This guy… he did that on purpose!
Watching Aurel look as if he were about to invite Mirajane, Levy puffed her cheeks in jealous protest.
She was the one who brought him to the guild—so obviously the newbie should be hers to guide!
"Oh my, are you two teaming up?" Mirajane pressed a finger to her lips and tilted her head. "But I remember, Levy already has her own team, no?"
"If Jet and Droy find out…"
"Geez, Mira-nee, don't say it like that! I'm just friends with them, that's all!"
Levy sneaked a glance at Aurel. Seeing no change in his expression, she let out a tiny sigh of relief.
She really didn't want him to misunderstand.
"I'll explain it to Jet and Droy. More importantly, Aurel just joined—he needs help," Levy said, scratching her reddened cheek with a fingertip.
Especially since she was the one who brought him in—she felt responsible.
Faced with the blue-haired girl's invitation, Aurel readily agreed.
"If you want to pick a job, the request board is over there," Mirajane reminded them kindly. "Find something suitable and then come to me to process it."
"Thank you, Mirajane-san." Aurel nodded politely.
"It's nothing. And just call me Mira—everyone else does," she waved.
While they talked, the guild brawl had already died down.
Most members lay sprawled around in crooked heaps. Broken chairs and busted casks littered the floor. Makarov sat cross-legged on the second-floor railing, face pinched with pain.
This guild… is livelier than I imagined.
Aurel turned to the request board, covered with all kinds of job flyers.
Hunt Vulcans on Mt. Hakobe, capture rare flying fish, repel bandits, recover a lost book…
From errands for townsfolk to monster hunts in the snowy mountains—everything was here.
Rewards scaled with difficulty: as low as 500 J, as high as 600,000 J.
He even spotted a few jobs that looked familiar.
So the plot events aren't far off.
Aurel took the Vulcan-hunt flyer and pondered.
"Eh, that one?" Levy rose on tiptoe and, seeing the request, tried to dissuade him. "Those snow apes are social. Just the two of us could get wiped."
"I wasn't going to accept it. Besides—" Aurel glanced at the 400,000 J reward and shook his head. "Too low."
Four hundred thousand sounded like a lot, but in this town it was about two months' rent. Add food and daily expenses, and it wouldn't last.
"It's already plenty. We could at least rent—" Levy cut herself off mid-sentence.
Staring at Aurel by the board, she felt something… different.
"Hm?"
Noticing her change, Aurel tilted his head and met her puzzled gaze.
As their eyes locked, Levy realized what felt off.
His gaze no longer held warmth or a smile—only a natural, effortless disdain.
Prideful. Arrogant. Lofty. The exact opposite of his earlier humility and courtesy, as if he had become someone else.
"A—Aurel?" she tried.
"What—"
He paused at her worried look, then understood at once.
The sun was affecting his personality.
He could feel his power racing upward as noon neared; he hadn't expected his demeanor to shift as well.
Yesterday at sunset, he'd thought his personality wouldn't be touched…
Looks like the self-abasement didn't carry over—but the pride did.
"Sorry. Because of another magic I use, I change a bit around noon," Aurel explained.
"A side effect?" Levy exhaled, tension easing.
Magic that changes a person's nature…?
That such a polite boy could become this arrogant—
Levy felt a strange flutter in her chest at the sight of his imperious eyes.
"…"
She shook her head hard, stuffing the errant feeling back down.
What am I even thinking!?
"So, isn't there anything that pays better?"
Ignoring the flustered girl beside him, Aurel pinched his chin.
Maybe it was his noon mindset, but these trivial, low-value jobs repulsed him.
A mocking voice drifted down from the second floor.
"Such arrogance from a mere rookie."
Aurel lifted his eyes to the blond man lounging by the railing.
A lightning-shaped scar cut across the man's right eye. Headphones rested on his neck. Black shirt, fur-trimmed coat thrown over his shoulders.
"Laxus?"
Levy blurted his name without thinking.
"Even trash without self-awareness gets accepted now? The guild's really fallen," Laxus sneered, propping himself on the rail. "Didn't you want a high-paying job, newbie? Come take a look upstairs."
"Aurel, don't listen to him!"
Mira's brows knit as she looked up. "He may be new, but Aurel is still our comrade in Fairy Tail."
"Hah. As if I'd acknowledge trash as comrades. The guild already has enough weaklings."
Laxus looked down with a curl of his lip.
"Why should I consider weaklings my comrades?"
The hall erupted at once.
"Damn it, Laxus—"
"Who do you think you are!?"
"Bastard…"
…
"Laxus, huh…"
Aurel smiled, ruffled the blue hair of the girl beside him, and headed for the stairs.
It was nearly noon, and the surging power inside him clamored to be tested.
This guy would do nicely.
"W-wait—Aurel!"
(End of Chapter)
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