A New Life in Fairy Tail

”Haha! I didn’t expect you to actually join!” Gray laughed upon seeing Juvia in the guild hall.

”Please take good care of Juvia!” Juvia smiled, lifting the edges of her dress and taking half a step back to offer a polite, elegant curtsy.

”It’s wonderful that your wish came true,” Erza smiled at her.

”Welcome to Fairy Tail!” Mirajane beamed.

”Welcome to Fairy Tail!” Wendy-kun and the younger girls chorused warmly.

”It’s all thanks to everyone! Juvia will do her very best!” Juvia replied, her face lit up with absolute joy.

Noah observed Juvia. He noticed she had even changed her hairstyle. Her overall outfit and demeanor were vastly improved from her days in Phantom Lord. She seemed much brighter and more positive, completely shedding the gloomy, depressing aura that had constantly surrounded her before.

”Please take care of me too!” Lucy chimed in with a friendly smile.

”LOVE RIVAL!”

The moment she heard Lucy’s voice, Juvia’s expression twisted drastically. She glared at Lucy with utterly terrifying, murderous eyes.

”I’m really not...” Lucy sweatdropped, shrinking back.

”Oh? You all already know each other?” Makarov looked between Juvia and Gray’s group, then turned his gaze to Noah, who had just reabsorbed his Thought Projection. ”Why didn’t you mention this yesterday?”

”We were going to see her today anyway. Isn’t it better to leave it as a surprise?” Noah replied without looking up, walking behind the bar to organize the paperwork his projection hadn’t quite finished.

”Well then, as I assume you know, she originally belonged to Phantom Lord...” Makarov lowered his voice, addressing Ultear and the older members of the group.

”Yes. You don’t need to worry, Master. We are comrades now,” Erza answered quietly.

”We spent the last few days hanging out with her at Akane Resort. Juvia is actually a very good person,” Ultear added softly.

”Is that so~ Is that so~ That’s wonderful. Everyone make sure to get along,” Makarov chuckled warmly. He then turned his head in a different direction and announced loudly, ”Since that’s settled, let me introduce another new member! Hey! Aren’t you going to come over and say hello?!”

”There’s someone else?” Happy asked in surprise, following Makarov’s gaze.

”What?!”

”You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

Everyone turned to look where Makarov was pointing and gasped in shock.

”Gajeel?!”

”Why the hell is he here?!”

Sitting alone at a table with a drink in front of him was Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer and former ace of Phantom Lord.

Instinctively, many guild members dropped into defensive stances. Natsu was the most volatile; he gritted his teeth, raised his fists, and looked ready to start a brawl right then and there.

”Master! What is the meaning of this?!” Gray shouted, highly agitated.

”Wait! It was Juvia who introduced him!” Juvia quickly stepped forward, looking panicked as she tried to defuse the situation.

”Putting Juvia aside, this guy literally destroyed our guild hall and attacked our members! If Noah hadn’t prepared defenses in advance, he would have succeeded in hurting them!” Erza stated, glaring sternly at Gajeel.

”Hmph!” Gajeel scoffed at Erza’s words and turned his head away.

”Now, now. He was only acting under Jose’s strict orders at the time. As the saying goes, yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend, right?” Makarov waved his hands, trying to placate the angry crowd.

”Are you joking?! How can we possibly work with a guy like this?!” Natsu stormed over to Gajeel, slamming his hand down on the table right in front of him and shouting furiously.

”Relax. I have no intention of getting along with you either,” Gajeel said, turning to glare at Natsu.

”(Furious)!!!” Natsu grew even angrier at Gajeel’s nonchalant attitude.

Gajeel stood up, towering over Natsu. ”I just needed a job. Any guild would have done. I never expected to end up in the guild that pisses me off the most. This is annoying as hell.”

”What did you say?!” Natsu roared, flames practically licking at his heels.

”Gajeel has always been alone... Juvia couldn’t just leave him be...” Juvia said anxiously, turning to the stern-faced Gray. ”A-And... Juvia absolutely does not have any romantic interest in him!”

”It is the duty of the older generation to guide young people who have strayed down the wrong path back to the light. His true nature isn’t evil... I truly believe that,” Makarov said softly from the side.

”If this is the Master’s judgment, then I will say no more. However, I still believe it would be best to keep him under strict surveillance for the time being,” Erza said. Hearing Makarov’s reasoning softened her stance somewhat, but she remained cautious.

”We shall do that, then,” Makarov nodded in agreement.

”Noah, you must have known about this yesterday, right? Why didn’t you tell us?” Sorano turned to Noah, who had just stepped out from behind the bar after finishing the paperwork. Ultear and the others also turned to look at him.

Since Noah’s Thought Projection handled all the guild’s administrative work, he had to be the one who processed Juvia and Gajeel’s guild applications. Thus, he had known all along.

”I didn’t say anything yesterday because I figured it would be better to address it face-to-face today. Besides, Gramps is the one who brought him in. I trust Gramps’s judgment,” Noah explained.

Yesterday morning, Juvia had come to the guild and formally requested to join Fairy Tail. Makarov had only asked her a few brief questions before immediately approving her application.

Noah had observed the exchange and realized Makarov seemed to already know everything about Juvia; the questions were merely to see how she would answer. It was as if Makarov had thoroughly investigated her beforehand and was just waiting for the right moment to bring her into the fold.

This suspicion was confirmed when Juvia asked if Gajeel could join too. It took Makarov less than half a day to track Gajeel down and drag him to the guild to process his application.

It was clear Makarov had investigated both Juvia and Gajeel thoroughly after the war. Juvia’s arrival perfectly aligned with Makarov’s intentions, and her request gave him the perfect excuse to reel Gajeel in as well.

Noah had personally processed both of their guild stamps.

”Furthermore, with us here, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Noah added, casting a brief glance at Gajeel.

Gajeel, who was still locked in a stare-down with Natsu, instantly broke into a cold sweat the moment Noah’s eyes fell on him.

He knew perfectly well that the person looking at him had mercilessly beaten down Jose—the Master of Phantom Lord and a Wizard Saint. Gajeel had witnessed Noah utterly dismantling Jose from afar during the war.

Yesterday, when Noah was processing his guild application, Gajeel had felt an overwhelming, suffocating pressure radiating from him. Even though Noah hadn’t said a single threatening word, Gajeel had practically bolted to a far corner of the guild hall the moment the paperwork was done.

Now, under Noah’s gaze again, his tension spiked, and the invisible pressure bearing down on his chest multiplied.

Fortunately, Noah only looked at him for a second before turning back to Ultear and the girls.

Gajeel’s tense muscles relaxed, and he let out a subtle breath, turning his attention back to Natsu.

”True. With us around, he won’t be able to cause any major problems,” Sorano nodded seriously.

Though she spoke of ”us,” her eyes were fixed solely on Noah. While she was confident in her own abilities, she obviously placed her absolute faith in Noah’s overwhelming power.

Ultear and Mirajane nodded in agreement.

Erza’s previously stern expression completely relaxed upon hearing Noah’s assurance. She glanced at him, her posture loosening significantly.

”Those two glaring at each other over there... They look less like dragons and more like dogs. Just a couple of barking dogs,” Macao commented from two tables over, watching Natsu and Gajeel’s intense standoff.

”Aye. They’re on a lower level than cats,” Happy agreed sagely, already back at a table munching on a fish.

After a few more moments of intense glaring, Natsu and Gajeel simultaneously scoffed, turned around, and walked away from each other.

With the tension broken, Noah’s group dispersed. Noah looked around and asked Ultear, ”Where’s Mira? I don’t see her.”

”Oh, her? You’ll find out in a minute,” Ultear smiled mysteriously.

Noah was momentarily confused but let it go. He then leaned in and asked quietly, ”By the way, I thought I heard Juvia call Lucy a ’love rival’ earlier. What’s that about?”

Sorano couldn’t help but giggle. She leaned in and whispered back, ”I asked about that! Remember when Gray fought Juvia during the war? At the time, Juvia demanded that Gray hand over Lucy, promising to beg Jose to stop the war if he did. Naturally, Gray refused and said something along the lines of ’I would never hand Lucy over’ or something heroic like that. Ever since then, Juvia has firmly believed Lucy is her mortal enemy in love.”

”Ah... I see... Well, they’re on their own with that mess,” Noah sighed, shaking his head.

With all the guild’s administrative work finished for the morning and no pressing matters to attend to, Noah ordered a glass of milk, found an empty table, pulled out a magic tome, and began to read.

Coincidentally, he had chosen the table Gajeel was sitting at. Seeing Noah sit down, Gajeel panicked internally. But when Noah simply opened his book and ignored him, Gajeel slowly let out a breath and relaxed.

Ultear and Sorano sat at an adjacent table, chatting with some of the other guild members.

Erza sat down right next to Noah, pulled out her beloved strawberry cake, and happily began to eat.

Suddenly, all the lights in the guild hall went out.

Unable to read in the dark, Noah closed his tome. It was obvious some sort of performance or announcement was about to begin.

~~~

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