the Life

When the three of them emerged from the Tidal Forest, carrying the gleaming, straight wooden stick and trudging through sticky, decaying leaves, bear blood, and alpaca saliva, they looked like crazy kids who had just rolled in a swamp.

Natsu's messy hair was covered with half-dry bear fur and bits of grass.

Gray's coat was covered in bits of grass.

Riyao's tattered coat was filled with freshly picked Star-Moon Grass, and a few alpaca wools that hadn't been completely removed still clung to the wooden stick, jingling as he walked. The scratches on the back of his hands were still red.

They had only walked half a mile when the hot spring inn with its blue cloth banner fluttering at the entrance of town came into view. Natsu's eyes lit up, and he strode off.

Gray grabbed him by the back of his collar and rolled his eyes so wide they reached the back of his head.

What's the rush?

Riyao, holding a wooden stick, leaned against the banner pole, swinging his feet, which were covered in grass clippings, as he examined the banner.

"Wow, this place looks a hundred times better than those stinky puddles in the forest! Let's hurry in and scrub ourselves!"

After paying for their room, the three of them immediately plunged into the steaming hot spring pool.

Riyao leaned back on the stone platform by the pool, his neck tilted back, so content that his eyes were almost closed. He casually stretched his foot out towards Gray, splashing the other man's face with hot spring water.

This is life~

Gray wiped his face, closed his eyes, and leaned against the pool wall, his voice soft and lacking its usual sarcastic tone.

"Ah~ Great, finally out of that damn forest of drool."

Natsu clung to the tiles by the pool, kicking his feet in the water, splashing water everywhere. Small orange flames were already rising from his fists, and his eyes shone like tiny suns.

"Haha, let me heat up this hot spring! That way, soaking in it will be much more enjoyable!"

"No!" x2

Gray and Riyao both bristled; one reached out and froze Natsu's fiery wrist, while the other grabbed his arm and shoved him into the pool.

Natsu struggled and kicked, splashing water everywhere. The three of them made so much noise that the water in the hot spring rippled half a meter high, and even the bath curtain by the pool was lifted and swayed back and forth.

Just as they were having a good time, a hotel owner wearing a faded cotton apron came over carrying a wooden basin, waving his hand with a gentle smile.

"Guests, I'm so sorry, but the temperature of our hot spring is fixed. If we were to use magic to raise the temperature, the wooden beams wouldn't be able to withstand the heat."

The three of them grinned, quickly stopped fooling around, and sheepishly climbed out of the pool, wrapping themselves in the bathrobes provided by the hotel.

Natsu pouted and muttered, "You're such a cheapskate, burning it won't hurt..."

Gray used Ice Magic to freeze his wet hair into strands, and complained, "If you really burned it, we'd be sleeping on the streets feeding on mosquitoes tonight."

Riyao's shoulders trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter.

Just as she stepped out of the bathhouse, she took out a drink that Gray had specially frozen with Ice Magic.

The three of them moved in unison, tilting their heads back and gulping it down, the sounds of them swallowing making a small chorus.

Natsu drank too fast and choked, coughing so hard that he sprayed soda all over Gray's face. Gray immediately raised his hand and conjured ice shards, freezing Natsu's nose into a little red radish.

Riyao laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, "Haha, serves you right for being so eager to grab it!"

Finally, the three of them leaned against the bluestone slab at the entrance of the inn, wiped the foam from their mouths, and exclaimed in unison, "Ah~ That's awesome!"

Gray suddenly nudged Riyao's elbow, his eyes lighting up with curiosity. "By the way, I've been wondering for a while now, Riyao, how do you have so much magic power?"

Riyao was picking at the bark on a stick when he casually glanced up and let out an annoying whistle. "Huh? I don't have much magic power either."

Gray rolled his eyes so wide they seemed to reach the back of his head, and flicked a shard of ice from his fingertip onto the grass at his feet.

"Come on, when you were fighting that Iron-Maned Demon Bear the other day, you cast over a dozen amplification, healing, and control spells in a row without even breaking a sweat. If it were me, I would have run out of mana and be squatting on the ground eating dirt by now."

Riyao scratched his messy hair, a mischievous Versailles smile playing on his lips, and patted his chest while shaking his leg.

"Oh~ It's just a mixture of magic and life force, nothing to worry about."

Wow! That sounds amazing!

Natsu jumped up instantly, squeezing the soda can in his hand even flatter, making a crisp "click" sound, and then grabbed Riyao's sleeve and shook it violently.

"I want to learn this!!"

"Learn my ass."

Gray shot Natsu directly in the forehead with an ice shard, causing him to thrash around in pain while clutching his head.

"With a brain like yours, you actually want to study this?"

Riyao also kicked Natsu in the butt, sending him staggering forward two steps, and laughed gleefully.

"It's already a miracle that an idiot like you could even learn Dragon Slayer Magic, and you still want to learn this?"

Natsu, clutching his backside and puffing out his cheeks, retorted, "I'm not stupid!"

If Igneel heard this, he'd probably say, "Taking care of a baby is really tough."

Fortunately, the Riyao magic makes Natsu immune to motion sickness; otherwise, Natsu probably would have died on the way back.

What a pity~ This magic actually develops resistance, hehe.

The one-month period has ended! Fairy Tail has welcomed back its most severe demolition boss.

One of the guilds, number unknown, went offline first. The carvings on the top of the door shattered into pieces, and even the hinges were twisted into a pretzel shape.

Bang!

The setting sun cast long shadows of the three people, who stood against the golden-red afterglow in front of the warped gate, striking incredibly flamboyant poses.

The guild members, who had been busy at work, suddenly stopped what they were doing. Some were wiping cups, some were practicing basic magic, and some were munching on bread. Everything in their hands froze in mid-air, and they all stared at the three guys at the main entrance.

Makarov and Erza, even more stern than the demolition boss, narrowed their eyes.

Riyao shielded Gray and Natsu, casually shoving the Star-Moon Grass he'd been carrying into their arms, and whispered to them, "Go inside. Here, could you hold onto this Star-Moon Grass for me? I need to tie my shoelaces."

Natsu didn't think much of it and headed into the guild with the heavy Star-Moon Grass in his arms. Gray rolled his eyes even more, grabbed Natsu's arm, and followed behind, muttering complaints under his breath.

"You'd better hold it tight, or Erza will make you clean the floor again."

Erza silently crept up behind Natsu and Gray as they stepped into the guild hall, placing her hands on their shoulders.

The force was as steady as a welded iron hoop. Natsu, who was swaying back and forth with the Star-Moon Grass while humming a tuneless melody, instantly froze into a wooden stake rooted to the spot.

Gray was about to complain about Riyao tying his shoelaces when he was suddenly pressed down half an inch on the shoulder, his wide-eyed expression freezing instantly.

The two of them, like puppets whose pause button had been pressed, stiffly turned their necks, their faces contorted into pretzels.

Natsu's lips trembled like leaves in the autumn wind, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a shaky sound.

"Ai... Erza..."

Gray and Natsu lay peacefully on the ground as Riyao slowly walked into the guild, grinning as he passed the two.