Chapter 79: Is Mira

Lacus was completely unconcerned with his appearance.

He spent his days scowling like a brooding tough guy, so much so that Lidas even felt it would be an insult to draw a smile on his face.

“Then let’s leave it at that.”

Mo En felt slightly helpless but could do nothing—he couldn’t force Lidas to do something he didn’t want to do; after all, artists had their own principles.

Rather than pressuring Lidas to draw a smile on Lacus, it would be better to find a way to help Lacus reintegrate with the group.

“By the way, Lidas, what do Itachi think about my earlier offer—would Itachi be willing to illustrate my novel?”

Mo En dropped the subject of Lacus and changed the topic; he had already rushed out the first draft of the story, and after a bit more polishing, it would be ready for publication. He didn’t just plan to release the novel—he intended to release a manga version too.

Following the principle of keeping profits within the family, he naturally wanted someone from within the guild to illustrate it, and the royalty split would be fair—this was essentially copyright development.

Later on, even a film adaptation could be considered; the story of “Great Detective Holmes” would become wildly popular in this world!

“Of course it’s fine—I’ve almost finished reading the book, and I’m very interested. Mo En, Itachi’re truly a genius!”

When Mo En mentioned “Great Detective Holmes,” Lidas’s eyes lit up; he had read the manuscript Mo En gave him with great care and thought the story excellent.

Even if the story had been mediocre, he wouldn’t have refused—it was just a matter of spending some time to help out.

“That’s great, Lidas, thank Itachi.”

Mo En smiled and reached out to slap palms with Lidas.

“I should be thanking Itachi, Mo En—for entrusting me with such a profitable job. Your book will definitely be a hit, and I’ll benefit from it too; maybe I’ll be able to support myself for the rest of my life because of it.”

Lidas refused thanks and instead thanked Mo En, convinced his taste was still sound—by his standards, the book had undeniable potential to become a smash.

This made Lidas reflect: Mo En was truly a genius. His magical power was already formidable, yet he’d also created “Great Detective Holmes.”

In Lidas’s view, the latter required far more talent than the former. Magic prodigies weren’t rare in Fairy Tail—there were several among the younger generation—but someone who could write an engaging story was truly rare.

“I’m just standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Mo En shook his head with a smile and offered no further explanation. He wouldn’t claim the story wasn’t his—he’d already plagiarized, so why pretend otherwise? Still, he didn’t truly believe he was that brilliant; the only real advantage he had was that he actually remembered the general plot.

This made him regret even more that he hadn’t watched more anime back then.

Meanwhile, the kids were already surrounding Sherry with questions, mostly about how to care for Happy.

“Sherry, what should we feed Happy?”

“Can we give him fish?”

“Don’t cats like fish?”

“Sherry, what do Itachi like to eat?”

Sherry was annoyed by the barrage of questions.

“I like tea. Itachi can feed him anything humans can eat—we’re not that delicate.”

Sherry spoke, hoping to shoo them away quickly.

“Then let’s go catch fish! We’ll grill some for Happy!”

Hearing Sherry’s answer, the children rushed out the door, eager to catch fish for the newly hatched Happy.

“Wait—I suggest giving him milk first. Isn’t fish a bit too early? Even magical creatures shouldn’t be raised so roughly.”

Mo En stopped them. Honestly, they wouldn’t kill Happy this way, but he’d suffer a lot—how could a bunch of kids possibly know how to care for a child?

“Is that right?”

Natsu and the others exchanged glances, then turned to Sherry.

“Uh… maybe? I… I don’t know!”

Sherry felt embarrassed under their stares—she was barely older than them herself; how could she know such things?

Still, she wasn’t particularly delicate. From birth, she’d carried many memories and had spent plenty of time exposed to the elements in the forest.

To be honest, the only real comfort she’d known came after meeting Wendy—meaning she’d hardly had any good days at all.

“Ero! Get some milk!”

Trusting Mo En, Natsu abandoned the idea of catching fish and asked Ero for milk to give Happy first.

‘The Transcender doesn’t seem dangerous at all.’

Behind the bar, Makarov silently observed Sherry and Happy, concluding that Transcenders appeared harmless and possessed no significant magical power.

‘Let’s keep her around.’

Since she posed no threat, Makarov saw no reason to interfere.

The old man was always forgiving—except toward those who harmed the guild’s children, he greeted everyone with a smile.

The children clustered around the bar, waiting for Ero to serve. As the front desk staff, Ero was truly juggling multiple roles; without Laqi’s help, she’d be utterly overwhelmed.

“Mira and Elfman could help too. Even though my cooking isn’t great, I can still lend a hand!”

Lisanna sat on a high stool, leaning on the bar as she watched Ero rush about, offering to help with chores.

“As for cooking, I’m decent enough—but nowhere near as good as Mira.”

Elfman replied. Oddly enough, despite his muscular, athletic build, imagining him as a home cook felt perfectly natural—he was simply too gentle and kind, which clashed poorly with his rugged appearance.

“Mira can cook? Itachi mean *this* Mira?”

Hearing Lisanna and Elfman, Mo En looked at Mira Jane, who was dressed in a crop top, and couldn’t possibly connect her with “excellent cooking.”

“What?! Is that strange?!”

Mira Jane huffed and turned away, but she didn’t deny it.

“Thinking about it, it’s not surprising—she’s the older sister who raised her younger siblings alone. Good cooking skills seem natural.”

Mo En considered this—it made sense. Mira Jane’s cooking was likely born out of necessity.

“That’s right! Sister often cooked for us!”

Lisanna and Elfman agreed with Mo En—Mira Jane’s cooking had been honed by years of preparing meals for them.

Later, when they grew older, they too learned to cook, since sometimes their sister had to go out to earn money, and they still needed to eat.

Poor children grow up fast—it was a story full of bitter tears.

Looking at it this way, the kids who joined Fairy Tail early were actually quite lucky.

At least within the guild, they didn’t have to worry about mundane troubles—just focus on learning magic and taking jobs to earn money. Food, drink, and lodging were all provided by the guild.

Everyone in the guild looked after these kids, often feeding them and assigning them simple tasks. The children grew up surrounded by care.

“I’d really like to taste Mira’s cooking someday.”

Mo En looked at Mira Jane, who stood with arms crossed over her midriff, her expression slightly hesitant.

“Let’s wait until we’ve saved enough to move into a new house.”

After thinking it over, Mira Jane declined—she was too busy now, with neither time nor mood to cook.

Lisanna and Elfman also ate at the guild; once they moved into their own home, they could cook for themselves.

Mira Jane still longed for her own home, not a dormitory—even if the dorm was lively.

“How much do Itachi need? I can lend Itachi the money.”

Mo En tilted his head curiously—he wasn’t short on cash, since he rarely spent much, and he could easily support anyone in urgent need.

“We haven’t calculated it yet, but at least several million J?”

Mira Jane paused—she hadn’t saved much yet, so she hadn’t figured out the exact cost of building a house, but her rough estimate was at least several million J.

“If Itachi’re building in the city, yes—but if Itachi go to the outskirts or like Polushika Granny to the East Forest, Itachi won’t need nearly that much.”

Mo En nodded, offering a new idea: building or buying a house in the city did require a lot of money.

Magnolia wasn’t some remote village—it was prosperous, so housing prices were naturally high.

But in the outskirts or East Forest, building a house cost far less, since those areas weren’t protected by Magnolia’s government—Itachi’d save a huge sum on land, possibly cutting half your entire budget.

Itachi wouldn’t even need to hire workers—Fairy Tail could easily assemble its own renovation team: draftsmen, carpenters, builders—all available within the guild. That’s the magic of a mage guild.

“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for everyone…”

Mo En’s suggestion made Mira Jane reconsider—building in the outskirts or East Forest was indeed cost-effective.

She hesitated, mainly because she felt it would burden everyone; safety concerns in the outskirts or East Forest meant nothing to mages.

(End of Chapter)