— — — — — —
After Kazuma and the others headed out, the three of them first treated themselves to a full Imperial Feast, dessert included.
"I literally just told my father I was leaving this house… and here I am relaxing and eating like nothing happened! This really okay?"
Lucy was still spiraling, while Kazuma and Erza had already finished eating, satisfied.
"Alright, alright. We're full anyway. Let's go." Kazuma wiped his mouth and shot the chef uncle a thumbs-up. As expected from a master chef—everything tasted amazing.
"Lucy, your family's dessert chef is incredible." Erza also gave a wholehearted compliment.
"Can you two be a little more serious?!"
Their relaxed mood rubbed off on Lucy so much she couldn't stay nervous anymore. She couldn't help but complain.
"And before we leave… I want to visit my mother."
After venting, Lucy took a deep breath. She might be able to ignore her father after returning, but she could never skip seeing her mother.
When she was young, her father was always busy with work. It was her mother who stayed by her side.
Lucy might have problems with her father, but she loved her mother dearly. If her mother were still alive, things might have turned out completely differently.
"Let's go. We'll go with you," Kazuma said.
"We'd like to pay our respects too," Erza added. "I'm sure your mother was a very gentle person."
"She was. She was beautiful, gentle… the kind of woman I wished I could grow up to be."
Lucy led them toward her mother's grave.
Up in the study overlooking everything, Jude silently watched through the window—watching Lucy and the distant resting place of Layla.
He had once instructed the builders to place the grave there on purpose so that whenever he missed Layla, he only needed to lift his eyes.
...
"Lucy, your mother's resting place is pretty far."
"And this town is huge. Don't tell me it's named after your family?" Erza asked after walking for a long while.
"Town…? This isn't a town. This is my family's yard. From here all the way to that mountain, and those few mountains over there… all ours."
Lucy gestured for Erza to look around—her "yard," roughly the size of an actual town.
"Ah… the sky sure is blue today…"
Erza stared out at the sprawling "backyard." She'd always known the Heartfilia family was wealthy—but not this wealthy.
Now she understood. It was way beyond anything she'd imagined.
"Speaking of which," Kazuma said, eyeing Lucy, "your parents had incredible business talent… so how come you don't have even a hint of it?"
To him, Lucy looked like a slightly scatterbrained girl. Dragons birth dragons, lions birth lions… yet Lucy seemed to have inherited only her mother's beauty and celestial magic.
"Hey—what's that supposed to mean?!"
"I do have business talent! I've read tons of economics books! I just don't like any of that stuff. I'd rather be a mage."
Lucy puffed up, offended. Clearly she'd been acting too low-key and let them underestimate her.
Just wait—one day when she shows her true power, they'll be the ones looking stupid!
...
Laughing and chatting, the three of them finally reached her mother's grave.
Even though caretakers kept it spotless every day, Lucy still cleaned it again herself, all while telling her mother about everything that had happened recently.
"Mom… I've been really happy lately. So you don't have to worry about me. I'm going to live my life the way I want."
Lucy wrote letters to her mother nearly every day, but standing here in front of her grave, she couldn't help repeating everything out loud.
Before long, tears streamed down her face, and her voice grew shaky.
Some wounds never heal, no matter how many years pass. Facing them again only brings the grief back to the surface.
At that moment, Kazuma noticed a woman standing beside the tombstone—someone who looked almost exactly like Lucy, only older, gentler, more refined.
"Please… take care of her."
Layla's spirit looked straight at Kazuma. She could tell he could see her. Her lips moved silently, pleading.
"Hah… can I even get paid for helping the dead? No? Guess I'll just bill Lucy later," Kazuma muttered before stepping forward.
He patted Lucy's head. "Everything you said—your mother heard it."
"She's very happy. And she asked me to tell you that she'll support you no matter what you choose."
"Thank you for comforting me… I'm fine. Really."
Lucy didn't believe Kazuma could see her mother. She assumed he was just trying to soothe her.
Even so, her heart warmed. Kazuma might act rough most of the time, but moments like this showed he could be surprisingly gentle.
"It's not comfort. I'm serious. See for yourself—your mom's right next to you." He pulled out the glasses that let people see spirits and put them on Lucy, then pointed.
"Huh?"
She turned her head instinctively but saw nothing. She wiped her tears and forced a small smile.
"I think I see her too… Mom always smiles so warmly. I love her the most."
When Lucy removed the glasses, Layla—who had hidden herself—reappeared.
"Shh."
Layla placed a finger to her lips, smiling playfully, as if to say, 'Let this stay our little secret.'
She was gone now; there was no need to meet her daughter in this form. Her life had ended.
But Lucy's had only just begun. So keep moving forward, my beloved daughter—Lucy Heartfilia.
"..."
Lucy suddenly felt like someone called her name. She glanced around but only heard the wind.
"Mom… goodbye for now. I'll come visit again when I can."
She didn't know if it was just her imagination or if her mother had really responded. But she wanted to believe her mother heard her—just like the fairy tales her mother used to tell her.
With sincere love, even death cannot break the bond.
Kazuma watched Layla's spirit fade away and shook his head. He really couldn't understand why this whole family insisted on being so sentimental.
After saying their goodbyes, they prepared to head back. But before leaving, Jude stopped Kazuma.
He had final words to say.
"I apologize for how I acted before… From now on, I'll respect Lucy's choices."
"This is a letter I just wrote. When you return, please give it to her."
He handed Kazuma the sealed envelope. There were things Jude knew he should say but couldn't bring himself to voice. So he wrote them instead.
"Alright," Kazuma replied. "And… Lucy's currently living in that cheap seventy-thousand-jewel apartment. I know she doesn't want to rely on us…"
"But a place that cheap is barely livable. Please try to persuade her. At least buy a proper villa. She can use the card I gave her before."
Kazuma sighed. "I'll tell her."
He glanced at Jude. Hard to believe this guy had supposedly climbed up from nothing… though in Jude's case, "nothing" meant starting a business with less than a hundred million.
Jude exhaled. "Lucy once told me you're an important friend of hers. I doubted it at first, but now I have to admit…"
"Lucy's lucky to have a friend like you. I'm trusting her to you. Please take good care of her."
He rambled on and on; he didn't sound like the head of a giant corporation anymore, but like an anxious old father.
"I will," Kazuma replied.
Once everything was said, they finally headed out. On the way back, Lucy asked what her father had told him.
"He said a lot," Kazuma answered. "First of all, he wrote you a letter and asked me to give it to you."
"A letter? Where is it?" Lucy was genuinely surprised. She didn't expect her father to write to her at a time like this. What could he possibly have written?
"Left pocket. Grab it yourself. I'm driving," Kazuma said.
Lucy reached into his pocket, pulled out the envelope, and immediately tore it open, reading every line carefully.
The beginning was nothing special, but the last words hit her harder than she expected.
{To my dearest daughter, Lucy—this is a father's late apology. I'm sorry for missing the most important years of your life.}
"When I was little," Lucy said softly, "after Mom passed away… Dad buried himself in work."
"For my birthday, I made him a rice ball and brought it to him because he hadn't eaten anything all day."
"I wanted to comfort him, but he slapped it out of my hand and told me chefs handle cooking. He told me to study etiquette properly instead of acting spoiled and causing trouble. Then he told me to get out."
"I cried the whole day. That was when I realized that now that Mom was gone… no one would comfort me anymore. Since then, our relationship got worse and worse. We lived in the same house, but it felt like we were strangers."
"I couldn't stand it, so I ran away. I lived on my own all this time. I thought I'd become stronger… but I guess I still couldn't forget the past."
Lucy smiled faintly, then suddenly ripped the letter apart and tossed the pieces into the air, letting the wind scatter them.
"Lucy, that was a pretty important letter," Erza said, frowning.
"That's exactly why I ripped it up." Lucy laughed, her old sadness fading with the letter pieces drifting away.
"Does he think one apology letter is enough for me to forgive him? He wishes. He owes me at least a hundred!"
"Hey Kazuma, go faster!" Lucy stood up, letting the wind hit her face as she yelled.
"You said it," Kazuma replied. He stepped on the gas. The vehicle roared so hard it broke the sound barrier, and Lucy, who hadn't braced herself at all, was instantly blown out of the car.
"I was wrong! I'm sorry! Help me!" Lucy screamed midair, crying as she flew. She really shouldn't have shown off.
Kazuma swung the vehicle around and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thanks…." Once she was back in her seat, her heartbeat finally began to settle. She wrapped her arms around his back, genuinely grateful.
"If you hadn't encouraged me, I don't think I could've faced my father like that. I wouldn't have been able to tell him what I wanted."
Her forehead rested on his back. For a simple trip home, she felt more exhausted than after a battle.
"You would've done it eventually with or without me. It was only a matter of time. You're a strong girl," Kazuma said.
"Maybe… but I still want to thank you. Thanks for bringing me into the guild and giving me a new start."
"Thanks for teaching me how a mage should live. And thank you for saving me during the Phantom Lord incident. Most of all… thank you for coming home with me and helping me convince my father."
People teased Lucy for being silly, but she was actually very perceptive. She knew exactly the kind of man her father was. She also suspected that at first, her father wanted Kazuma and the others to persuade her instead.
But in the end, her father was the one who lost to Kazuma. That was why he finally realized his mistakes and apologized.
"It was nothing," Kazuma said.
"It may be nothing to you, but it was huge for me. It changed my life."
Her father's apology meant everything to her. It soothed wounds she'd carried since childhood.
"To thank you… tomorrow I'm taking you shopping. Pick anything you like. I'll buy it for you."
"So generous?" Kazuma blinked. Stingy Lucy offering gifts? That was unexpected.
"Total limit is a hundred thousand, though! I can't afford more!"
Lucy quickly clarified. Gratitude was one thing, but she had to stay within her budget.
"Fine, a hundred thousand is a hundred thousand. Free stuff is free stuff," Kazuma said.
Then he remembered something.
"Oh right. Lucy, your dad asked me to convince you to buy yourself a villa already, and stop living in that doghouse."
"Doghouse? When have I ever lived in a doghouse?" Lucy huffed.
"Your dad's words, not mine. He said a seventy-thousand jewel apartment isn't fit for humans. Sounds like a doghouse to me."
"That man's sense of money is broken! My place is totally fine! I like it. I'm not moving," Lucy protested.
"And I can't afford a villa anyway."
"You have a card, don't you?"
"What card?" Erza asked, confused.
"That birthday gift from when my mom was still alive. But I'll never spend family money. I'll earn my own!"
Lucy's fighting spirit lit up. She believed as long as she worked hard, she'd make money. Now that she was a mage, all she needed was to take on some tougher jobs and she wouldn't be broke.
"Good luck, Lucy. If you work really hard, in maybe ten years you can buy a small place near the guild," Kazuma teased.
"Stop crushing my dreams! You awful man!" Lucy pouted. Couldn't he at least let her fantasize about her bright future?
"By the way, Lucy, what business is your family even in?" Erza asked.
"Dad started with railway work. Then he expanded into all sorts of industries."
Lucy wasn't super familiar with the details, just things she overheard her mother say when she was young.
"So basically… every train in Fiore has your family's name on it?!"
"Uh… I think so."
"…I see."
"Erza? Erza? Are you okay?"
...
Laughing and chatting, they returned to the guild. The Phantom Lord incident had finally settled down… though new problems immediately surfaced.
"Wait. Lucy just invited Kazuma on a date, didn't she?!" Erza suddenly snapped back to reality.
That whole speech earlier… wasn't that basically a sideways date invitation?
Watching Lucy cling to Kazuma, half-asleep on his back, Erza felt like she shouldn't come at all.
.
.
.