Licht eventually had the guild emblem branded onto his shoulder.
The color he chose was a pale gold, the one that suited him best.
After the branding was finished, he didn't turn to leave. Instead, he asked Weston another question: "That woman just said I was the first one in the guild to know about the magic hidden within the emblem. In other words, you haven't told anyone else, have you? Why not tell them?"
"Oh, that? Naturally, it's to create the illusion that the Wizards of Fairy Tail can all 'awaken' and counterattack when facing a life-threatening crisis! It helps improve the guild's cohesion!"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Licht tilted his head, his face full of confusion.
"You'll understand in the future. Anyway, you're going to be living here for a hundred years; take your time to learn and think about it!"
Weston patted Licht's shoulder and walked toward his partners who were holding a banquet.
Licht: "..."
Humans really are such inexplicable creatures!!
After joining Fairy Tail, Licht began working to earn money.
Given his unique identity, perception, and power, he was naturally unfit for jobs requiring social finesse or human diplomacy. Therefore, Weston could only assign him 'dangerous' missions involving battles with magical beasts and monsters.
Unsurprisingly, Licht performed these tasks excellently.
Aside from the destruction caused during the process being somewhat severe, there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary.
However, such situations were commonplace in Fairy Tail, so even this final "specialty" didn't seem so special anymore.
Dangerous work often came with generous rewards.
After the guild's commission and compensation for victims were deducted from Licht's earnings, he still had a significant amount of money left—enough to allow him to spend normally in Magnolia for a long time.
And so, in the days that followed, Licht began a life like this:
He would visit the guild once a month, take on a dozen high-paying jobs at once, complete them at top speed, and then return to Magnolia to stay shut inside his house. Every day, he would sleep when tired and order 'Meow Meow Delivery' to solve his meal problems when awake.
Unless absolutely necessary, he never went out!
...
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was April.
Yuri and Rita finished their honeymoon trip and returned to Magnolia!
Not long after their return, they brought a piece of exciting and joyous news to Fairy Tail—
Rita was pregnant!
Once this news broke, everyone in the guild was exceptionally exhilarated.
Especially Yuri; he looked as if he had tempered his body with lightning. He was hyper from morning to night, and his entire body was filled with inexhaustible strength.
The others were much the same. Mavis and Zera were constantly pulling Rita aside to discuss topics related to childbirth and raising children.
"Do you know the due date yet?"
"She just got pregnant; how could it be that fast?"
"If we count by the ten-month term, this child should be born in March next year..."
Weston stood to the side, quietly listening to their discussion as his thoughts drifted.
In the original work, Yuri and Rita had one and only one child: Makarov.
However, the original Makarov was born in March of the year X696.
Now, it was a full five years early!
Would this child still be Makarov?
Speaking of which, why did Yuri and Rita wait five years after marriage to conceive Makarov in the original timeline?!
Could it be that Yuri was...
As he pondered, Weston noticed the expectant look on Mavis's face, and his heart suddenly tightened.
Right, it was because of Mavis!
In the original timeline, Rita died because of the 'Curse of Ankhseram' on Mavis.
It was very likely that because of Mavis, the guild had been without new life for so long!
Thank goodness...
In this world now, no one in the guild suffered from the 'Curse of Ankhseram'!
In April of X691, Rita successfully gave birth at the Fairy Tail guild; both mother and son were safe.
At the request of the Yuri couple, Weston named the newborn boy—Makarov!
...
In October of X691, the first Magic Railway of the Kingdom of Fiore officially opened.
With the appearance of the Magic Railway, it received a great deal of praise from the public. Consequently, various merchant guilds began to invest in the emerging industry of 'Magic Transportation,' setting out to develop magic-powered four-wheeled vehicles and magic-powered bicycles...
However, the "rice bowl" of the transportation industry was limited. After the big cake was divided up, the remaining merchant guilds had to find other ways.
They realized that the era of 'Magic Technology' was imminent, so they turned to research other magic-tech products. Items like magic lamps, magic glasses, and magic pens began to pop up like bamboo shoots after a rain.
For a time, magic technology in the Kingdom of Fiore showed a trend of flourishing development.
A similar situation was happening in Magnolia.
On this day, Weston showed his partners a 'new product' he had developed.
"Everyone, look!"
"Ta-da—!!"
"This is the 'Magic Phone' I developed!"
Hearing the commotion, the guild members turned to look at Weston. They saw him holding a palm-sized black box and showed curiosity.
"Ohhh!! So even you, Master, have joined the 'Magic Tech R&D' craze?"
Weston said with a grin: "About one-tenth of the residents in Magnolia are tinkering with this stuff right now. It's not strange for me to join in, right?"
"That's true! But what is this thing used for? Don't tell me it's a useless item like Yuri's 'invention'?"
Weston was about to answer when Yuri, who couldn't sit still, slammed the table and stood up. He shouted indignantly: "Hey! My 'Magic Skateboard' is not a useless thing!!"
The partners all laughed: "An item only you can use—if that's not a useless 'invention,' what is?"
"Who said only I can use it?"
"It's just that you guys don't know how to use it!"
"When Makarov grows up a bit more, he will definitely inherit my skateboard!!"
A while ago, to follow the trend, Yuri had excitedly come up with an invention called the 'Magic Skateboard.'
Unfortunately, he didn't plan thoroughly during research, resulting in a skateboard that could only be charged with lightning-attribute magic power. When an ordinary person stepped on it, let alone sliding, it wouldn't move at all. Even magic shops were only willing to buy it at a low price.
According to information gathered by a certain guild partner, that price was so low it couldn't even cover the costs.
Yuri was naturally unwilling to let his hard work be trashed, so he tearfully tucked it away in his home's warehouse.
After that little interlude, the guild members once again looked at Weston with expectant eyes.
"If it's the Master, he should be able to make something good, right?"
"A Magic Phone... what exactly does it do?"
"I'm really looking forward to it!!"
☰