Exceeds grew up pretty quickly. Happy had been able to fly right after hatching, and now, less than two months later, he had already learned to talk.
Just like that, the little cat standing in front of Blanc had already learned to repeat what others said.
"Blanc, help us build a house!"
Natsu kicked open the guild doors and charged inside. Happy followed close behind, his little paws flailing wildly in the air.
"Aye, build a house!"
Blanc put down the Magic Grimoire in his hands and raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm? Natsu, weren't you two doing just fine in the dorms? Why do you suddenly want to build a house?"
"Aye, because Natsu and Gray fight every day, and they've wrecked the dorms. The dorm manager kicked them both out this morning!" Happy raised a little paw, mercilessly exposing them.
"Hmm?" Blanc wasn't particularly surprised by that outcome. Making those two neighbors was practically asking for disaster. He turned and glanced over at Gray.
Gray's little face flushed red, and he shouted in embarrassment, "What are you looking at me for? It's all Natsu's fault! He kept breathing fire and burned the room!"
"Since you both got kicked out, do you want to build a house too, Gray?" Blanc rubbed his chin.
"No way. Too much hassle." Gray clasped his hands behind his head, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Why not just rent an apartment in town?"
"Good point. Renting really is easier." Blanc blinked and turned his gaze back to Natsu.
"What about you, Natsu? Building your own house costs a lot more than renting. Where are you getting the money?"
"I want to build a house of my own in the forest! That'll make it easier to look for Igneel!"
"Aye, and it'll be easier to go fishing in the forest!"
"Besides, I don't have any money!" Natsu declared without a shred of shame.
"You have no money, and you're asking me to build you a house? You want a freebie?" Blanc rolled his eyes at Natsu.
"Can't you build a wooden house with just one clap, Blanc? It's super fast!" Natsu even clapped his hands together to demonstrate.
"I'll pay you back later! As for the interest... I'll pay that with vouchers to pet Happy!"
"Aye, what? Nobody told me about this!" Little Happy stared in shock at Natsu, who had just sold him out.
"It's going to be our home! You need to pitch in too!" Natsu guiltily looked away.
"Fine. Where do you want to build it?"
Natsu's and Happy's eyes lit up, and they answered in unison, "In the forest to the east!"
"All right, lead the way!" Blanc stood up, ready to follow them.
Happy flew up and perched on Natsu's head. Natsu pumped his fist excitedly, spun around, and strode toward the doors. "Let's go! Time to build our home!"
The spot in the eastern forest looked as though Natsu had cleared it beforehand, leaving an open area of several hundred square meters. Surrounded by green trees, it was quiet and lovely. It really was a good place to build a house.
Happy flew down from Natsu's head, circled the area, and finally landed neatly on a rock.
"Aye, right here! It's really close to the river!"
Blanc walked forward and dusted off his hands.
"Any requirements for the house?"
Natsu tilted his head and thought for a moment, then began waving his hands wildly in the air. "It has to be big! And sturdy! And look like a dragon's lair!"
A dragon's lair? An enormous volcanic cavern filled with boiling lava and charred rocks instantly appeared in Blanc's mind.
"How am I supposed to know what a dragon's lair looks like?! I've never seen one!"
"You're so dumb, Blanc! You know, something... really impressive! Something with a big boom kind of feeling..." Natsu launched into a string of incomprehensible gestures.
Happy tried hard to back him up, but halfway through, he ran out of words too. All he managed was, "Aye! And there has to be somewhere to dry little fish!"
After listening for ages without getting any closer to understanding them, Blanc gave up on communicating altogether.
"...I'll try making one first. You can decide after you see it."
He pressed his palms together.
Magic light flashed, and the earth in the clearing churned. Thick wooden posts rapidly rose from the ground, weaving together, rearranging themselves, and taking shape.
Before long, an ordinary little wooden cabin with a sloping roof stood in the clearing. Its oval door faced the forest path they had taken, with a window on either side and a small step laid out at the entrance.
Natsu walked around it and frowned. "It's too ordinary! I want more of that... you know, that feeling!"
"Aye, there's nowhere to hang fish!" Happy shook his head repeatedly too.
Blanc sighed and used his magic to dismantle the cabin. After a moment's thought, he clapped his hands again.
A two-story wooden building rose from the ground. It had a square shape, resembling several cubes joined together in a pleasing, staggered arrangement.
Square windows of varying sizes dotted its outer walls, with the windows on the first and second floors offset rather than perfectly aligned.
An exterior staircase stood along the building's right side, its two flights forming a zigzag that led from the ground floor to the second-floor terrace.
The whole building had a cool, restrained modern beauty. Framed by the lush trees around it, it looked especially elegant and striking.
Blanc had built an exquisite wooden villa based on designs from his previous life. Even he wanted to move in after seeing it.
Natsu looked it over for a while, but finally shook his head in disappointment. "No, it looks too complicated. There are way too many rooms inside. We wouldn't use them."
"Aye, something ordinary is fine."
Helplessly, Blanc changed the design again.
Several different buildings rose and fell in the clearing, one after another, only to be withdrawn into the earth. None of them satisfied the pair.
Blanc's temple twitched. Drawing on his own stereotypical image of a dragon's lair, he made a mountain-shaped building this time. Its exterior was rough and uneven, its oval door resembled a cave entrance, and a small window opened on one side. He even twisted tree roots into two crooked "dragon horns" by the door.
"How about this? It looks like a dragon's lair, and you can hang your fish on the horns to dry!"
Natsu's eyes lit up instantly! He hurried forward, pushed open the door, and went inside to inspect the space.
"Ooh! That's the feeling! It's really close to what I wanted."
Just as Blanc thought he could finally call the job done, Natsu poked his head out and shouted, still sounding a little dissatisfied.
"But-it's still not big enough inside! And I can't breathe fire in here!"
"Why would you need to breathe fire inside the house? I'm building a wooden cabin!"
"A dragon's lair has to let you breathe fire!"
"Then you'll have to build it yourselves out of stone!" Blanc finally snapped, a vein bulging on his forehead. After that shout, he withdrew his magic, quit the job, and walked away.
"Take your time figuring it out yourselves. I'm heading back."
"Hey, don't go, Blanc-make one more! Just one!"
"Aye, one more!"
Blanc had already turned and walked into the shade of the trees. Without looking back, he tossed out, "Build it yourselves!"
Beside the clearing, Natsu and Happy stared at each other.
"...Tch, then we'll build it ourselves!" Refusing to give up, Natsu clenched his fists, fierce flames blazing in his eyes.
A few days later, at the Fairy Tail guild.
Natsu and Happy lay sprawled over one of the guild's long tables, filthy and looking as though their souls had left their bodies. Several straight days of intense physical labor had exhausted them so badly that even their tongues were hanging out.
Blanc had later sneaked back into the forest for a look. They had actually managed to finish it.
Only, the design was almost identical to Blanc's very first version.
They really knew how to make extra work for themselves.
Before you continue