At this moment, a steady and mature male voice sounded.
"As expected of the strongest guild in Fiore.
Our guild barely managed to get even one team through, yet you actually have multiple teams that passed the preliminary round at the same time."
The person speaking was Jura of Lamia Scale.
Finally having the chance to talk with the famous Kabe, he naturally did not want to miss the opportunity.
Kabe also recognized the bald man at a glance.
Although Jura was still far behind him in strength, he was still a famous mage in Fiore.
Someone capable of having his name appear in newspapers and magazines was naturally not an ordinary person.
However, Kabe did not immediately greet Jura.
Instead, he turned curiously toward Laxus, who was standing nearby with his arms crossed and pretending to look cool.
"By the way, Laxus, between you and Jura's team, who got second place this time?"
"Hmph, isn't that obvious? Of course it was our B Team."
Although they wasted a lot of time earlier because of that idiot Natsu, after Natsu kept urging everyone during the second half of the race, B Team still managed to overtake Jura's team and became the second team to reach the finish line.
Hearing their conversation, Jura awkwardly rubbed his bald head.
Thinking about it, it was actually embarrassing.
Originally, they had planned to secure second place while fighting for first.
If they were lucky, they might even have had a chance to take the championship away from Kabe.
Who would have thought that they could not even keep second place?
Instead, another Fairy Tail team took it, leaving them in third place.
Seeing the bald man frozen in embarrassment, Kabe gave an awkward smile and extended his hand.
"Sorry, sorry. I was being rude.
But one preliminary round doesn't mean everything.
I believe that a team led by someone like Jura will definitely be a strong opponent."
"Mr. Kabe, you are too kind.
To be honest, after learning that you were also participating in the tournament, I already gave up any hope of competing for the championship."
A compliment from one of the Ten Wizard Saints was something Jura naturally had to respond to.
After all, when people carry a sedan chair together, everyone benefits.
The people who had been watching Kabe saw that he had started talking with Jura and immediately came forward as well.
Among them were Leon, who had just been arguing with Gray, along with Toby, Sherry, Yuka, and Kout from Lamia Scale.
There were also the captain of Blue Pegasus, Ichiya, and his teammates.
Together with these people, as well as Fairy Tail A Team, B Team, and C Team consisting of Lisanna, Elfman, Evergreen, and the others...
They were actually all the participants who had passed the preliminary round.
"Hey, hey, looking at it this way, Fairy Tail actually makes up half of all the competitors.
Isn't that a little too ridiculous?"
The brown-haired handsome man from Blue Pegasus looked around and could not help clicking his tongue.
The others were also amazed.
As expected of Fairy Tail, a guild that had produced two or three Ten Wizard Saints.
They truly had an incredible number of talented mages.
But after the amazement came caution.
Half of the competitors were Fairy Tail members.
If they joined forces during the later matches, the other guilds would have a very difficult time getting good rankings.
Therefore, in order to resist them together, the people from the three other guilds exchanged meaningful glances.
Without needing to say anything, they chose to cooperate.
Kabe noticed their silent exchange of looks and was not worried at all.
However, he still could not help but complain.
"The rules this year have a problem.
The entry requirement was set too high.
Because of that, many decent middle-ranked guilds with some reputation failed to even enter the preliminary round.
The tournament lost some of its fun and unpredictability."
"That's right.
There are many excellent mages from other guilds who possess difficult and troublesome magic.
Using such a rough method to eliminate all of them is indeed a pity."
Jura nodded deeply in agreement.
Ichiya, Pakkas, and the other participants also agreed with what the two said.
Participating in the competition and earning a good ranking for their guild was one thing.
But as mages, who among them did not want to see never-before-seen magical abilities and fight against opponents with completely different styles?
While the mages were lamenting and discussing this, a series of orderly footsteps came from behind them.
Hearing the sound, everyone naturally stopped talking and turned toward the entrance of the banquet hall.
There, the king of Fiore, and also Kabe's future father-in-law, King Thomas, slowly entered the hall under the protection of two groups of royal guards.
Following behind the king were three women.
They were Princess Hisui, and Yukino.
'How did those two end up mixed in with the king's group?'
Kabe thought with confusion.
But he quickly pushed aside his doubts.
Along with everyone else nearby, he placed a hand over his chest and slightly bowed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty the King."