Chapter 376: The Cost of Celebration

"Three months..."

Wendy whimpered, tears welling in her eyes as the devastating reality sank in. They had gone to the Celestial Spirit World with the intention of training, knowing they needed to work tirelessly to save the guild. Yet somehow, a single day of celebration in that realm equated to three entire months in Earthland.

"I’m so sorry, Wendy!" Lucy cried, burying her face in her hands. She knew she had messed up monumentally.

It wasn’t just Lucy and Wendy who were spiraling. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and the rest of the core members stood frozen in a daze on the beach, entirely speechless. They simply couldn’t process the fact that they had just lost ninety days of preparation time.

What were they supposed to do now?

"Please punish me, Princess." Virgo, the masochistic Celestial Spirit, sat in a perfect seiza on the sand in her usual maid outfit. She had placed heavy stones on her thighs as penance, though her tone made it abundantly clear she actively wanted Lucy to punish her.

"...." Lucy just stared at her, too drained to retort.

In truth, no one could bring themselves to be angry at Lucy or her Spirits. To the Celestial Spirits, Lucy was family. Naturally, upon discovering she was alive and had finally returned after a seven-year disappearance, they were overjoyed. Of course they wanted to invite her and her friends to their world for a grand welcome-back banquet.

Fairy Tail operated the exact same way. Whenever there was a reunion or a victory, they threw a massive, drunken party. The Celestial Spirits had simply done the same. The guild members knew they had no right to complain, even if the time dilation had completely screwed them over.

However, the most glaring, terrifying issue remained: Fairy Tail was in massive debt to Finn.

If we can’t pay him...

Lucy’s mind immediately supplied a montage of increasingly perverted scenarios. She imagined Finn ruthlessly collecting his due by claiming her body, licking every inch of her, teasing her relentlessly until he broke her pride and turned her into his obedient plaything.

If we can’t pay him...

A few feet away, Erza was having a similar mental breakdown. Her mind instinctively jumped to the 18+ smut novels she secretly hoarded in her room, imagining those exact, highly explicit scenarios playing out in reality.

Wait, did Erza want Finn to do that to her?

Absolutely not. But to Erza, Fairy Tail was everything. It was the family that had taken her in when she had nothing, pulling her out of the absolute darkness of the Tower of Heaven. If the guild was in trouble, she would do whatever it took to protect it.

Her protective instincts flared even higher when she thought of Bisca. Lately, Bisca had been acting... different. It was natural for her to have changed over the past seven years—she was a wife and a mother now—but the way Bisca looked at Finn sent alarm bells ringing in Erza’s head, sparking dirty imaginations she actively tried to suppress.

What if something is already happening between them?

If it was, Erza resolved to put a stop to it. If Finn was extending his corrupting influence toward Bisca, Erza was the only one who could intervene. She had to tread carefully; if she handled it poorly, Bisca’s family and reputation could be ruined. She had to stop Finn’s evil hands from reaching any further into the guild’s female roster.

But what about a certain blue-haired man? The one who still held a piece of her heart and couldn’t forget her?

Honestly, her memories of Jellal were a mess of trauma and tragedy. Yes, he had given her the name ’Scarlet,’ and that meant the world to her. But she had moved forward. She had found a new family in Fairy Tail. Protecting the family standing right beside her took absolute priority over a ghost from her past.

Meanwhile, Wendy, watching the older girls completely zone out with flushed, sweaty faces, tilted her head. Why does it feel like they’re thinking about something really naughty? Is this really the time for that?

Wendy sighed, a cute blush dusting her own cheeks.

"Achoo!"

Miles away in his luxurious mountain villa, Finn rubbed his nose. It was incredibly itchy. He had the distinct, lingering feeling that someone was talking about him behind his back.

"You’re leaving already?" Lisanna asked from the bed.

"Yes, but only for a bit. I should be back in a few hours. You can head back to the main house if you get bored; it’ll be lonely up here by yourself."

Finn knew the exact timeline he had been waiting for was finally aligning. The window of opportunity was incredibly narrow, and he couldn’t afford to waste a single second.

"No, it’s fine, I’ll wait here," Lisanna said, stretching her arms high above her head like a lazy cat. "You’ve basically kept me pinned down and filled with your naughty juice since we got here. I haven’t even had the chance to properly enjoy the scenery."

"...." Finn had no rebuttal for that.

Lisanna knew better than to stop him. She could see the calculated determination in his eyes. She loved him, and even if his sudden departure was a little annoying, she refused to be a burden. Besides, he never got angry with her teasing, and he somehow managed his massive workload perfectly even while indulging her.

Compared to all the other women he kept company with, Lisanna felt a smug sense of pride knowing she was likely the most special to him.

"Just come back quickly, okay~?"

She crawled over, clinging tightly to him. She rubbed her cheek affectionately against his chest before peppering his lips with kisses. "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"

"..."

Finn paused, a rare softness crossing his expression, and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

Lisanna immediately slapped both hands over her brow, dodging him. "No! Don’t kiss me there, you’ll make me stupid!"

"...I will?"

"Yeah! If you kiss me on the forehead, I’m going to fall so stupidly in love with you that I won’t be able to function!" she declared, guarding her forehead fiercely, completely ignoring the fact that her gorgeous, naked body was on full display.

Too lazy to argue with her bizarre logic, Finn simply chuckled, leaned down, and bit her lower lip instead. "I’m heading out."

"Yeah, hurry back!"

Finn nodded, his magical wings materializing behind him before he launched himself into the distant sky.

Once the rush of wind faded, Lisanna looked around the massive, quiet room. "Now, what should I do?"

An idea struck her. "Maid-san?"

"Yes, Miss Lisanna," a polite, synthesized voice answered from the room’s magical lacrima speakers. The ’Manager’ AI system Finn had installed responded instantly, acting as the ultimate, omnipresent housemaid. It was a level of automated luxury that was completely unheard of in Earthland, but Finn considered manual labor a waste of resources.

"Do we have the ingredients for something unique? Something I can cook before Finn gets back? I want to welcome him with a really good meal."

"Right away, Miss Lisanna. Are you comfortable preparing a spicy dish?"

Lisanna paused, her mind instantly jumping to the after-dinner activities she had planned. "...Is his, um, lower half going to be okay if I eat something super spicy?"

It would be absolute hell if she went down on him with a mouth full of chili oil.

"...Recalculating recommended recipes immediately, Miss Lisanna."

Back on the beach, as the reality of their three-month absence continued to crush them, Erza, Lucy, and the others suddenly snapped out of their stupor.

A small, cloaked group of people was quietly approaching them across the sand.

"We have a way to solve your problem," one of the hooded figures said smoothly.

"Hmm?" Erza narrowed her eyes, summoning a sword to her hand.

---

By the way, I might have said this before, but I have uploaded my new original story. The title is "Checking Out at 5:15 PM" with the name "OnlyPureLove44," or I might change it to Akikan in the future.

Regardless, there are more than 29 now.

You can check when you want to read more of my work.

Thank you!