Father and Daughter Reunited

"Gildarts, I heard you destroyed five mountains, one dam, and three bridges on this job. Is that right?"

"Ahahahaha, was it that many? I don't even remember."

Faced with Macao's question, Gildarts scratched his head and answered without much concern.

He really did not need to care. The compensation would be deducted from his reward anyway. As long as he had enough left for drinks and magazines, that was fine.

Gray, who had been listening nearby, could not help complaining, "Is this really a proper guild and not a dark guild?"

Cain was not in a hurry to take on a job. He walked over to Gray and Cana, and when he heard Gray say that, he could not help speaking up. "Gray, your behavior isn't all that different from those people in the dark guilds, is it?"

"Hey, Cain, what do you mean by that? You want to fight?"

Gray was extremely displeased by Cain's assessment. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to throw down.

However, Cain's casual remark sent the battle-ready Gray fleeing in embarrassment.

"Gray, your clothes."

"Ah, when did..." Watching Gray frantically search for his clothes, Cain could only find it amusing.

Gildarts, who was drinking nearby, watched the two of them and asked Makarov, "Are these all newcomers to the guild?"

"Mm. The blond one is Cain. He joined the guild last year. The black-haired one is Gray. He only joined this year."

"They're both promising youngsters."

Makarov strongly agreed with Gildarts' words. Though the two were still young, he could see their immense potential. Cain in particular had already developed his own magic at just nine years old.

After fooling around with Gray, Cain quietly asked Cana, "Cana, aren't you going to talk to him?"

Cana understood what Cain meant. She had joined the guild in order to reunite with Gildarts, and before this, she had imagined many scenes of meeting him.

For example, Gildarts might recognize her the moment they met and pull her into his arms.

Or she might step forward, tell him about her past, and the two of them would embrace and weep bitterly.

But there was another possibility that Cana feared deeply: after hearing the whole story, Gildarts might think she was too weak and unworthy of being his daughter.

That was why Cana was so uneasy now. At Cain's question, she looked like a pitiful young animal with nowhere to go. Her gaze darted toward Gildarts, who was loudly talking with the others in the guild.

"J-Just... wait a little longer..."

After saying that, she picked up Little White by her feet and turned to leave the guild.

Seeing this, Cain sighed. "Looks like I still have to do it myself."

Cain more or less understood Cana's thoughts. The main reason was that Gildarts was simply too strong. As the strongest person below the guild master, he put enormous pressure on Cana.

But Cain, who knew the story, knew there was no need to worry at all. Once Gildarts learned the truth, he would practically become a doting father.

The last glow of the setting sun gradually faded, and night began to blanket the land.

After leaving the guild, Gildarts headed toward his little cabin. When he arrived outside, he finally could not help saying to the person behind him, "You've been following me the whole way, haven't you? Want my autograph?"

"Old man, aren't you a little too full of yourself? What use would your autograph be?"

Cain slowly stepped out of the darkness. He was not surprised that Gildarts had noticed him. After all, the man before him was a monster even stronger than some of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Seeing that Cain was not after his autograph, Gildarts was a little confused. "Then do you want a gift? Ah, in that case, I'll give you my long-cherished treasure."

Cain, who had intended to talk about Cana, was drawn in by the treasure Gildarts mentioned.

Did Gildarts have any good treasures? The anime had never mentioned any. Then again, this was a real world, so it was normal for it to differ from the anime.

"Ta-da!" Gildarts pulled a magazine from the small bag he carried with him. The woman on its cover was dressed very scantily.

Cain, who had held a bit of expectation in his heart, froze on the spot. Then he realized that this old man had played him. "You bastard!!!!"

"Hahahahaha~"

Cain's furious expression delighted Gildarts, and he could not help bursting into loud laughter.

"Uncle Gildarts, I came to tell you something. Cana is your daughter—the girl who was sitting beside me in the guild earlier."

Cain stopped wasting words and directly stated the purpose of his visit.

"Huh? Ah!!!"

Gildarts, who had been laughing heartily, did not react to the news at first. Then he began recalling the girl with the black ponytail who had been sitting with Cain earlier.

When he had been observing Cain and Gray, he had noticed that little girl. The look she gave him had been extremely complicated.

After Cain said that, the more Gildarts thought about it, the more familiar Cana seemed.

At one moment, Cana's figure began to overlap with Cornelia's, and he understood that Cain had not lied.

Cana was his and Cornelia's child. Once Gildarts confirmed that fact, he became incredibly excited. He immediately rushed forward, hugged Cain, and shouted, "Hahahaha, a daughter! I have a daughter!"

"Hey, hey, old man, how long has it been since you... took a bath?"

Cain used all his strength to push Gildarts away, but Gildarts was so caught up in his excitement that he did not notice Cain's resistance.

After quite a while, once his excitement had calmed somewhat, Gildarts remembered something. "Cain, where's Cana? Take me to see Cana, quickly."

Finally able to breathe properly, Cain snapped, "Forget it. Boys can't enter the girls' dormitory. All right, I only came to tell you this. Now that I've said it, I'm going back."

Gildarts did not pay attention to Cain's farewell. His mind was already filled with thoughts of how he should reunite with Cana tomorrow.

He had just wanted to ask Cain whether Cana liked anything, only to discover that Cain had already left.

"Ah, forget it. I'll ask tomorrow. Huh, where did my beauty magazine go?"

Back in the dormitory, Cain was flipping through Gildarts' long-cherished treasure. As he looked, he commented, "Mm, those legs are really long. Oh, this chest is nice. Tsk, this one is the best—slender branches bearing ripe fruit..."

The next day, Gildarts arrived at the guild early. He sat upright and stared at the guild entrance, even turning down drinks when Macao and Wakaba called him over.

The two of them could not help suspecting that something was wrong with Gildarts' head.

Suddenly, Gildarts saw Cana arrive at the guild entrance, holding Little White's paw.

He could no longer hold back. He rushed toward the entrance, scooped up the stunned Cana, and said excitedly, "Cana, my daughter."

"Huh? Huh?"

Cana had initially been shocked by Gildarts suddenly running over and picking her up, but the moment she heard him call her his daughter, she understood. Tears immediately spilled from her eyes.

She threw her arms around Gildarts, pressed herself against his shoulder, and cried out in a tearful voice the word she had waited so long to say: "Dad!"