In his mind, Shane pinched the bookmark between his fingers, feeling slightly melancholy.
He went over his current condition again and again, yet still couldn't find the slightest clue of any "dragonization."
And when you can't find the source of the problem, all that's left is blind speculation.
"The issue… is probably still tied to this fourth vision, the one that's never appeared before."
"Maybe once the progress bar filled up, the dragon concept contained within the vision started leaking outward. Or maybe the rules for the fourth one are different, and part of the vision manifested on me, the holder of the book, ahead of time?"
At that thought, a ridiculous possibility popped into his head.
"Don't tell me… I'm really going to turn into a dragon flying all over the sky someday?"
Shane shuddered. The prospect of becoming the strongest fantasy species in the world brought him not the slightest bit of excitement—only a deep sense of dread.
What if he really transformed into a dragon completely and could never turn back into a human?
Would he have to sleep without even a proper bed from then on, folding up his wings like some miserable wyvern and curling his claws in just to lie down?
That sounded unbearable.
Just imagining that kind of inhuman existence was enough to make Shane reject it outright.
Dragonization… probably only that lunatic "other version of me" from Edolas would happily accept something like that.
Then again, that madman had already turned himself into some half-dragon, half-machine monster ages ago.
Since he had no real leads right now, Shane could only stick to his usual optimistic approach and let the problem sit for now, pretending it didn't exist.
He pulled his thoughts back and returned his awareness to reality.
With the steady clatter of the train car rocking along the tracks, Shane opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Elfman sprawled in the aisle with his eyes rolled back, lying there flat on his back.
Lifting his gaze, he found the culprit who had created that "corpse" sitting across from him.
Mirajane had her hands folded together beneath her smooth chin, looking perfectly at ease.
The scenery outside the window had blurred into streaks of passing light, but she didn't spare even half a glance for it. Instead, with her head tilted slightly, she kept her eyes fixed on Shane's face—focused, direct, and unwavering.
"My hair just got a little longer. It's not like you haven't seen me use Lancer before. Do I really look that rare?"
That gaze was so unhidden and so intent that it made Shane deeply uncomfortable.
"Shane." Mirajane ignored his complaint and asked softly, "What does it feel like… to sleep underground for four years?"
"Like going through one long night without dreams. There's not much real sense of it."
Shane shrugged casually.
"I closed my eyes, opened them again, and the first thing I saw was you and Elfman desperately digging up my grave."
"How sly…"
Mira lowered her eyes, her long lashes hiding the emotion underneath.
"For those of us who stayed awake, four years is a very long time. Long enough for the world to erase a lot of traces."
"Even 'Azurefall' Shane, who used to be famous throughout the magic world, barely gets brought up anymore."
"Well, that can't be helped. Fame was always something meant to be spent."
Shane rubbed his cheek, taking it all in stride.
"But still, there have to be one or two people secretly thinking about me somewhere, right? At least that much confidence I still have."
He had always been the sort of person who acted according to his own preferences. Other people's judgments and empty reputation had never meant much to him.
"Yeah…" Mira murmured quietly. "There are always some people you just can't forget, no matter what."
"…"
The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Shane sharply caught that dull heaviness flashing through her eyes when her pupils tightened.
He watched the white-haired girl in front of him for a few seconds.
The train wheels struck a joint in the tracks with a dull thud.
Shane sighed soundlessly, stood up, stepped over the "corpse" lying in the aisle, and sat down in the empty seat beside her.
He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back into the soft seat, his tone as lazy and flat as ever:
"Elfman took a pretty hard beating from you. He probably won't wake up even when we reach the station. At a time like this, stop trying to act like some mature older sister in front of me."
As he spoke, Shane stretched a foot out under the table and kicked Mira lightly in the shin.
"As for Lisanna, don't wait until we get back to the guild. Tell me everything right here."
"…"
Hearing that utterly matter-of-fact tone from him, Mira's reaction was unexpectedly fierce.
She clenched at the fabric of her skirt unconsciously, her voice rising.
"What I hate most is that look you and Erza get when you start deciding things for other people!"
"You always assume your own choices are the right ones, and then without a second thought, you force your ideas and your need to protect people onto them!"
"Is that so?" Shane didn't back down in the slightest. He simply turned and met her gaze calmly.
"Then if I hadn't forced the three of you into Fairy Tail back then, maybe Lisanna never would've ended up like this."
He paused, then added, "If that's why you resent me, I'm going to hit you."
"Tch!"
Mira clicked her tongue irritably and looked away.
"For someone who spent four whole years sleeping underground, you really shouldn't be putting on your old 'master' act and lecturing people."
When she turned back, a good deal of the anger in her eyes seemed to have faded.
"I'm not the same as before. I'm a real S-Class mage now, just like you."
To give her words more weight, the girl proudly thrust out her chest.
The motion instantly pulled the fabric of her black cutout dress tight.
At the deep neckline, the impressively full curves beneath the dress shifted dangerously under the strain.
It was the exact same habitual gesture she used to make four years ago whenever she got stubborn and competitive.
But now that her body had fully matured, the effect was completely different—overwhelming in a way it never used to be.
And yet Shane's eyes merely swept across that view in perfect calm before he said, in a tone flat enough to kill a person with frustration,
"Stop showing off your chest. Don't tell me you think just because the place where your fat is stored got bigger, your strength also inflated to the point where you can challenge me now?"
Mira had never cared much about her body, but hearing Shane put it so bluntly and so viciously made her pale cheeks flush red all over again.
She instinctively covered her chest, then shot back stubbornly,
"In these past four years, I've mastered a Take Over spell even stronger than Satan Soul. You know exactly what that means."
As she spoke, a heavy pressure visible to the naked eye exploded from that seemingly slender body of hers.
Clearly, in these four years she had not relaxed for even a single moment.
Whether in developing real combat techniques or in the magic cultivation Shane had repeatedly drilled into them before, she had pushed herself to the limit.
"Oh? That actually does sound a little scary."
At last Shane lowered his hands and sat up straighter, his attitude turning slightly more serious.
Though judging from the trace of a smile still lingering on his face, he did not look frightened in the slightest.
"That part of you really hasn't changed at all. The moment your strength improves a little, you can't wait to challenge your master's authority."
He slanted a glance at her. "So? Are we doing it the old way? Stretching our muscles a bit before we get back to the guild doesn't sound like a bad idea."
But just as Shane straightened up and prepared for the girl to make her move—
"Oh my, why would I ever do that?"
The Mira beside him suddenly drew her aura back in, then sweetly wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"You are my most respected… mas."
That sickly sweet, mocking tone made the hair on the back of Shane's neck stand up.
"Don't you dare talk to me in that disgusting voice!"
He shoved her away with open disgust.
But the instant his palm made contact, Shane's eyes met Mira's smiling gaze.
Something was off.
Right now, she looked nothing like the "trying to act strong" version Elfman had described earlier.
If anything, she looked like a traveler who had crossed a dying desert and finally found an oasis ahead.
In that instant, Shane remembered the strangely certain tone she had used earlier in the village when talking about Lisanna.
So that earlier look of emptiness and unease… had it come from fearing that the so-called oasis was just a mirage she could see but never touch?
Shane slowly raised a brow.
"How much exactly have you been hiding from your little brother?"