Fairy Tail: Vector Manipulation

Of course, that had only been a relaxed exchange between guild masters. What followed was the real meeting. Makarov and the other masters entered the conference room to discuss important matters, while Chen Fan returned to his room.

It was not until evening that Makarov returned to his room. The meeting room had truly exhausted him. After entering, Makarov flopped onto the bed, unwilling to move.

Bang!! The sound of a door slamming shut rang out.

Makarov jumped in fright and saw Chen Fan leaning against the door. Moonlight filtered through the curtains, falling across Chen Fan's glasses and casting them in a grayish-white sheen.

Chen Fan somehow produced a whip and kept pulling it back and forth, making snap, snap sounds. "Welcome back, my Master."

"Awoo...!" A wolf's howl suddenly rang out, startling a flock of birds sleeping in the trees.

Conversation

"Chen Fan, I was wrong, hahaha! Stop messing with me! Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you. Ahh, hahaha, I can't take it anymore!" Makarov was tied to the four corners of the bed by Chen Fan. Of course, they were not playing S&M, and the whip was not meant for torture. Chen Fan was holding its tip and relentlessly tickling the soles of Makarov's feet, which was why Makarov was begging for mercy.

Hearing Makarov surrender, Chen Fan stopped.

"Tell me. How did you bring me here? You even dared to keep me from seeing my beloved Little Erza." Chen Fan glared fiercely at Makarov.

Makarov had only just recovered. After catching his breath, he said, "I just brought you here like that."

Chen Fan was quite displeased by that answer. You won't even explain? Fine, then.

He raised the tip of the whip, preparing to tickle Makarov's feet again. Makarov was truly frightened and hurriedly said, "Stop, stop! I'll talk, all right? I'll talk."

After taking another breath, he said, "I drugged you unconscious and brought you here."

Chen Fan was somewhat puzzled. He did not remember eating anything strange, and besides, he should have been able to sense ordinary sleeping drugs.

As though he had seen Chen Fan's confusion, Makarov continued, "It was Hyluushika's medicine. By the way, it was mixed into the food Mira gave you."

Only then did Chen Fan understand what had happened. He untied the ropes and released Makarov, then sat beside him and asked, "Why did you do this?"

Makarov stopped laughing and looked at Chen Fan. "Do you like Mira, or Erza?"

Here it comes. Nearly everyone in the guild had asked Chen Fan that question, aside from the few who had no idea what love was. Truthfully, Chen Fan was troubled by it too. In the past, he had merely done it for fun, and also to fulfill a small wish from his previous life. Because of his inferiority complex—Chen Fan used to be very insecure; it would be mentioned later, of course after he won them over... he had said too much—he did not believe such outstanding women could ever like him. So he had flirted shamelessly, making some of the women in the guild dislike him. The main reason was that Chen Fan had never confessed to any of them.

As time passed, some more perceptive women came to like Chen Fan, including Erza and Mira. One reason Erza had become a mission fanatic was that she did not want to compete with Mira for Chen Fan.

To a woman as independent and strong as Erza, relying on a "man" was a sign of weakness. Yet she had never considered that withdrawing like this was also a sign of weakness.

Mira had already lost her younger sister. The girl who had once refused to yield in anything had become the gentle, kind Mira, always helpful and smiling every day.

Erza did not think this version of Mira was bad either. Compared to the Mira who had always competed with her, the current Mira was even more perfect.

Yet whenever she saw Mira like this, her heart would ache. That was also why she did not dare face Chen Fan all the time and became a mission fanatic. Though part of the reason she had suddenly returned from this mission was because of Lala Bai—

Most of it was because she had heard that Chen Fan had confessed to Mira, and Mira had nearly accepted him. It made her feel a sense of crisis, though she refused to admit it aloud.

Mira, like Erza, had deliberately distanced herself from Chen Fan. That was why their relationship had not progressed any further over all these years.

Now that Mira and Erza had grown up, the subject had become even more taboo. No one had mentioned it in a long time. When Makarov suddenly brought it up, Chen Fan truly did not know what to do. In his heart, a voice had always been roaring, Take them both! Yet the fine virtues of a traditional Chinese man were perfectly embodied in Chen Fan.

He truly did not know what to do. He clutched his head with a headache, looking utterly helpless.

Makarov patted Chen Fan's shoulder and continued, "You are all my children. I watched you grow up, and I understand Mira and Erza. As for you, Chen Fan, I may not know what you hide in your heart, but I do know that you deeply love Fairy Tail. That is enough. All right, don't act like some little girl. Lift your head. Bringing you here this time, the matter between you, Mira, and Erza was only incidental."

Chen Fan raised his head in confusion and looked at Makarov, not knowing what Makarov was about to say.