"Is that true?"
After listening to Gajeel and Natsu's explanation, Ivan Dreyar suppressed his anger and looked at the four Raven Tail mages lying on the ground.
In truth, all four had recovered quite a bit by now.
Fairy Tail's members had not gone for the kill. Their injuries were only superficial, not enough for them to keep acting so pitiful.
The reason they were still lying there was simple embarrassment.
Pretending to be dead on the ground was better than standing up and being mocked.
"...More or less, but they attacked first!"
Under Ivan Dreyar's questioning, Nulpudding and the others stopped pretending to be unconscious.
Obra was the one who spoke.
Of the four, he had been beaten the least badly. Because he wore a mask and had not had much chance to talk, he had not drawn much hatred.
"We admit that much," Marco said, still smiling. "So we're willing to pay the medical expenses as compensation. It was wrong of us to strike first.
"But your members came over for no reason and insulted a member of Fairy Tail. Shouldn't you also offer an apology?"
Marco continued providing smiling service throughout the entire process.
Seeing Ivan Dreyar looking so stifled made it very difficult for him not to laugh.
"We have to apologize too?"
Ivan Dreyar looked at Marco in disbelief.
His people had been beaten, yet now Raven Tail had to apologize too?!
"One matter is one matter. You were the ones who provoked us first. Even if this goes to the Magic Council, I'm not sure we'd be considered entirely in the wrong."
Marco looked completely unconcerned.
This was Fairy Tail's proposed way of handling the matter.
If Raven Tail was dissatisfied, they could take it directly to the Magic Council.
Was it wrong to act in order to protect a guildmate?
Even if something like this reached the Magic Council, the result would likely be nothing more than vague mediation.
Even if the people involved were not from Fairy Tail, the Magic Council would not necessarily judge the ones who struck back to be at fault.
Because most mages in official Mage Guilds would make a similar decision in this situation.
If a guild could watch its own member be bullied and remain indifferent, then that guild was nearly finished already.
The Magic Council was not stupid.
It would not openly go against the majority of Mage Guilds over something like this.
In a situation like this, they would naturally smooth things over. It was only a brawl, after all. No one was seriously injured, and no one had died.
A few words of warning to both sides would be the end of it.
"..."
Ivan Dreyar clenched his teeth, feeling utterly humiliated.
The main reason for that humiliation was simple: his side was weaker.
They had provoked first and still failed to win. Of course they would be trampled.
If they had won, then the ones feeling humiliated would have been Fairy Tail instead.
"What's going on here?"
Just as the atmosphere froze and Ivan found himself unable to back down, two figures—one tall, one short—pushed through the crowd into the center.
Makarov and Laxus had arrived.
The grandfather and grandson should have come earlier, but they had been walking and talking outside all this time.
Only now did they learn that something had happened involving Fairy Tail.
"Makarov! Look at what you've done! What were you thinking, handing Fairy Tail over to someone like this?!"
Makarov had barely squeezed in with a confused expression when Ivan Dreyar, still wearing his mask, began cursing him outright.
After bottling up so much anger, Ivan had finally found a target for his frustration.
His dissatisfaction with Makarov had been building for years, and this time, in the heat of his rage, it finally spilled out.
"???"
Makarov was full of question marks.
He had been scolded out of nowhere and still had no idea what had happened here.
"Hmph!"
However, even without knowing what had happened, Makarov could still make the correct decision.
Boom!
Magic surged.
The old man's fist stretched and enlarged, shooting forward and slamming hard into Ivan Dreyar's mask.
Ivan went flying backward, crashing headfirst into the sand.
By the time he climbed back up, the mask on his face had been shattered completely.
Ivan Dreyar had black hair and a beard.
His appearance could only be called ordinary. Even with the three of them standing together, it was hard to tell that he was Laxus's father and Makarov's son.
Makarov had not hesitated in the slightest when striking Ivan Dreyar.
So what if Ivan was the Guild Master of Raven Tail?
This was a family matter.
No one else had any right to interfere. Even if it reached the Magic Council, all they could do was muddy the waters and move on.
Thinking about it carefully, the Magic Council really did have a difficult job.
Some matters would get them scolded whether they managed them or not, and no matter how they handled them.
"You really have gone senile! Why didn't you make Laxus the Guild Master?!"
Ivan Dreyar stood back up, clutching his swollen face, but he still refused to shut up.
He continued questioning Makarov while also trying to sow discord, hoping Laxus would stand on his side.
Ivan, who had been watching Fairy Tail all this time, naturally knew about Laxus starting a civil war over the position of Guild Master and being expelled from the guild afterward.
"Shut your mouth, you bastard! This is Fairy Tail's business! What does it have to do with you?! What right do you have to question it?!"
Ivan Dreyar's words made Makarov furious.
The old man charged forward and once again swung his fists, beating Ivan Dreyar without restraint.
Against an enraged Makarov, Ivan Dreyar had almost no power to fight back.
He was beaten by the old man like an unruly grandchild.
No—that wasn't quite right.
Makarov had never beaten his grandchildren like this.
Only this disappointing son of his would be beaten this way.
"It really does have to be the old man."
Watching this scene, Marco could not help sighing in admiration.
Now that Ivan Dreyar had become the Guild Master of an official guild, Marco definitely could not beat him up for no reason.
But the old man really could.
Strictly speaking, it still was not right, but when a father beat his son, even the Magic Council had a hard time interfering.
No one else could easily step in either.
Laxus stood beside Marco, watching his father get taught a lesson by his grandfather, and for a moment, he did not know what to say.
Between his father and grandfather, Laxus was naturally much closer to his grandfather.
After all, his father had been expelled from the guild when Laxus was still young.
Since then, Ivan had never returned.
When he was younger, Laxus had once argued with his grandfather over his father's expulsion.
But as he grew older, he gradually came to understand.
Because in Fairy Tail, getting expelled was actually very difficult.
Unless one had truly done something excessive, the guild would not go that far.
Just like Laxus himself, who had only been expelled after starting an internal war.
Although he still did not know what his father had done, it must have been something extremely harmful to Fairy Tail.
Otherwise, his grandfather would never have expelled his own son from the guild.
"He talks too much. Fairy Tail's affairs are not something he gets to comment on." Laxus spoke quietly.
He was afraid Marco might misunderstand him.
Ivan Dreyar's words had nothing to do with him.
Even if Marco certainly would not believe Ivan, Laxus still felt he had to issue a disclaimer.
There had absolutely been no secret communication between him and Ivan Dreyar.
After all these years, this was actually the first time they had met again.
For father and son to meet again under these circumstances was honestly terrible.
The few impressions Ivan Dreyar had left in Laxus's heart were gradually being replaced by the pitiful figure before him now.
"He really doesn't understand us at all."
Marco smiled in agreement.
Then he looked toward Laxus and held out his fist.
Expressionless, Laxus bumped it with his own.