33 A Year and a Half Later

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

May 8, x776.

After Ur was announced as Fairy Tail's newest S-Class wizard, the S-Class promotion exam went on without a hitch. Unfortunately, by its end, there were no new S-Class wizards in Fairy Tail's ranks. That year, the exam was for each participant to fight one of the two S-Class wizards, not including Makarov.

Then, they would be assessed on their power, technique, strategy, and tactics. If the proctors, Gildarts or Ur declared that either of them were ready to take on S-Class quests after their fight, then they would be promoted to S-Class.

Even without gaining any new S-Class wizards, however, the pace at which Fairy Tail took and completed quests of all levels was not slowed in the slightest. Instead, those that failed the exam redoubled their efforts to improve themselves.

As for the younger generation of the guild, who had spent more of their time training than doing anything else, Only Laxus, Bickslow, Fried, Evergreen, Nab, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Ultear, who Makarov had only deemed eligible to take quests after the calendar had switched over to x775, were taking quests.

And when Alfonzo and Elicia turned ten years old, they were given permission to start taking C-Class quests. C-Class quests mostly consisted of monster subjugation, delivery missions, and bandit subjugation quests.

Naturally, the monsters were stronger, the deliveries were those that had a chance of being intercepted by armed bandits who usually had no more than a single wizard, usually at the C-Class or below, and taking out bandit camps that were built more or less the same way.

And like they had done before, Alfonzo and Elicia surprised everyone by taking all their quests as solo wizards. Considering how much time they usually spent together, they all found it rather unusual that Elicia was not wining and pestering Alfonzo to take her with him.

Little did they know, however, that Alfonzo and Elicia had already talked about this. In the past, shortly after they joined Fairy Tail, while they were out shopping for Elicia's clothing supplies, they had decided that they would only start taking quests as a team when they were eligible to take on B-Class quests.

"It's our birthday again, Fonzie." Elicia said excitedly as she, Alfonzo, and Cana walked into the guild hall. "And you know what that means, right?"

"Yeah, we're eleven, now." Alfonzo said in a disinterested tone while looking away from Elicia.

"And~~~~~?" Elicia asked with a big smile on her face.

"So, that means I have to bake a big cake for the two of us." Alfonzo replied, still in a disinterested tone.

"And~~~~~?" Elicia asked again, this time her tone was starting to show signs of annoyance.

Hearing the annoyance that started to creep into Elicia's tone, Alfonzo cracked a hint of a smile. He knew exactly what she wanted to hear, but he enjoyed teasing her too much to just give her what she wanted. Even Cana was trying her hardest to stifle her own giggles, as she was also aware what piece of information Elicia was fishing for.

As Alfonzo continued to give correct, though inconsequential, answers to Elicia, her annoyance grew. Naturally, it was getting harder for Alfonzo and Cana to stop themselves from laughing, as well.

"And~~~~~?" Elicia asked once again, this time her annoyance was starting to morph into anger.

'I know he didn't forget the promise we made.' Elicia thought to herself in annoyance. 'For his sake, he had better not have. Otherwise… I'll… Um… I'll… Make him cook my every meal for a year!'

"Ooh, I think I got it!" Alfonzo exclaimed, bringing a smile to Elicia's face immediately. "Since it's our birthday, Ur said she'd be back today to celebrate with us, right?"

Ur had also started questing again, once year x775 came along. She had figured that there was no better way to get used to her new leg than to use it in real combat situations. At first, when she started, she made sure to bring along an A-Class wizard or two, just in case something went wrong with her leg. But after she was sure that there were no issues, she began taking A-Class quests on her own.

Then, after about six months, Ur started taking S-Class quests, feeling that she had succeeded in knocking off the rust she had accumulated during her years of retirement.

Immediately after hearing Alfonzo's response, Elicia's smile turned into a frown. Then, just as she was about to shout at Alfonzo for forgetting their promise, Alfonzo stopped walking. A moment later, he turned around and looked into Elicia's eyes with a smile.

"Come on, Lici." Alfonzo said while gesturing toward the quest board with one hand. "We'll be taking our first quest as a team today. We need to pick our quest."

Opening and closing her mouth repeatedly in response to Alfonzo's declaration, Elicia was unsure how to react. She wanted to smile, realizing that Alfonzo had not forgotten their promise. At the same time, however, she wanted to throw a tantrum because Alfonzo had been teasing her. Instead of either of those things, though, she elected to pout at Alfonzo with everything she had.

Pouting turned out to be the right move, after all. Since Elicia got the result she was looking for. Once Alfonzo saw the pout on her face, he took a step closer and began combing his fingers through her hair while brushing his fingertips against her scalp, just the way she likes it.

Seeing how quickly Elicia's pout melted from her expression, Cana was once again feeling a bit of jealousy over the intimacy she saw between Alfonzo and Elicia. However, since today was their birthday, she decided to hold back and not interrupt, something she had been doing more frequently as time went by.

"Okay, let's pick our quest." Alfonzo said, pulling his hand away from Elicia's head. "I have to cook our birthday dinner before noon. That way, we can set out for our quest in the afternoon. Hopefully Ur will be back before we leave, too."

"Okay~~~!" Elicia exclaimed in a happy tone filled with energy.

"Tch!" Cana clicked her tongue quietly. Then, she began muttering under her breath. "One day, he's gonna be showering me with all that affection, just you wait, Lici."

Although she felt bad for thinking of stealing Alfonzo away from Elicia, Cana knew that she would feel bitter if she just tried to let her feelings fade away over time.

Unfortunately, and without her realizing it, Alfonzo and Elicia both heard her quiet mutters, causing them to make eye contact for a second before looking away so that Cana did not realize that they heard her.

'*Sigh* I guess that conversation has been put off long enough.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'When we leave the town this afternoon to take whatever quest we decide on, we can finally have it, I guess. *Sigh* The kids in this world grow up so fast.'

'Very good.' Elicia thought after hearing Cana's muttering. 'At first, I considered just pitching the harem idea to Cana and letting her think it over. But holding back was probably the right move. Now, she's so obsessed with getting Fonzie's affection, it probably won't take any effort to convince her to join us.'

If Alfonzo could hear what Elicia was thinking, he would be both surprised and not surprised at the same time. Surprised that Elicia had such devious thoughts about getting Cana to join their relationship. And not surprised at the fact that she really was going to push him towards starting a harem.

After a few minutes, Elicia raised her voice while tearing a quest sheet from the board.

"What about this one?" Elicia asked in an energetic tone. "On top of being a perfect quest for our first B-Class quest, it will also give us enough money so that we can buy that piece of land we wanted to buy,"

As Elicia said, both She and Alfonzo had decided that when they finally moved in together and stopped living in the Fairy Tail dormitories, they wanted to build their own house. Which meant they would also need a big enough piece of land to build their dream house on.

This had been a dream of theirs since their past lives. Unfortunately, before the house they commissioned could be completed, they had their accident which resulted in them waking up in Earth Land.

Hearing Elicia's question, both Alfonzo and Cana looked at the quest sheet she was holding in front of them.

Investigate the Castle Ruins

Rank: B

Client: Reno Fox, Mayer of Lupinus Town

Objective: Identify the source of the howling that occurs every night from the castle ruins.

Location: Castle Ruins north of Lupinus Town.

Notes: Not only have the people of the town been hearing an eerie howling coming from the ruins, but livestock has also been going missing, as well. At least twice a week, we find that the number of cows, sheep, and/or pigs have been reduced overnight. Although we are not sure, we have a suspicion that these two things are related.

Reward: 495,000 Jewels.

"An investigation, huh?" Alfonzo asked while supporting his chin with his right hand. "I guess that's fine. Even though we don't know what's causing the howling or the loss of livestock, we don't actually have to fight it, if it's too strong."

"Exactly." Elicia said with a big nod. "Safety first, after all."

"*Sigh* You two are so lucky." Cana said wistfully. "I wanna take exciting quests like that one, too."

"Don't worry, Cana." Elicia said. "You're already taking C-Class quests, just like we were last year."

"Lici's right, Cana." Alfonzo added while combing his fingers through Cana's hair the way Elicia likes it. "If everything goes well, you'll be taking on B-Class quests by next year."

"I know, but…" Cana said, lowering her head while clenching her fists. "By next year, you two will probably be taking on A-Class quests. Then, I won't be able to go on quests with you."

"Now you're just being silly, Cana." Elicia said while hugging Cana tightly.

"Lici's right again." Alfonzo said, removing his hand from Cana's head and crossing his arms before his chest. "Who said we can't team up with you to help you fuck up some B-Class magical beasts?"

"*Sigh* I really should give up at this point." Elicia said, deciding not to comment on Alfonzo's choice of colorful words.

Hearing Elicia's sigh, Cana could not help but giggle. Ever since she started living with Gildarts, she realized that Alfonzo was not the only one who swore a lot. In fact, Gildarts had quite the potty mouth when something set him off. Although she did have to admit that Alfonzo swore significantly more than her father did during normal conversation.

Seeing that Cana had started smiling again, Alfonzo and Elicia took the quest sheet toward the bar. However, when they arrived, they quickly noticed that Makarov was not sitting in his usual spot.

"Huh?" Where's Gramps?" Elicia asked, swiveling her head to look up and down the length of the bar.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he's in his office." One of the guild's waitresses replied from behind the bar.

"wait, that shameless old man actually works?" Elicia asked in an exaggerated show of her shock.

"Now that's just rude, little lady." Makarov said just before he jumped down from the second floor's railing, landing in his favorite spot on the bar. "As a proper guild master, of course, I work."

"Could've fooled me. Alfonzo said with a shrug. "For as far back as I can remember, I've never seen you sitting anywhere but on top of the bar."

"Shut up, you brats!" Makarov shouted indignantly. "Why were you even looking for me?"

"For this." Elicia said, holding up the quest sheet she and Alfonzo had decided on.

Reading over the quest sheet quickly, Makarov nodded his head in understanding.

"I did say that you could start taking B-Class quests when you turned eleven, didn't I." Makarov asked himself while stroking his mustache. "*Sigh* Time really flies. It feels like it was only yesterday when Macao and I brought you back from the orphanage in Hargeon."

"Yeah, yeah, you can stroll down memory lane later, Gramps." Alfonzo interrupted. "How bout stamping the sheet first."

"Can't you let an old man enjoy the things that old men enjoy?" Makarov grumbled as he took the quest sheet from Elicia.

"Sure, you can go ahead and ramble on about the good ol' days if you want, Gramps." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "But if you do that instead of stamping that quest sheet, someone else will be joining us for our birthday meal. I'm sure Macao, Wakaba, or Reedus would love to…"

*Bang!*

Before Alfonzo could finish, the sound of Makarov stamping the quest sheet reverberated throughout the guild hall.

"Naturally, things like this must be taken care of as quickly as possible." Makarov said with a righteous expression on his face. "There's no way I would ever slow the progress of such talented wizards just so I could reminisce about the past."

Hearing Makarov's declaration and seeing the supposedly righteous expression that was completely ruined by the drool that was leaking from the side of his mouth, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana could not help but roll their eyes.

"Ahem! Anyway, where's your sheet, Alfonzo, my boy." Makarov asked as he wiped his mouth with a slightly red face after he realized that he was drooling. "I'll stamp yours too while I'm at it."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Gramps." Alfonzo said as he started walking toward the kitchen behind the bar. "Lici and I are gonna take this quest together. I guess you could call us team Steel Threads, or something like that."

While Makarov was surprised to hear that Alfonzo and Elicia would finally form a team after two years of questing, Elicia's eyes lit up at the mention of their team's name.

'That's right, now that we're taking quests together, we need a name.' Elicia thought to herself.