"Yes."
Cana nodded gently at the young man in front of her.
"Ah?!"
"It seems that during my time away training, the scumbags in the guild have leveled up again?"
"Now they're playing the role of heartless men who abandon their wives and daughters out in the cold?"
"Forget the Magic Council ERA; even I can't stand for this."
The young man looked Cana up and down repeatedly. Then, he pushed open the Fairy Tail guild doors—the very doors that had intimidated Cana—and walked inside.
As half his body crossed the threshold, he turned back to look at Cana and beckoned gently. "You're here to find your father, right? Anyway, come in first."
Gulp.
"O-Okay."
Cana looked at the open doors before her, feeling like a cub who had just left her mother's embrace, forced to face the world alone, lost and helpless.
"Cana, you can do this."
"You will definitely find Father."
After a fierce internal struggle, Cana finally mustered her courage. Following in the young man's footsteps, she stepped through the doors of the Fairy Tail guild.
"Mother once said Father is a very gentle and kind person! I'm sure the guild where Father lives and works must also be a place filled with 'love'."
Holding onto her goal of finding her father and the fantasy image of Fairy Tail built from her mother's few words, Cana finally set foot in this "forbidden land."
"This is?!"
As Cana's gaze swept across the Fairy Tail guild hall, the scene of "friendship and love" playing out before her opened the door to a whole new world for young Cana.
Future Cana: "Run, Little Me! Ahead isn't heaven, it's hell! You're going to be corrupted completely!"
Cough.
"Brothers, drink up!!"
What Cana saw were tables of burly, drunken men huddled together, chugging alcohol.
"I don't believe it! Can you really one-shot me with thirteen cards?!"
There were card players and gamblers, holding fistfuls of cash but losing everything in a single hand.
Puff, exhale~
"Cigars really hit the spot!"
There were smokers gathered in a circle of four or five, puffing clouds of smoke while chatting about life.
"You wanna fight, huh?"
"Hah?"
"You think I'm scared of you, bastard?!"
"Go to hell!"
And there were the violent types, getting into brawls over minor misunderstandings and exchanging insults.
In short, there wasn't a single good person in the entire Fairy Tail guild hall, nor did anyone look particularly civilized.
"As expected, this guild is just like I imagined, full of love... NOT!"
"Did I come to the wrong place?! Did I remember the name of Father's guild wrong?"
"Compared to the guild full of 'love' Mother talked about, this place looks more like a gathering spot for human traffickers."
Cana stared at the people in the guild hall, who fit her mother Cornelia's definition of "delinquents" perfectly. Her eye twitched uncontrollably.
If they were still in Violet Town, Cornelia would have definitely made her avoid these people. She was absolutely forbidden from getting involved with anyone who looked like a thug or a gangster.
Thus, the scene before her dealt a massive blow to Cana's kind heart, inflicting significant trauma on her young psyche.
Well, this was also partly because Cornelia had always spoken positively about Gildarts in front of Cana.
So Cana could never have imagined that her father, Gildarts, was actually the biggest "scumbag" among this group of delinquents.
"Hey."
"You bastards."
"Shut up for a second."
"I have something important to ask you."
Just as Cana's legs went weak and she was considering running away, the young man who had opened the "Gate to Hell" for her spoke up.
"Ah?"
"What?"
"Who the hell are you?"
At the young man's voice, the guild members drinking, playing cards, smoking, and fighting all stopped what they were doing. They turned their heads and focused their gazes on the young man and Cana beside him.
"Ugh."
Feeling the immense pressure from everyone's gazes, Cana stumbled and fell onto the floor, trembling helplessly.
"Mommy, I want to go home."
Young Cana wanted to go home.
"Is that Ide?"
"Ide, you're back?"
"Ide actually came back?"
"Does this mean your training is over?"
Once the Fairy Tail members saw the young man's face clearly, they erupted in excitement. Genuine smiles appeared on their faces as they cheered loudly.
"Alright, alright."
"Save the welcome party for later."
"There's something more important right now."
Ide addressed the crowd.
"More important?"
Hearing this, everyone looked confused.
"That's right."
Ide paused slightly, then asked, "You guys are really something! While I was away from the guild, you did plenty of things to ruin the guild's image again, didn't you?"
"Hey, Ide."
"Just because you're strong doesn't mean you can slander us!"
Ide's words seemed to provoke the crowd. They stood up from their seats and retorted.
"Still stubborn?"
"The kid has come knocking on our door, okay?"
"Speak up! Which one of you abandoned your wife and child out there?"
Ide snorted coldly. While questioning the guild members, he didn't forget to gently help Cana up from the floor. He comforted her, "Don't sit on the floor; it's dirty and cold. And don't be afraid. Even though these guys look fierce and scary, they're actually rare good people."
"Mmh."
"Cana isn't afraid."
Somehow, under Ide's comfort, Cana's heart actually calmed down.
"Ide, stop spitting blood on people! We wouldn't do something like abandoning our families."
"Don't tell me you did something wrong outside and are trying to accuse us first to shift the blame?"
"Yeah, yeah! Everyone in our guild is a good person. No one would do such a thing."
The Fairy Tail members retorted indignantly.
"Heh."
"I would never betray my wife."
Ide sneered and declared righteously.
"Zero convincing power."
Hearing this, the guild members almost laughed out loud.
"I also don't want to believe there's such scum in our guild! But the child traveled thousands of miles alone to get here. She couldn't have come to the wrong place."
Ide turned to look at Cana beside him and asked, "Your name is Cana, right?"
"Mmh."
Cana nodded slightly.
"Okay, Little Cana."
"Now, tell us loudly, what is your father's name?"
Ide encouraged Little Cana to shout out the name of that scumbag.
"His name is... Gildarts Clive."
Cana bit her lip lightly. Under Ide's encouragement and the pressure of the guild's collective gaze, she finally spoke the resounding name.
"..."
As Cana's voice fell, the entire Fairy Tail guild fell silent.
Even Ide's pupils trembled.
Yes, Ide knew Gildarts had questionable morals, but he didn't know Gildarts was this much of a beast.
Truly worthy of being Gildarts.
"Did I really come to the wrong place?"
Noticing the silence that followed the name "Gildarts," Cana mistakenly thought that no one present had heard of her father. She concluded she had come to the wrong place. Instead of disappointment, she inexplicably felt a sense of relief.
Cana thought to herself: "Thank goodness I came to the wrong place. It seems this isn't the guild where Father is."
"If it's Gildarts... he really does seem like the type who would do something like that."
Just as Cana was secretly breathing a sigh of relief, the Fairy Tail members spoke up one after another.
"Eh?"
"So... I really came to the right place?"
Hearing this, Cana froze in shock.