Another Year of Advancement

According to the typical time-travel novel formula, whenever this situation occurs, the protagonist's life dimension will definitely undergo a leap, or at the very least, there will be a breakthrough and improvement. But... never mind, for the sake of my brain cells, I'll just follow the formula.

"Buzz!"

After the headache subsided, Old Suo... well, in his spirit form, Old Suo felt a warm current surge through his body. Then he discovered that he could clearly see the creatures below and hear their voices. (In short... Old Suo had gained a full map scan, and a holographic scan with both sound and image capabilities.)

Just as Old Suo was curiously trying out his new ability, a sharp buzzing sound entered his ears, making him feel as if he could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"What the heck! What happened now?"

After covering his ears with his hands, His Majesty the Emperor squinted and looked toward the source of the sound.

"This is... a wormhole?"

"No! This should be Anima, could it be..."

As soon as Old Suo finished speaking, a small blue-black dot floated out of the wormhole.

"It really is..."

"Buzz!"

Just as Old Suo finished speaking, the mysterious force that had disappeared earlier reappeared, but this time it didn't try to drag Old Suo Old Suo to a higher place; instead, it pulled him down and slammed him downwards.

"What the hell! You can't be this ripped off!?"

Although Old Suo protested loudly, the mysterious force completely ignored him and continued to busy itself with its own affairs.

"Damn it!"

After his resistance proved futile, Old Suo stared wide-eyed, carefully memorizing the direction in which the blue-black liquid had fallen.

Ah~~

After a startled shout, His Majesty the Emperor had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, followed by the pain that his soul had experienced earlier.

"Cure!"

With the full force of the green light, the headache dissipated even faster.

"Teleport!"

"Buzz!"

After taking care of his body, Old Suo didn't hesitate and sent himself directly to the place he remembered.

Ah~~

Upon hearing the exclamation from above, a peculiar smile appeared on His Majesty the Emperor's lips.

"We made it!"

After saying that, Old Suo steered his small, bluish-white boat toward a creature in freefall.

"Thump!"

Because both were moving at high speeds and were moving in opposite directions, a collision sound was heard quickly from the deck of the small boat.

"Whoosh!"

Because the free-falling organisms gain a lot of kinetic energy from the spatial vortex, when the two meet, their final direction of motion is diagonally downward.

"Rise!"

With the boatman's help, the small, bluish-white boat glided in a semi-circular arc before gradually returning to a stable flight.

"Small..."

Seeing the boy sleeping so sweetly, the boatman swallowed back the words he was about to say.

"Hehe! Since we already know where he is, why rush things?"

With that in mind, Old Suo threw a silver-white magic ball into the boy's body, and then carried him back to the spot where he had crashed earlier.

"Knock knock!"

"Knock knock!"

"Old Suo, open the door!"

"Open the door!"

"If you don't open the door, I'm going to barge in!"

Upon hearing the shouts outside, the boatman, who had just returned from the rescue site, was instantly dumbfounded.

"Holy crap! What's wrong with this young lady now?" (Old Suo's inner monologue)

"Bang!"

"Splash!"

Just as Old Suo was completely baffled, a red light shone, and then his door turned into countless fragments.

"Sand-Shaped Shield"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A moment later, the room quieted down, so Old Suo peeked out to check what was happening in front of him. The next second, his pupils saw a puffed-up pink cheek.

"Kana, what happened to you..."

"Aaaaaah~~" (PS: This is a scream from a certain person)

After pulling the fickle Soe's ear close to her face, Miss Kana angrily said, "Old Suo, where's my share?"

"Wh... what?"

"Are you still pretending to be stupid?! (Kana)"

"Fine! Fine! Today I'll let you die knowing why!" (Kana)

As she spoke, the brown-haired girl pulled the soft thing in her hand and walked out of the room, then pointed in the direction of the girls' dormitory.

"Tell me, have you fallen for that new little Fairy Tail?"

"Huh?!"

"Hmph! Still playing dumb!"

Looking at the sulking brown-haired girl, His Majesty the Emperor said inappropriately, "Your Majesty, please just say it: I'm truly an idiot now!"

Upon hearing this, the brown-haired girl tightened her grip even further.

Just as His Majesty the Emperor was lamenting this, she spoke up, "From the moment we met until now, no matter what you give to others, I always receive the exact same gift. You always make time for me, no matter what. But... but after that little Fairy Tail came, you only cared about her and ignored me. Now you've even secretly given her such a beautiful gift, and you still won't admit you've fallen for someone else!"

"Pfft!"

"Ha ha!"

"Ha ha!"

Looking at the person laughing heartily, the brown-haired girl held up the soft object between her fingers and said coldly, "What? I've seen through your thoughts, so you're planning to cover everything up with laughter?"

After his laughter was stopped by the pain, the fickle suspect, So, said, "Miss Kana, could you please let go of my hand?"

"Hmph! Do you think I'm stupid? If I let go, you'll just run away right there!"

He shed three crocodile tears for his honesty, and then Old Suo explained, "Kana, you're overthinking it. I just don't want others to see me like this."

"Hmph! Now you know how to be ashamed? Where were you before!"

"Yes, yes, yes... it's all my fault! Can you let go now?"

"Hmph! I bet you can't escape!"

After saying that, the brown-haired girl released her hand.

After regaining his freedom, Old Suo rubbed his ears and said, "Kana, things aren't what you think. The reason I was so concerned about Erza is because she just went through something bad and has only recently come to our guild. She's not quite used to life here yet."

"Then... what about the gift?"

"Her eyes were a little uncomfortable that day, so I gave her that thing, that's all!"

"Real?"

"Real!"

"Then... is there anything else?"

"That thing was something I made out of boredom. If you like it, I'll make you an even nicer pair tomorrow!" (Great Owl: Don't listen to this guy's nonsense, those contact lenses were specially prepared for Erza!)

"Fine! I'll believe you this time, but if I still can't see anything tomorrow... hmph!"

"Don't worry! Just wait for the surprise tomorrow!"

After receiving Old Suo's assurance, the brown-haired girl nodded and left the boys' dormitory satisfied.

Once Kana's figure disappeared from sight, Old Suo immediately restored the door panel on the ground to its original state, and then boarded the express Silver Express to embark on the journey of preparing the gift.

While Old Suo was running himself ragged trying to find a gift, Prince Jellal had successfully traveled through time, awoke from his slumber.

"Uh-huh!"

After opening his eyes, His Your Highness the Prince looked around and then began to sort through the information in his mind.

"Who was that person, and why did they save me?"

"What does that pattern represent?"

After racking his brains to no avail, His Your Highness the Prince shook his head, then picked up his neatly packed bundle and walked outside.

"Uh-huh!"

After raising his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight, His Your Highness the Prince carefully observed the surrounding situation.

"Is this... Asland?"

"It's so beautiful!"

Just as His Your Highness the Prince was sighing, a Squirrel Rabbit with brown markings (borrowed from the cockroach-rat) ran to his feet and rubbed against his trouser leg.

"Hehe!"

He smiled at the adorable creature in front of him, and then the Your Highness the Prince couldn't help but put his hand on the creature's head and rub it.

"Hello, little one!"

The Squirrel Rabbit seemed to understand the Prince's greeting and chirped at him for a while.

Although the Great Owl couldn't understand what the Squirrel Rabbit meant, His Your Highness the Prince did.

"In that case, thank you for your trouble!"

After His Your Highness the Prince finished speaking, the Squirrel Rabbit nodded to him and then hopped and skipped away.

Over the next few days, His Your Highness the Prince toured the entire forest with the Squirrel Rabbit, meeting all sorts of inhabitants. As the tour came to an end, a thought popped into His Your Highness the Prince's mind... well, I just counted carefully, there were actually two thoughts.

"Anima must absolutely not appear here!"

"Since I created this sin, I will stop it myself!"

"Ta-da!"

"This is my new gift, isn't it beautiful!"

Looking at the Colorful Pupils in front of him, Laxus whispered in her ear, "It's just a pair of glasses, is it necessary to force Old Suo to work overnight to finish it?"

"Hmph! You boys are all such jerks!"

"Hey, I'm just stating the facts. Is it necessary to resort to personal attacks?"

Upon hearing Thunder Dragon's words, the brown-haired girl turned around and glared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head and walking to the side.

"Hey, what do you mean by this?!"

"Hello!"

Glancing at the two figures chasing each other, the Naked Droopy-eyed Man on one side muttered, "Tch! How boring!"

"Hey, brat, what did you say? (Kana, Laxus)"

"Hmph! I won't say nice things twice!"

Seeing Ice Kid's smug look, Laxus said to Kana, "Let's postpone our friendly match and work together to deal with the external factors first. What do you think?"

"Agreed!"

"Clang!"

Just as Thunder Dragon and his companion were about to make their move, the guild door was suddenly pushed open, and a large group of people squeezed in.

"Hurry up, we're going to miss it!" (Member A)

"Tch! What's the rush? It's none of your business!" (Member B)

"Hmph! It hasn't even been announced yet, how do you know I'm not in it! (Member A)"

"Heh! I advise you to give up!" (Member C)

Why? (Members A and B)

"Because he's still the one hosting this year! (Member C)"

"No way!? (Members A and B)"