Chapter 285: Have 30 Kids!
"Who said you could eat?!"
Erza glared at Natsu and Gray, annoyed at their behavior.
Then, her eyes landed on the contents of the bento box Gray was holding. Her anger vanished, replaced by surprise. "Is that... a character bento?"
"It sure is. That face is unmistakably Gray's. It's quite a likeness," Noah said with a smile, standing next to Erza and looking into the box.
"Why don't you try some?" Sorano ran over, attracted by the commotion. She peered at the bento in Gray's hands.
"No way... I don't know how I got this, and I'm scared to eat it... Plus, there's some kind of juice leaking out of it..."
Gray looked at the liquid seeping from the food with apprehension.
"Don't be like that. If you won't eat it, I'll try it," Noah said.
His eyes flashed with magic circles as he scanned the box inside and out, confirming it was safe. He trusted Juvia wouldn't poison Gray, but it was better to be sure.
Then, Noah grabbed a fork and stabbed it straight into the face made of rice.
His movement was merciless. Seeing a fork plunged into his own likeness, Gray shuddered as if he'd been electrocuted.
Noah put the forkful of food into his mouth and chewed slowly.
"Mhm. It's actually really good. You guys should try it."
Noah swallowed and gave his verdict.
"Really? Let me try!"
Sorano eagerly grabbed a fork and stabbed Gray's rice-face as well.
Gray flinched again.
"Wow, it is good. Really tasty," Sorano said, chewing happily.
Hearing this, Natsu and Erza grabbed forks and dug in too.
"Really? Let me try then."
Seeing that Noah and the others weren't lying, Gray finally took a bite.
"It is delicious."
Gray chewed and swallowed, surprised by the quality.
Hiding in the corner and observing Gray intently, Juvia heard his praise. Her imagination instantly went wild.
'Delicious! It's so delicious! I want to eat this every day! So marry me!'
In her mind, a shirtless Gray held a bouquet of roses, kneeling on one knee to propose.
'Yes! Let's have thirty babies!'
Imaginary Juvia accepted without hesitation.
'Juvia is so moved!'
Real Juvia blushed furiously, wiggling happily in her hiding spot.
Noah glanced at the corner out of the corner of his eye, saw Juvia's squirming, and sweatdropped. He quickly focused back on the food.
After everyone had taken a few bites, Ultear, Mirajane, and Wendy walked over.
"A character bento? That's a nice idea. Should I make one for you?" Mirajane asked Noah with a smile, having heard about it from Erza.
"Oh! So we can do that!" Erza punched her palm, enlightenment dawning on her face. She stared at Noah intensely.
Ultear and Sorano also wore expressions that said 'I learned something new' as they looked at Noah.
"So... so bold! (whisper)"
Hearing Mirajane's offer, Wendy blushed. Beside her, Meredy and Yukino had similar reactions.
"No thanks. Putting my own face on top of food feels weird. I don't think I could handle eating myself," Noah refused without hesitation.
"Besides, look at Gray. He shivered every time I stabbed his face with a fork. I don't want a character bento." Noah pointed at Gray, who was still eating.
"Wait! If you knew it felt bad, why did you stab it so ruthlessly earlier?!" Gray shouted, realizing what Noah had done.
"Because the face wasn't mine. Of course I didn't feel bad," Noah replied matter-of-factly.
Gray's face darkened. So as long as it wasn't him, no mercy needed, huh?
"That's a shame..." Mirajane said regretfully. Ultear and the others nodded in agreement.
"Since the character is Gray, we shouldn't eat too much of it. Let's leave the rest for him and go eat inside the guild," Noah said, putting down his fork.
"You say that after you ate half of it?!" Gray looked at Noah incredulously. They had practically cleared the top layer before Noah decided to stop.
Granted, it was mostly the adults eating. Wendy and the younger girls were too shy to join in.
"Alright, let's go inside," Noah said, ignoring Gray's complaint and leading Ultear and the others toward the guild hall.
Gray shook his head, continuing to eat from the box as he followed them inside. He needed to find a place to sit and finish his lunch anyway.
Inside the guild, members sat in small groups, eating and chatting.
"Over here!"
Lucy waved at Noah as he entered. She was sitting with Levy, Kagura, Lisanna, and some other female members.
Noah and his group walked over and found seats nearby.
"Hey, Gray, where'd you get that pink lunchbox? Never seen you use that before," Lyon asked curiously from a nearby table.
"I don't know who gave it to me," Gray said, shaking his head.
"It's a character bento of Gray!" Happy shouted from the air.
"What?! Someone gave Gray a character bento?! I'm so jealous!"
The male guild members stared at Gray with envy. A pink box meant it was definitely from a girl. And a character bento meant she put effort into it.
Lyon's glare was the sharpest. As the senior disciple, seeing his junior get ahead in romance (presumably) made him unhappy.
Feeling the collective gaze, Gray broke out in a cold sweat. He buried his face in the bento, pretending not to notice.
They called over a waiter and ordered their lunches.
"My parents want to host another banquet to thank everyone for their help. Is that okay?" Lucy asked Noah.
"Of course. We'd be more than happy to attend," Noah smiled.
"A banquet! Lots of meat, right?!" Natsu asked Happy excitedly.
"And lots of fish!" Happy drooled.
Carla rolled her eyes at Happy's comment.
"When are they planning to hold it?"
"I'm not sure. They asked me to check with you and the Master first to see what you thought."
"Alright. I'll discuss it with Gramps and your parents later."
Noah agreed. A banquet was always welcome.
The guild kitchen was fast, and soon their food arrived. Everyone ate and chatted happily.
After lunch, people started to disperse, heading home or back to work.
Noah got up to leave as well, but after taking a few steps, he spotted a figure in the corner.
He walked over and patted the person on the shoulder.
The man jumped, startled. Seeing it was Noah, he relaxed.
"Oh, it's you."
"Loke, you look terrible. Your body can't hold out much longer, can it? My offer to help you find the Spirit King still stands," Noah said, shaking his head at Loke's pale complexion.
"No... I'm fine. I can hold on," Loke refused immediately.
Noah looked at Loke helplessly. It had been almost three years, and Loke still hadn't let go of his guilt. He was still drowning in the past.
It seemed his knot needed to be untied by a Celestial Spirit Wizard. Noah didn't count as a true Celestial Spirit Wizard in that sense.
Fortunately, there was a capable Celestial Spirit Wizard in the guild now. He decided to let her handle it.
But he couldn't just say it outright. He'd let her discover it herself.
If it really came down to the wire and nothing worked, Noah planned to ignore Loke's protests and toss him into the Spirit World by force. Saving his life came first; everything else could wait.
"Noah, there you are."
Lucy's voice came from behind. Noah turned to see Natsu, Gray, Ultear, and the others approaching.
"Uh... I have something to do. Gotta go! See ya!"
Seeing Lucy, Loke stammered a quick excuse to Noah and bolted, running away as fast as he could.
"What was that?! He ran away the moment he saw me!" Lucy puffed out her cheeks, annoyed.
"Well, Loke is really bad with Celestial Spirit Wizards. It's not you, Lucy," Mirajane explained.
"It's weird. Lucy is just Lucy..." Natsu commented nonchalantly.
"But he looked really pale just now. Noah, do you know what's wrong?" Gray asked, having noticed Loke's condition.
"It's a personal matter. I can't talk about it without his permission. Let's just say it's not good, but he needs to solve it himself," Noah shook his head.
"I see..."
Gray didn't press further, and the others dropped the subject. Since it was personal, they wouldn't pry.
~~~
Get early access to 50+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn