At first, Gray did not understand what she meant. Only when he connected it with the fact that he was currently kneeling on the ground did he finally grasp the meaning behind Ultear's words.
He sprang up from the floor as if shocked by electricity, then angrily shouted at her,
"Are you an idiot?! Kabe tripped me, that's why I fell! I was not bowing to you!"
"Hmph. How rude. There is nothing embarrassing about bowing to your senior sister~"
Ultear folded her arms and pretended to be angry, but the smile in her eyes could not be hidden no matter how hard she tried.
Gray ground his teeth as he glared at this woman who was clearly taking advantage and still acting smug about it.
He did not remember Ur being this black-hearted... then again, Ur could also be rather improper sometimes.
Like mother, like daughter?
"Senior sister? So this is the child of Ur that Kabe mentioned."
From the exchange between the two, Makarov had already guessed Ultear's identity, and he could not help taking a few extra looks at her.
Thinking of what Kabe had previously reported to him about Ultear's past, he could not help sighing inwardly at the girl's rough and winding life.
But soon after, he withdrew his gaze and turned to Kabe, answering his earlier question.
"Hmph. Even those reporters knew every detail of the Council's operation.
Do you really think that kind of operation was ever going to produce results?"
At that, Kabe only shrugged, looking exactly like someone who had expected this all along.
He was finally starting to understand why, in the original story, even the Oración Seis had to be dealt with through alliances between local guilds.
With how ridiculously useless the Council was, it would be stranger if they actually caught anyone.
"Still, even if the operation failed, Sorano's information was not fake after all.
And the Council kept its promise and cleared her of her crimes."
As long as Sorano's name had been cleared, then the trip had not been wasted.
"Master, thank you very much."
Sorano also knew that everything Makarov had done this time had been for her sake. She thanked him again, her voice filled with gratitude.
Makarov casually waved it off, then looked toward Laki, who had run off to whisper about who knew what with Levy, and shamelessly called out to her:
"Laki-chan, stop chatting for now and hurry up and use your magic to patch up the guild~"
To this day, the old man felt that the most correct decision he had ever made was not bringing Kabe, Natsu, and the others, the future of the guild, into Fairy Tail.
No, it was recruiting Laki, the "repair master" who used Wood-Make Magic.
Thanks to Laki, the guild no longer had to worry about tables and chairs being destroyed every time those brats got into a fight.
Every year, she saved the guild a huge amount of money.
Laki did not mind this arrangement either. Repairing the guild had always been part of her work in the first place, and Makarov had also given her a very generous salary for it.
In simple terms, it was a win-win.
"Wait, this time there's no need for you to do it, Laki."
Kabe raised a hand to stop her, then immediately dragged over Ultear, who had still been bickering with Gray, and introduced her to Makarov as though he were presenting a treasure.
"Master, this is the newcomer I brought in for the guild, Ur's daughter and Gray's senior sister, Ultear."
"Hm? Ultear, you're willing to join our guild? That's wonderful."
Makarov's heart leapt with joy. As he looked at the girl Kabe had pulled in front of him, the more he looked, the more satisfied he became.
"That's not even the most important part, Master. Ultear has learned Lost Magic, Arc of Time."
Crack!
In his excitement, the old man crushed the wine cup in his hand on the spot.
"Arc of Time? You mean that Arc of Time, the one that can restore anything?!"
Under the old man's hopeful gaze, Ultear nodded lightly, though her expression showed some uncertainty.
And in an instant, Makarov burst into tears.
"Waaah... this is wonderful! The guild's finances are saved!
Ultear, you are the mage I have dreamed of most!"
The old man was laughing and crying from excitement. Just imagining that from now on, whenever this bunch of little bastards destroyed some city block or street, the guild would finally have someone who could restore it instead of spending a fortune on compensation, made him so happy he practically wanted to kneel on the spot before both Kabe and Ultear.
"Quick, where is the guild stamp? I must personally put it on you myself!"
Afraid that Ultear might somehow run away, Makarov hurried behind the bar and began frantically searching.
Seeing how crazed he looked, Ultear was so startled that she took two steps back and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"No. I want the guild mark on my back. Let one of the girls from the guild do it for me."
"Anything is fine. As long as you join, everything is negotiable."
Makarov looked as though he wanted to place Ultear on an altar and worship her like a treasure.
There was naturally no way he would refuse such a small request.
Soon, he found the magic stamp and handed it over to Erza, then watched the two girls leave the hall together.