Chapter 43: Erza

Faced with Erza’s sincere concern, Wendy could no longer stay silent.

“I’m not unwell.”

Wendy answered softly; lying was extremely difficult for her—her entire face turned as red as a ripe duck, and steam seemed ready to rise from her head.

“Erza, what’s wrong?”

Seeing how troubled the child looked, Mo En quickly spoke up to help her out, drawing Erza’s attention over.

Erza swiftly turned her gaze to Mo En; her expression was strained—she herself had no desire to bring up those matters, preferring to bury them deep within.

“Itachi just mentioned Jellal, right?”

With difficulty on her face, Erza finally asked the question; she still cared too much about it.

“Yes, what about it?”

Mo En nodded calmly, giving a definite reply.

This left Wendy and Mystogan staring at him in shock.

What about keeping Mystogan’s secret?

“Do Itachi know Jellal? How do Itachi know him? What’s your relationship?”

Under the stunned gazes of Wendy and Mystogan, Mo En spoke with confusion, turning the tables and questioning Erza instead.

“Jellal is my friend.”

Facing Mo En’s confusion, Erza hesitated slightly, then firmly said the two words: “friend.”

Erza’s behavior made it clear there was a deep story between her and this “Jellal”—Mo En saw it at a glance.

Mystogan, of course, felt the same—and his scalp prickled.

Coincidentally, it wasn’t just Erza who knew Jellal; Mystogan also knew the Jellal from Edolas.

How could things be this coincidental? It was exactly what he feared coming true.

“The Jellal we mentioned probably isn’t the same one. The Jellal we just talked about is a friend from Mystogan’s homeland.”

Mo En shook his head and uttered words that left all three of them stunned.

“Huh?”

Erza looked at Mystogan with confusion; this answer caught her off guard, and she found it hard to believe.

“That’s right.”

Mystogan reacted quickly, immediately agreeing.

The blue-haired boy deliberately lowered his voice and spoke sparingly, for even his tone could betray him.

“In Mystogan’s homeland, there’s a tradition: when traveling, one must conceal one’s face and not let others see it. The Jellal Itachi know—was he like that?”

Before Erza could speak, Mo En delivered the final blow—his words cut off all her possible replies, blocking every escape route.

“.”

This left Erza, who had wanted to see Mystogan’s true face, unable to speak—she couldn’t ask him to break his own tradition.

“It’s not like that…”

Erza spoke, beginning to doubt whether she had been mistaken.

Mystogan did give her a strong sense of familiarity, yet in other ways, there were many differences.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back now.”

Seeing that Erza seemed convinced by Mo En, Mystogan immediately moved to leave—he planned to stay far away from Erza from now on.

‘Better to leave early—I still have important things to do, like stopping the Anima from harming this world.’

Mystogan thought to himself, making his decision: if nothing major happened, he’d return less often.

“Erza, can Itachi tell us about Jellal? We still don’t know anything about your past.”

After Mystogan left, Mo En didn’t let Erza off—he pressed further, determined to dig into her story.

Only today, with the moment right, could he ask like this; normally, he’d never do such a thing.

Everyone has a past—if the atmosphere isn’t right, forcing the issue only makes everyone uncomfortable.

“There’s nothing to say—it’s all in the past.”

Erza shook her head, feigning detachment, as if she no longer cared about her past at all.

“.”

This time, even Mo En wasn’t fooled—Wendy saw through it too.

“It’s all in the past”? No—it was “it never passed.” Erza was clearly lying to herself.

“Alright, let’s not talk about the past anymore.”

Mo En nodded, choosing not to expose her; the Erza before him now was fine—she’d improved far too much since arriving a year ago. He didn’t want to trigger her into retreating back into that lonely, withdrawn girl who sat alone in the corner.

“Now we’re comrades, family. If anything troubles Itachi, come to me—I’m your brother, after all.”

Mo En smiled as he reached out, ruffling Erza’s red hair—soft to the touch, very nice.

And Erza, for the first time ever, didn’t slap his hand away.

“Saying ‘brother’—Itachi’re not even a few days older than me.”

The red-haired girl smiled gently, speaking with a teasing tone.

“By the way, isn’t Mo En’s birthday coming up soon?”

Gray’s head suddenly popped up from behind Erza, jumping into the conversation.

Among the children present, Gray was the oldest besides Mo En and knew him best—he still remembered Mo En’s birthday, which was just around these days.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to your gifts.”

Mo En nodded with a smile, then raised an eyebrow, openly hinting they should prepare presents—only because they were close that he dared joke like this, and no one would feel offended.

“Just wait, Mo En! I’ll find Itachi the coolest gift ever!”

Gray clenched his fist, excited—he’d received many gifts from Mo En and took great care in choosing one for him.

In the past, when he was young and had little money, he’d given Mo En random junk; now he’d saved up enough to pick something truly good.

“I’ll give an even cooler gift!”

Natsu, beside him, refused to be outdone and immediately challenged Gray—he had to win this competition.

Although Natsu had only joined Fairy Tail for a little over a month, and had only known Mo En for a short time,

he’d already grown close to Mo En—who, like a little sun, warmed everyone around him, offering care that made the children naturally gather near him.

“No need to spend money—just your thoughtfulness matters. Like Gray’s ice sculpture from last year—it’s still frozen in my fridge.”

Watching Gray and Natsu argue over “who could give Mo En the cooler gift,” Mo En’s eyes crinkled with delight—he was genuinely happy, feeling the warmth of true giving being returned.

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(End of Chapter)