A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Fire Dragon King's Explosion!!"

"Ice Demon Zero's Breaking Fist!!"

"It's not over yet? Where's the advantage we were promised?!"

Three hours later...

"Crimson Lotus Blade of Devastation!!!"

"Huh?! Is it finally over? I was sleeping so soundly..."

With a loud shout and an explosion, Natsu used his strongest Dragon Slayer technique to end his battle with Gray.

After a three-hour battle, both of them were completely exhausted of their physical strength and magic power, and they fell backward in a sorry state. However, Gray had already lost consciousness, but Natsu was still awake.

A slight advantage determined the ultimate winner of this assessment.

Chapter 615 Return

"The ultimate winner of this S-level assessment..."

Surrounded by mages, Makarov excitedly announced the results of this year's S-Class Exam: "In X785, the person from 'Fairy Tail' who passed the exam and became an S-Class Mage is..."

"Natsu Dragneel!!"

"Yoshia!!!" Upon hearing this result, Natsu was extremely excited, as happy as a nine-year-old child.

"Happy, did you hear that? I'm an S-class mage now!!" Natsu was the first to rush towards Happy.

"Hey!!"

The human and the cat gave each other a high five in perfect unison, celebrating Natsu's many years of hard work.

"Lucy...did you hear that? I'm an S-class mage now!!" Natsu ran to Lucy, sharing his joy.

"Yes, yes... Congratulations!" Lucy smiled and patted Natsu's head affectionately.

"Erza..."

"Well done, Natsu! Keep it up!" Erza gave Natsu a thumbs-up and patted him on the shoulder in encouragement.

“Gray… Ah, I’m so sorry…”

"Why are you apologizing?! Ugh... I can't stand you... Fine, congratulations!"

Although he ultimately lost, Gray wasn't one to be a sore loser. He could get his revenge next time, even if he lost by a slight margin. As his close partner, he still offered his congratulations with a touch of shyness.

"Wendy... how was it? I'm pretty awesome, right?"

"Yes! Congratulations, Natsu-san!" Wendy was very appreciative, clasping her hands together in front of her and looking at Natsu with longing.

"Wow, next year is your year, Wendy, good luck!"

"I will try my best!"

After becoming an S-class mage, Natsu shared his joy with everyone.

His order was clear: Happy was his longtime partner, Lucy was his most important companion, then the team members, followed by Kira, the 'supporter' and the strongest of the younger generation in the guild, Gildarts, his childhood rival, and Laxus, the person he wanted to defeat...

"Well done, keep it up! You have a long road ahead!"

"I knew you could do it, Natsu! Hahaha, let's drink our fill today!!"

"S-rank is just the threshold; the gap between you and me is still vast! But... it can be considered progress..."

Finally, Natsu stood arrogantly in front of Gajeel, head held high and chest puffed out, his voice booming: "Yo yo yo... How about that, Gajeel? I became an S-class mage before you!"

"Tch, I'll let you have it this time, you damn fire dragon! But don't get too cocky, I'll catch up next year!"

Although Gajeel was extremely envious, he pretended to be nonchalant on the surface, as if Natsu had gotten the S-class title by sheer luck this year.

But Natsu seemed completely oblivious to the other's boastful words, laughing uncontrollably to himself: "Hahaha... Next year there's Gray, Wendy, Lucy, and Elfman, you just have to wait it out!!"

"Huh? What did you say?! You mean I'm going to lose to them?! Are you kidding me?!"

Gajeel felt as if he had suffered some great humiliation, and he jumped up and down in a fit of anger.

"Who knows..."

Natsu said smugly, then turned and left with a very smug walking posture, leaving Gajeel behind, who was gritting his teeth and grinding his iron teeth together.

Watching Natsu weave through the crowd of mages, excitedly sharing his joy, even Augustus secretly congratulated his uncle.

"You seem quite pleased, August?" Mavis asked curiously, noticing her youngest son's expression.

"Yes……"

On the surface, August was delighted by the abundance of talent in Fairy Tail, but in his heart, he kept thinking: "Will Father come to see my uncle after he gets an S-class title? I'm so looking forward to it..."

No one knew that what this nearly ninety-year-old man longed for most was something as simple as enjoying the simple pleasures of family life in his parents' arms—although this was an incredibly difficult thing for everyone present.

In contrast, another old man of the same age had a much simpler wish.

Makarov is now back in Magnolia, back in the guild, having a few drinks, looking at pretty young girls, and getting a taste of the excitement of retirement—even though his previous life was similar to the above.

"Children, it's time to go home!!"

……

Sunny with some clouds, no snow, windy, cool and slightly damp.

Magnolia has entered its winter, and Fairy Tail has begun its daily routine.

"Drink up!! Keep drinking!!"

"Hahaha... Let me tell you..."

"Mirasan, another cup!"

"Yes~"

You look absolutely stunning today!

Thank you!

For the mages of 'Fairy Tail', the next few days will be the most relaxing.

The work that had piled up throughout the year was mostly cleared up before the S-rank assessment. After the S-rank assessment, the guild's mages needed some time to summarize their progress over the year and then think about their development in the coming year, such as working more, making more money, getting a girlfriend, buying a house, clearing out debts, having a baby, taking a trip... They always needed to make some plans.

With Christmas and New Year's holidays coming up, nobody is in the mood to work.

For the mages of this guild, as long as there was food and drink in the tavern and their wallets were enough to get through the New Year, that was enough. The gradually cooling weather, the increasingly warm beds, and the guild only strengthened the mages' resolve to continue their decadent ways.

At the bar, three people are having an eating contest.

Natsu, knife and fork in hand, banged his plate on it in a very unladylike manner, loudly urging the tavern's chef to serve the food: "Hurry up, hurry up... bring me a serving of Roasted Cold Fire!"

Gajiru ate rather rudely, grabbing food directly with his hands: "I want a serving of vegetable gravy!"

Gray retorted, "Then I'll have a strawberry shaved ice!"

The two Dragon Slayer mages turned to look at the odd one out among the three: Huh? Hey bro, what's wrong with you?

"What are you looking at me for? My evil-destroying attribute is ice! What's wrong with me eating ice?!" Gray glared back unhappily.

Natsu and Gajeel were taken aback and blinked.

"What he said seems to make some sense?"

"Then let's leave it at that!"

A short while later, Mira came out carrying three plates: "Please enjoy your meal!"

"Oh my goo!! I'm starting!!" ×3

"So delicious!!" ×3

Watching the three of them devour their food with gusto, even though they didn't know why there were foods like "roasted cold fire" and "vegetable broth," everyone around them still smiled and chatted as they watched the spectacle.

"Isn't Wendy joining them?"

Startled by Mira's sudden question, Wendy's little head spun for a moment: "Huh?! No...no need, right..."

Although she is also a mage who uses annihilation magic, to ask her to eat as rudely as Natsu and Gajeel... her upbringing does not allow her to make such unladylike movements.

What's more, air is not like fire, steel, or ice; it's incredibly difficult to eat this stuff!

"You're welcome. It's perfectly normal for the guild to add special dishes for mages!"

"For example, there's a flame menu specially made for Natsu, a steel menu for Gajeel, and if you need, I can design an air menu for you, so you can taste different flavors of air..."

Different smells of air? Just hearing that makes my mouth water... No, no, it just sounds weird!

Wendy smiled shyly at Mira: "No need!"

"Eh?? You don't want it? What a pity!"

Mira looked disappointed when Wendy rejected her suggestion. "I had so many ideas..."

At this moment, the 'wise man' who always liked to guide the younger generation began to speak up: "Wendy, young people should try different experiences while they're young, otherwise they'll regret it later!!"

"Besides, you're at a crucial stage of your growth, so trying different dishes will be very helpful for your development! You don't want to worry about your height all the time, do you?"

Wendy didn't hear the second half of the sentence; after hearing the words "helpful for physical development," she decided to try the new dish.

"Then... I'll leave it to you, Mira-san!!"

The little girl looked down at her toes, trying not to let the two people in front of her see her blushing face.

Mira gently patted her ample chest, smiling confidently: "Don't worry about it, leave it to me! My cooking skills are top-notch in the guild!"

"I'll also help with the design of the new cuisine. I guarantee that the dishes will enhance magic or aid in physical development, be nutritionally complete, and have no side effects!"

Kira, with an air of 'I'm very familiar with this,' laughed and said, 'I designed Natsu and Gajeel's cuisines. You want to become as strong as them, right?'

"Yes!!"

Wendy, lost in her wonderful vision of physical development, left excitedly, while Kira and Mira exchanged a smile and began discussing the profit sharing.

Some things are areas that adults should be involved in. It's better not to let a little girl like Wendy know too much.

Lucy, who watched the whole thing, couldn't help but mutter, "You two... you're really insidious! You even schemed against a child..."

"What scheming? Everything we said is true!"