Early the next morning, just as the sky was turning a pale grey, Erza's door was knocked on with a feeble thud-thud sound.
Erza opened the door and couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
Standing outside was Shane, looking rather wretched.
The black-haired boy's eyes were bloodshot, with faint dark circles underneath them. His whole being exuded a withered listlessness, as if his essence had been drained.
"You're actually up this early?" Erza was genuinely surprised. Since they met, when had she not waited until the sun was high in the sky to wake him up?
"Also, what's with this look... what happened?"
"Nothing..."
Shane rolled his eyes feebly. He really wanted to say, It's not just early; I haven't slept at all.
The mental backlash from failing to see through the True Name last night lasted far longer than imagined.
It felt like countless fine needles were continuously piercing inside his skull, wave after wave, torturing him to the point of wishing for death. Even now, sharp stabs of pain still assaulted his brain from time to time.
Let alone sleeping, he had even retracted the cloth strips he usually kept manifested to drain stamina. That showed just how bad his condition was.
This lesson was too harsh. He was thoroughly humbled and gritted his teeth in secret: From now on, without irrefutable evidence, I will never blindly guess a True Name again.
He really didn't dare show off his half-baked history grad student knowledge anymore.
His small physique really couldn't withstand a second round of this soul-linking pain.
Erza had obviously just woken up. She was still wearing a soft pure cotton nightgown, her scarlet long hair draped messily over her shoulders, her eyes bleary with sleep. She turned sideways to clear the doorway: "Wait for me a moment."
As she spoke, she naturally reached out, grabbed the hem of her nightgown, and was about to lift it right up.
"Wait! Wait!" Shane was so shocked by this action that his scalp went numb. Ignoring his headache, he lunged forward and grabbed the girl's wrist.
"Hmm?" Erza stopped, tilting her head in confusion. Her clear eyes were full of puzzlement. "Changing clothes. Is that hard to tell?"
This righteous rhetorical question made Shane's already throbbing head ache even more.
He rubbed his temples hard, remembering that this girl had calmly suggested bathing together in the hot spring before.
Right, he completely forgot. This guy's common sense regarding physiology was absolute zero.
He took a deep breath, pulled Erza to sit by the bed, and tried to use as peaceful a tone as possible to explain the differences between men and women, the importance of privacy, and common sense like not exposing one's body or changing clothes freely in front of the opposite sex.
"Oh, oh... I see!"
Erza listened with wide eyes, her expression gradually turning from confusion to contemplation, nodding repeatedly like a doll.
Then... she blinked and looked at Shane: "But, if it's you, it should be fine, right?"
This overly direct trust left Shane speechless for a moment, not knowing whether to be gratified or get a headache.
After thinking for a long time, really not knowing how to reply, he waved his hand weakly, feeling that explaining this was more tiring than fighting Ghoul Spirit:
"Forget it, just remember what I said just now."
With that, he closed the door with a bang.
Inside the room, Erza blinked inexplicably, looked down at her nightgown, and didn't understand what she had said wrong at all.
A while later, the door opened again. Erza walked out, fully dressed.
She rarely wore a dress, but today she had on a light blue knee-length dress. Instead of tying her hair up as usual, she let it fall on her shoulders like a scarlet stream, softening her usually sharp temperament.
Shane looked her over. Just as he wanted to speak, he found the girl staring at him with burning eyes.
He paused, then could only say helplessly: "Um... it looks good."
A faint smile immediately rippled across Erza's face.
Since it was still early, the inn was quiet; most guests hadn't gotten up yet.
To avoid disturbing others, the two lightened their footsteps, quickly and carefully crossed the corridor, and came to the street outside.
The outside world was shrouded in a layer of fine, misty morning fog, floating in the air like a light veil. The weak morning light struggled to penetrate the mist, casting hazy and tranquil shadows.
The air was cool and moist. Inhaling it into his lungs refreshed Shane's spirit, slightly dispelling the stabbing pain in his brain.
With plenty of time, they weren't in a hurry. They strolled aimlessly along the damp street, discussing where to solve the breakfast problem.
Passing by the riverbank that cut through the city, Shane suddenly let out a soft "eh?" keenly hearing a familiar sound coming from the riverbed.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Gray, wearing only shorts, standing in the freezing river water. His hands were constantly plunging into the water, doing his best to freeze ice blocks, his body emitting cold white steam.
"That's really youth..." Shane couldn't help sighing in a low voice.
"What does it feel like to suddenly have someone whose goal is to defeat you?" Erza looked at Gray in the river and asked Shane beside her curiously.
Shane yawned and rubbed his temples, which were still throbbing faintly: "No real feeling. Speaking of which, didn't I lose to you too? What feeling could there be?"
The gap in strength was an objective reality, and catching up was the other party's motivation. He viewed this very indifferently.
Erza thought about it and nodded.
The two tacitly didn't make a sound to disturb him and quietly left the riverbank.
They randomly found a small shop that had just opened and ate a classic combination of toast, fried eggs, and milk.
Afterward, they continued to stop and go on the streets of Magnolia. The morning mist gradually dispersed, and the sunlight became clear and bright, sprinkling on the brightly colored buildings and clean stone roads.
Occasionally, early-rising citizens saw the clear Fairy Tail emblem on the back of Shane's hand and would greet him with an enthusiastic smile: "Good morning, Fairy Tail lad!"
This feeling of being accepted was quite nice.
Shane responded politely one by one. Although his spirit was lacking, his mood relaxed a lot.
"It feels nice to rest like this for a day occasionally, not having to think about anything," Erza said softly, raising her hand to tuck a few strands of scarlet hair blown by the morning breeze behind her ear.
Sunlight fell on her side profile and loose hair, outlining a layer of soft golden rim.
"Yeah," Shane looked at her, nodded, and emphasized honestly, "It is very nice."
Erza was slightly stunned, then the corners of her mouth curved into a more obvious arc, her mood seeming even better.
Estimating the time was about right, shops should be opening one after another.
Following the route he had asked about before, Shane led Erza to a shop with a conspicuous sign—"Magnolia Real Estate Information."
"Why come here?" Erza looked at the sign and realized, "Renting a room? True, living in an inn all the time isn't very convenient, and the expense is high."
Shane shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the property information with pictures posted in the window.
"No, not rent. We're going to buy a house."