Roundy

"Um, hello, beautiful. Do we know each other?"

"Hmph."

Qian Guang shuddered. He had clearly heard Mira snort when he called her beautiful.

"Brother Qian Guang! I recognized you right away! But you still didn't recognize me!"

The girl pouted indignantly, looking utterly adorable. Wait, that emblem belonged to Mermaid Heel, didn't it? Why was it here?

But her face did look a little familiar.

She still looked somewhat young, but when Qian Guang looked closely, he saw Aunt Buma—the woman who had always crouched down gently to stroke his little head when he was young.

Even though many years had passed, he still remembered everyone's faces clearly.

Qian Guang's expression gradually shifted from confusion to shock, then disbelief.

"Are you Roundy?" Qian Guang could hardly believe it. She had only been a tiny little bean when he left, but now she had grown into a graceful young woman.

"Mm!" Roundy was delighted that Qian Guang had recognized her, and the resentment from not being recognized vanished instantly.

Qian Guang pulled Roundy into a hug, his eyes glistening with tears. "Roundy, Roundy... You're okay. That's wonderful."

It wasn't as if Qian Guang had never searched for Roundy over the years. Whenever he went to a town, he would search carefully, which was why everyone thought his jobs always took so long.

Unfortunately, he had never found her. He had hoped that becoming famous would let them see him, but there had been no news for the past two years.

At one point, he had even believed that Roundy and the others had been killed too.

Roundy hugged Qian Guang back and began to cry. She had missed him terribly too. When she had returned to the village back then, she had been completely stunned and unable to stop herself from sobbing.

If she hadn't seen the memorial tomb Qian Guang had made for them, she would have thought he had died too.

Mira was no longer angry the moment she heard Qian Guang say the name Roundy.

As one of the people closest to Qian Guang, she naturally knew about his past. Now that he had found Roundy, she was simply happy for him.

She silently went to the counter and poured two glasses of water.

The guild master, who had originally been waiting to watch the show, also fell unusually silent. He lowered his head and took a swig of alcohol, as though mourning an old friend.

After calming down,

Roundy and Qian Guang sat in chairs with the water Mira had handed them, chatting about their lives.

"Roundy, why didn't you come find me sooner? And how are Daina, Sweetie, and Aunt Buma?"

"Why did you join Mermaid Heel?"

"Where are you living now?"

The moment Qian Guang sat down, he fired off a whole string of questions, leaving Roundy, who had been about to ask him questions herself, completely dumbfounded.

"Come on, Brother Qian Guang. How am I supposed to answer so many questions at once?"

"One at a time, then."

"Fine, fine. You're still just like before. Hmph."

"Back then, when we returned, we saw that the village had been destroyed. Dad, Mom, and I left the village and went to rely on Uncle's family."

Perhaps because she did not want to recall that scene, the little girl skipped over everything she had seen back then.

"Uncle's family lives in Delucas. Dad and Mom opened a flower shop there. I wanted to become stronger, so I joined the Mermaid Heel in town. Hehe, I'm one of the guild's aces!"

As she said that, the little girl proudly raised her head.

Qian Guang looked at her with amusement. It seemed he had paid far too little attention to news from the outside world. He rubbed her head like he had when they were children.

"And there's more! Let me tell you about my first job..."

Qian Guang listened quietly. He could feel how happy she was and how much she loved her guild.

Half an hour later,

"Then why did you only come looking for me now?"

"Ah! That makes me mad. Our guild master always says men are all rotten, so she wouldn't let us buy those magazines, like Most Popular Men Weekly."

"I usually don't pay attention to those either! Mom rarely reads them too—she usually looks at clothes and jewelry. And Dad is even less likely to!"

"I only saw you, Brother Qian Guang, in a girl's hands while I was doing a job the day before yesterday. I recognized you at a glance! I'm amazing, right?"

The little girl gave Qian Guang a huge smile, clearly waiting to be praised.

"Of course, of course. Our little girl is the best."

"What about you, Brother Qian Guang? How did you join Fairy Tail and become the Fairy Doctor?"

Qian Guang continued rubbing her little head, his gaze gentle. "It was Grandpa's letter of recommendation."

"Let me introduce you. This is our guild master, Mr. Makarov. He's also Grandpa's good friend."

"Yo! Little girl! Welcome, have fun!"

The guild master cheerfully raised one hand to greet Roundy, as though he had not been the one feeling sentimental just moments ago.

"Hello, Guild Master Makarov. I'm Mia Parnell from Mermaid Heel."

Roundy had clearly not realized before that this kind old man was Fairy Tail's guild master, so she greeted him somewhat stiffly.

"Well, well, it's fine. Just act like I'm not here. This old man will just drink. Oh, and give that old woman from your guild my regards."

Qian Guang stared at the rotten old man with a head full of black lines. What was this guy doing again?

"This is Mirajane, my girlfriend."

"Hi." It was the first time Mirajane had been introduced by Qian Guang like that, and her face was slightly flushed.

"I know, I know! Mirajane! Everyone in our guild loves... Girlfriend?!"

Roundy had still been caught up in the joy of meeting her idol, only just processing the latter half of Qian Guang's sentence.

"Brother... Qian Guang, you said Mirajane is your girlfriend?!"

The little girl still could not believe it. That lazy bum who had been as lazy as a pig, who had even tricked Sweetie into washing his clothes when they were young, actually had a girlfriend!

And it was her idol, Mirajane!

Seeing Roundy's disbelief, Qian Guang proudly wrapped an arm around Mira's waist.

Mira was a little shy and shot him a reproachful glance, but she did not push him away.

Roundy's mouth fell open. She still could not believe it.

She swiftly snatched her idol away from Qian Guang. "Sister Mira, what exactly do you see in Brother Qian Guang? Let me tell you, he's super lazy, and also..."

Black lines rose across Qian Guang's forehead. Which side were you on, girl? And we had only just met! You were already selling me out!

Mira covered her mouth and laughed softly. "I know, I know all about it. But Qian Guang is a very good person. By the way, can I call you Roundy?"

Although Qian Guang had kept calling her Roundy, Mira naturally knew she was not Qian Guang, so she asked first.

"Of course you can! Sister Mira, I have so many questions I want to ask you."

Qian Guang could not stand it anymore and separated the two of them. "All right, all right. We can talk when we get home. And you, you were clinging to me just now. Isn't this change a little too fast?"

"Hehe, I can ask Sister Mira whatever I want to know about you. Besides, I know you. You could finish a story in three sentences when you were little."

"You'd definitely make everything I want to know sound simple."

"Let's go, let's go."

Roundy affectionately linked her arm through Mira's.

Roundy had always been a bright and outgoing girl. She could quickly make friends with people and make them like her.

As for earlier, she had only been a little reserved because the guild master had genuinely startled her.

Mira looked at Roundy's hand linked with hers and suddenly became slightly dazed, her gaze softening.

"Mm, let's go home."

"Guild Master! We're heading home first. Mira and I skipped work today, so help cover for us. We'll pay you double when the time comes!"

"Bastard! Who wants your money?! Get lost!"

Makarov had originally wanted to watch the show, but he had not expected to be asked to stay behind and work overtime. He was truly furious.

Still, looking at this beautiful scene, overtime did not seem so bad.

Though he was getting old. What if he wanted to take a nap?

"Mm... Is it time to eat?"

A youthful male voice sounded from the corner.

The moment Dumb Dumb woke up, he found a pair of red eyes staring at him.

!!!

"Y-you... What are you doing?!"

"Let Turtle Grandpa go! Turtle Grandpa sells performances, not his body!"

"Guild Master, how big do you want it? Isn't Turtle Grandpa this big enough already? I'm hungry."