On the third day after joining the Fairy Tail guild and becoming an official Fairy Tail mage, Annie and Lucy happily moved out of the building that served as the guild hall.
They had to move. The guild was a noisy, chaotic place full of all kinds of people, practically a bar and brawling ring rolled into one. It was fine as a temporary place to rest and have fun, but there was no way they could live there long-term!
So...
After thinking it over carefully, Lucy rented a beautiful, spacious house by the river, complete with a garden and swimming pool. She and her little girl companion found it in Magnolia, a commercial district in a city where magic had flourished since ancient times—a far cry from the port city of Hargeon.
Magnolia was a large city. At its center stood the tallest building, Cardia Cathedral. From the cathedral, which towered over the city center, a broad, straight avenue stretched northwest, crossed a stone bridge over the river, and continued all the way to the sea. There, in a seaside neighborhood, stood the city's second-tallest building—and by far its most beautiful: the Fairy Tail guild hall, the only mages' guild in the city!
Though supposedly, there had once been many other mages' guilds here.
By now, they had all disappeared. Whether they had gone bankrupt and disbanded after being driven out by Fairy Tail's fair competition, or had been forced to leave for some other reason, was anyone's guess... At any rate, neither the troublesome little girl nor Lucy had any intention of digging into such boring matters.
After moving out of the Fairy Tail guild hall, which was unsuitable for long-term living, and saying goodbye for good to the cramped, noisy dormitory for single guild members, Annie and