Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May, x786.
"Mmm~~~~~~~!" x 2
While everyone else at the table wore an as expected expression, Irene and Brandish were surprised by their reactions to Alfonzo's cooking.
'What did I just do?' brandish thought to herself. 'That was so embarrassing. Even if the food was the best I've ever tasted, that was too much.'
As that thought passed through her mind, Brandish, with her cheeks as red as Erza and Irene's hair, slightly raised her head to peak at the reactions of the people sharing the table with her. And what she saw were amused smiles.
'They look like they were expecting this.' Brandish thought to herself. 'Like this has happened to all of them before. Does that mean that this is a common occurrence.'
While Brandish continued to think about what just happened, Irene was also completely dumbfounded by her reaction.
'I can taste the food...' Irene muttered internally. 'How is this possible? Ever since that day, I've lost the ability to taste anything I've eaten. It's been over four hundred years since the last time I had the pleasure of enjoying food.'
With that thought in her head, Irene's eyes flashed dangerously.
'It looks like I will be taking him back with me to Alvarez, after all.' Irene thought to herself. 'That way, I can kill two birds with one stone. Not only will I have a chef capable of making food that I can taste, but the emperor will also be able to pump him for as much information as he wants. I'll just have to make sure that he leaves him with enough energy to cook for me.'
Reaching that point, Irene glanced at Erza, who was happily eating her own breakfast. Then, her expression turned complicated for a moment. However, before anyone realized it, her expression turned back to normal as she continued to eat.
Meanwhile, Elicia's gaze shifted between Alfonzo and Irene repeatedly. So, she naturally noticed the dangerous glint in Irene's eyes. She was also the only one who noticed the complicated expression when she looked at Erza. However, that was not what concerned her at the moment.
'How did he do that?' Elicia asked herself. 'Irene was supposed to have lost her sense of taste when she turned into a dragon over four hundred years ago. But she just had a food-gasm. What in the world did Fonzie do?'
["I would have thought you would have given up on understanding some of the things he does by now."] Scylla said while rubbing her temples at the absurdity of Alfonzo's latest feat that should be impossible. ["You should be more concerned with the fact that Irene is probably thinking about kidnapping him."]
'Nah, you don't need to worry About that.' Elicia said while mentally waving off Scylla's concerns. 'I'm sure he'll have a countermeasure for that.'
["so, you believe in him enough to not worry about him getting kidnapped by one of the strongest people alive."] Scylla replied in an exasperated tone. ["But when he makes it so someone who can't taste food is able to taste food... For the second time, I might add... that bothers you?"]
'Hmm... Now that you mention it, this is the second time, isn't it.' Elicia thought to herself while continuing to eat. 'The first time was Al, right? I guess this isn't so incredible, then. Especially since Al didn't even have a body.'
["*Sigh* Once again, you didn't think, huh?"] Scylla replied. ["After you hid your [Camouflage Magic], I thought you were making progress. But I guess I was getting ahead of myself."]
Rolling her eyes, Elicia decided she was done conversing with Scylla, opting to focus solely on her breakfast. And while ignoring Scylla, who was constantly making fun of her, the meal ended.
"That was delightful." Irene said calmly with a smile on her face. "I can't remember the last time I had a meal that delicious."
"I'm glad you liked it." Alfonzo replied with a smile of his own. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name, Miss."
"Oh my, how rude of me." Irene said as her smile widened. "My name is Irene... Irene Belserion. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Since everyone knew Brandish's name after the episode from earlier, the wizards from Fairy Tail went around and introduced themselves.
"To think, someone not of the nobility has so many women, it's truly unexpected." Irene said while wearing a mock expression of surprise.
Brandish, on the other hand, wore a genuine expression of surprise while she stared at Alfonzo as if he were a different species.
'I wanna call him a playboy.' Brandish thought to herself. 'And that makes me wanna beat him up. But calling him a playboy would be wrong. Especially since all his women know about each other and have such a good relationship. Instead, he's more like some kind of harem king.'
While Brandish was having those thoughts, Alfonzo and his girls could only smile wryly. They had seen that expression far too many times to not know what it meant.
"More amazing, however, is this home." Irene said, this time with genuine praise. "It's quite impressive."
"Thanks again." Alfonzo replied.
"Yeah, from what I heard, Fonzie designed and built it himself." Shizuka said with a smile.
"Oh, that is impressive." Irene said, the interest in her eyes growing thanks to Shizuka's statement.
'Does that mean he's the one who came up with the barrier around the artificial island?' Irene asked herself. 'On top of that, now that I'm inside the barrier, there's another surrounding the mansion, as well. Unfortunately, I can't see through the essence of either of these barriers.'
"Yeah, he built it to serve as the venue for our wedding last year." Elicia added happily.
"Oh, that sounds rather romantic." Irene replied with a smile.
"Yes, it really was." Mirajane said while smiling pleasantly. "And the ceremony and reception were quite beautiful, as well."
"Yeah, I can't wait 'til it's my turn." Sun said with a smile.
As the women continued to talk about last year's wedding, Gildarts could only look at them with disbelief. Though, he was experienced enough to not let his emotions show up on his face.
'They didn't forget that these two women alone could probably destroy our entire guild by themselves, right?' Gildarts asked himself incredulously.
Before he could sink too far into his thoughts, Alfonzo approached his seat before patting him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Gildarts, mind coming to have a spar with me?" Alfonzo asked. "I've been training while I've been away, but I haven't been able to see how much I've improved."
"Uh... Sure." Gildarts replied. "But is now the time for that with your guests?"
"Hahaha..." Alfonzo chuckled. "Look at them, Old Man. They're slipping into the territory of girl talk. And I know better than to try and get in the middle of that."
Looking back at the others, Gildarts noticed that they were all chatting animatedly about Alfonzo and Elicia's wedding. Then, he shook his head and stood up.
"Fine, I'll come with you." Gildarts said while smiling wryly. "I'm interested in finding out how much you've grown, too."
"Good." Alfonzo replied with a nod. Then, he turned his attention towards the group of women as he continued. "Alright, I'm gonna go train with Gildarts. So, you girls have fun."
"Okay, see you later, Fonzie." Marin replied with a smile. Then, she continued as if she just remembered something. "Oh, before you go, can you set up the projector in the living room? I wanna show the wedding recording to Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, Rika, Brandish, and Irene."
"Yeah, Please, Fonzie?" Shizuka asked with puppy dog eyes.
'*Sigh* Even if I had any idea of refusing, I wouldn't be able to with Shizuka looking at me like that.' Alfonzo muttered internally.
["Yeah, it's like her puppy dog eyes get more powerful every day."] Bedlam added while looking away from Shizuka.
["Seriously, she's gonna surpass Little Elicia in a few months."] Riot said.
'And the worst thing is... Little Elicia's puppy dog eyes will lose effectiveness as she gets older.' Alfonzo continued. 'But somehow, Shizuka's are getting more potent with age.'
"Sure." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "Just give me a few minutes."
With that, Alfonzo and Gildarts walked away from the kitchen table. Then, they headed upstairs to Alfonzo's room, where Alfonzo opened a safe. A safe where he kept his most precious possessions. Then, he took a lacrima out of the safe.
"No key or combination, huh?" Gildarts asked while examining the block of adamantite that served as Alfonzo's safe. "I guess the only way to get in is by using [Metal Magic], right?"
"Not just [Metal Magic]." Alfonzo said. Then, he pointed at the safe as he continued. "It has to be my [Metal Magic]. Otherwise, all the sigils etched into the safe's surface will reject it."
Hearing that, Gildarts examined the safe more closely. Yet, he was unable to see any of the sigils Alfonzo mentioned.
"*Sigh* Even when focusing my magic power into my eyes, I can't see any of the sigils you're talking about." Gildarts said while shaking his head. "You really have grown by a lot since I first met you back then. If only Bianca was here to see how much you've grown, I bet she'd be bragging to everyone she knew about you, every day."
In response, Alfonzo only smiled. Then, after receiving a pat on his back, he closed the safe. To Gildarts' surprise, however, Alfonzo did not immediately leave his bedroom. Instead, he made his way to his workshop.
"What's up, Kid?" Gildarts asked in a curious tone. "What else do you need to get for the projection?"
"Nah, this isn't for the projection." Alfonzo said from his workshop. A moment later, he re-emerged while carrying a pair of pendants. "I've got something for you and Ur. Think of it as a congratulation gift for the start of your relationship. In fact, I wanted to give these to you earlier... But I didn't have time with the Magic Council shit going on. And when I finally got back to Magnolia, I forgot."
As Alfonzo approached Gildarts, he raised his hands. Seeing that, Gildarts' attention was drawn to Alfonzo's hands.
In Alfonzo's right hand was a pendant in the shape of a cube while he held a second pendant, in the shape of a snow flake, in his left.
"As two of the strongest members of the guild, you two should have had one of these a long time ago." Alfonzo said with a smile. "But I got kinda busy. So..."
"Well, better late than never." Gildarts said while reaching for the pendant in Alfonzo's right hand, knowing that the cube was meant for him. "At least you didn't forget about us. But with this, the chances that you'll ever beat me just got lower."
In actuality, Alfonzo had completely forgotten about Gildarts and Ur when it came to making [Soul Armaments]. But they did not need to know about that.
"Well, I did technically beat you last year at the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament." Alfonzo said while smiling cheekily.
"That doesn't count." Gildarts said, quickly dismissing that fight. "Anyway, let's get going. I still wanna see how much you've improved."
"Yeah, yeah..." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I won't be using Riot and Bedlam in this fight, though. Don't want those two to know exactly how strong I am, after all."
"That's probably a good idea." Gildarts replied with a nod. "Still, I should be able to get a pretty good feel of how much you've grown even if you don't go all out."
With that, Gildarts put his and Ur's [Soul Armament Embryos] into his cloak while the two made their way down to the living room. And when they arrived, all the ladies were sitting on couches, waiting to see the recording of the wedding. So, after exchanging a few words, Alfonzo and Gildarts headed down to the training room after Alfonzo set up the projection.
Meanwhile, Elicia and the other ladies watched the recording of the wedding. And those who were not present were blown away by what they saw.
"That battle for the bouquet was pretty intense." Rika said with a smile.
"It was." Saeko added. "And Bisca looked so determined."
"I guess that's why Alzack jumped straight to proposal instead of dating, huh?" Rika said.
"Lici, your dress was so pretty." Shizuka said excitedly. "And Fonzie looked so handsome in his tuxedo."
"Thanks." Elicia replied. "I spent a lot of time making all the outfits for the bridal party."
"You made those all by yourself?" Brandish asked curiously.
"Well, she is the Magic Seamstress, Ishgar's most popular fashion designer, you know." Ultear said, sounding extremely proud of Elicia's accomplishments.
"But to think he was such a good singer." Saya said, still spell bound by Alfonzo's voice.
It should be noted that Elicia skipped through the less interesting parts of the ceremony and reception. Otherwise, it would have taken almost twelve hours to watch the whole recording. However, it took them a little less than two hours to watch everything.
"Anyway, would you mind if I asked for a tour of such a magnificent home?" Irene asked with a smile.
'She's probably looking to dig up our secrets.' Elicia thought to herself without changing her expression. 'But I know Fonzie's got countermeasures against that.'
["Yeah, I remember the first time you tried to scan the house from the inside."] Scylla replied. ["Before you were registered with the security system, you couldn't sense anything outside of the room you were in."]
'Yup, an all though it's small, I can see her eyebrows twitching every time she tries and comes back with nothing.'
Just as Elicia said, Irene has been trying to use subtle magic spells to scan the entire mansion ever since she entered. Unfortunately for her, each room was isolated to everyone not registered with the mansion's security system. So Irene's irritation was mounting.
["And if she were to end up losing it, I'd feel really sorry for her."] Scylla continued. ["I mean, if the security system is fully activated, Fonzie said it could subdue someone with five times Gildarts' magic power reserves with no issue."]
'Well, for her sake, I hope she doesn't try anything stupid.' Elicia said internally.
"Of course not." Elicia replied.
"Yeah, I like giving the tour." Sun added.
Just like Elicia, everyone else knew how meticulous Alfonzo could be. So, they did not worry about Irene and Brandish doing anything. However, just as they were all ready to leave the living room, the mansion's residents felt someone enter the barrier around the house.
"Hey everyone, I'm home!" Cana shouted from the mansion's front door. "I can't believe none of you were at the guild at this time of day. *Sigh* I wish Fonzie was home, too, though."
"I guess Ur didn't tell her that we were back early, huh?" Elicia said as she sprinted towards the front door with a smile on her face. "I hope she told her about our guests, though."