A New Life in Fairy Tail

Layla naturally agreed to Solideo’s request, and he departed from the Heartfilia estate. Spetto, who had always served Layla at the estate, had of course already released her contract with Cancer and returned the key to Layla. Grammi also released her contract with Aquarius and gave her key to Layla.

When Brandish learned from her mother that she would have to part with Aquarius, her lip quivered, and she burst into tears, sobbing her heart out. She desperately did not want to be separated from Aquarius. At their home on the western continent, it was often just her and her mother. There were no other children her age, and only Aquarius would play games with her. She was very happy when she was with Aquarius.

Brandish hugged her mother’s leg and cried, ”I don’t want to be separated from Aquarius! I want to play with her!”

Noah, hearing Brandish say she wanted to ”play” with Aquarius, had a very conflicted expression. He had once accidentally witnessed the two of them ”playing,” and he was at a loss for words at what he saw.

Seeing Brandish crying so hard, Layla discussed it with Grammi, and they came up with a plan that satisfied everyone. The Heartfilia family would provide the funding and supply the goods for Grammi to open a shop on the western continent. She would sell profitable but safe items; for example, she would not be selling things like advanced potions. Since she would be running her own shop, she could control her own schedule and would be able to bring her daughter back to the Heartfilia estate several times a year.

This way, not only could Brandish come back to see Aquarius, but Lucy and Brandish could also play together. This was also an expression of Layla’s love for her own daughter; she hoped Lucy could have more good friends her own age. Grammi was, of course, delighted with this arrangement.

After the two mothers had settled things, Grammi packed her things and prepared to leave with her daughter. Jude once again sent an escort with them to ensure their safety. Although Grammi’s current strength was decent, she still accepted the offer, as she didn’t want any harm to come to herself or her daughter.

A long time ago, after learning that Lucy was on the path to becoming a wizard, Grammi had decided to return her key to Layla. However, without the key to Aquarius and with no other keys, she wouldn’t be able to use Celestial Spirit Magic, and her own strength would be effectively nullified. Since she often traveled, she needed a certain level of strength to protect herself, so she had to learn another type of magic to regain her power.

After learning about the situation from Layla, Grammi had gone to Noah for advice. After a detailed assessment of her situation, Noah had directly suggested she learn Shape Magic—the same magic her daughter had awakened. Grammi couldn’t stay at the Heartfilia estate for a long time, and Noah couldn’t teach her for a long time either. So if she learned Shape Magic, she could study and research it together with her daughter. Because Brandish’s magic was self-awakened, she had a natural, intuitive understanding of how to use it, making her an excellent learning partner for Grammi. Conversely, since Brandish’s magic was intuitive, she didn’t know any of the underlying theory. After Grammi had studied the subject, she could teach it to Brandish. This way, they could help each other, and both of them would improve very quickly.

Grammi thought his suggestion was very reasonable and decided to accept it, beginning her study of Shape Magic. As it happened, Noah had just recently learned this magic himself, so he first wrote down all the materials for her and had her study on her own, telling her to ask him if she had any questions. After that, Grammi was always studying Shape Magic. Whenever Noah came to the Heartfilia estate to tutor Lucy and Brandish, she would also ask him about things she didn’t understand. After nearly a year of study, Grammi had now grasped the basics of Shape Magic and had developed a decent amount of power.

Because her mother was also learning the same magic, Brandish could never slack off; she was always being caught by her mother and made to study and train together. This was why, whenever Brandish saw Noah, she would give him a very resentful look.

And whenever Noah saw this look, he would say to her, ”You need to study even harder! I’ve already prepared a lot of new lessons for you! Do your best!”

If Brandish looked at him with resentment, Noah would say something similar, which would make her so angry she would leap up and try to hit him, only to always be held back by Grammi.

Brandish herself was very lazy and hated trouble. Although she knew that studying was good for her, she had no real inner motivation, so she had always just done the bare minimum. Now that she had to learn magic with her mother, she couldn’t slack off even if she wanted to. And she would often hear her mother telling her to learn well from Noah and not to be naughty, which made her even more angry.

Usually, at times like this, it would be Lucy who would come out and calm her down. The two of them, already good friends, became even closer, and most of the time, they were inseparable.

Now, knowing that Brandish was leaving, both she and Lucy were heartbroken, not wanting to be separated from their dear friend. They hugged each other tightly.

”You have to remember to come and visit me often! Don’t forget!” Lucy repeatedly told Brandish.

Brandish, her tears flowing, nodded frantically in agreement. Seeing her cry, Lucy also started to cry.

Layla and Grammi were also very reluctant to part. However, the two of them had already experienced a separation once before, so this time was not as sad, because they both knew they would have the chance to see each other again.

After Lucy and Brandish had vented their emotions and their crying had softened, Grammi gently patted Brandish’s shoulder. Brandish reluctantly let go of Lucy and went to her mother’s side.

Lucy, her eyes blurry with tears, said to Brandish, ”You have to, have to remember to come back often!”

Brandish nodded through her tears. After saying her goodbyes to Layla, Jude, and Noah, Grammi left the Heartfilia estate with her daughter and the escort Jude had provided.

Lucy watched Brandish’s receding back, then threw herself into her mother’s arms and began to cry her heart out. Her best friend of nearly a year was gone. She was truly, truly going to miss her.

Layla didn’t say much, just gently patted her daughter’s back. Right now, all she could do was let her daughter fully release her emotions. The pain of parting could only be eased by time.

Lucy cried for a long time, until she was exhausted and fell asleep in her mother’s arms.

~~~

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