Lin Yuan did not immediately take his hand.
"What's a guild?"
Makarov paused, then withdrew his hand, clasped both hands behind his back, and headed out of the forest.
"A place where wizards gather to take on jobs for people and earn rewards."
"Just to make money?"
"Of course not." The old man glanced back at him. "As for the rest, wait until you see it for yourself."
Lin Yuan fell silent for a moment, then followed him.
It was nearly noon when the two arrived in Magnolia.
Sunlight fell across red rooftops and stone-paved streets. A canal ran through the town, and a towering church bell tower could be seen in the distance. Street vendors greeted Makarov warmly, clearly well acquainted with the little old man.
As for Lin Yuan, they merely gave him a few extra glances. No one pressed him about where he came from.
The peace felt somewhat unfamiliar to him.
After they crossed the central street, a building bearing a peculiar emblem appeared ahead. The design looked like a fairy spreading its wings, or perhaps a bird in flight with a tail.
Before Lin Yuan had even reached it, he heard a tremendous crash of tables and chairs overturning inside.
Immediately afterward, a black-haired boy wearing nothing but shorts smashed through a wooden window and flew into the street.
He rolled twice across the ground, then got up as if nothing had happened. Pointing at the window, he roared, "Fire-breathing bastard, come out here if you've got the guts!"
"Who's afraid of you, exhibitionist?!"
A pink-haired boy leaped out from the window frame, his fists wreathed in scorching flames.
"Ice-Make-"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Before the two could collide, a hand suddenly enlarged and reached out through the doorway, pressing them both into the ground.
"No fighting in the street!"
Veins throbbed on Makarov's forehead.
Lin Yuan looked at the two on the ground, then at the old man. "This is the place you said I could sleep and eat?"
"It's a little noisier than usual today."
No sooner had he spoken than another chair came flying out of the Guild.
Makarov tilted his head to dodge it and corrected himself without changing expression. "It's much the same every day."
When he pushed open the main doors, the smell of alcohol, the aroma of food, and the sound of arguing all rushed out at once.
Dozens of wooden tables filled the spacious hall, with a bar straight ahead and request sheets listing rewards covering the wall to one side. Some people laughed with drinks raised, some slept sprawled across tables, and several others were betting on the outcome of the fight from earlier.
Nearly everyone bore the same fairy emblem, though its color and position varied.
Makarov jumped onto the bar, picked up a wooden mallet, and brought it down hard.
"Quiet! We've got a newcomer!"
The hall fell silent for an instant.
The next moment, dozens of gazes landed on Lin Yuan at once.
"He's so little?"
"Where did the master pick him up this time?"
"Hey, kid, can you drink?"
"Don't be a bad influence on the newcomer!"
Questions rained down on him. Lin Yuan instinctively tensed his shoulders and back, quietly moving his right foot half a step behind him.
These people meant no harm.
But they were simply too enthusiastic, harder to deal with than Six-Eyed Horned Wolves.
"His name is Lin Yuan. He has nowhere to stay for the time being, and he can't remember his past." Makarov brought his mallet down on the head of someone making a racket. "From today on, he's a member of Fairy Tail. Any objections?"
"Of course not!"
"Welcome, kid!"
No one knew who raised a glass first, but the entire hall promptly erupted in cheers.
Lin Yuan stood rooted to the spot.
There was no interrogation, no oath, and no one asked him to prove his worth. Just like that, they had welcomed a stranger who had only just appeared through their doors.
"Hey, new guy!"
The pink-haired boy climbed out of the dent in the floor and came up to Lin Yuan. "I'm Natsu. The old man brought you back himself, so you must be pretty good at fighting, right?"
The black-haired boy came over too. "Ignore this flame-brained idiot. I'm Gray."
"Who are you calling an idiot?"
"Whoever answers to it."
Their foreheads bumped together, and it looked as though they were about to start fighting again.
Lin Yuan finally understood why Makarov had said the building often needed repairs.
"Let's finish the joining formalities first." Makarov grabbed the two boys, one in each hand, and tossed them aside before taking out a stamp. "Where do you want the emblem? What color?"
Lin Yuan looked at the wizards around him, some laughing and others making a commotion, then pointed to the left side of his chest, near his shoulder.
"Silver-gray."
The icy stamp pressed down, and a faint trace of magic flashed across his skin before vanishing. A silver-gray fairy emblem remained on the front of his shoulder, like some kind of brand-new mark.
Lin Yuan reached out and touched it.
The sealed darkness deep within his soul seemed to tremble slightly.
It wasn't rejection.
It was more like a ship that had drifted for too long, touching a shore where it could finally dock for the first time.
"There's also magic registration." Makarov brought over a transparent crystal the size of a fist. "Put your hand on it and channel a little magic into it. It's just to get a rough idea of your level, so don't be nervous."
Lin Yuan did as he was told and placed his hand on the crystal.
"How much is a little?"
"Just make it light up."
He tried to draw on the scattered torrent within him.
The crystal gave off a faint glow.
The next moment, its light abruptly surged.
The magic lamps throughout the Guild went out at once, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared inside the transparent crystal. Makarov's expression changed, but just as he was about to tell Lin Yuan to stop, the crystal exploded before everyone's eyes, sending fragments flying everywhere.
The noisy hall fell completely silent.
Lin Yuan looked at the testing device, of which only the base remained, and slowly withdrew his hand.
"It lit up."