In the snow-covered land, amidst an unrelenting blizzard, Ur led Leon and Gray as they sprinted forward.
But there was something peculiar about the scene. Neither Ur nor Gray and Leon wore any outerwear. They all braved the harsh, biting cold, clad only in their underclothes, shivering uncontrollably as the icy wind lashed against them.
"Hey! Are you guys seriously going to leave your clothes behind like that?" Ian called out from behind. "Honestly, how many sets of clothes have you guys already lost? At this rate, we won't even have enough money left to keep the fire going at home."
Ian, trailing the group, finally couldn't hold back and shouted at Ur and the two boys, who were once again running wild in the snow, leaving their clothes behind.
"Ah, sorry about that, Ian," Ur responded, suddenly realizing her mistake. "Looks like I, Gray, and Leon dropped our clothes again… We'll leave them to you!" She apologized with a playful wink.
"You guys are hopeless," Ian sighed, exasperated as he bent down to gather their discarded clothing from the snow.
"Ugh… When is this simulation going to end?" Ian muttered to himself, looking up at the sky. It had been half a year since Ian had defeated Deliora. During this time, Ur had been training Gray and Leon in Ice-Make magic, while Ian, much to his chagrin, had been relegated to cooking and doing laundry.
Why had it come to this, you ask? Well, it was because Ur's cooking was simply unbearable. Her meals were the kind that wouldn't kill you, but tasted awful. At first, Ian tried to endure it. He figured that Gray and Leon wouldn't be able to stomach Ur's food for long either.
However, to his disbelief, the two had grown accustomed to her "cooking." Eventually, Ian couldn't take it anymore and took over the cooking duties himself. As for doing laundry? In this freezing northern climate, washing clothes was nearly impossible. The water would freeze on the fabric, turning it stiff as armor. Thankfully, Ian had his own gravity-based cleaning magic, which allowed him to remove dirt and sweat from clothing at the molecular level.
And so, doing laundry became his responsibility as well. Fortunately, none of these chores hindered Ian's training. In these six months, Ian had solidified his standing at the "non-human" level. He felt confident enough to challenge even Warrod Sequen, the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar.
Despite his grumbling, Ian continued, "I came here hoping to mooch off you guys, and now I'm stuck doing all the chores! I'm really putting the freeloading reputation of Fairy Tail to shame. If Gildarts were in my place, he wouldn't lift a finger."
Sighing, Ian gathered up the clothes and headed back to their makeshift home. He couldn't help but think he was too kind-hearted.
"Come to think of it, with Deliora and Keyes both dead, Gray's childhood trauma should be over. So why hasn't the simulation ended yet?" Ian pondered, confused. By his reckoning, the simulation should have ended as soon as he defeated the two demons. Could it be that Gray still had some unresolved issues?
Elsewhere, Ur had been quietly observing Ian's movements. After confirming that he had returned home, she smiled and turned to her two apprentices, Gray and Leon. "Ian's finally gone back. Remember what I told you earlier? Today happens to be Ian's birthday. To thank him for cooking and cleaning for us these past months, let's head into town and buy some fruits and cream to bake him a birthday cake."
Yes, over the past six months, Ian had let slip his birthday during a conversation. Though it was an offhand remark, Ur had remembered it.
"Yeah!!" Gray and Leon cheered, their small fists pumping in excitement. It wasn't so much gratitude that excited them but rather the prospect of a day off from training—and the chance to make a cake. After all, they were still kids, curious about everything new.
So, Ur, Gray, and Leon dug out the clothes they had hidden in the snow as part of their surprise plan for Ian and set off toward town.
"Sherry, I need some fruit!" Ur called out as they arrived at a familiar fruit stand. "Oh, and make sure to include some pineapples and mangoes. Those are Ian's favorites."
The vendor, Sherry, smiled as she packed the requested fruits. Glancing at Gray and Leon, who were playfully roughhousing nearby, she teased, "Those two kids, Gray and Leon, right? They're such good boys. And handsome, too! When they grow up, they'll be real heartthrobs, won't they, Ur? I envy you, having two little cuties by your side."
"Like them? You can have them," Ur replied nonchalantly.
"No thanks!" Sherry laughed. "I don't have the patience to wait for them to grow up. By the time they're adults, I'll be old and wrinkled."
"But if you're willing to give up that handsome guy who came to town with you… Well, let's just say I noticed him on his first day here," Sherry added with a mischievous grin. "His looks, those abs, that aura!"
"Sherry! Stop drooling on my fruit," Ur snapped, snatching the basket of fruits from her.
"Come on, Ur, aren't you getting older too? Aren't you considering settling down with a guy like him? If you're not interested, let me know—I've been waiting!" Sherry teased, pressing for more information about Ian.
"Mind your own business!" Ur retorted, flustered as she hurried away, clutching the fruit.
Meanwhile, back in the woods near Ur's cabin, a young girl stood frozen in place. She had a cute face and bore a striking resemblance to Ur. Her eyes were fixed on the distant cabin, where a young man was sweeping the floor.
"Finally… Finally, I'm home! Mother must have missed me," she whispered to herself.
But then her expression shifted, her eyes widening in shock. "Wait… Who is that?"
The girl was stunned. In the place she and her mother had once called home, a stranger—a man—had taken up residence.
While lost in her thoughts, the girl suddenly realized that the man she had been watching had vanished from sight.
"Hey! Young lady," a magnetic voice called from behind her.
Startled, the girl spun around, only to find herself face to face with the very man she had been spying on. Her heart raced as she realized who he was—the intruder in her mother's house.
"You… Who are you?" The girl stammered, like a frightened deer, ready to flee at any moment.
"Ha!" Ian smiled gently, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "Don't be afraid. I'm not a bad guy."
"Liar!" the girl shouted back in her soft, childlike voice. "You are a bad guy! That house belongs to me and my mother. Why are you staying there? Have you bullied my mother?"
Ian's suspicions were confirmed—this was young Ultear, Ur's daughter.
Ultear had been burdened by misunderstandings and feelings of abandonment. She had even been manipulated by Brain, the head of the Magic Development Bureau, into believing her mother didn't care for her. Ultear was a tragic figure who had sacrificed her life in the future to buy time for the mages fighting against dragons. She was someone whose actions had caused pain but had also saved countless lives. For many, her story remained an unresolved sorrow.
But Ian was here now, and with him, there would be no unresolved sorrows.
"So, you're Ultear? Ur's daughter?" Ian pretended to be stern as he asked.
"Y-You know my mother?" Ultear's eyes widened in surprise.
"Of course," Ian replied, gently flicking Ultear's forehead. "Why did you run away from home? Don't you know how worried your mother is about you?"
"Worried? Mother didn't abandon me?" Ultear's voice quivered, tears welling up in her eyes.
Ian continued playing the "strict elder" role. "Do you know how much effort your mother put into curing your Magic Deficiency Syndrome? She went to great lengths to convince Brian, the head of the Magic Development Bureau, to take you in. And yet, you ran away a year ago, leaving your mother to believe you were dead!"
"A year ago? I only escaped from the Magic Development Bureau last week, Uncle!" Ultear cried out, completely bewildered.
"Don't call me 'uncle,' call me 'brother,'" Ian corrected, coughing lightly as he continued, "But last year, your mother went to the Bureau, and Brian told her you were dead."
Upon hearing this, Ultear's magic surged uncontrollably. Her small body held an immense amount of magical power, far beyond what a normal S-Class mage could possess. It was no wonder Ur had been so desperate to find her.
"He lied to my mother!" Ultear screamed, her magic raging. "That scumbag! He lied to me too! He told me my mother didn't want me… I'm going to make him pay!"
"So," Ian said thoughtfully, "Brian deceived both you and your mother, keeping you apart to use you for his own experiments."
"That's exactly it" Ultear confirmed, her anger evident.
"Well, then," Ian said with a grin, "We'll wait for your mother to return. We'll clear up all the misunderstandings between you two, and then…" He ruffled her hair gently. "We'll go beat up that bastard Brian."