Mirajane's Resentment!

Acid!

It's too sour!

Mirajane felt like her whole heart was being completely soaked in lemon juice!

Back when Mirajane brought her younger siblings to Magnolia with Jiang Bai and first stepped through the gates of Fairy Tail.

Jiang Bai had long since shed his childishness and grown into a tall, handsome, and composed young man.

Although Jiang Bai was equally charming in his youth, he even became the white moonlight in Mirajane's heart during her teenage years.

But... once it's missed, it's missed!

Erza saw it with her own eyes!

Grandpa Makarov even held him!

I've seen all those greasy old men, like Macao and Wakaba!

Almost every veteran core member of the guild has a unique and heartwarming memory of "Young Jiang Bai"!

Only myself!

We completely missed Jiang Bai's cutest, softest, and most playful stage as a baby!

I should have gone to Sun Village this time.

Mirajane lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the photograph in his hand.

In the photo, Xiao Jiang Bai has chubby cheeks and a pair of big, dark eyes that are warily glancing at the camera. Her originally well-fitting black casual clothes are dragging on the muddy ground, and her two pink little legs are struggling to step on her boots.

That adorable contrast between her fierce yet chubby cheeks and her fierce appearance, which ultimately lacked any real threat, was like the most lethal poison, tearing apart Mirajane's deeply hidden maternal instincts and girlish heart.

"Waaaaah... That's so unfair..."

Mirajane sniffed, her nose stinging, and carefully stacked each photo in her hand neatly together, afraid that her fingerprints would smudge the edges of the photographic paper.

While greedily scanning every pixel of detail in the photograph, he could hear the loud banter of Makarov and the others.

"Oh dear! Back in the day, Jiang Bai would get a ring of white foam around his mouth when he drank milk!"

"Exactly! Back then, he insisted it was the light overflowing from magic, refusing to admit he hadn't wiped his mouth clean!"

Listening to these past events that she had never participated in, Mirajane's regret and grievances erupted like a flash flood, completely out of control.

He slowly raised his head.

Mirajane bit her lower lip, her large eyes filled with tears, her eyes red and swollen, filled with endless resentment and accusation. Across half a bar counter, she stared intently at Jiang Bai, who was standing to the side holding a glass of orange juice.

Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill, and her expression was one of utter despair, like a kitten abandoned by the whole world.

Jiang Bai, who was slowly and deliberately swallowing his orange juice, suddenly froze.

A sudden, bone-chilling coldness suddenly ran down my back.

Turning his head, Jiang Bai met Mirajane's tearful, aggrieved gaze, and a large, genuine bead of cold sweat immediately rolled down his forehead.

Jiang Bai's lips twitched slightly, and he raised his hand to rub his temples, feeling a tingling sensation on his scalp.

"Hey, Mira..."

Jiang Bai put down the glass, raised his hands in front of his chest in a gesture of surrender, his tone full of helplessness at the woman's thought process.

"I can't help but look at you with that resentful gaze, as if I've abandoned my wife and children."

Mirajane sniffed.

"Xiao Bai... how could you do this..."

"Why is it that everyone else has seen what you looked like as a child a long time ago, but I've never seen it with my own eyes..."

"We finally got such a fantastic opportunity in Sun Village, and you turned back so quickly! Wendy said you only lasted for less than a minute! Not even a minute!!"

Mirajane, her hands twisting the rag on the bar, tearfully made an unreasonable request.

"Xiao Bai... didn't you just create that brand new 'Regression Magic' in Sun Village?"

"Please... just cast a Regression Magic on yourself and turn back into that six or seven-year-old little boy in the photo, so I can pinch his cheeks myself, okay!"

"Just three minutes! No! Two minutes is enough!! Please, Xiao Bai Brother!!"

Puff!

Natsu and Gray, who were standing behind, immediately spat out their mouths of water.

Others might not know, but they certainly did. Although she was gentle and virtuous on a daily basis, Mirajane was once Demon!

At this moment, she's acting like a little girl who couldn't buy her beloved doll, publicly throwing a tantrum and calling Jiang Bai "brother"?!

The entire guild hall was instantly turned into stone statues by the rough-looking mages.

Hit hard by that soft, aggrieved "Xiao Bai Brother," Jiang Bai's lips twitched wildly, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Jiang Bai ruthlessly shattered Mirajane's unrealistic fantasy on the spot.

Stop! Immediately get rid of those dangerous thoughts in your head!

"It's not that I didn't want to, but the Regression Magic spell I improved is based entirely on the inclusiveness of human magic. It can only selectively strip away and suppress the target's energy and physical attributes, and it can't change bone size and life form like a demon's Regression Curse!"

Even if I suppress all my magic power to one percent right now, what's standing in front of you will still be the same as before; I can't conjure up the short-armed, short-legged little boy you want.

Mirajane blinked her big, teary eyes, and the grievance in her eyes not only did not lessen, but became even more intense.

"Then... what about the original demonic Regression Curse? Didn't you learn it in just one glance?"

Jiang Bai rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Demonic Curse are a distorted product of the Book of Zeref, driven entirely by negative and violent emotions. They are fundamentally different from magic."

The harsh truth came crashing down on me.

Mirajane deflated instantly, slumping limply onto the bar counter like a punctured balloon.

Her fair cheeks were pressed against the cold marble, her hands pressed the stack of photos tightly against her cheeks, and she was still whimpering softly in a pitiful voice.

"Waaaaah... stingy... big devil..."

"Xiao Bai is the most unreasonable and ruthless villain in the world..."

Although he kept complaining, Mirajane's eyes remained fixed on Xiao Jiang Bai's chubby face in the photo, and a silly, infatuated smile even crept onto his lips.

Mirajane extended a slender index finger and gently poked the tip of Xiao Jiang Bai's nose in the photo.

"But... she's so cute..."

"I must be fully responsible for this stack of photos, and I must keep them for life!"

"Anyone who dares to steal one of these cards, I'll blast them to pieces with Satan Soul and throw them into the moat to feed the fish!!"

Macao and Wakaba, who had been standing nearby intending to sneak in and steal a couple of photos as talismans, shuddered at the sound of this gentle warning filled with terrifying killing intent, and withdrew their claws at lightning speed as if electrocuted.

Erza stood by, watching this scene, shaking her head and chuckling helplessly.

Wendy clapped her hands, her eyes crinkling into two beautiful crescent moons as she laughed.

Lucy stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Mirajane, who was glued to the bar and completely absorbed in looking at photos of young boys, and then at Jiang Bai, who stood to the side with a look of utter despair, hands in his pockets, continuing to drink orange juice.

The guild hall was once again completely filled with the familiar noise, smashing, laughter, and clinking of glasses.

Outside the window, a gentle breeze from Magnolia fluttered the Fairy Tail banner hanging high on the guild roof.

Although the mission to the Sun Village has come to a successful conclusion, the dark clouds of the Tartaros still linger on the distant horizon.

But at this moment.

Inside the bustling and noisy guild hall belonging to Fairy Tail.

Only the warmth and comfort of family lingers between everyone's smiling faces.