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Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia. 

June, x786. 

A few weeks have passed since the wizards of Fairy Tail had their first run in with Irene and Brandish. And ever since then, they've encountered Brandish many more times. Usually, she could be found sitting where they first met her while reading a book. And naturally, that drew Erza and Marin to talk to her about her reading material more than a few times. 

Then, there were the times that Brandish tried to apologize to Lucy for the misunderstanding. And although their interactions are still awkward, which is completely understandable. Since it generally takes some time to warm up to someone who wanted to kill you, things were going in a positive direction. 

Irene, on the other hand, spent most of her time in the hotel suite. However, she did make it a point to visit some of the other places Alfonzo usually frequented around the town. Because of that, she was able to run into him a few times, as well. 

Irene even made a few trips to Hargeon to visit the Taylor Shop, thinking that knowing where Elicia spent her time might be useful if she ever needed a hostage to make Alfonzo agree to follow her back to Alvarez. 

However, whenever she had thoughts like those, she would feel an inexplicable coldness. Something she never found the source of. But considering her strength, she never dismissed it. Seeing as a strong wizard's intuition was often correct. 

On top of that, Irene ended up asking Elicia to create a few custom pieces for her, as well. Especially since her proportions made it very difficult to find any clothes that could fit her. 

Today, however, Alfonzo was not worried about the two spies from Alvarez. Instead, he was relaxing in his home's grotto while reading an [Archive Magic] book. His trip to Blue Pegasus was less than three weeks away, after all. And he wanted to know as much as possible about [Archive Magic] before he pitched his idea about internet and lacrima phones to Hibiki of the Trimens. 

Just then, Alfonzo placed the magic book down on his lap. Then, he flared his magic power. A moment later, a transparent screen appeared in front of him. 

"Finally..." Alfonzo said with a gratified smile on his face. "Although I can only use one magic screen right now, that's more than enough to become the administrator of this project." 

Now, after studying [Archive Magic] for a little over four months, Alfonzo could finally use it. Though, he was nowhere near as proficient as someone like Hibiki, who could deploy at least six screens simultaneously, he could be considered a qualified user of [Archive Magic]. 

"This probably would have taken much longer if I wasn't used to using computers in my past life." Alfonzo muttered as he scrolled through a table of contents containing all his knowledge. "I don't even remember reading books about all this shit. But this magic pulled everything I've ever learned and forgotten from my subconscious... or something like that." 

In fact, Alfonzo was even happier that with a few tweaks and a few specialized magic items, he would be able to create the database for the phones he wanted to introduce to the world with little issue. Unfortunately, making the internet would probably take a bit more preparation. 

"Either way, now I don't have to have a piece of paper and a pencil whenever I get the urge to create something." Alfonzo said with a smile as he stood up from his seat. "Now, I can just save the ideas and any mental sketches with [Archive Magic]. And as an added bonus, I can use [Telepathy] now, too. My range is pretty short, though. But I can probably fix that with training." 

As he reached that point, Alfonzo stretched his body. Then, he took off the short sleeved shirt he was wearing and draped it over the back of his chair, leaving him wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks. 

"Fonzie! Let's play!" 

Before Alfonzo could start moving towards the water, Alfonzo heard a very familiar voice. Then again, he had noticed the few magic power signatures that had entered the house about forty minutes ago, so he was not all that surprised. 

What did surprise him, however, was the sight of Saeko, Shizuka, and Rika in swimsuits. While Saeko wore a deep blue bikini, Rika wore a sporty white bikini and a pair of sunglasses. Shizuka, on the other hand, wore a purple one-piece with a cut out that showed off a large portion of her breasts and the top of her abdomen. 

Naturally, because he was not expecting the visitors, Alfonzo found himself dumbfounded as he scanned all three ladies with his eyes. 

"I think he likes what he sees." Rika said playfully as she slid her sunglasses up to her forehead. 

"It would seem so." Saeko replied as she swept her bangs out of her face. 

"Of course he does." Elicia, wearing a frilly pink bikini, said proudly. "Just who do you think designed your suits?" 

"Come on, Fonzie." Shizuka said excitedly as she ran towards Alfonzo. Then, once she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his left arm as she continued. "Let's swim and play." 

With Shizuka hugging his arm to her chest, Alfonzo naturally found his arm wrapped in soft flesh. And when he looked down, he could see that a good part of his arm was now hidden between Shizuka's breasts. 

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "I was just about to go for a swim, too." 

With that, the group of five jumped into the pool that served as the basin for the grotto's waterfall and played to their heart's content. 

About an hour later, Sun was walking back to the mansion from the guild hall. However, she was not alone. With her was a group of eight visitors. And while she was familiar with five of them, the other two were new faces. 

"I can't believe you decided to take a break from work, Roy." Maes said while walking towards Alfonzo's mansion. 

"Well, this is a pretty big deal." Roy, or rather, Col. Roy Mustang, one of the kingdom's Alchemist Knights said as he walked with the rest of the group. 

Roy Mustang, a high ranking member of Fiore's military was a man of average height with unkempt black hair and black eyes wearing a white, button-down shirt, tan slacks, and black leather shoes. 

"Mr. Hughes was right, though." Edward said with a cheeky grin on his face. "All we had to do is look him in the eye and ask him to take a request with Lt. Hawkeye nearby." 

"Yeah, he denied it at first." Alphonse added. "But when the Lt. Gave him that look, he gave in pretty fast. 

Immediately upon hearing that, Roy snapped his head in Maes direction with a scowl. 

"Why did you tell them that, Hughes?" Roy asked in an annoyed tone. 

"Oh, come on, Roy." Maes said, not bothered by Roy's glare in the slightest. "A little time off is good for you every now and then. Besides, Gracia will be delighted to see you and the Lt." 

"He's right, Colonel." A woman with broader than average shoulders, a muscular, yet curvaceous build, pale skin, mid-back-length blonde hair styled into something resembling a bird's tail and held fastened with a black burette, bangs swept to the left that look like a hawks wing, and dark brown eyes wearing a white blouse, black slacks, and black leather flats, said with very little inflection or changes to her facial expression. "A week or so is more than you deserve." 

"Come on, Hawkeye." Roy grumbled as he turned his head towards the woman, Lt. Riza Hawkeye. "Whose side are you on, anyway." 

"Yours, of course." Riza replied with the same expression. "And I always do what I deem to be in your best interest." 

In response, Roy could only look away. 

"By the way, Ed." Pinako, the last of the human visitors to Magnolia said calmly after exhaling a puff of smoke from her pipe. "How many footstools did you have to stack up to look the colonel in his eyes?" 

"What did you say, you subatomic hag?" Edward shouted angrily. 

"*Sigh* There at it again." Winry said while walking alongside Sun. Though, her smile made it clear she was happy to be with the people she cared about the most. "Anyway, I really hope Alfonzo was right about how Ed and Al could get their bodies back to normal." 

"*Bark* *Bark*" Den, the last visitor, barked as if she were agreeing with Winry. 

"Of course it will work." Sun said confidently. "Alfonzo always keeps his promises." 

Then, she reached down and patted Den on the head. 

"So, you don't have to worry." Sun continued with a smile. 

"I must admit, I'm looking forward to meeting this young genius." Roy said after overhearing Sun and Winry's conversation. "To think he could give Alphonse the ability to taste food, despite the fact that he no longer has a body." 

"Yeah, that was crazy." Maes replied with a smile. "When Alphonse shoveled that food into his suit before standing up and exclaiming how good it was, is something I'll never forget for the rest of my life." 

"I know what you mean." Roy said while shaking his head. "When he did the same thing in my office, I thought he was just going to make a mess. But when he was done, there was a faint smell of his meal for a few minutes. But after that, there was no trace." 

"He hurt our chef's pride, too, when he said the food wasn't as good as this Alfonzo's." Riza added. 

"He wasn't wrong, though." Edward said in his brother's defense. "Other than mom's cooking, I've never tasted anything better." 

"I hate to say this, Ed." Winry said. "But that's probably nostalgia talking. I mean, before meeting Alfonzo, Granny's cooking was the best I've ever had. But now, there's no comparison." 

After she finished, Winry quickly looked back to Pinako. 

"No offense, Granny." Winry said apologetically. 

"None taken, Winry." Pinako replied. "I know I can't compare to that young man. I can't even compare to the young woman who cooked at his wedding." 

"Now that you mention it, she was a really good cook, too." Edward said, though he frowned at Winry's comment about nostalgia. 

"Yeah, her name is Erina Nakiri." Sun said cheerfully. "She's the head chef at the Sixth Sense Restaurant and Lounge in Crocus." 

"Well, that explains it." Roy said with a nod. "I've eaten there a couple of times. And it's the best food I've ever tasted." 

"Yes, the cuisine they serve really is quite good." Riza added. 

In response, Winry, Maes, Edward, and Alphonse nodded in agreement. Pinako, on the other hand, maintained a neutral expression, since she had never eaten at any of those establishments. 

Meanwhile, Sun could only smile awkwardly. As one of Alfonzo's lovers, she knew that he was the owner of Sixth Sense Holdings. However, Alfonzo had no intention of spreading this information to too many people. 

"What's wrong, sun?" Winry asked after seeing Sun's awkward smile. 

"Nothing." Sun replied while shaking her head vigorously. 

Unfortunately, Sun's reaction only drew more attention to herself. And after a moment, she realized that she had reacted too strongly. So, she started racking her brain to get herself out of this awkward situation. 

"It's just that Alfonzo's food is still better." Sun said while her eyes darted around. 

"That's rather hard to believe." Roy said skeptically. 

However, Winry, Maes, Edward, and Alphonse nodded in agreement, stunning Roy into silence while Riza only raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, I've never eaten at whatever restaurant it is you're talking about." Pinako said while tapping the ashes out of her pipe. "But that boy's cooking really is incredible." 

"I guess I'll have to see for myself." Roy replied. 

"Well, I'm sure you'll get the chance to compare them." Edward said. "I'm sure he'll cook for his guests." 

"Uh huh, that's right." Sun replied while nodding her head. 

Like that, the group continued to chat while they made their way towards the mansion on the lake. When they eventually arrived, Roy and Riza were gob smacked by what they saw. However, no one waited for them to regain their senses. So, they had to hasten their pace to catch up with the rest of the group. 

"Welcome to our home." Sun said as she opened the front door of the mansion. 

"How unsafe, the door was left unlocked." Roy muttered. 

"No, it's just that anyone living here doesn't need a key." sun replied. 

"*Bark* *Bark*" Den barked happily before Roy could retort to Sun's words. 

Immediately after barking, Den ran off. 

"Den, where are you going?" Winry shouted as she ran after Den. 

"What's with the dog?" Roy asked curiously. 

"Well, she became quite fond of Alfonzo when he completed that quest a few years ago." Pinako replied as she put her pipe away. "And she probably went to see him." 

"Well then, we should follow Den." Edward said as he started walking after Winry. "he's the reason we're here, after all." 

Nodding in response, Pinako, Maes, Alphonse, Roy, and Riza followed Edward. Eventually, the group reached the grotto. And when they did, they were dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Roy wore an envious expression after seeing Elicia, Saeko, Shizuka, and Rika surrounding Alfonzo, who was standing over Den, who was laying on her back, and rubbing the good girl's belly. 

"Damn, lucky bastard." Roy muttered quietly at the sight in front of him. 

*Smack!* 

"Ow, damn it, what was that for, Hawkeye?" Roy asked in an annoyed tone while rubbing the back of his head.