When the carriage entered Magnolia, the sun was already setting in the west.
Two years have passed. A new row of shops has appeared next to the station, and a second wooden bridge has been built across the river. Lin Yuan looked around and saw that the familiar streets were still there, but he could no longer recognize many of the people walking on them.
Only when the building adorned with the fairy emblem appeared at the end of the road did everything finally resonate with my memories.
Mira pushed open the door first.
"I found the missing person."
The clinking of glasses, the dragging of tables and chairs, and the arguing all stopped simultaneously.
Lin Yuan stood outside the door, meeting the gazes of everyone in the room.
The next moment, Natsu stepped over the table and rushed over.
" Lin Yuan!"
Just as Lin Yuan raised his hand, Natsu bumped into him and was then pinned down from behind by an armored hand.
"Let the wounded in first," Erza said.
She had grown considerably taller than two years ago, and her red hair was still striking. Natsu struggled for a few moments under her grasp, but finding he couldn't break free, he simply waved at Lin Yuan: "Where have you been? I've looked for you several times!"
"You only shouted a few times outside the castle," Gray interjected, "And the second time you started challenging the echo."
"Echo provoked me first!"
It's just repeating what you said.
The two started fighting in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yuan stepped across the threshold, and before he could even see the changes in the hall, a figure pounced from behind the crowd.
"Brother Lin Yuan!"
Lisanna hugged his waist, looked up at him carefully for a while, and then, as if finally confirming something, smiled and said, "You're really back."
Elfman stood to the side, nodding vigorously, his eyes reddening, but he managed to utter, "To disappear for two years and then come back on your own, that's so manly!"
"You'd better not try to emulate that kind of masculinity." Mira raised her hand and gave her brother a light tap.
Cana poked her head out from behind the barrel. "So, did you fall into some country's underground wine cellar?"
"A wine cellar that can lock someone up for two years might actually have some good wine," Wakaba said seriously.
The hall quickly returned to its noisy state, even louder than before. Some people patted Lin Yuan on the shoulder, some reached out to touch the " Nameless " book on his back, and others had already begun arguing about whether to ask questions first or start the banquet first.
"Quiet down!"
Makarov stood on the bar, tapping his cane on the table.
The sound disappeared for only two breaths.
The old man's forehead twitched, and his body suddenly grew larger. A giant hand pressed Natsu and Gray into the floor, and the hall finally fell silent.
Lin Yuan walked to the bar.
"President, I have something to report."
Makarov returned to his original form, looked down at the wound on his shoulder, and then at the unfamiliar longsword.
"Speak."
"The core of the moving castle is connected to another world," Lin Yuan said. "I was taken there by the rift."
The sounds that had just been suppressed in the hall resurfaced.
"Another country?"
He's talking about the world!
"Is there another world beyond this world?"
Makarov didn't turn around, but simply raised his cane and shook it. Everyone reluctantly shut their mouths, but their ears all perked up.
Lin Yuan continued, "There is no True Magic that can be used normally there. Everyone is trapped in a floating city consisting of one hundred floors, and there is another set of rules in the city. If you are killed by a monster, your physical body will also die."
Makarov's expression turned serious. "How many people are there in total?"
"Ten thousand."
This time, no one interrupted.
"I stayed there for two years," Lin Yuan said. "Yesterday, the hundredth floor was breached, and the creator of that world was defeated. The survivors have returned to their respective realities. I don't have an identity from that world, so I can't leave with them. I can only search for the rift from where I first entered."
"Where's the crack?"
"It's already closed."
Makarov paused for a moment, then raised his hand and patted his arm.
"It's good that you're back."
This statement was like lifting another kind of blockade.
Natsu was the first to pull his head out of the floor. "How did you get to the hundredth floor without True Magic?"
"Is that sword from that world?" Erza asked immediately afterward.
Gray pushed his way to the front. "A hundred floors floating in the sky? What if they fall down?"
"Do you have any alcohol over there?" Cana asked.
What will 10,000 people eat?
Can you eat monsters?
Are there dragons in another world?
Questions came raining down from all directions. Lin Yuan had just finished answering that " Nameless " did indeed come from there when someone else started asking how the floating city could fly.
Mira leaned against the bar for a while, then suddenly reached out and took the glass of wine from in front of Makarov.
"At this rate, we won't finish asking questions by tomorrow morning."
Makarov immediately snatched the cup back and held it high.
"Then let's drink and ask questions! Welcome Lin Yuan home—let's have a banquet!"
The cheers instantly shattered the previous silence.
Tables were dragged together, barrels of wine were opened, and plates of food were brought out from the kitchen. Natsu knocked over Gray's cup while trying to grab the biggest piece of roast meat, and the two started fighting on the spot; Erza stopped the fight while taking away half a cake; Lisanna pulled Lin Yuan to sit down in the crowd and continued to ask how big the floating city really was.
Lin Yuan mentioned that he couldn't use the shop and had to ask Kirito to trade for him; he also mentioned that his first sword was gradually bent by the true power; and that different colored lights would light up when players activated sword skills.
"So you've been practicing swordsmanship for the past two years?" Erza picked up the Nameless Sword and tested its weight.
Most of the time.
Natsu, who was sitting at the other end of the table, suddenly stopped grabbing the grilled meat.
He stared at Lin Yuan, a smile slowly spreading across his face, and flames ignited on his fist.
"Then fight me!"