I'm Even with Mira

(A big thank you to 'Ice Moonshadow', 'Ink Feather Murmur', 'Heart Soul Lost', 'Qi Guan Xuan Qi', 'No Maple Grass', 'Little H Otaku', 'Our Dream of the Second Dimension', 'Scarlet Night Illusory Sky', 'Book Friend 150313094047194' for the donations!)

Gildarts' return had the Fairy Tail Mages in an extremely excited state all day.

That wasn't just because Gildarts was Fairy Tail's strongest Mage, but also because he was usually out wandering and rarely returned to the Guild.

Sometimes, Gildarts was off on extremely difficult missions that took a considerable amount of time.

Other times, he simply wanted to travel, honing his skills while living the life of a wandering hero, keeping him away for extended periods.

Over time, everyone knew that Fairy Tail's strongest Mage was a man named Gildarts, but Gildarts himself rarely appeared at the Guild, so his return naturally excited everyone.

Not to mention, the Magic Gildarts used was the super-advanced Destruction Magic, Crush, so even passing through Magnolia caused quite a stir.

Fortunately, Gildarts didn't stay at the Guild for too long today. After finding out Makarov wasn't there, he left, saying, "I'll come back tomorrow," and left.

With Gildarts' departure, the Guild gradually returned to its usual state, but the excitement lingered, leaving the younger generation, like Noah, who weren't familiar with Gildarts, full of curiosity.

"That guy is Fairy Tail's strongest Mage? If I beat him, I'll be the strongest, right?"

Natsu, burning with passion, spewed flames from his mouth and rushed out of the Guild after saying that.

"Idiot!"

Gray, who joined Fairy Tail only a few years after Kana and wasn't familiar with Gildarts either, but had heard rumors about him, scoffed and sat down to chat with others, all while taking off his clothes.

"Gildarts, huh?"

Erza pondered for a moment, then left the Guild with a determined expression, likely inspired by Gildarts and planning to intensify her training with him as her goal.

"A man among men..."

Elfman muttered admiringly, his eyes almost sparkling, as if he saw Gildarts as his idol.

"..."

Kana, however, stared blankly in the direction Gildarts had left, remaining silent for a long time.

"I don't know what everyone's so excited about for an old geezer like that," Mira commented with her usual sharp tongue and disdain.

"He's quite manly, but very sloppy. Do all boys turn out like that when they grow up?" Lisanna wondered, blinking her big eyes.

Only Noah glanced at his companions and quietly slipped out, heading towards his room.

"Haa..."

Lying on his bed, Noah exhaled slowly, closed his eyes, and fell into silence.

In truth, Gildarts' appearance didn't just inspire Erza and the others; it also inspired Noah.

With his extraordinary sensitivity, Noah knew exactly how strong Gildarts, Fairy Tail's strongest Mage, really was.

He had only sensed that intense presence and power from one other person:

Makarov!

In other words, as Fairy Tail's strongest Mage, Gildarts, even if he wasn't as strong as Makarov, was definitely on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints!

Noah never imagined that Fairy Tail would have such a powerful figure.

"Gildarts is definitely an S-Class Mage!"

S-Class Mage!

That was a title only Mages who had passed the Guild's internal trials and been recognized by the Guild Master could hold!

In the Kingdom of Fiore, most of the top Guilds had one or two S-Class Mages.

Although the strength of S-Class Mages varied depending on the Guild's internal trials, even Phantom Lord, which had a large number of members and numerous branches, had no more than five S-Class Mages!

Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage trials were notoriously difficult, so much so that Noah had only heard of S-Class Mages in the Guild but had never seen one.

Today, Gildarts' appearance confirmed to Noah that he was definitely Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage!

"Grandpa always forbids me from going to the second floor, saying there are extremely difficult requests that only Mages recognized by it can accept. I never knew how strong I had to be to be recognized by Grandpa. Does it have to be like Gildarts?" Noah sighed.

"Looks like I still have a long way to go."

Noah didn't know that his thinking was a bit preconceived.

Only S-Class Mages in Fairy Tail could enter the second floor, and only S-Class Mages could accept the requests there.

Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage level was high, but how could it be so high that only those at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints could become one?

Gildarts was undoubtedly at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints, so becoming an S-Class Mage was only natural.

Noah equating Gildarts, a Ten Wizard Saint-level Mage, with an S-Class Mage was a bit off.

However, that didn't hinder Noah's decision.

He held out his hand, looked at his palm facing the ceiling, and clenched it tightly.

"I need to resolve the Magic issue as soon as possible."

As he said this, a certain idea couldn't help but surface in Noah's mind, and it quickly spiraled out of control.

Just then, a gentle knock sounded from outside the door. Lisanna's little head peeked in, and she sighed softly as she looked at Noah lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Noah, why did you suddenly run off? I've been looking for you for ages."

"What's wrong? Are you hungry?" Noah replied casually, without even turning his head.

"Sorry, Lisanna, I can't have dinner with you today. I'm thinking about some things. Just go with Mira and the others."

"It's morning now, I already had breakfast, I won't be hungry that quickly!" Lisanna huffed and walked over, slapping away Noah's fist that was clenched towards the ceiling, and put her hands on her hips.

"Noah, I'm starting to think you're annoying!"

"Huh?" Noah turned his questioning face towards Lisanna.

"I shouldn't have done anything to make you dislike me, right?"

"Yes! You did!" Lisanna's eyes were starting to get teary.

"Noah, do you not like me anymore?"

"What... what's this all of a sudden?" Noah quickly sat up, feeling a headache coming on as he looked at Lisanna, who looked like she could burst into tears at any moment.

"Lisanna, don't cry. I'll do anything, just don't cry!"

"Really?" Lisanna glanced at Noah through her wet eyes, her pupils darting around.

"Then... then close your eyes!"

Noah immediately closed his eyes.

The next moment, an extremely soft sensation covered Noah's lips, causing his brow to furrow slightly, but he didn't suspect anything and kept his eyes closed.

"Hehe..."

After a while, the soft sensation disappeared. Noah heard Lisanna's giggling. When he opened his eyes, he saw Lisanna's little face was red, but she looked extremely happy.

"I'm even with Mira now!"

Leaving those words behind, Lisanna skipped out of Noah's room.

Noah scratched his cheek.

"What was that all about?"