Welcome Home

Celestial Dragon Shirou laughed and did not refute it.

Indeed, it was just something said for appearances' sake.

"Three days. Give me three days to prepare. By then, I'll gradually place the things you need here. You can come in and take them yourself."

"Thanks! Though thanking myself somehow feels meaningless. Haha..."

Fairy Tail World, Kingdom of Fiore.

"I'm back!"

Before Natsu even entered, his shout came in first.

"You're back! Natsu, Happy."

"You caused another huge mess this time..."

As Natsu and Happy entered, the already noisy Fairy Tail Guild became even louder.

Arguments, drinking, fighting—amid Natsu and the others' racket, quite a few tables and chairs in the middle of the guild were smashed.

"Cut it out, all of you!"

With an angry roar, Third Hokage Makarov's body grew enormous.

That shout made every fighting member stop. The previous clamor and noise gradually subsided.

Seeing this, Makarov shrank back down and pulled out a stack of documents.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly sensed an extremely oppressive and dangerous aura coming from all around him, making his breathing unknowingly quicken.

"What is this...?"

Everyone in the guild, including Makarov, turned toward the entrance at the same time.

At that moment, the guild became utterly silent. The bodies of many members trembled slightly.

"What the hell is going on? Is the sky falling?"

"That direction! Something is coming!"

"Why can't my body move at all? Is this... fear?"

Move! Why can't I move at all?

Even I, the guild master, was like this. One could only imagine how those children felt.

Makarov desperately wanted to grow larger again and shield everyone from the storm, but no matter how hard he tried, his body seemed disconnected from him. It kept trembling, yet would not move an inch.

Damn it!

Why had an enemy of this level come knocking? Could Natsu and the others have gotten themselves into trouble?

Amid the panicked and bewildered gazes of everyone in the guild, a dark-skinned Black-Haired Youth walked in.

"Master, Natsu, Gray, you're all here? And Lucy too... Come to think of it, today was Lucy's first day joining the guild."

Makarov laboriously lifted his foot, stepped forward, and asked:

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Do you have a child named Shirou here? He is fourteen years and two months old."

"No. Are you here to commission a job?"

"No, I came to join Fairy Tail. Or rather, I came back to report in."

"You... want to join Fairy Tail?"

Makarov stared at the youth in disbelief, his face filled with astonishment as he briefly wondered whether he had misheard.

Why would a mage of this level want to join Fairy Tail?

Was it for the First Master's relics?

But before him, even the First Master's relics amounted to nothing.

"If you truly want to join Fairy Tail, how about reining in the killing intent around you first?"

"Uh... sorry. I killed too many people over the past four hundred years, so it's a little hard to control right away."

Shirou tried for a moment and withdrew the faint trace of killing intent leaking from his body.

The next moment, that oppressive feeling vanished completely, and the guild members all let out a sigh of relief.

"That scared me to death. My back is soaked in sweat."

"Too terrifying! I've never seen a mage of this level before."

"Yeah, even that Gildarts probably couldn't take a single punch from him, right?"

"Why would someone like this join Fairy Tail? Has our guild's reputation spread that far already?"

Welcome Home

Chapter 29: Welcome Home

Shirou glanced around, sat down opposite Cana, picked up a cup, and filled it with wine.

"Don't steal my booze, bastard!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Cana realized how terrifyingly strong he was. She hurriedly covered her mouth, her face showing an expression of, "Oh no, I said the wrong thing."

"Haha... There's no need to be so scared. It's not like I'm some murderous maniac."

Shirou took a sip of wine, then said:

"Would you like to hear a story?"

No one objected. Even Natsu, normally the noisiest one, was as quiet as a puppet.

"I was originally an orphan. In the summer of 781, I joined the Fairy Tail Guild."

"How could that be?" Makarov blurted out. "If that were true, there's no way I could have forgotten you."

"The story is a little long. Please do not interrupt in the middle. Thank you."

"Of course, please continue."

"In 784, which was this year, Fairy Tail's main members went together to Tenrou Island for the S-Class Mage Promotion Exam. Along the way, Heart of the Demon Guild launched an attack on us."

At that moment, Makarov suddenly realized that Shirou might be talking about the future.

"...After that, Black Dragon King Acnologia attacked. First Master Mavis failed when she activated one of the Three Great Magics, [Fairy Sphere]. Master, Natsu, Happy, and Gray died one after another."

"In the end, only Lucy and I escaped alive."

Thinking of what had happened there, a trace of hatred unconsciously appeared on Shirou's face.

At that moment, the killing intent around him leaked out uncontrollably, and every guild member once again felt a terror as though the heavens were collapsing.

Seeing this, Shirou closed his eyes and composed himself for a while. Once his emotions settled, the killing intent faded as well.

"After that, with my heart full of hatred, I searched everywhere for a way to revive you."

"At dusk five days later, I passed through the Eclipse Gate. I wanted to return to one month earlier, before the S-Class Mage Promotion Exam had happened, and change that tragedy."

"But because I lacked information about the Eclipse Gate and used it improperly, I did not return to one month earlier. Instead, I traveled through time and arrived four hundred years in the past."

"By a fortunate coincidence, I learned Dark Dragon Slayer Magic."

"The era four hundred years ago was filled with dragons. I believed it was an opportunity, so I stayed in that era to train in Dragon Slayer Magic and become stronger."

"At first, they were merely friendly sparring matches. But as my Dragon Slayer Magic deepened, my temper became increasingly violent."

"During one battle, I unconsciously struck to kill."

"Afterward, that dragon's relatives came to take revenge on me, and I killed them too."

"Later, I killed more and more dragons, gradually lost my reason, and became a monster that acted on instinct."

"Over those four hundred years, I accidentally destroyed countless cities and countries."

"And this morning, for certain reasons, my consciousness suddenly returned."

"Now, I have returned to Fairy Tail to report in."

As he said that, Shirou rolled up his sleeve and raised his arm high, revealing the Fairy Tail Guild emblem tattoo on his arm.

"Waaah..." Lucy suddenly began crying. "That's so moving! A reunion after four hundred years... After losing his mind, his longing for Fairy Tail allowed him to recover again after four hundred years of time..."

The next moment, led by Makarov, every guild member raised their right hand and made the Fairy Tail gesture.

It was an incredibly unbelievable story, but with his strength, there was no need for him to lie or make up such a tale.

Moreover, Makarov's instincts told him that it was all true.

Therefore, there was only one thing to say to this family member and companion who had wandered outside for four hundred years:

"You've been through a lot. Welcome home!"

Pirate World.

"Now, I can finally set sail."

Though he was only eight years old, after sharing Black Dragon King's strength, he had leapt to become the strongest person in the current world.

Furthermore, his supremely powerful physique, combined with the water-style ninjutsu enhancement from the Water Shadow's side, had greatly advanced his Devil Fruit development.

The ability to develop Time Freeze was no longer too far away.

"Hyman, Hyman!"

The middle-aged man in butler's attire hurried over.

"Young Master, what are your orders?"

"Prepare a ship. I'm going to sea."

"Where does Young Master intend to travel? Would Sabaody Archipelago be an acceptable destination?"

"No, I'm going on a Four Seas Pilgrimage. Also, bring along the slaves and servants in our family who have business talent."

"This... If Young Master wishes to play at doing business, why not find some people locally in Sabaody Archipelago..."

Clearly, he was underestimating him.

But there was nothing that could be done about it.

After all, no matter how strong he was, he only looked like an eight-year-old child.

"Go prepare it. Three hours should be enough. Or are you going to confine me to the house?"

"What are you saying? I'll go make preparations immediately."

Butler Hyman hurried away. Once he had left Shirou's sight, he immediately took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted the Celestial Dragon couple who were out enjoying themselves.

"Master, something terrible has happened. Young Master suddenly said he wants to undertake a Four Seas Pilgrimage and told me to prepare a ship. He plans to set sail in three hours."

"Oh, oh...! After eight years, he's finally willing to leave the house? Hahaha... For eight years, no matter how wonderfully the two of us described the outside world, he showed no interest at all and was always unwilling to go out."

At that moment, Butler Hyman inwardly cried that things were bad. This clearly looked like they were going to agree.

"Master, a Four Seas Pilgrimage would take far too long. If that truly is the destination, the voyage would take at least a year and a half to complete."

"Haha... Children usually lose interest after three minutes, so there's no need to worry. He definitely won't be able to stand the dull life at sea. Besides, it's rare for him to finally be willing to go out. As his parents, we naturally have to support him. Go make preparations! Do as he says and set sail in three hours."

"Yes, I'll go make preparations right away."

"Don't worry about safety. I'll have Sora send Marines to serve as your escort."

"Yes."

At the same time, in the direction of the Red Line, a Fish-Man had climbed to the summit with his bare hands and was racking his brain, trying to infiltrate it.

As he sat atop the mountain to rest and gazed toward Mary Geoise, his eyes were filled with endless rage.

Wait until nightfall to act? No. The blazing fire in his heart had driven him nearly mad.

Those bastards who took others as slaves as though it were only natural had to be taught a bloody lesson.

Trying to rescue slaves from Mary Geoise? That was simply impossible.