Chapter 5: The Afternoon Sun, Laxus's Provocation
This guy... must be doing it on purpose!
Watching Roland extend an invitation to Mirajane, Levy puffed out her cheeks in jealousy.
She was the one who brought him to the guild, so naturally, she should be the one to guide the newcomer!
"Oh my, are you two planning to team up?" Mirajane gently pressed a finger to her lips, tilting her head as she reminded them, "But I recall Levy already has her own team, doesn't she?"
"If Jet and Droy found out..."
"Honestly, Mira-nee, don't say things that could be misunderstood! My relationship with those two is just as ordinary friends!"
Levy instinctively stole a glance at Roland beside her. Seeing no unusual reaction from him, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
She really didn't want Roland to misunderstand her over something like this.
"I'll explain things to Jet and Droy—compared to that, Roland, who just joined the guild, needs more help right now." Levy scratched her slightly flushed cheek with her fingertip as she explained.
Especially since this newcomer was brought into the guild by her—thinking about it that way made it feel even more like her responsibility.
Faced with the adorable blue-haired girl's invitation to team up, Roland naturally accepted with pleasure.
"If you want to take on a request, you can head to the bulletin board over there. Once you find a suitable job, just come to me to handle the formalities!"
Mirajane kindly reminded them.
"Thank you, Miss Mirajane." Roland nodded politely.
"It's nothing. Also, you can just call me Mira. Everyone in the guild calls me that." Mirajane waved her hand dismissively.
While they were discussing mission-related matters, the brawl in the guild hall had long since subsided.
Most of the guild members were sprawled haphazardly on the floor, with broken chairs and barrels scattered everywhere. Guild Master Makarov sat cross-legged on the second-floor railing, his face etched with pain.
This guild... is even more lively than I imagined.
Roland thought to himself as he glanced at the nearby bulletin board, which was plastered with all kinds of request forms.
Subjugate Vulcan on Mt. Hakobe, catch rare flying fish, repel bandits, find lost books...
Whether it was odd jobs for residents or hunting monsters on snowy mountains, it seemed like everything was available.
The rewards for the missions varied based on difficulty, ranging from as little as 500 Jewels to as much as 600,000 Jewels.
He even spotted a few requests that looked somewhat familiar.
In other words, the start of the main storyline isn't far off.
Roland took the request to subjugate the snow monster Vulcan and couldn't help but think to himself.
"Eh, you're taking this mission?" Levy stood on her tiptoes and, upon seeing the request he'd torn off, couldn't help but dissuade him. "Those snow monkeys live in groups. With just the two of us, it'd be easy to fail."
"I don't plan on taking it, and—" Roland shook his head as he looked at the 400,000 Jewels reward noted below. "The reward for this mission is too low."
400,000 might seem like a lot, but in this town, it's only equivalent to two months' rent. Add in food and other expenses, and it's simply not enough to live on.
"It's already quite a bit, at least enough to rent a..." Levy trailed off mid-sentence, suddenly falling silent.
As she watched Roland standing in front of the bulletin board, she couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but something about his demeanor felt different?
"Hm?"
Noticing the unusual behavior of the girl beside him, Roland slightly turned his head and met her slightly astonished gaze.
As their eyes met, Levy also realized what was amiss.
Roland's eyes now lacked their usual gentleness and warmth, replaced instead by a natural indifference.
Arrogant, presumptuous, and condescending—his demeanor was completely opposite to the humble and polite attitude he had shown moments before, as if he had become a different person.
"Ro...Roland?" she called out uncertainly in a soft voice.
"What—"
Seeing the worry in her eyes, Roland was momentarily taken aback before quickly understanding the situation.
Had his personality been influenced by the Sun?
He could feel his power rapidly increasing as noon approached, but he hadn't expected his personality to be subtly altered as well.
Yesterday, when the sun had set, he had thought his personality wouldn't be affected...
But now it seemed that while Escanor's inferiority complex hadn't been inherited, the aspect of arrogance remained.
"Sorry, it's because of another magic I use. My personality changes a bit when noon arrives."
Understanding the reason, Roland explained.
"A side effect of magic?" Hearing the explanation, Levy relaxed slightly.
So there was magic that could change a person's personality?
To make such a polite person so arrogant...
She looked at Roland, whose eyes now radiated arrogance, and an inexplicable feeling welled up inside her.
"..."
Levy quickly shook her head, suppressing this inappropriate emotion.
What had she just been thinking!?
"So, aren't there any missions with higher rewards?"
Ignoring the flustered girl beside him, Roland pinched his chin and muttered to himself.
Perhaps influenced by his current mindset, he strongly resisted taking on these boring and worthless missions.
Just then, a somewhat mocking voice rang out from the second floor.
"Quite arrogant for a mere newcomer!"
Roland calmly looked up toward the blond man sitting near the railing on the second floor.
He had a prominent lightning-shaped scar over his right eye, wore headphones, and was dressed in a black shirt with a fur coat draped over it.
"Laxus?"
Levy instinctively called out the man's name.
"To even accept such self-unaware trash—has the guild fallen this low now?"
Laxus ignored her, leaning against the railing with a malicious smile. "You said you wanted high-reward missions, right? Why not come up to the second floor and see, newcomer!"
"Roland, don't listen to him!"
Mirajane frowned, looking upward. "Even though Roland just joined, he's still a comrade of the Fairy Tail guild."
"Ha—who would acknowledge such a weakling as a comrade? And there are already enough weaklings in the guild!"
Laxus looked down from above, a scornful smile on his lips.
"Why should I bother treating these weaklings as comrades?"
His words instantly angered more than half of the people in the guild hall.
"Dammit, that Laxus—"
"Who does he think he is!?"
"Bastard..."
...
"Laxus, huh..."
A smile curled on Roland's lips. He ruffled the blue-haired girl's hair beside him and then headed toward the staircase.
It was noon, and he could no longer restrain the surging power within him.
This fellow before him would serve as a perfect test of its intensity.
"Wait—Roland!"