With Simon stepping in, the scuffle finally wrapped up.
Shane foisted Sawyer off on Wally and went to sit alone in a corner. With a paramecium-tier physique, all he wanted right now was rest.
Jellal shuffled over and plopped down beside him, relief on his face. "You're something else."
"Just now… you did that on purpose, didn't you? Helped them relax and fit in," he said, leaning in with an I-get-you look.
"Did I? Is that what I was thinking?"
Shane blinked. Honestly, he'd just relied on experience—give someone food and their favorability goes up.
Case in point: his goodwill toward Grandpa Rob was pretty high. If there were a progress bar, it was probably past eighty.
"Yeah, keep pretending." Jellal chuckled, gave Shane's chest a light tap, then stood to let him rest and went to brief Simon and Erza on how things worked here.
He's definitely misunderstood something, Shane thought, shaking his head. For all Jellal's keen eye and careful nature, he was still a bit green about people.
Shane closed his eyes for a quick nap, but though his body didn't want to move, his mind was razor-awake. Around him, excited chatter hummed—hard to blame anyone when a day off was this rare. He didn't want to kill the vibe, so he just rested with his eyes shut.
Because of the welt on his back, he couldn't lean against the wall. He sat bolt upright, looking for all the world like he was meditating.
A rustle at his side. Shane's mouth twitched. "Sawyer, let me breathe, yeah?"
He opened his eyes—only to meet Erza's curious stare.
This girl's raw strength was scary. From what Shane had seen, maybe only Simon could overpower her.
"Need something?" Shane straightened a bit.
"I heard them say you don't have a surname either?" Erza sat properly beside him, full of curiosity.
Well… Shane sighed inwardly and explained, "My name's Shane."
Seeing her expression, Shane couldn't help asking, "So you don't have a surname of your own?"
"Me? I was born with just one name. I'm Erza—just Erza." She lowered her head, voice growing softer.
"If it matters to you that much, why not pick one yourself?"
"Huh?! You can do that?" Erza's head snapped up, eyes widening.
"Idiot—of course you can't," Shane said mildly. "A surname is the mark of blood and family. It ties a person to a long, invisible thread. From the day humans learned to write their names, surnames became part of 'who you are.' Something that important isn't for you to make up on a whim."
"But… you're the one who brought it up," she mumbled, a little aggrieved.
"I was testing you," Shane said, shooting her a glance. Then he flipped the subject. "If you could get out of here, what would you do?"
"I don't know." She shook her head, a flicker of confusion on her face.
"Then make it your goal to 'find your surname,'" Shane said, looking toward the bars. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Erza.
"Find my surname…" she echoed under her breath. No one had ever said anything like that to her.
In the past, when people learned she had no surname, they either mocked her or looked at her with empty sympathy and offered hollow comfort.
Shane was the first to give her a concrete direction.
"What're you two talking about!" Sawyer, champion nosy parker, zoomed in the second he saw Shane's eyes open.
"We're talking about what we want to do if we get out," Shane said.
"Me, Uncle Wally? I'm gonna be the boss the moment I'm out!" Wally, not far away, jumped on the fun topic at once.
Someone snorted. "Ha! A pup like you? You'll be someone else's lackey."
Shane ignored the bickering and turned to Sawyer, curious. "You?"
"Me? That's easy—I'm sticking with Jellal!" Sawyer blurted without thinking.
Thinking of the prank Sawyer pulled earlier, Shane put on a wounded look. "And here I thought we had something special…"
"Huh? No—that's totally different…" Sawyer panicked at the ambush. "Big bro Jellal's always looked out for me, s-so—"
"Cut it out," Jellal said gently, unable to watch any longer.
The reminder made Sawyer realize, and he caught Shane smirking. His face went beet-red; even his chestnut mop looked ready to explode. "You did that on purpose!"
Knowing when to stop, Shane waved a quick surrender and steered the topic away. "What about Simon and Millianna?"
"I'm gonna keep a whole house full of kitties!" chirped Millianna from the corner.
"…I just want to find my little sister," Simon said, voice low.
Polar opposite wishes, Shane thought with a small nod. Then he looked to the other two. "Grandpa Rob? Jellal?"
"The old man just wants a sunny spot to retire and doze," Rob laughed.
"Not going back to Fairy Tail?" Shane remembered the way Rob's eyes had lit when he mentioned the guild.
"I retired from there," Rob chuckled. "Got tired of the same view. If I make it out, I can visit any time I like."
"Jellal?"
The boy was quiet for a moment, then shook his head. "Don't know. Nothing I especially want to do… If I had to pick, I guess I'd still like to learn magic."
The Black Magic Cult had left too deep a scar. He didn't want to stay powerless forever.
Then he looked at Shane. "What about you? You've asked everyone else—what do you want?"
At that, Shane's eyes lit up. "Me? I'm greedy. I've got more things I want to do than I can count."
He ticked them off on his fingers. "Learn magic. Dig into that dark mage's legend. Spend a whole year holed up in a library…"
The heat in his voice felt almost physical; even the quiet ones couldn't help turning to look. Someone muttered, "Big talk… we're not getting out anyway."
"What's it matter? We're just talking," Shane said with a careless grin, relaxing back—then baring his teeth when pain reminded him not to lean.
"Yeah—can't we at least imagine things?" someone laughed softly.
The lamplight flickered over smiling faces. For a moment, the cold cell didn't feel like a cage at all—more like a handful of free folk in a tavern after a long day, chatting about where they'd wander tomorrow.