Shane walked into the kitchen and began to process the ingredients swiftly.
Fresh prawns were carefully shelled, retaining the complete shrimp meat. Mixed lightly with a little fatty pork and seasonings, they formed a pink and attractive filling.
Next, he took out the ready-made wheat starch dough, skillfully rolling it into round wrappers as thin as cicada wings. Wrapping a whole shrimp and an appropriate amount of filling, his fingers deftly pinched out exquisite pleats.
Shrimp dumplings shaped like curved combs with thin and translucent skin were soon neatly arranged in the steamer.
Steamed over the pot for a while, when the savory aroma permeated with the steam, the shrimp dumplings were ready. Under the translucent dumpling skin, pink shrimp meat was faintly visible, looking exceptionally tempting.
Erza carefully picked one up with chopsticks, blew on it gently, and then put it into her mouth.
The thin yet tough skin was bitten open. The fresh sweet soup and smooth, bouncy shrimp meat instantly occupied her taste buds.
Her eyes widened instantly, cheeks bulging slightly, chewing carefully, her face revealing obvious satisfaction and surprise.
With such a reaction, the taste was naturally self-evident.
Seeing Erza's satisfied and surprised expression, Shane's chef soul was greatly satisfied, and he couldn't help saying, "There are so many delicious things; don't just think about pan-fried steak in the future."
Erza put down her chopsticks and refuted seriously, "Shrimp dumplings are delicious; pan-fried steak made by Shane is also delicious."
Her serious attitude made Shane want to tease her, so he asked with a smile, "Then—is strawberry cake delicious, or pan-fried steak delicious?"
This question instantly plunged Erza into silence.
She frowned slightly, revealing an extremely rare girlish tangled expression on her face.
After a long while, as if making an extremely difficult decision, she extended her hand, gesturing a tiny gap with her thumb and index finger, her voice carrying a bit of guilt: "Strawberry cake—is a tiny bit more delicious."
"Is that so—" Shane deliberately dragged out his voice, pretending to be very disappointed.
Seeing this, Erza hurriedly explained, "Really only a tiny bit! If it's strawberry cake made by Shane, then definitely—definitely the most delicious!"
Seeing Erza somewhat flustered trying to explain, Shane finally couldn't help laughing, his eyes curving.
Only then did Erza realize she was teased again.
She pursed her lips somewhat dissatisfiedly, then quickly extended her chopsticks, accurately picking three shrimp dumplings from the plate in front of Shane and putting them onto her own plate.
Seeing this, Shane, who was in a great mood, wasn't annoyed but waved his big hand, pushing all the remaining shrimp dumplings on his plate onto Erza's plate, saying generously, "All for you."
His reaction instead made Erza lose the pleasure of "revenge."
Even the shrimp dumplings on the plate seemed to lose fla—
Mhm, Erza took a bite, shrimp dumplings are still very flavorful.
After breakfast, the two tidied up a bit and set off for the guild.
Magnolia in the early morning was always full of vitality.
Sunlight spilled on the clean streets. Shops on both sides of the street just began to take down door panels. Carriage wheels rolling over the stone road made rhythmic sounds.
The two walked side by side on the path along the river, enjoying this rare comfort.
Just then, an enthusiastic voice sounded: "Hey! Shane!"
Immediately after, a round and plump orange was thrown toward him in an arc.
Shane caught it subconsciously and looked somewhat doubtfully at the roadside vendor uncle pushing a fruit cart with a smiling face.
"Heard you took care of that bastard Ivan! Well done! This is for you, a token of appreciation!" The uncle explained with a smile, his voice loud.
Shane raised an eyebrow.
News of me defeating Ivan spread so fast? The mouths of those guys in the guild are too big, right?
Moreover, exactly how bad is this guy Ivan's popularity?
Residents of Magnolia had always been very tolerant toward Fairy Tail members, yet they were angry enough to express support in this way.
This was just the beginning.
On this short road from the riverside to the guild gate, residents constantly recognized Shane, greeted him enthusiastically, and stuffed him with various things.
Fresh vegetables, freshly baked bread, packaged candies—
Soon, Shane couldn't hold them with two hands. Finally, with Erza's help, they carried this large pile of fruits and food to the guild entrance.
Just walking into the guild hall, brisk music hit them.
Master Makarov was standing on the bar counter. Following the rhythm, his small body twisted agilely, holding a large beer mug in his hand, showing no sign of yesterday's sad and heartbroken state.
"Recovered too fast, right—" Shane sighed silently in his heart, walked forward, and handed over the heavy stuff in his hands. "Here, Master, for you to eat."
After all, it was food obtained because of Ivan; Shane naturally wanted to share some with the Master.
Makarov stopped dancing and looked curiously at this large pile of things. "Oh? Where did so many good things come from early in the morning?"
Shane was just about to answer casually, "Residents on the road heard I beat up your son and gave them."
Before the words came out, Erza beside him perceived his intention.
She took a step ahead, taking over the conversation calmly and naturally. "We saw these were very fresh on the road. We were worried you weren't in a good mood, thinking of buying something to comfort you."
Hearing this, Makarov's face bloomed into a smile instantly, taking the things happily. "Hahaha, thoughtful, thoughtful! Come, come, come, everyone share some!"
Saying this, he began to distribute food to the surrounding members, constantly sighing in his heart that it would be great if other people in the guild were as sensible as Shane and Erza.
While the Master was distributing things, Shane pulled Erza aside and whispered, "You've become cunning now, Erza. Actually using things given by others to claim credit?"
The corner of Erza's eye twitched slightly. The scene of seeing Shane take the bread given by Jellal and give it to Simon on the first day entering the Tower of Heaven instantly flashed through her mind.
Even if it is so, I learned it from you. She roasted silently in her heart.
On the surface, she just rolled her eyes at Shane, then couldn't be bothered to pay attention to his act of accusing the victim, turning to walk toward the request board, leaving Shane grinning foolishly on the spot for some unknown reason.
Not long after, Shane looked at Erza's profile standing focused in front of the request board and leaned over curiously. "You want to take a commission?"
"Mhm." Erza's gaze didn't leave the request column, nodding. "I want to save some money to buy two more suits of armor to use with 'Magic Breaking' and 'Iron Cutting'."
Shane realized suddenly.
Indeed, unlike him, Erza's magic relied more on suitable equipment and weapons to be exerted to the extreme.
"And," Erza paused, moving her gaze from the request column to look at Shane, adding, "there's no money at home recently; need money."