Mira's Change

A few days later, Elfman was able to move around slowly again, and the group began their journey back to Magnolia.

"Do you need me to take you straight back?" Ed accompanied them to the station, tossing a kunai up and down in his hand as he turned to Mira.

"There's no need. Elfman's injuries are mostly under control now; he just needs time to recover. There's no reason to rush." Mira shook her head, supporting Elfman alongside Lisanna as they walked slowly. "Besides, the doctor said that while he can't fight or train, moving around a little is still good for him."

"All right." Ed put the kunai back into his bag, then tilted his head at Mira. "Come to think of it, did you change your hairstyle today? I feel like something about you is different."

"You noticed? Hehe..." Mira smiled shyly. She had always worn a high ponytail before, but today she had only tied up her bangs, letting her long hair fall down her back.

"So, does this hairstyle look better, or the old one?" Mira looked up and posed the deadly question.

"Every hairstyle looks good on you!" Ed declared loudly with a perfectly serious expression.

"Smooth talker. I'm ignoring you." Mira lightly flicked her head and focused on helping Lisanna support Elfman toward the station.

The group boarded the train and set off for home. Mira and the others were unusually quiet on the ride. Ed tried several times to lighten the mood, only to hit a wall each time, so he eventually fell silent as well. He gently held Mira's hand. Mira looked at Ed and gave him a faint smile before returning to silence, seemingly deep in thought.

Amid that strange atmosphere, they returned to Magnolia. After settling Elfman at home and leaving Lisanna to look after him, Ed and Mira went to the guild to report the mission to Guild Master Makarov.

"Is that so..." After listening to Mira's report, Makarov looked up at Ed. "It was thanks to you. Forget the mission—without you, whether they could have returned safely would have been another matter entirely."

"You're too kind, old man. As Mira's boyfriend, I would never let something like that happen," Ed said solemnly.

"There's one more thing... Master, I hope to transfer to behind-the-scenes work." Mira did not leave after finishing her report. Instead, she made another request to Makarov.

"!" Makarov and Ed were both shocked by Mira's words.

"Why do you want to transfer to behind-the-scenes work? This mission was dangerous, but it still succeeded in the end, and all of you returned safely." Makarov was confused, unable to understand why Mira would suggest such a thing.

"Yeah, Mira, why behind the scenes? Didn't we agree to take on S-Class Missions together? What happened? You never mentioned this at all on the way back," Ed asked, voicing his confusion as well.

Looking at the two bewildered men, Mira gave a bitter smile and said, "I've actually been thinking about this the whole way back. Mainly because of my carelessness during this mission, Elfman went berserk. Then he nearly killed Lisanna and me. If you hadn't arrived, Ed, I don't even know what would have happened after that..."

"Just thinking about how I almost got my little brother and sister killed... I couldn't even use Take Over Magic..." As Mira spoke, she broke down in tears.

Ed held Mira painfully close and let her cry against his chest. "I'm sorry. I still arrived too late. I should have left with you from the start."

"It has nothing to do with you, Ed." Mira shook her head in Ed's embrace and continued through her tears.

"I was still too arrogant. Even if you had come with me this time and we completed the mission safely, if things continued like this, we might encounter something even worse in the future. Maybe there wouldn't even be time to call for you. Or maybe I could call you over, only for you to be dragged into danger with us..."

"Mm... The guilt caused a change in her mindset, and now she's instinctively resisting it..." Makarov stroked his beard as he listened to Mira, his expression somewhat serious.

"I don't have any particularly good solution for psychological issues. From now on, Mira, you can stay at the guild and assist me with management work and the like."

Then he turned to Ed and continued, "Ed, this is purely a psychological issue for Mira. She needs to work it out herself and move on from this incident before she can stop resisting her magic. As her boyfriend, you need to pay close attention to her."

"Mm. I understand." Ed held the still-sobbing Mira tightly and answered Makarov seriously.

"If there's nothing else, go back and rest first. Sigh..." Makarov waved them off and sighed as he watched Mira. Holding the crying Mira in his arms, Ed directly activated Flying Thunder God and returned to Mira's home.

"Don't blame yourself too much. This can't all be your fault," Ed tried to comfort Mira, but it did not seem to help much.

"I understand what you mean, but whenever I try to use Take Over Magic now, I see the scenes of myself being defeated by the Beast King, then Elfman going berserk, and Lisanna nearly losing her life..." Mira grew agitated again as she spoke.

"Can you understand, Ed? They're the family I grew up with, the people I depended on since childhood. Because of my carelessness, I nearly made my little brother kill my little sister with his own hands right in front of his older sister!"

"Even if Elfman had been devoured by the Beast King, it might have been better than him finally regaining consciousness only to discover that he had personally killed the family he depended on..." At this point, Mira clung tightly to Ed and whispered, "Ed, if—if one day, because of your carelessness, I died, what would you think?"

Ed froze completely. After imagining that scene, his whole body suddenly trembled. He said firmly, "I would never let that happen! I swear it on my life!"

"Thank you, Ed!" Mira looked seriously into Ed's eyes and said, "I believe you. Give me some time, Ed. I'll get through this as soon as I can. Give me a little time. I can rest for a while too."

"Mm. I'll always be with you."

"You should still go to work when you need to, or else... where will we get money after we get married?" Mira blushed slightly as she said this.

"Don't worry. We'll definitely have a grand wedding when the time comes. Leave it to me~" Ed gently stroked Mira's hair, then stood up. "I'll go check on Elfman, then go buy some ingredients. How about I cook tonight?"

"Mm!"