34.
Next morning, Shun woke up, took a bath, ate breakfast, and wrote down his plan to take over the world. Then he went out to meet a certain wealthy man.
He hadn't made an appointment. Normally, to meet this man, you needed to schedule weeks in advance. That is, if you were an ordinary guy.
Shun used his signature move and turned invisible. With his recent power-up, he could become untraceable to sensory magics and undetectable by smell, but today he just used the regular version he'd always used. He infiltrated the target's mansion and took a seat in the guest chair of his office.
Shun watched the man work tirelessly on his paperwork. Seated right there, Shun went completely unnoticed.
"Shouldn't you take a break? I haven't seen you move a muscle from that chair," Shun said suddenly.
The man jolted, scrambling back from his desk in surprise and fear. "W-Who are you?!" An unknown man was in his private office, and he hadn't noticed a thing. 'A mage with invisibility magic?' His mind raced.
"Relax, I'm here to discuss business. If I wanted to harm you, I would have done it already."
When Shun said it, Jude Heartfilia visibly calmed down. Shun had come for business—business that would change the world.
"What kind of business?" Jude asked.
Shun simply pulled out his plan and brought several dishes from his storage ring.
"A cooking business?" Jude read through the proposal, surprised this mysterious man was serious. Then he tasted the food—a piece of fried chicken. At the first bite, his eyes went wide. "This?!" He quickly ate the rest with a deeply satisfied expression.
"So, what do you think?"
"It's amazing. Let's do it! This plan will change the world of cooking!" Jude was excited; the potential was limitless.
They talked at length. Shun would provide the recipes and guidance. Jude would handle the rest, providing Shun with a passive income in exchange for new recipes from time to time, which Jude would purchase.
"What should we call it?" Jude asked.
"Call it 'Shun's Fried Chicken'—SHFC for short." Jude agreed and immediately got to work.
As their discussion was winding down, a knock came at the door, followed by a little girl's voice. "Father, I brought you some tea."
"Lucy, I'm in the middle of something important," Jude said. In this current year, Lucy's mother was still alive, so her relationship with her father wasn't as strained as it would become.
"It's fine, let her in," Shun said. Jude agreed.
Little Lucy walked in and was startled to see a guest. She grew nervous, having only brought one cup. But her savior appeared with another cup of tea—her mother, Layla Heartfilia. It was her own tea, but she offered it to Shun.
"Dear, you have a guest?" she asked. "Sorry for intruding. Let's go back, Lucy," she continued.
"Thanks for the tea," Shun smiled at little Lucy, and her face brightened.
"I'll leave after finishing my tea. You three can spend some time as a family," Shun said. He finished the tea and stood to leave.
To her parents' surprise, little Lucy got up. "I'll walk him out."
Jude smiled. Had his daughter sensed this young man's capability? He was supportive of her action; it was just a short walk, anyway.
Shun had considered teleporting back, but Lucy asked to walk him out. How could he refuse?
"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shun, an S-Class mage from Fairy Tail. Your father told me about you, Luigi Heartfilia."
When Shun said this, the nervous Lucy shouted, "It's Lucy!"
The two talked a bit more, and Lucy grew sad that her new friend was leaving so soon.
"We'll meet again in the future, don't worry. You can always find me at Fairy Tail," Shun said, patting her head before he left.
When Lucy returned with red-rimmed eyes, her father asked what was wrong and was surprised to learn the mage's identity; he'd only gotten his name earlier.
"An S-Class mage, huh…" Jude was deep in thought before returning to work on this 'fast food business' Shun had proposed. It was a revolutionary idea.
——
Shun also shared a bit of early knowledge with Zoltan, the man who had helped him when he was weaker. If Zoltan wasn't foolish, he would invest or work with Jude in some way, and Shun wouldn't owe him any more favors.
——
Three months passed. Shun spent them practicing his new magics. He infiltrated Master Hades' library and learned a host of new Lost Magics, including Ultear's. He paid special attention to the 'God Slaying' magics, thinking they might help him kill the Human-God. Was that what 'the fool' version of me planned in the first place? Shun thought, but dismissed it as too far-fetched.
He spent time with the guild and visited Lucy's home once a month to discuss business with her father and play with Lucy.
Today was one of those days.
"It's in two days! Finally, the debut of the world's first fast-food restaurant, SHFC!" Jude was excited as he recounted the plan. He'd hired ample staff, invited every influential person he knew, and marketed it as a collaboration with Fairy Tail's S-Class mage—which Shun didn't mind.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it," Shun said. And so, it was decided the first branch would open in Magnolia.
——
Two days passed quickly. On the morning of the grand opening, everyone involved in the world's first fast-food restaurant was in despair—except for Shun.
Because the weather was terrible. A storm raged, rain pouring down in sheets. Many invited guests were already on their way, but this weather…
Shun was at the location with most of the Fairy Tail members. They had gotten a preview of the menu and were equally excited, but the weather was a mood-killer.
The storm was biblical: black clouds stacked like bruises over Magnolia, rain hammering the new restaurant's roof so hard the tiles sang. Inside, the Fairy Tail crowd stood in damp clumps, staring out the windows. Jude Heartfilia clutched his daughter's hand, trying not to look like a man watching his fortune drown.
Little Lucy's lower lip trembled. "All the important people will stay home…"
Jude forced a smile. "We can postpone. A week, maybe two—"
"No," Shun said, his tone quiet but final. He was already shrugging out of the suit jacket Jude had insisted he wear. "We open today."
"Don't be unreasonable, you fool. A delay of a few days doesn't matter," Makarov scolded. He felt Mavis's glare and fell quiet.
"No. It's happening today," Shun insisted, standing up.
His magic power flared, silencing everyone. It was an immense amount of energy, causing a minor earthquake just from its release.
"!!"
Everyone was shocked, worried about what he might do.
Only Mavis realized. "This crazy guy… He's not trying to repel the rain. He's trying to repel the bad weather itself!"
Her muttered words were heard clearly, and they all stared in shock. Shun's plan was to repel the abstract concept of the 'bad weather.'
Shun flew into the sky, the rain strangely parting around him, directed away before it could touch him. He placed his paws against the air itself, treating it as the surface of the weather system, and applied his power.
A massive, semi-transparent paw-print shockwave—dwarfing any he'd made before—erupted from him and expanded radially at the speed of light. It phased through everything physical without causing harm.
As the shockwave passed through the raindrops, they didn't get pushed; they simply vanished mid-air, repelled out of existence. The clouds were torn apart, the wind stilled. The storm disappeared as if it had never been. Under everyone's amazed gaze, the sky became a clear, sunny day.
Satisfied, Shun landed under their stunned silence. He brushed off his hands and announced with a calm smile,
"The weather today is beautiful. A perfect day for an opening."