After playing with her newly awakened magnetic powers for a while, Erza finally stopped. The group sat down together to enjoy their evening meal.
Once everyone had more or less finished eating, Kageyama Ren glanced toward Irene and spoke softly, "The time has come. I think it's time for us to leave this town."
"Huh? We're leaving already?"
Erza looked surprised. She didn't seem ready to part with the place where she had grown up.
Ren gently patted her on the head and smiled. "Would you like to go with your big brother to a place where you can meet lots of kids your age?"
"Lots of friends...?"
She gave it a moment of thought, then nodded firmly.
With Erza now convinced, Ren turned to look at Irene.
"I understand," Irene replied with a smile and a small nod. She supported Ren's decisions without question.
She didn't press him for more details. Irene trusted Ren with all her heart. If he had decided it was time to leave, then he must have had his reasons.
—
Several days later…
Before dawn, Ren, Irene, and the others had finished packing. Now, they stood quietly at the edge of the town.
By the carriage…
Ren took one last look at the town behind him. He stared for a long moment, then finally turned and climbed into the vehicle. With Ian and Eden at the reins, the carriage rolled forward toward the distant horizon.
Their destination: the Kingdom of Fiore, a nation of 17 million people, neutral and politically stable. It was also the most magically powerful kingdom on the continent of Ishgar.
More precisely, they were heading to Magnolia Town, home to one of the most renowned wizard guilds in Fiore, Fairy Tail.
Inside the carriage, Erza dozed off in Ren's arms. Sitting beside her was Illya, dressed in a black maid outfit, who gently pulled the blanket back over Erza whenever she kicked it off in her sleep.
Irene sat across from them, quietly flipping through a thick book: an illustrated compendium of magic guilds across Ishgar. Though she had lived on this continent for over 400 years, she had spent most of that time in seclusion. As such, she wasn't particularly familiar with the modern power structure of the land.
Ren stared at Irene for a moment. Once he saw that she was perfectly fine reading while the carriage moved, he closed his eyes and began adjusting his condition for the journey ahead.
It was then that he confirmed something important.
After becoming a Dragon Slayer, Irene had suffered from the incompatibility between dragon organs and human anatomy. However, those flaws had been completely healed, thanks to Ren's Human-Human Fruit.
As morning light gradually illuminated the land...
Back in the small town they once called home, life resumed as usual. One by one, the townspeople opened their doors to begin their day, only to find a basket of fresh bread waiting outside—alongside a beautifully written letter.
The letter was short, simply expressing heartfelt thanks for the kindness and care they had shown over the years.
"No way..."
Several residents rushed to the bakery to confirm what they had just read.
The bakery was completely empty.
Irene and her family were gone.
"They've really left," murmured John, who lived next door to the bakery. He stood there for a long time, staring at the now-vacant building with mixed emotions.
"What's wrong? Feeling sad?" someone teased lightly.
"I'm alright…"
John shook his head. In truth, he had long given up pursuing Irene.
A decade had passed. He had aged, his face wrinkled, his hair streaked with white, and his skin darkened and cracked from years of working with molten metal at the forge.
But Irene, she hadn't changed at all.
She remained that same breathtaking woman, like a crimson rose in full bloom, a flower that time had chosen to forget.
John had always suspected that Irene and her family weren't ordinary people. A man like him would be better off quietly living his own life.
"We should keep the bakery as it is. If Irene and the others ever come back, they'll have a place to return to. What do you all think?"
The village mayor, an old man with a white beard and a cane, voiced the thought gently to the crowd.
"That sounds good!"
"Yeah, it's not like the place is being used anyway!"
"Exactly! Let's keep it."
"If Irene, Ren, and little Erza come back and have nowhere to stay, how heartbreaking would that be?"
"True, true!"
"And I still want to taste Irene's bread again!"
Moved by the mayor's proposal, the villagers all agreed, one voice after another. Together, they decided to preserve the bakery, keeping its sign: Scarlet Maiden Bakery.
The warm-hearted townsfolk all hoped, deep in their hearts, that someday they might once again taste the bread Irene used to bake...
Time passed.
One week later…
Thanks to the magically enhanced carriage, imbued with speed enchantments, the group finally neared Magnolia Town.
Compared to the quiet town they'd left behind, Magnolia was bustling and lively. Horse-drawn carriages and people filled the streets, creating a scene more like a city than a small town.
At the rear of the town center stood a building rich with history and reputation: the Fairy Tail guild hall.
This was the destination Ren and the others had set out for.
Their carriage pulled up to the front of the guild and gradually came to a halt.
"So, we've finally arrived."
Ren stepped down, gazing at the historic building before him, his heart filled with emotion.
"This is it?" Irene asked as she followed.
She didn't need to enter the guild. Just standing at the gate was enough for her to sense everything inside.
"Oh~ two young ones with decent strength."
"And a few more with good potential."
"Given the standards of this continent, this guild's not bad at all."
Irene offered a quiet, honest assessment from outside the door.
At the same moment...
Deep within the guild hall, two men near the bar suddenly stopped what they were doing.
One of them, short and dressed like a circus performer, looked toward the muscular, reddish-brown-haired mage beside him, who had just been flirting with the barmaid.
"Gildarts... did you feel that?"
The short man was none other than Makarov, Fairy Tail's guild master.
"Yeah," Gildarts replied, setting down his drink. "Whoever just arrived... they're definitely something else, Master."
And then, the doors swung open.
The first to enter were two adorable children, a boy and a girl.
They were followed by a beautiful woman in casual clothes, whose face and figure would turn heads anywhere.
Behind her walked three equally lovely girls, one dressed as a maid, one in a cook's uniform, and one clad in warrior's gear.
It was obvious that the three girls followed the lead of the beautiful woman. They were her attendants, loyal, deferential, and quietly dignified.
*********
Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!