"Directly using magic?! Is something like that really possible?!"
"Of course not!"
The man shook his head and smiled helplessly. "The people at home wanted my uncle to demonstrate magic to prove what he said, but he couldn't use it at all. Instead, he kept saying things like 'the magic power of the two worlds is different' and 'people in this world don't have magic power in their bodies, while people in that world do.'"
"So now everyone in my family thinks that over these years, he was probably captured and enslaved by someone, and very likely even suffered abuse, which is why he came up with such unrealistic fantasies."
At this point, the man let out a heavy sigh.
The woman also revealed a sorrowful expression. "How pitiful! Thinking about it, he must have lived a very hard life all these years..."
"Isn't that right!"
"By the way, why not let your uncle directly go work at Fairy Tail?"
"That was my original thought too, but the moment my uncle heard that guild's name, he was so scared his legs went weak. Then he shouted several times things like 'why won't you let me go even after I've come back,' and locked himself in his room. He still hasn't dared to come out."
"Huh? Why is that?"
"No idea..."
Listening to their conversation, Weston and the others all froze in place.
That young man's uncle didn't happen to have joined a dark guild, did he...
The eastern side of Sika town was the new district, while the western side was the old district. The two were split down the middle by a long street running from north to south. On the left were dilapidated, old, decaying houses, while on the right was a brand-new, clean, and bustling commercial area, clearly divided.
Seen from above, this long street was like a sharp blade, forcibly slicing the entire town into two halves.
Following behind the dating couple, Weston and the others arrived at this historically significant long street.
Just as they turned into the street, an old tavern appeared before their eyes.
The tavern's scale was nowhere near comparable to 'Fairy Tail,' but it made up for it with its antiquity and freshness.
With just one glance, Weston noticed that a piece of the ceiling was missing, but that missing section was perfectly filled by tender green vines. The vines hung down along the eaves, bent above the wooden window, looped halfway around before continuing to climb down the wall, mixing together with the weeds sprouting from the corner, becoming impossible to distinguish from one another.
From afar, it carried a feeling of having been carved by the years, worn by time, eroded by wind and frost, and then returning to simplicity.
'Will our guild someday be able to become like this too?'
Weston couldn't help thinking so, but one second later, he had his answer.
Absolutely not!
After all, to grow into something like this, the guild would definitely need to be deserted for a long time. But everyone in the guild was always so energetic, noisy, and full of vitality.
What's more, there was also Warrod in the guild. He would absolutely never allow plants to grow like this.
Weston could already imagine several scenes—
One day, he proposed in the guild that he wanted to set up a "plant art exhibition" like this, but was met with Warrod's stern rejection, harshly criticizing him with things like "plants should grow naturally" and "packaged art goes against the principles of life."
But he completely ignored it and secretly went ahead with it anyway, only for it to be destroyed the very next day during a fight between Zera and the others.
So he flew into a rage and punished everyone who fought to go fix the ceiling and repair the walls.
Then at night, he took Zera alone to bed to punish her severely, but Zera was stubborn by nature and refused to bow her head and admit defeat no matter what, leaving him with no choice but to...
Weston subconsciously glanced at the people beside him and hurriedly reined in his thoughts.
"Better forget it. Just appreciating someone else's place like this is nice enough."
The old street, old tavern, old wooden windows before his eyes, paired with the vigorously growing vines, gave Weston the illusion of being inside a Hayao Miyazaki film, making him wish time could freeze at this very moment.
But that illusion was quickly shattered by noisy voices.
A dense crowd of people was packed in front of the old tavern, blocking the entrance so tightly that not even water could get through.
"So this is the recruitment event for Fairy Tail?"
"It looks pretty lively!"
As they spoke, the group walked closer and soon heard the voices of the bystanders—
"You bunch of people, stop pushing me, Miss Sera's signed illustration is mine!!"
"Mr. Esser, I really love your poetry, could you give me an autograph?!"
"Little brother Silver Fox, do you want to have dinner with big sister tonight?"
"Madam Kyoka, I love you!"
"Brother Sunny, I heard that wherever you go, you bring good luck. I've been a bit unlucky lately, could you help me?"
"..."
The bystanders' requests were so many that even six people and two cats, with eight pairs of ears, couldn't possibly hear them all;
The bystanders' frenzy was so chaotic that even with their sixteen eyes combined, they still couldn't take it all in.
"This… what exactly is going on?"
"Why are they so crazy??"
Everyone stood there in shock, frozen in place for a long time without being able to say a word.
At that moment, a young and gentle voice came from beside them.
"That's because, in order to raise the guild's visibility and recruit new partners, we invited several famous figures to join 'Fairy Tail.'"
"Many people in the town are their fans, so they came to ask for autographs."
Everyone turned their heads toward the speaker.
They then saw a child with short black hair, plainly dressed, looking about eight or nine years old.
His face was so youthful that he looked like an elementary schooler who hadn't grown up yet, his eyes so clean and pure that not a trace of human filth could be seen in them. Anyone who saw him would think this was an innocent, kind, and simple child.
Everyone except one person.
The instant Weston saw the other's face, his eyes stiffened and alarm bells rang loudly.
Because this face, this person, was one of the beings he had regarded as one of his greatest enemies in this life ever since he transmigrated!
Zeref!!
Why would Zeref be here?
No, Zeref absolutely could not be here!
So this person...
"Little brother, what's your name?"
"Just now I heard you say 'we.' I wonder what relationship you have with Fairy Tail?"
Weston smiled as he rubbed this Zeref's head.
"My name is Zeref!"
"I'm a member of Fairy Tail!"
As expected!
He was Zeref's counterpart in Edolas!!
This was really...
Too unexpected!
The moment the name 'Zeref' was spoken, Mavis and Precht both changed expressions.
They were both top students who loved learning and reading, and they had a deep understanding of the history of the magic world in Earthland. Unlike the others, they knew very well what the name 'Zeref' meant.
"This… should… just be a coincidence, right?"
"Weston didn't react at all, so it must be fine!"