Ben & Bella go to Magnolia on foot. They can hitch a ride from Capital Crocus as many people go there with vehicles. Most of them are riding carts pulled by horses though.
But Ben decides to not ride any vehicle in his journey. They have walked for months, so it feels wrong to ride a vehicle just because they are almost finished. He wants to feel the full sensation of walking on this journey.
It takes them 2 days to walk from the Central area to Magnolia. Ben used his teleportation every once in a while to move faster. But it still takes them 2 days because they want to enjoy watching the surroundings too.
They arrived in Magnolia and go to Mira's house. But she's not home, so they go to the hospital to check on Lisanna. There's still no progress with her condition, but she's also not getting worse, she just stays the same.
Ben & Bella leave the hospital and go to a restaurant to eat. Mira must have a job now, so they need to wait. They walk around the town while waiting for Mira to come back home.
"When?" asks Bella.
"Maybe in the afternoon or night. If she hasn't returned at night, then we'll ask her guild. S-Class jobs can take days to finish, after all," says Ben.
Bella is rather disappointed so Ben rubs her head to cheer her up a little. They walk around the town until afternoon and return to Mira's house. The light is on, so someone is home. It can be Mira or Elfman.
Ben knocks on the door and then hears someone come. The door opens and it is Mira who opens it. She gets surprised to see them and immediately jumps to hug them.
"BEN! BELLA! LONG TIME NO SEE," says Mira excitedly.
"Y-yeah, long time no see," says Ben nervously as he feels 2 big & soft things on his chest.
'She grows a lot in a year. Although it's not her height that grows, it's something else,' says Ben as he peeks down.
"How are you doing, Mira?" asks Ben.
"I'm fine, Elfman is fine too. Lisanna is... still the same as last year," says Mira sadly.
"It's okay. We've visited her this noon and she looks healthy. At the very least, her condition doesn't deteriorate," says Ben while rubbing Mira's head.
"Yeah, I know. Hmm, you get a lot taller since we last met," says Mira while measuring Ben's height with her hand.
"Bella? Bella?" asks Bella while jumping excitedly.
"Hmm, you also seem to grow cuter," says Mira as she grabs Bella and hugs her.
"Hihihi, cute," says Bella happily as Mira rubs her cheek on hers.
"Sigh, Elfman also grows very tall now. Only I didn't grow," says Mira with a sad tone.
'No, you grew too, just in different parts,' thinks Ben while looking at Mira's 2 mass destruction weapons.
Ben has started to grow again 2 months ago after dispelling his Body Age Seal. His Devil Slayer Magic has suppressed the Dragon Seed to an acceptable level. So now he can grow normally again and he grew a lot in these 2 months.
Now he is 185 cm high at 16 y.o, will be 17 in some days. From his initial 170 cm height, Ben grows 15 cm in 2 months. It's like his growth that has been halted explode in these 2 months. Not to mention he still can grow because his body's age is 1 year younger than his real age.
[Name: Ben Cooper
Epithet: Karna (The Sun's Child)
Real Age: 16
Body Age: 15
Status: Alive
MP: 356,617/356,617
STR: 245
AGI: 243
STA: 246
INT: 696]
His physical stats also grew in these 2 months. They didn't grow a lot, but they still grow. Seeing those numbers increase after a long time has given Ben a strong sense of satisfaction already.
Mira invites Ben inside while still holding Bella in her arms. Ben enters the house and asks about Elfman. Mira says that he is in the Guild building having a party with the boys.
"Ah, that's right, I've heard about a rising star from your Guild. The news makes him sound interesting," says Ben.
"Rising star? Who?" asks Mira curiously.
"Salamander," says Ben.
"Ah, Natsu, huh? Hehe, he sure got famous very fast since last year. He caused a lot of problems in his job although he could finish them all," says Mira.
"Sigh, at least he finished his jobs or it will smear Dragon Slayer's name too much," says Ben while sighing.
"Hihihi, so you're worried that you will get affected too, huh?" asks Mira.
"Of course. I haven't taken any job for almost a year, so it will be hard for me to take a job again if Dragon Slayer's name is bad," says Ben.
"Don't worry, you are not a Fairy Tail Mage. The bad images aren't just for Natsu, but also our guild," says Mira while smiling.
Ben has a dark face hearing that, "Why're you so happy about that? You're a Fairy Tail Mage, you know."
"I've immune to it," says Mira while still smiling.
Ben just sighs and leaves that topic. They talk about their stories in this one year since they last met. They're too absorbed in their talk and don't realize that Elfman has returned home.
Elfman hears them from outside and decides to not disturb them. He knows Mira's feelings toward Ben, so he doesn't want to ruin her time with Ben. That's why he decides to leave and goes to his friend's place even though he also wants to meet Ben after a year.
They talk until night and decide to have dinner in a restaurant. After dinner, they go to a public bath and stay there for half an hour before returning to Mira's house. Of course, Ben needs to buy a lot of milk that is sold in the public bath for Bella because she likes it.
"Hmm? Elfman hasn't returned?" asks Ben after they enter the house.
"Maybe he drank too much and got wasted in the Guild," says Mira.
"Should we pick him?" asks Ben.
"It's okay, this has happened many times. This is a usual thing and he won't be alone there. They must have a drinking competition or something, so it won't be just him who got wasted," says Mira while smiling.
"You guys really like to cause trouble, huh? Even for yourself," says Ben with a sweatdrop.
Mira just giggles and then they go to sleep. Ben sleeps in Elfman's room and he fell asleep fast. He is very tired because he has walked from Capital Crocus for 2 days. Besides, the bed feels very comfy for him after he slept on hard ground for months.
The next morning, Elfman returns home and meets with Ben & Bella. They talk while having breakfast that Mira cooked. Now she can cook after learning it seriously since last year.
"Ooh, this is delicious," praises Ben.
"Delish~," says Bella while eating her portion happily.
"Really? Hehehe, thank you," says Mira happily.
'Good for you, nee-chan. Your hard work has been paid off,' thinks Elfman.
After breakfast, Ben decides to return home even though Bella still wants to stay. There's still more than a week from their time limit, but the sooner they return home, the better it will be.
Bella finally agrees and they bid farewell to the Strauss siblings. Before leaving, Ben gives Mira & Elfman gifts. He gives Mira a necklace with a blue gem ornament, while Elfman gets an arm bracelet with a similar blue gem ornament.
Those are Morgbitt's magic items that can store MP to be used anytime to fill their lost MP. It's very useful for when they run out of MP even though it will be a rare case for Mira considering her high MP capacity. But there's nothing wrong with being prepared.
"Well then, we'll take our leave. See you later," says Ben.
"See~," says Bella while waving her hands as she sits on Ben's head.
"See you later," replies the siblings while waving their hands.
Ben turns around and walks away, but then Mira calls him.
"Ben!" calls Mira.
"Yeah?" asks Ben as he turns his head back.
Suddenly, Mira kisses him on the cheek, surprising everyone there. She blushes before running inside her house. Ben is stunned, and so is Elfman. Only Bella who doesn't think much about it.
Ben can only touch his cheek and says, "Damn."
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You can read up to 35+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Clicking that power stone/like also seem to be a good choice, hehe.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 168 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 179 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)