The next day, at noon, at the temporary counter of the new guild hall.
News that Loki was a Celestial Spirit had completely spread. The guild members were all surprised by this unexpected revelation.
But that was it. Those who wanted to chat chatted, those who wanted to dance danced, those who wanted to drink drank — everything continued as usual.
For them, they only needed to know that Loki was fine and was still their guildmate. His identity didn't really matter at all.
During this time, a few women claiming to be Loki's girlfriends came by asking about his whereabouts. One of them was even the granddaughter of a retired Magic Council councilor!
Even more unbelievable, the girls didn't seem to mind each other's presence. The atmosphere was harmonious. There was none of the "love battlefield" scenes that harem story protagonists usually enjoy.
All one could say was: Loki, you badass.
The main reason the girls had come looking for him was that Loki had previously promised to take them to a very famous beach resort today.
Unfortunately, that promise was destined not to be fulfilled — because Loki needed to rest and recover in the Celestial Spirit World. He had already given all the tickets to the Strongest Team yesterday.
Erza had even immediately brought over a cart full of luggage and changed into a cute swimsuit. Her speed was astonishing.
By now, the Strongest Team had probably already started enjoying themselves.
After sending off Loki's girlfriends, Mira finally turned her attention to Chase across the counter.
"Chase, how's the progress on your new house?" she asked with a smile.
"The main structure is complete. Renovation is underway. According to the contractor, it should be finished in a few days." Chase's tone held a note of emotion.
Without rushing, a delicate three-story building had been erected in just over ten days. Even among infrastructure maniacs, that kind of efficiency would have a place.
"That's pretty fast. Don't forget our agreement," Mira said, hands on her hips, pretending to be serious.
"Don't worry." Chase waved his hand casually.
He had a feeling Mira cared more about his new house's progress than he did...
"Agreement? What agreement?"
Makarov suddenly poked his head in from the side, wearing his typical old pervert melon-eating expression.
"Master, I can't tell you that." Mira raised a finger and made a slightly playful, cute secrecy gesture toward Chase.
"Fine, I didn't really want to know anyway."
Makarov plopped down on the counter, pouting like a little kid.
Watching the workers moving furniture and equipment into the guild, he straightened his expression and said in a low voice, "At today's special Magic Council meeting about the R-System, I ran into an unexpected little one."
"Little one? Isn't that a meeting only guild masters can attend?" Mira asked, puzzled.
She remembered that when he had left, the master had been complaining about not being able to drag Chase along.
At some point, he had started treating Chase as a candidate for the next guild master — even though the person in question had no idea at all.
"Her name is Minerva Orland." Makarov said.
"Orland — isn't that the surname of Jiemon, the master of Sabertooth?" Mira tilted her head, even more confused.
"That's right. Minerva is Jiemon's biological daughter. She attended as the acting master of Sabertooth." Makarov nodded slightly.
During the Phantom Lord incident, considering that the other members of Sabertooth had been completely unaware of the appointed Jiemon's actions, the Magic Council hadn't ordered Sabertooth to disband like they had Phantom Lord. Instead, they were left to survive or die on their own.
For the condescending Magic Council, the fate of such an insignificant small guild didn't matter. Lenient treatment instead showed their "mercy."
So, although Sabertooth still carried the name of a legal guild, it now existed in name only.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have let a teenage girl show her face in public...
"But that girl's magic surprised me."
Makarov looked up at Chase. "It's that ancient Lost Magic you encountered on Demon Ruins Island — the Eighteen Demon Gods Magic!"
"The Eighteen Demon Gods Magic?!" Mira's eyes widened in surprise.
As someone who had experienced the Demon Ruins Island incident firsthand, she knew all too well how powerful that magic was — both offensive and defensive!
Chase was also quite surprised by this.
Although he had somewhat suspected it, he hadn't expected Minerva's ancient magic to actually come from that.
"Looks like Jiemon really was an idiot. Ignoring his own talented daughter to go hook up with Jose," Chase casually remarked.
"Regarding that, it is indeed regrettable."
Makarov recalled the scene of the little one specifically finding him to bow in apology. He sighed deeply. "Unlike Jiemon, she's a very polite kid. Even mastering ancient magic, she doesn't have that arrogant, ruthless look that looks down on the weak."
Afterward, he had learned the specifics of Minerva's past and circuit
mstances from Yajima.
"If that's the case, Master, why didn't you invite Minerva to Fairy Tail?" Mira asked, puzzled.
She knew the master had a hobby of collecting homeless children.
She, Erza, Natsu, Gray, and so on — they had all come that way!
"It's a bit complicated. Besides, that girl seems very resistant to joining Fairy Tail." Makarov shook his head.
Even though the fault lay entirely with Jiemon, purely from Sabertooth's perspective, Fairy Tail was the "root cause" of their current situation.
Minerva didn't have the special relationship that Juvia and Gajeel had with their former masters.
"Oh, by the way, Chase. She also asked me to pass along her thanks to you."
Makarov put away his various emotions and continued, "She was also one of the tourists you rescued from that incident."
"A truly sensible child."
Chase smiled and asked, "How about it, Master? Want me to make a trip for you and recruit her as her lifesaver?"
No one knew better than him what Minerva was capable of. She was a fighter who, at the same age, could trade blows evenly with Erza when she had activated her Second Origin!
Makarov chop-chopped Chase on the head. "At least for now, don't do something so stupid as going against a girl's wishes!"
This guy really hadn't listened to a word he said. If they were going to invite her, at least wait until the time was ripe!
"Got it, old man." Chase rubbed his head.
As they were talking, sudden excited shouts came from the distance — Macao and Wakaba, who had been flirting, seemed to have seen something unbelievable.
"It's deep in the town and still hard to find. And your reputation is way too bad. Every resident I asked looked disgusted!"
A short-haired beauty in a cool swimsuit slowly walked into the guild. While looking around at the environment, she didn't forget to complain.
***
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