The sun was bright, and the warm breeze was intoxicating. The sound of rhythmic reading drifted from the Fairy Academy.
Ding-ling-ling—
As the bell rang, the reading stopped abruptly. Before long, students began walking out of the classrooms one after another. With laughter and playful chasing, everyone's face brimmed with the beautiful aura of youth.
Compared to the primary school students who still needed to study literature, mathematics, and basic magic theory, the coursework for the middle school wizards was not tight. They only had classes for half the day; there were no classes in the afternoon.
Because they had a full half-day of free time, most wizards chose to participate in club activities or go shopping and play in town. If they had already joined a specific guild, they could also choose to head to the guild to handle business there.
Guilds were not limited to magic guilds. Normally, every town would have at least one or two guilds of different types. In a first-tier city like Magnolia, which was second only to the Royal Capital in the Kingdom of Fiore, the types and numbers of guilds were even greater. The services provided by these guilds touched every aspect of the residents' lives and were an important means of maintaining a town's economy.
In Magnolia, the magic guild aspect was naturally dominated by Fairy Tail. But besides that, there were also merchant guilds, bounty guilds, food delivery guilds, and courier guilds, among other types in town. It was not uncommon for wizards to be employed within these guilds as well.
Lily, who was currently a second-year student in the Fairy Academy's middle school, was a member of the courier guild.
"Lily, come play ball with us this afternoon!!"
"I'm really sorry, but I have to go help out at the guild this afternoon!"
"The guild... ah! You mean the courier guild 'Tmall Wings,' right? Everyone in town has been able to shop so conveniently these past few years thanks to your help!"
Lily was not a human, but an Exceed—a small, black, flying cat. Decades ago, the Exceed had settled in Magnolia for many years with Weston's help. But later, the cats gradually couldn't stand the fast-paced lifestyle of humans, so they gave up their properties here and moved the entire tribe into the forest west of the town to live in seclusion. They became neighbors with Porlyusica and maintained contact with only a very few people within Fairy Tail.
It wasn't until several years ago that a group of young cats among the Exceed once again developed the idea of entering human society, so they contacted their old friend, Fairy Tail. By then, the guild Master was already Descartes. With his help, a group of young cats was guided to live in the town and even entered the Fairy Academy to study magic. Lily was one of the cats in that young group.
Having re-entered human society, the Exceed naturally needed a job to earn a living. Given their racial advantages, the courier and food delivery guilds rising in Magnolia became their natural first choices.
Existences like courier and delivery guilds were unlike magic guilds; it wasn't easy for a single entity to take the entire town's cake. On the contrary, because large cities had large populations and high shopping volumes, it was perfectly normal for several courier and delivery guilds to exist simultaneously. In Magnolia, the number of food delivery and courier guilds—including the stations under their respective names—exceeded fifty when added together!
"Tmall Wings," where Lily was employed, was created by Descartes using the properties their tribe had left behind after the young cats returned to Magnolia. Currently, it specialized in the courier industry in town, and the staff members were all Exceed. In a sense, Lily's work in this industry could be considered entering the family business.
Since the topic had landed on "Tmall Wings," a few familiar friends couldn't help but feel curious and crowded around.
"I say, Lily, how many orders can your guild take every day?"
Lily thought seriously and replied, "It varies. Normally, it's several hundred." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Because Exceed can fly and the delivery speed is very fast, everyone in town likes having us deliver goods."
Another classmate asked, "Won't you offend other colleagues in the courier business that way?"
"Well... I suppose not!"
"Why can you be so sure?"
"Because 'Tmall Wings' only serves Magnolia. Unlike other courier businesses, they work across different cities."
"Furthermore, we actually don't have many employees; there are only two stations in town. The amount of goods we can deliver daily is limited, and our charging price per order is ten percent higher than our peers."
"Generally, only when users are very wealthy or in a great hurry will they choose us!"
Actually, there was another reason that Lily did not voice. That was, the residents of town all knew that "Tmall Wings" was protected by Fairy Tail, so colleagues in the courier industry naturally didn't dare to cause trouble.
Looking at Lily's small stature (in cat form), several kind-hearted classmates couldn't help but imagine a scene in their minds of small cats gritting their teeth to deliver goods under the scorching sun and in the wind and rain. They immediately felt pity: "It must be very hard flying back and forth to deliver goods every day like that, right? Have you never thought about switching to a different guild?"
"I have thought about it, but then I gave up on the idea."
"Ah... why?"
"One reason is that this type of work is the most suitable for us Exceed. As for the second reason, the delivery process allows one to train flying speed, grip strength, and arm strength, and you can interact with all kinds of people. I believe it is a quite good form of training!"
Is that so? The students looked at each other. They were only children around thirteen or fourteen years old, and most came from well-off backgrounds. Combined with having lived a step-by-step campus life for a long time, they hadn't felt the pressure brought by "life" and "work," so they couldn't quite empathize with Lily's idea of "training through work."
Seeing this, Lily sighed inwardly. The growth cycles of Exceed and humans are different; at the same age, a cat's mind is more mature. Therefore, in Lily's eyes, he was actually an adult who was older than his classmates. Every time he saw the "clear innocence" appearing in his classmates' eyes, he couldn't help but feel speechless. If these kids knew that the money he earned working at the guild each month was more than what their parents earned working for two months, they probably wouldn't show that kind of expression...
Before long, Lily packed his bag to head to "Tmall Wings," and the other classmates dispersed.
"Bye-bye..."
"See you tomorrow!!"
"Ultear, how about going to the fitness club later to see the handsome guys?"
"Sorry, I can't join you. I already have arrangements for the afternoon."
After the girl finished speaking, she picked up her shoulder bag, turned gracefully, and walked toward the academy's university teaching building.