"Dammit! Fairy Tail is probably going to steal the spotlight again this time!"
"If I remember correctly, last time when we subjugated Oración Seis, it was an allied force of several guilds, wasn't it? This time, they managed it on their own..."
"Our guild is relatively close to where it happened. You can hardly imagine the scene. The entire forest was leveled, with bottomless chasms everywhere!"
"Even fighting a dark guild shouldn't cause that kind of destruction, right? Those guys definitely did it on purpose. They deserve to be punished!"
The guild masters gathered in small groups, talking among themselves.
Some had looks of admiration, respect, and envy. Others had expressions of jealousy, hostility, and condemnation. And there were also those who were simply there for the gossip.
The guild alliance was exactly like this—a complex network of relationships woven together by interests, fame, power, and so on. Guilds of all sizes mixed together, and you could find all kinds of people.
"Come to think of it, Sabertooth also performed quite well this time. They successfully protected their town from the attack of Grimoire Heart's vice-master, Bluenote."
Someone noticed Ur, who had just arrived at the venue and walked over to greet Makarov and the others.
"Sabertooth, huh? It's been a while, but I still remember the scene at the guild masters' meeting in Crocus when Chase clashed with Jieman."
"After changing masters, they've been developing quite rapidly. And that Ur used to be a famous Ice-Make mage in the northern continent."
"Hehe, well, I've cooperated with Sabertooth before, so I know more about them than you do. By the way, Ms. Ur is still single."
"What?! Brutus, as soon as you get back, send Sabertooth an application for a guild social!"
"Hey, hey, master, you're sixty-eight this year..."
"Where's your mind, you idiot?! I'm trying to get you, a candidate for the next master, an opportunity! Wait, why are you taking out paper and pen? Write it when we get back!"
In a corner of the venue, on a round table, the Council had prepared some simple refreshments.
"Ahahaha! Way to go, Ur. You've already made a name for yourself in the guild alliance in such a short time. I believe Sabertooth can become a fine guild, just like us!"
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Makarov laughed heartily.
Aside from genuinely being happy for Sabertooth, he also felt a secret satisfaction seeing certain people grinding their teeth in envy at Fairy Tail's newfound fame, completely unable to do anything about it.
Well, perhaps it wasn't so secret—he was laughing just a little too loudly.
"You flatter me, Mr. Makarov."
Ur scratched her unkempt short hair, looking a bit embarrassed. She glanced at Bob and the others standing beside Makarov.
"Compared to you masters, I, who have just stepped into this field, still have far too much to learn."
Ever since taking over Sabertooth, Ur, who was used to being free, had deeply felt the difficulties of being a guild master.
Internally, she had to consider the guild's development, recruitment of new members, and request review.
Externally, she had to attend various Council meetings, establish good relationships with neighboring guilds, and maintain the mutually beneficial cooperation between the guild and the town it called home.
On top of all that, she often had to stay up late studying modern magical knowledge, writing various reports, development documents, apology letters, and so on. Adding to this the post-war reconstruction, financial reporting, and fund allocation from the Grimoire Heart attack, Ur felt like her head was about to explode.
"Take it slow. We've all been through it," Goldmine, the master of Mermaid Heel, said with a reassuring smile.
"If you're having trouble with too many suitors from other masters, I could offer you some advice, Ur-chan~" Bob said, coyly wiggling his barrel-like waist.
"Uh..." Ur's eyes widened, her expression filled with suspicion.
She couldn't be blamed for this almost instinctive reaction. It was just that the "illustrious" appearance of the Blue Pegasus master before her was somewhat hard to look at.
"Same-sex suitors? My experience in that area is limited, but it's not nonexistent~" Bob's blush deepened.
"That's not what I meant at all!"
Makarov could see Ur's helplessness. He glanced at the posing Bob and let out a heavy sigh. "This guy was actually an incredibly handsome man when he was young. It made everyone jealous."
"Huh?!" Ur exclaimed.
"Ancient history like that doesn't matter. Young people, when you're worried, just spin around like this, and all your problems will solve themselves."
With that, Oba Babasaama, the master of Lamia Scale, immediately demonstrated. Her fingers wiggled unsteadily, and then her entire body spun through the air like a wooden stick.
The scene was oddly bizarre.
"I, uh... you all certainly have... unique personalities," Ur said, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as she barely managed a smile.
Bob and the others certainly had unique personalities, with none of the typical seniority airs. As for the old man Makarov... well, he had a unique personality too.
Not far away, Chase put down the chicken leg bone he had been gnawing on and wiped the remaining grease from his mouth.
He had wanted to chime in and say, "You're not so bad yourself, raising two freaks like Gray and Lyon," but was interrupted by the sudden sound of a gong.
Looking up, two guides in Council uniforms walked slowly toward the entrance.
"We're almost out of time for the preliminary discussions. Masters, please move to the adjoining conference hall."
The Council's conference hall was very spacious. Rows of seats were arranged in stepped rows, descending toward the bottom. At the lowest level was a podium bearing the Council's emblem, with nine seats distributed on either side.
At that moment, Chairman Crawford was seated in the center. All nine councilors were present.
Among them were two new faces, replacing the retired Yajima and the imprisoned Siegrain.
Chase followed Makarov to a seat in the front row with a sign for Fairy Tail. Ur and the other masters also found their designated seats.
Looking at Ultear, dressed in a plain white outfit beside Crawford, Makarov whispered, "Just as expected. Those Council bastards really reinstated Ultear's seat..."
Although the excuse of being an undercover agent in Grimoire Heart was somewhat barely plausible, given the Council's cautious nature, they obviously wouldn't believe it easily. They would undoubtedly conduct various investigations in secret.
After all, Ultear had provided no prior reports, and Grimoire Heart was far from an ordinary dark guild.
Moreover, Ultear had been quite close to Siegrain—that is, the traitor Jellal.
But perhaps for that very reason, the Council had reinstated her so quickly.
The Jellal incident had nearly ruined the Council's reputation. If another councilor were found to have ambiguous ties to the Balam Alliance, the Council's credibility would suffer a devastating blow!
At that point, both the chairman and the councilors would face investigation and even suspension.
That would be quite dangerous for surrounding countries and the entire Ishgar continent, plunging them into unpredictable chaos. If the managers of the legal guild alliance suffered repeated infiltrations by dark forces, who would trust them anymore?
Looking at it from the opposite perspective, Councilor Ultear had risked going undercover in Grimoire Heart, leading Fairy Tail to annihilate a major pillar of the Balam Alliance.
Such news would not only diminish Fairy Tail's achievements but also greatly enhance the Council's prestige and effectiveness. A true win-win!
So, for both public and private reasons, the Council had no choice but to publicly accept Ultear's return.
As for the private interrogations, those were certainly unavoidable.
But given Ultear's abilities, getting through them and establishing a foothold shouldn't be too difficult. Otherwise, she couldn't have been an undercover councilor for so many years.
"Everyone, quiet down."
Crawford rapped his gavel on the podium.
The noisy hall immediately fell silent. All eyes fell on him.
"I'm sure you masters have already heard some news, so I'll skip the pleasantries. Let's go directly into the first half of this special meeting," Crawford said, clearly enjoying his position of power. He gave a light cough. "Regarding the annihilation of Grimoire Heart, a corner of the Balam Alliance."
"Our undercover double agent within Grimoire Heart, Councilor Ultear, will now report the details of the entire incident."
The hall erupted once more.
"A councilor? A double agent?"
"What's going on? I thought Fairy Tail attacked Grimoire Heart's headquarters?"
"So the Council had a hand in it too? I knew it. Those hotheads in Fairy Tail couldn't possibly have taken down the so-called strongest dark guild so easily!"
In contrast to their shock, Makarov seemed to have anticipated this credit-grabbing behavior. He had tilted his head and was dozing off, a large snot bubble inflating from his nose.
His eyes were only on the guild and the children. He couldn't care less about fame or achievements. And since the beneficiary was Ultear, he naturally didn't object.
"Haha! As expected of my daughter. She's getting more and more beautiful!" Ur, sitting next door, was more interested in Ultear's attire today.
"Hey, hey, lady. Is it really okay to say something like that so openly?" Chase couldn't help but whisper a reminder.
He could clearly feel several gazes instantly land on them.
Although many people had already suspected the relationship between Ur and Ultear—their names and appearances were just too similar—and this kind of thing couldn't be hidden anyway, and Ur certainly wouldn't use the relationship to seek personal gain for her guild, saying it so publicly was still a bit too simple and crude.
"Oh, right. We're still in a meeting."
The thick-skinned Ur immediately realized her mistake. She shrunk her neck, clasped her hands together, and awkwardly smiled at the surrounding crowd. "Um... could everyone pretend you didn't hear that?"
The room: "..."
From her seat, Ultear helplessly held her forehead. Why did I have to end up with such a stupid mother?!
Fortunately, this matter was no longer a secret within the Council. The other councilors just silently looked away and didn't say anything.
"Order!" Chairman Crawford rapped his gavel again. He glanced at Ultear. "Tell us what you know, Ultear."
Before the meeting, he had privately coordinated with Ultear, unifying their statements.
The key information boiled down to one point: attributing the credit for annihilating Grimoire Heart to the Council as much as possible.
Although Ultear held her nose at this ugly, credit-stealing behavior, she still agreed to Crawford's proposal.
The reason was simple. Doing so would help divert some of the attention away from Fairy Tail, providing a measure of protection.
Similar to the previous subjugation of Oración Seis, if only a single guild was involved in the operation, it could easily provoke crazy retaliation from other dark guilds—the Balam Alliance still had one remaining corner: Tartaros!
As the most mysterious dark guild, the Council still had no leads on it.
But Ultear, as a former member of the Seven Kin, had some information. She knew it was a terrifying guild composed entirely of demons.
Its master, "END," was the strongest demon in Zeref's book, one that even Master Hades had treated with caution!
Thinking of this, Ultear straightened her posture. She channeled magic power into the crystal ball held in her palm.
The crystal ball glowed, displaying a holographic projection showing the core members of Grimoire Heart.
"Masters of the legal guilds. As the chairman said, this is the member information I collected while undercover in Grimoire Heart. Over the years, they have..."
Ultear tactfully began recounting her "undercover" experience, including Grimoire Heart's organizational structure, threat level, and their dangerous ideology of creating a "Great Magical World."
Aside from Makarov and Chase, who had gotten bored and dozed off, the guild masters in the hall listened intently.
Over a dozen subordinate guilds, the Seven Kin, all users of Lost Magic, and the infinitely powered master Hades... As Ultear's explanation deepened, they finally realized why Grimoire Heart was called the strongest dark guild in the Balam Alliance.
Those who had previously stood on their moral high horses to condemn Fairy Tail for going too far were now left with stiff, frozen expressions.
Compared to this nation-level threat, destroying an entire forest seemed quite insignificant in retrospect.
What frightened them even more was that Fairy Tail had not only single-handedly fought this behemoth but had also won with a fantastic record of zero casualties!
Even with intelligence provided by Ultear, this feat was still far too incredible for them.
Just how strong has that damn Fairy Tail become?!
"That is my report. As the guild that assisted Councilor Ultear in the annihilation of Grimoire Heart, Fairy Tail's contributions are undeniable."
After Ultear finished her presentation, Crawford immediately took over. "Therefore, as chairman, on behalf of the Council, I hereby officially award Fairy Tail a Medal of Honor and a certificate of commendation. I hope all of you will follow their example and steadfastly maintain the peace and stability of the magical world!"
As his voice faded, the hall erupted in loud, enthusiastic applause.
POP~!
The snot bubbles from Makarov and Chase's noses burst.
"Huh? Is it over?" Makarov mumbled, opening his eyes and wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"I think so," Chase said, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Everyone in the hall: "..."
"It's not over, Makarov! Get up here and accept the Medal of Honor!"
On stage, a Council guide holding the medal and certificate urged him angrily, deliberately avoiding mentioning Chase's name.
Yes, this was the same unfortunate guide who had gotten punched in the belly by Chase before. He was still traumatized by that unreasonable bastard.
"Ahaha! So that's what this is about. I'm coming, I'm coming."
"You guys really take such trivial matters so seriously~!"
Having woken up, Makarov bounced cheerfully up to the stage.
This show of humblebragging made the guild masters who were hostile to Fairy Tail grind their teeth in frustration.
If I'd known, I wouldn't have come to this damned meeting!
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!