"You don't need to worry about Jose."
Before Juvia could even finish, Kabe cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Changing guilds is a wizard's basic freedom."
And without giving her any room to argue, he simply grabbed her by the arm and dragged her in the direction Laki and Sorano had just gone.
"Laki! Stamp Juvia too! Starting today, the guild's got two new rookies!!"
Juvia: "H–Hey, I haven't agreed yet—"
"Ohhh! You all heard that, right? Little Juvia's joining us too!"
"Nice one, Kabe! You're way more persuasive than a certain old fart upstairs—cough—I mean, our beloved master!"
"Sorano, Juvia—two cute girls at once… my time has finally come!!"
Juvia's protests were washed away in the tidal wave of cheering.
For Fairy Tail, nothing could be more satisfying than successfully poaching from Phantom Lord.
Digging a chunk out of Jose's wall? That's pure joy.
Even Makarov, who'd been in the basement talking to the Council, couldn't resist.
The moment he heard the roar of celebration from above, he ditched the gathered councilors and ran upstairs to shout along with everyone, laughing like a kid.
And just like that, after a somewhat chaotic process, Sorano and Juvia officially joined Fairy Tail as brand-new members of the guild.
(Juvia: I told you I wasn't ready yet—uuuuuu~)
For years, the Magic Council—aside from a few individuals—had always carried a bias against Fairy Tail.
After the Deliora incident, two councilors had been forcibly dismissed in a row, and that bias, even outright disgust, reached its peak.
Yet it was this very guild the Council hated so much… that suddenly handed them a gift-wrapped present today.
"Well done, Lord Makarov. The Council will remember Fairy Tail's contribution this time.
Regarding your request, I also promise you this in my capacity as Chairman:
The Council will never betray the trust of any wizard who turns toward the light."
Chairman Crawford spoke in an exceptionally solemn tone to Makarov, who was on the other side of the communication lacrima.
With that promise secured, Makarov agreed without hesitation and said he would head to the Council at once.
When the communication ended and Makarov's image disappeared from the crystal, Crawford finally let himself relax.
He could no longer hold back the joy bubbling in his chest and started humming a little tune right there in the Chairman's office.
Lately, his mood had been exceedingly pleasant—not only because of today's surprise from Fairy Tail, but also because the Council had actually managed to rack up quite a few achievements in recent days.
All thanks to that mysterious informant who had suddenly appeared and periodically sent the Council detailed intel on various dark guilds.
Relying on that information, the Council had been able to strike rapidly in a short span of time and arrest a significant number of dark wizards.
For once, newspapers and magazines were publishing articles praising the Council instead of mocking them.
Thanks to that, they had finally managed to wash off some of the mud that had clung to their reputation for so long.
But for Crawford, this still wasn't enough.
Most of those they caught were small fry—insignificant players in the shadows.
What he needed now was a big fish—a name that could be shouted across the continent—to truly reclaim the prestige the Council once had.
And now, the news Makarov brought him… was exactly that.
He pulled open his desk drawer and took out a file prepared by his subordinates.
Inside were all the crimes the Council had gathered on Brain in recent years—
Most of it sourced from, and later confirmed against, the intel provided by that same mysterious informant.
Crawford only skimmed a little, and already counted more than a dozen major crimes:
Human traffickingHuman experimentationProviding support to multiple dark guildsTheft and smuggling of Council-prohibited magical artifacts
…every charge was the kind of thing that would make ordinary people go white in the face.
So many heavy crimes all tied to a single man—this was rare even in the entire recorded history of Ishgar.
If the Council, under his leadership, could capture this monstrous criminal and drag him to justice…
Just imagining the fame and praise that would rain down afterward made Crawford tremble with excitement.
Compared to that, the other members of Oración Seis were nothing but extras on the stage—
Disposable villains, barely worth a footnote.
In fact, if he played this well enough, he could even use Sorano's identity as an R-System victim to spin a whole narrative:
Show the world that the Council, under his wise command, was full of humanity and compassion, clear about right and wrong, stern with evil yet merciful to the repentant.
"Ho ho ho ho… sometimes luck just comes and refuses to leave."
He chuckled to himself, giddy.
"No, I can't just sit around. I need to contact the right people and get the story rolling now.
The more people know about Brain's sins—the more their anger and hatred build—
The greater my prestige and acclaim will be when the Council finally brings him down."
With that, Crawford heaved his plump body out of his chair and strode out of the office, eager to personally set everything in motion.
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