Chapter 59

(Wishing everyone a happy April Fool's Day!)

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"Let's settle this once and for all—!"

Such a familiar voice.

Such a familiar line.

Such a familiar figure.

Such a familiar scene.

This nostalgic moment completely dispelled the slight discomfort Noah felt after being away for four years, causing the corners of his mouth to slowly turn up.

As if it had happened just yesterday, and as if he had done it just yesterday, Noah extended his hand, made a fist, and with a speed far exceeding that of the pink-haired boy rushing towards him, he punched him directly in the abdomen.

"Bang—!"

With a strange and painful cry, the pink-haired boy's eyes bulged out, his body stiffened, and then he collapsed limply to the ground.

"I just got back and want to rest, so can we talk about this next time?"

Noah slowly retracted his fist, and amidst the stunned silence of the entire 'Fairy Tail' guild members, he smiled and greeted the pink-haired boy lying on the ground.

"Long time no see! Natsu!"

"Hehe..." Natsu, who had grown taller and more mature, still wore his usual cheerful smile as he clutched his aching abdomen and called out excitedly.

"Sure enough, you're as strong as ever, just like before!"

Noah smiled slightly, about to say something, when a small black shadow suddenly descended from the sky and landed beside Natsu.

"Natsu, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Noah was somewhat surprised.

Because hovering beside the prone Natsu was a cat.

A cat with a blue body and a pair of white wings on its back.

"I'm fine!" Natsu sprang up energetically from the ground, rubbing his abdomen, and said to the winged cat.

"This is nothing, Happy!"

"Happy?" Noah looked curiously at the winged cat.

"Is your name Happy?"

"Aye!" The blue cat named Happy called out energetically.

"Happy hatched from an egg that the squinty-eyed guy picked up outside, not long after you left!"

At that moment, from the crowd, a boy with short black hair and the 'Fairy Tail' guild emblem on his right chest, wearing only a pair of shorts, walked out and gave Noah a big hug.

"Finally back, you guy!"

"Gray!" Noah also hugged Gray and then laughed.

"It's been a long time, you haven't changed at all, still not wearing clothes."

"Oh! I forgot!" Gray's surprised reaction to realizing he wasn't wearing clothes made everyone laugh again.

"Hey—!"

Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out, and a figure appeared behind Noah, lifting its leg and delivering a fierce kick in his direction.

Before the cry sounded, Noah had already sensed a presence behind him.

Then, the chaotic wind from the attack, which turned into a whip-like shadow, blew against Noah's back.

However, Noah's face still wore a smile, as if he hadn't felt anything, and his body moved to the side with a speed that seemed slow but was actually incredibly fast, taking a half-step to the side.

"Swish—!"

The sharp and fierce kick grazed Noah's side, passing through the spot where he had been standing.

"Hey—!"

At the same time, another sharp cry rang out, and another figure appeared without warning on Noah's other side. A knight's sword flashed in its hand, and it was gripped tightly, launching an even more fierce attack than the previous kick. The sword drew a line of light and, with a clear ringing sound, slashed mercilessly towards Noah.

"Clang—!"

This time, Noah didn't even dodge. He extended one hand and, when the sharp and gleaming sword blade was less than ten centimeters from his face, he caught it between two fingers, neutralizing the attack.

To the 'Fairy Tail' guild members, all they heard were two sharp cries in quick succession, and then, before they knew it, Noah had moved half a step to the side, his right leg extended, and a sharp knight's sword appeared on his left side, poised to slash at his head, but was caught between Noah's two fingers in front of his face.

Then, two figures appeared behind Noah.

When everyone saw this and understood what had just happened, their mouths dropped open.

As for Noah, his expression now showed a hint of exasperation.

"Is this how you welcome me?"

The two figures who had delivered the swift kick and the fierce slash simultaneously withdrew their attacks, leaped forward, and appeared in front of Noah.

They were two girls, around the same age as Noah, both about seventeen years old.

On the left was a girl with long hair reaching her waist, tied in a long white ponytail with a bow-like hair tie, wearing a black tank top that barely covered her ample chest, exposing her belly and back, and a black mini skirt, with black thigh-high stockings.

On the right was a girl with beautiful red hair reaching her waist, wearing a shiny silver armor, a blue pleated mini skirt, and holding a knight's sword, looking like a valkyrie.

Both girls were very familiar to Noah.

However, like Lisanna, they had changed and were no longer little girls but truly mature young women.

They were Mira and Erza.

"You guy!" Although Mira had grown into a charming young woman in every way, her tone was almost the same as before, harsh and fierce, with her eyes full of killing intent as she glared at Noah.

"Do you even know how to come back?!"

Despite the fierce tone, the content sounded like a wife scolding her husband for fooling around outside.

In contrast, Erza put away her knight's sword, a faint smile on her face as she sized up Noah and nodded.

"It's really been a long time, you've changed a lot."

"You've changed a lot too," Noah said with a deeply emotional tone, especially when he inadvertently noticed that Mira's small tank top couldn't hide her ample chest.

"I almost didn't recognize you."

"Noah, you can't forget about us!" A man with white hair, a robust build, and dark skin, dressed in a high school uniform-like outfit, stood up from a nearby table and smiled at Noah.

"We're here too!"

"Back, huh?" A girl with long, slightly wavy black hair, dressed in a swimsuit-like outfit, holding a large barrel of alcohol, and drinking heartily, called out in a tipsy manner.

"Finally, there's a decent man in this guild!"

"Are you... Elfman and Cana?" Noah said in an amazed tone.

"You've changed a lot too, especially Cana, when did you learn to drink?"

"Meh..." Cana, with a flushed face, laughed heartily.

"Don't worry about such trivial matters!"

Looking at the faces of his childhood friends one by one, seeing how they looked now, and recalling the last time he saw them, Noah could only marvel at how time changes everything.

At that moment, a short old man walked over from the bar and stood in front of Noah.

All the noise in the guild hall instantly ceased.

Noah looked at the old man he hadn't seen in four years, and the old man stared intently at Noah. Both of their eyes showed a barely perceptible excitement.

After a long moment, the old man smiled and said,

"You've grown..."

Noah nodded heavily, uttering a sentence that seemed to contain all his emotions.

"I'm back, Grandpa..."