"Leon?"
Lamia Scale came with five people, but Gray's eyes first landed on that white-haired guy in the crowd.
Though they didn't get along too well, he was still his senior.
Leon was evidently happy about Gray's return, but he wouldn't admit it openly. Instead, he started with, "That's so lame, I heard you almost got taken out? Did you forget all the magic Ultear taught you?"
"You punk..." Gray got instantly riled up, but ended up laughing, "Is that the first thing you say? I heard you guys helped a lot, thanks."
"Hmph, no need for that, I..." Leon lowered his eyes, smiled smugly, and when he looked back at Gray, his gaze had shifted to Jubia standing beside him.
Leon's face gradually turned red, and then, as if he teleported, he was in front of Jubia, holding her shoulders, "This… must be love at first sight!"
"Huh?" Jubia was bewildered, "Gray's Senior?"
"What kind of title is that... Plus, this scene looks familiar." Lucy thought Jubia often approached Gray in a similar way.
Gray sighed, "Ah, such a hassle."
Mira was so thrilled she forgot about greeting the guests, "Well, well, a love triangle."
"So, this is the type Gray's senior is." Rhode was curious what Gray thought of the situation.
The five from Lamia Scale probably frequented Fairy Tail often over the years, as they entered and casually mingled with familiar faces.
Leon continued to entangle with Jubia and Gray, while Toby and Yuka approached Natsu and Hapi, and Jie Li chatted with Lucy.
Jura headed towards the counter.
Rhode thought he was likely here to see the president and brought over the drunken Makarov by the shoulder.
Macao followed as acting president.
Jura leaned his staff nearby and greeted them warmly, "Lord Makarov, Lord Rhode, Miss Mirajane, it's been a long time, hello Macao."
Makarov casually extended his cup, "Long time no see, care for a drink?"
Macao and Mira smiled as they greeted him.
Rhode hesitated at the title given to him, smiling as he asked, "I'm a 'lord' now too?"
Jura laughed, "Of course, Lord Rhode is recognized as one of the Ten Wizard Saints by the Council."
Rhode queried, "I was pronounced dead before the official appointment came through, wasn't I removed?"
Jura looked towards Macao.
Macao hurriedly responded, "It seems during the repeated verification of your situation, your Ten Wizard Saints medal and outfit were already made. Now... they are still sealed in the guild's storage.
"Then when the obituary was issued after you had been missing for a month, they referred to you as the 'newly promoted Ten Wizard Saints Rhode'."
Hearing Macao's words, Rhode suddenly felt the Council was rather decent, at least they didn't abandon him when he was presumed gone.
"Though a bit late, congratulations on your promotion to the Ten Wizard Saints, which makes Fairy Tail..." Jura trailed off, as Fairy Tail now had the most Ten Wizard Saints of any guild.
Unfortunately, their main members were about six years behind the times, excluding Kildas, who was always monstrously strong.
Jura felt a bit sorry for them.
Rhode suddenly asked, "Hey, I haven't had the chance to ask, which guild is Fiore's top guild now? Lamia Scale?"
He only knew it wasn't Fairy Tail, and from his companions' descriptions, if it weren't for a lot of new school mage guilds padding the bottom, Fairy Tail might be far behind.
Jura laughed, "It's not Lamia Scale; our guild is currently ranked second. First place goes to a guild called Sabertooth, they've risen to prominence and gained a lot of popularity in recent years."
"Sabertooth?" Rhode, Mira, and Makarov all felt a bit unacquainted; it seemed like an obscure little guild to them.
Mira wondered, "Is there someone in Sabertooth stronger than Mr. Jura?"
Jura calmly stated, "There's always someone better, a sky beyond the sky."
This response made it hard for Rhode to gauge, as Jura was always humble, and he couldn't tell if he was truly serious.
Macao, knowing the details, explained, "That's not the case, the current guild ranking method is different from before."
In the past, guild rankings had no specific standard, sometimes the most famous or the guild with the largest task volume was first.
But now, what seems more important is popularity and 'strength.'
Regarding this 'strength,' there is now a most authoritative evaluation standard.
"The Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts." Macao reluctantly uttered the words and explained,
"This is an event that emerged after you went missing, hosted by the Royal Family, and has now become the most important annual mage festival in Fiore, attracting countless attention.
"Specifically, it's a call for all official mage guilds nationwide to participate, and champions are decided through specific events.
"Each year's ranking of the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts basically determines the guild ranking. The higher the guild is ranked, the more patronage they receive and, of course, the more commissions they get."
Upon hearing this, Rhode understood; isn't this like the Olympics for mages?
The players who can compete and achieve good results are probably the star athletes.
No, if the scope is limited to the Fiore Kingdom, it should be called the National Games; it seems this competition was planned long ago...
Makarov touched his chin, pondering, "This sounds kind of familiar."
"President..." Rhode was a bit moved; this was a topic discussed at a routine meeting of the Local Guild Alliance some time ago.
The president still remembered, and Rhode suddenly felt all those meeting minutes he took over the years weren't in vain.
His reaction made Makarov a bit embarrassed, changing the subject, "So, you lost to Sabertooth in those kinds of competitions?"
Jura smiled without commenting.
Macao wanted to explain, but Leon had snuck over at some point, "Of course not. Although Lamia Scale came in second, Mr. Jura didn't even participate."
Leon himself didn't participate either, but he cared more about Mr. Jura's reputation; his own matter wasn't worth mentioning.
—He'd just bring it up to Gray privately later.
In any case, he couldn't let anyone underestimate Mr. Jura, not even Makarov, another Ten Wizard Saint.
"So that's how it is." Rhode nodded, finding it reasonable, "How did Blue Pegasus fare?"
Leon answered, "Blue Pegasus came in fourth this year."
Rhode casually asked, "Oh? Then is the third Mermaid's Heel or the Four-headed Hound?"
Leon shook his head, "No, it's the leader of the New School Mage Guilds, Rays of the Rising Sun."
"!"