The 24-hour endurance race finally reached its final results.
Just as Ankh had predicted beforehand, the Guild Master had not prepared any rewards for the champion.
Instead, he had prepared an "abundant" punishment for the last-place finishers.
Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Jet were captured by a group of guild Mages who wanted to watch the show.
The four were forcefully delivered to Sorcerer Weekly.
And exactly as expected... that issue nearly sold out!
The massive amount of attention caused by three famous Mages in ishgar... plus Jet, was amazing.
These four were thick-skinned enough to withstand dragon breath.
Anyone else probably could not have handled such blazing popularity.
Meanwhile, after the friends and family of the four carefully examined that issue of Sorcerer Weekly, they offered different levels of praise and encouragement.
For example, the warm-hearted Lyon sent a carrier pigeon message.
When opened, it revealed an entire page of "HAHAHAHA," which angered Gray so much he nearly stormed the Lamia Scale.
For example, Lucy, who had always been "bullied" by Natsu, finally had leverage over him.
She kept mocking him alongside Happy at every chance she got.
Then there was Gajeel.
After the magazine was published, even Levy could not help laughing when she saw him.
This frustrated the iron-willed man so much that he recently stopped going out to look for cats.
As for Jet... Oh, it seems the impact was not too huge for him.
...
Several more days passed before the fuss from this incident finally settled down.
After all, as Fairy Tail's monster generation grew up, this was not the first time Makarov had embarrassed the kids like this.
The citizens of Fiore had grown used to the guild's frequent public shows.
Life returned to normal.
Lucy watched Wendy sitting calmly at a table and smiled. "It looks like Wendy has adapted to guild life too."
Wendy clenched her small fists, showing a motivated smile. "Yes! The guild atmosphere is wonderful, and there are plenty of missions too. It feels really rewarding!"
Carla, holding a teacup as always, spoke elegantly like a little adult.
"I quite like that there is a female dormitory."
Hearing this, Wendy asked in a puzzled way, "Speaking of which, why doesn't Miss Lucy live in the female dormitory, but instead rents a place outside?"
Lucy said sadly, "A hundred thousand J... If I had moved into the dormitory back then, I would definitely have been kicked out by now for failing to pay rent."
The human and the cat could only laugh awkwardly.
They were unable to respond to the former rich young lady's words.
"Even Wendy can manage to live in the dormitory. You should reflect on your own situation," Ankh remarked while reading a book, striking a blow at Lucy's pride.
"Well..." Lucy poked her fingers together shyly.
Unlike Lucy who came from a wealthy background, Wendy grew up in a run-down guild and was raised in poverty.
Therefore, even though she was younger, Wendy had better life planning and stronger self-reliance skills compared to Lucy.
Natsu chewed through a flame while mocking her. "Lucy is so lame."
Happy immediately echoed him like a parrot. "Aye! So lame indeed!"
Lucy's veins bulged as she lifted a chair.
She charged toward the two troublemakers who had barged into her home uninvited for dinner and stayed overnight just yesterday.
"Dong—dong—"
Just as the group was roughhousing, powerfully loud bell chimes suddenly rang from the main street outside!
Soon, several members rushed through the guild doors.
They all wore excited expressions as they shouted into the hall, "He is back!"
At the same time, vendors setting up their stalls early in the morning and citizens heading out for shopping all turned their attention toward the Caldia Cathedral, where the bells were ringing.
Everyone wore surprised expressions, but soon they all seemed to remember something.
"This bell pattern..."
Natsu, who was being chased by Lucy, flashed an excited grin and laughed loudly.
"It's Gildarts!"
"Gildarts is back!!"
As if responding to a universally recognized signal, everyone in the guild cheered at the same time.
People raised their glasses for toasts, and the hall once again became a sea of celebration.
"Gildarts?" Lucy tried hard to remember, then asked in confusion, "I do not think I have ever met this person."
"Gildarts is one of the six S-Class Mages in our guild, and also the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail," Gray explained cheerfully to newer members like Lucy while holding his drink.
"The strongest Mage?!" Lucy was startled and immediately thought of her personal benchmark for strength.
"Could he be even stronger than Ankh?"
Erza crossed her arms and smiled. "We have never seen them fight, but Gildarts has been the strongest since before my brother joined the guild. He is definitely far superior to Mira and me."
Remembering Erza's destructive powers, Lucy began trembling again.
"Then how dangerous must this person be..."
"But regardless of strength, why is everyone so happy?"
Wendy, infected by the festive atmosphere, smiled and said, "It feels like a festival, Carla."
Carla replied helplessly, "This guild is noisy all year round."
Mirajane, understanding everyone's feelings, explained to the two girls with a smile.
"No wonder everyone is like this. Gildarts has not returned for three years, after all."
"Three years?" Lucy asked in surprise. "Was he out on a mission? What mission would take that long?"
Ankh calmly sat in his seat and pointed at the request board ahead. "Above S-Class missions are SS-Class missions, and beyond those are Ten-Year missions."
Lucy thought for a moment. "I remember Ankh and Laxus have taken on Ten-Year missions before, right?"
Ankh nodded. "And Gildarts took on an even more terrifying mission: the Hundred-Year Quest!"
"Hundred-Year?!" Lucy gasped sharply, exclaiming in disbelief. "You mean a mission that nobody has completed for over a hundred years?"
"I am starting to feel uneasy about this strongest mage's destructive power..."
Since joining Fairy Tail, Lucy felt like the monsters she encountered kept getting more terrifying!
"Gildarts is back!"
"Run! Get off the streets!"
Outside, nearly everyone on the streets understood what the bell meant and was shouting at others to flee.
Meanwhile, Magic Speakers flying above the city were broadcasting evacuation announcements:
"Magnolia is about to enter Gildarts Mode! All citizens, please quickly move to designated locations!"
The guild members naturally heard the announcements too.
Carla asked, somewhat puzzled, "Even if he is strong, is all this commotion really necessary?"
"And what exactly is 'Gildarts Mode'?"
Ankh smiled mysteriously and said, "About that, you will understand once you go outside and see."