The World Blesses You

As the clock's short hand crossed midnight, the entire city of Magnolia was filled with the sound of fireworks and firecrackers.

Time arrived at January 1st, X781.

Outside, the racket was endless, said to last until dawn, but it didn't affect Noah's deep sleep in the dorm at all.

As a slacker, the most important thing was adapting to the environment—

otherwise, how could he coast through life?

Unfortunately, someone chose this moment to open Noah's door, walk brazenly into his dorm, sneak toward his bedroom, and reach for the blanket covering the snoring Noah...

Such bizarre behavior was hard for Noah to miss.

How dare they steal my blanket while I'm sleeping!

What nerve! Prepare to face the wrath of the shut-in king!

Opening his eyes, Noah grabbed the intruder's arm reaching for the blanket with lightning speed, yanked hard to throw them off balance, and sent them tumbling onto the bed.

Then he flipped over, straddling the intruder, pinning both arms with one hand while raising the other into a fist, ready to teach this clueless invader a lesson.

By the moonlight streaming through the window, the intruder's face became clear to Noah.

"Huh?!!"

"E...E...Erza!!"

Crimson hair tied high, a short black maid top baring her toned abs and slender waist, a skirt so short it barely covered legs wrapped in white stockings.

Because of Noah's sudden attack, one high heel had slipped off the girl's delicate foot.

Their eyes met.

A faint blush crept across the girl's refined face.

Noah's irritation at having his sleep disturbed turned into sheer awkwardness.

In the dead of night, a beautiful girl in a revealing maid outfit sneaks into his room and reaches for his blanket... Was she planning to do something improper to him?

"Erza, I'm not that kind of guy."

"Of course, if you insist on force, I'll have no choice but to comply."

Punching the man straddling her off the bed, Erza was both embarrassed and furious. "You perverted shut-in with nothing but filth in your head, don't push your luck."

Noah had completed a quest that had been posted in the guild for three years by Master Rena. Erza had come to fulfill her promise of "being Noah's maid for a day."

Earlier, Christmas and the year-end rush had kept Erza busy with celebrations, so she hadn't come to Noah right away.

After ringing in the new year with her guildmates, Erza immediately changed into a maid outfit and came to Noah's dorm to keep her word.

Because Erza was wearing high heels—something she rarely did—Noah hadn't recognized her footsteps. He mistook Erza, who was just trying to cover him with a blanket, for a malicious intruder, leading to the misunderstanding.

Noah was already used to Erza easily opening his dorm door; in fact, after several of her violent entries, the lock had long since broken.

Coming over in the middle of the night to play maid was one thing.

But the girl's outfit, bursting with "lewdness," made it hard for Noah not to assume she was up to something inappropriate.

Speaking of R18, Noah remembered that the girl before him had just turned eighteen this year. "Erza, when's your birthday? I'll prepare a gift for you."

What he thought was a friendly question instead made Erza's just-calmed expression turn a bit sorrowful. With a hint of loss, the girl spoke:

"I... don't have a birthday. I never have."

Noah's heart tightened. Though he had been created as a "weapon" initially, Faust had never missed a single one of his birthdays.

In the first eighteen years of Noah's life, though he'd never known a mother's love, his old father's doting had been enough to call it "happiness."

Many of the new generation in the guild had lost their parents and become orphans, but they all remembered their birthdays.

And Erza...

A child without a birthday—how she must have envied the others.

Seeming to realize her mood was slipping, Erza quickly hid that trace of loss behind a smile.

Sitting up on the bed, she hooked the fallen high heel with her toes and fastened it, then grabbed Noah's hand and forcibly dragged him out of the dorm.

"How can you sleep at this hour? Come on, let's go set off fireworks."

Though going out made Noah reluctant, considering Erza's mood just now, if fireworks could cheer her up a little, then stepping out wasn't so bad.

Besides, there were fireworks to watch.

"You call this a firework?!"

At Magnolia's designated fireworks launch site.

Seeing the cannon-like heavy equipment Erza pulled out, Noah's vision went dark. He suspected this girl wasn't trying to set off fireworks but to bombard Magnolia City.

But Erza, with a serious expression, aimed the barrel at the sky. Only when she went to light the fuse did she realize she hadn't brought a lighter, so she turned her gaze to Noah, who had hidden half his body behind a corner.

"It's just a firework, what are you so scared of? Got a light?"

Noah was helpless. Even in a maid outfit, Erza's tone made it sound like she was the master.

After repeatedly confirming Erza wasn't planning to attack Magnolia, and before she grew impatient with his questions, Noah put on his Blast Gauntlets, switched them to fire attribute, and snapped his fingers at the Fireworks Cannon.

A spark ignited the fuse, and Erza's face lit up with excitement. "Noah, cover your ears quick."

Without needing Erza to say a word, Noah had already covered his ears, already thinking that if the Fireworks Cannon pulled any tricks, he'd grab Erza and make a run for it.

A roar shot into the sky, followed by a brilliant burst of fireworks climbing and burning ring by ring, eventually transforming into a "Dancing Fireworks Fairy" that outshone every other blossom over Magnolia.

"Look, Noah! Macao and Levy made these fireworks specially—they're gorgeous."

But no matter how dazzling, all fireworks eventually fade. The guild's custom creation soon overlapped with other fireworks launched across the city, slowly dying out.

Fortunately, Erza had prepared plenty more. She kept pulling all kinds of fireworks from her own magic space, each design just as stunning as the Fireworks Cannon's impact on Noah.

Bazooka Fireworks...

Gatling Fireworks...

Wait... what's this Landmine Fireworks thing?!

Don't light it!

One firework after another bloomed. The girl tugged at the boy, her face full of childlike excitement, hopping and cheering with pure joy.

After about an hour, Erza's arsenal... ah, no, the fireworks she'd prepared finally ran out.

But the girl suggested they stroll through the market, and Noah didn't refuse.

Since it was New Year's Eve, even the whoosh of fireworks shooting skyward couldn't drown out the lively noise of the all-night market.

Though Erza in her maid outfit drew plenty of eyes, most passersby were more focused on their own families or friends out together.

Along the way, Erza bought a lot of cute-looking souvenirs, plus a scattering of snacks and pastries.

Where did your maid duties go?

Even if it's only a one-day right of use, is it really right to make me, the "master," carry all these bags like a pack mule...

Bags and bundles weighing him down, Noah followed behind Erza, silently complaining in his head about suddenly becoming a beast of burden.

Until they stopped at a small cake stall. Noah paused, glanced at Erza ahead who had no idea, and pulled out a Payment Lacrima for his first purchase of the day.

After another half hour of shopping, Noah was finally granted permission by her ladyship the maid to return to the dorm.

"Get some rest early, Noah."

Holding a bedroll, Erza was about to spread it on the dorm floor. Since she'd agreed to be a maid for a day, naturally she'd stay over at the "master's" place.

But Erza didn't hear Noah's reply.

Did he get tired from shopping with me? Or did he not hear?

Erza slipped off her heels and tiptoed quietly to push open Noah's bedroom door.

The room was pitch black, lit only by moonlight spilling through the window.

He even turned off the lights. Guess he really is asleep.

Just as Erza was about to creep back and close the door, the room's lights suddenly flicked on. Noah jumped out from behind the door, holding something.

"Surprise!"

Erza wasn't startled, just looked curiously at the cake with a single candle in Noah's hand. "So this is your New Year's gift for me?"

Noah shook his head and said something that left Erza utterly stunned.

"Erza, this is your birthday gift."

Staring at the beautifully decorated cake, Erza froze.

She knew she was born in X765, but she didn't know the exact month or day. She was an orphan, had never met her parents, and grew up eating meals from different families in a small village.

As a child, Erza always envied other kids who got to celebrate birthdays, because they got sweet cake to eat.

Through a childhood of hardship and wandering, she never forgot that wish.

After joining Fairy Tail and using her first hard-earned pay, Erza had rushed straight to a cake shop to buy the birthday cake she'd dreamed of as a child.

It was delicious, and sweet.

But something was missing from that taste.

Erza knew why. A birthday cake without blessings wasn't complete.

From then on, she stopped longing for birthday cakes. No family, no birthday... what right did she have to hope for a "Happy Birthday"?

Sure, the guild master Makarov and many of her guildmates would gladly give her their blessings, but Erza didn't want to trouble everyone over herself.

So even when Makarov asked her birthday, Erza would act like she didn't need one, saying she was grown up and past childish birthdays.

With too many guild affairs, Makarov never asked again.

But deep down, Erza still longed for it.

Looking at the modest birthday cake in Noah's hands, Erza hesitated, her voice stammering. "Don't... don't mess with me, Noah... you know I don't have—"

"Then let today be your birthday."

Noah smiled, cutting off her downcast words with firmness. "Who says you can't celebrate a birthday just because you don't know the date? I think today's perfect."

"From now on, the first day of every year is Erza's birthday. Look—all of Magnolia, even much of this world, is celebrating for you."

"Happy birthday, Erza."

For the first time in her life, Erza heard those words.

So this was what it felt like to have a birthday. It made her so happy.

But... why did she feel like crying?

Tears welled up in her left eye. Erza tried to hold them back, but the moving droplets still rolled down her cheek.

Noah understood the girl's feelings, yet he urged her on with a gentle tone. "Time to make a wish and blow out the candles. If you wait until the cake candles burn out, the wish won't come true."

Though she knew making wishes was just something to fool children, Erza still hurriedly closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and earnestly made a wish in her heart.

May Fairy Tail be happy forever.

May the master live a long and healthy life.

May Noah find happiness.

And may...