After the Fantasia parade ended, a celebration party was underway inside the Fairy Tail guild.
Many members gathered around the tavern tables, savoring delicious food and drinking fine wine. Some were still wearing their parade costumes. A few were on stage playing guitars, beating drums, and singing. The rhythm of the music mingled with people's laughter, pushing the joyful atmosphere to a climax. Everyone found a sense of belonging and warmth here, together writing their own wonderful story.
The next day, Makarov organized everyone to help repair the city. This always happened after the Harvest Festival came to a close; after all, to celebrate the festival, people from all over the city participated and got a bit too carried on the fun.
Because Fairy Tail was busy helping restore the city at this time, Layla and August ended up staying an extra day.
Layla and August arrived at the front doors of the guild. Layla looked at the guild—vividly clear in her memory yet previously untouchable—and was left momentarily speechless. August knocked on the heavy doors. Early in the morning as it was, not many people were inside the guild.
Layla stepped in for a peek. Most of the faces were unfamiliar, fitting for this era, and then her eyes immediately landed on the little old man Makarov sitting atop the counter. At that moment, Makarov's gaze was fixed squarely on August.
"Who are you?" Makarov hopped down from the counter, his expression turning solemn. He hadn't sensed August's approach at all, only perceiving the overwhelming might of his magic in the very instant he laid eyes on him—and it was highly likely August had deliberately released that aura to let him notice.
"My name is August. You must be Master Makarov."
"Yes, that's right." Hearing the name, Makarov felt a trace of doubt. The Kingdom of Fiore had never heard of such a person, yet the sheer depth of his magical power surpassed even God Serena, the top of the Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar.
Meanwhile, Layla couldn't help thinking: *Why did Makarov get shorter as he aged? He was a bit short when he was young, but not to this ridiculous degree—I suppose Japanese manga is just like that.*
"I come from the Western Continent. I met this child during my travels. Because of certain matters, I am returning, but I do not wish for this child to leave his homeland, nor do I want him to go to the Western Continent—the current situation there is far from favorable. Therefore, I would like to ask you to take this child in." As if seeing right through Makarov's thoughts, August offered an explanation.
"Oh? This child?" Makarov looked toward Layla. Though he didn't know much about the Western Continent, he had heard that wars were frequent there. Why would such a young child be sent to a place like that?
"Hello, Master! I want to join Fairy Tail!" After coming in, Layla had been looking around constantly. After all, this was the real environment—if she hadn't joined yet, she would have wanted to run around and explore every corner. Hearing August and Makarov talking about him, Layla stepped forward to greet Makarov.
"Well, alright." Makarov lowered his head in thought, then agreed to the request and accepted Layla.
"Layla, I'm heading back now. Be sure to listen to the Master while you're in the guild, and don't cause trouble." Seeing Makarov's affirmative reply, August wore a smile and gave Layla one final piece of advice.
"Grandpa, don't worry, I won't cause trouble." Layla flashed August a brilliant smile in return.
August felt a wave of helplessness upon seeing this. *With an attitude like that, how am I supposed to not worry?* With that, he bade farewell to Makarov.
"You're Layla, right? What's your full name?" Watching August walk out the front door and letting out a sigh of relief, Makarov turned his attention back to the child.
"My name is Layla Heartfilia, and I'm seven years old this year."
"I see. What is your magic?" Makarov nodded, noting he was the same age as Laxus, and continued his inquiry.
"My magic is Arc of Embodiment. Of course, I also know Super Archive Magic."
"Arc of Embodiment? Super Archive Magic?" Makarov marveled at Layla's talent. Two ancient magics—and Lost Magic was a type of ancient magic as well. Then again, when he thought about it, August's mastery of magic was beyond even his own perception, with strength that far outstripped his own; it stood to reason that Layla's magic would be similarly extraordinary.
"Old man, you don't need to make such a big deal out of it. They're just two ordinary magics," Layla said, acting completely unfazed and nonchalant upon hearing Makarov's exclamation.
"Alright, Layla, where would you like your stamp?" Seeing right through Layla's little act, Makarov chose to ignore it outright.
"Hmm, let's go with black. Right on my right arm will be fine." After thinking it over, Layla had the stamp applied.
"Alright, that over there is the request board. You can look for jobs you're capable of handling. Of course, you can also team up with members of the guild. Your Super Archive Magic should prove very useful; perhaps it can even become our intelligence network." As Makarov was giving Layla some instructions, Wakaba and Macao arrived.
"Oh, Macao, Wakaba, come over here! Our guild has a new member, Layla."
"Hey, Layla. I'm Macao Conbolt, and I use Purple Flame Magic."
"I'm Wakaba Mine, and I use Smoke Magic."
"I'm Layla Heartfilia, and I use Arc of Embodiment and Super Archive Magic. Please take care of me, seniors."
"Seniors? Haha, you've got spunk, kid. From now on, if anything comes up, the two of us have got your back." Macao and Wakaba looked at Layla with looks of fond approval.
"By the way, what kind of magic are those two you mentioned?"
"Ancient magics. Arc of Embodiment can bring anything you imagine into physical reality, while Super Archive Magic is a spell that can search for all knowledge and compress information. Come to think of it, the Chairman of the Council uses that magic." While explaining, Layla used magic to materialize both Macao and Wakaba, while also demonstrating the information-gathering functions of Super Archive Magic.
"Hey, Layla, how strong are these two you conjured up?" Macao and Wakaba carefully scrutinized the versions of themselves that Layla had summoned.
"There are some limitations. First is the issue of magic power—the stronger a person is, the harder they are to materialize, because my own magic isn't enough to support it. Someone like Old Man Makarov, for instance, could only be conjured in a weakened version. Second is the imagination factor; since I don't know much about either of you yet, the strength of the versions I conjured might be vastly reduced. Because of that, I don't really know what their actual combat strength is right now."
"You mean that once you know us well enough and your magic power is strong enough, you'll be able to materialize us?!" Hearing Layla's answer, Macao and Wakaba were utterly stunned.
"Of course I could, but materialization is ultimately just fake, and keeping them conjured places a massive strain on my mental energy."
"Alright, since Layla just joined our guild, you two take him around to get acquainted with the place and introduce him to the members," Makarov said. Seeing that if he didn't step in, these two would just keep rambling endlessly, he decisively assigned them a task.
"You got it, Master. Layla, this way. Let me show you around our guild." Macao and Wakaba patted Layla on the shoulder and led the way on a grand tour.
Meanwhile, Makarov muttered to himself, thinking that he simply had to write letters to certain people to boast endlessly about how yet another extraordinary little fellow had just joined the guild right in front of them.