Hughes looked silently at the man in front of him who was somehow left with only a pair of pants.
"Gray, clothes." Mira, back to working by the counter, didn't even lift her head as she routinely offered a reminder.
"Whoa! Since when?!"
Lowering his head to find his clothes gone yet again, Gray flailed in a panic as he began searching everywhere for his shirt.
Watching this nonsensical, chaotic scene, Hughes froze for a moment, the tension that had gripped his heart for days finally easing away.
Unable to help it anymore, he clutched his stomach and burst into loud laughter. Once the laughter subsided, he offered a solemn expression of gratitude.
"...Thank you, Mr. Gray. I'll remember all of this."
Then, he carefully picked up a coin from the table and gazed at it against the sunlight for a long time.
To survive in the outside world, there was so much unknown common sense that he would have to relearn.
Toward evening, the sunset dyed the entire construction site in a warm, golden-red hue.
Hughes sat upon a stack of lumber, quietly gazing toward the direction of the makeshift bar.
Within his line of sight, Erza stood before the counter, softly chatting with Mira about something unknown. When they reached a joyful part, her usually stern face flashed with a gentle, light smile from time to time.
It was a blissful smile born of completely shedding her guard, bearing a striking resemblance to that gentle older sister who used to talk about the future with them back in the tower.
As Hughes watched on, a thick wave of reluctance quietly welled up deep within his eyes, yet the corners of his mouth lifted in quiet satisfaction.
"What are you thinking about? So engrossed."
Simon walked over and