Upon hearing Raizel and Makarov discussing the Council and Jellal, the guild members pricked up their ears.
After all, gossip is human nature.
"I know the name of their guild. It's actually quite easy to remember—it's called Crime Sorcière. I've even heard they recently took down two Dark Guilds," Mira said nonchalantly.
"Even the Master doesn't know! Where did you get this inside information?" Erza's eyes lit up, clearly intrigued.
"I heard it from the receptionists of other guilds," Mira replied with a squinting smile.
Not only did Makarov have good relationships with other Guild Masters, but Mira also frequently exchanged information with receptionists from various guilds, gathering all sorts of gossip and insider news.
Her intelligence-gathering network was top-notch.
"Amazing! As expected of you Mira!!!" Erza praised Mira's intelligence capabilities.
"An independent guild? Why didn't they form a formal, regular guild?" Natsu asked curiously from his slump on the bar.
"You idiot, Jellal is still a wanted fugitive, and Meredy was once one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory," Lucy said, exasperatedly patting Natsu's shoulder.
"Oh..."
Ultear shared her perspective, "There's probably another reason. Regular guilds have to follow the Magic Council's strict regulations and can't initiate guild wars at will, even against Dark Guilds. Operating as an independent guild means they're less restricted by the Council's bureaucracy."
"I have a bold idea!" Natsu suddenly stood up.
"I have an immature suggestion for your bold idea!" Gray seemed to be on the exact same wavelength as Natsu.
"Keep your bold ideas to yourselves. The Council has a complete set of criminal laws," Makarov put down his glass, his right palm suddenly enlarging as he gave Natsu and Gray each a massive knock on the head.
Makarov knew these two all too well—they probably wanted to turn Fairy Tail into an independent guild so they could fight whoever they wanted.
As Natsu and Gray were about to complain, Raizel spoke up first, "You're overthinking it. The disadvantages of an independent guild heavily outweigh the advantages, at least for the current Fairy Tail."
"Why?" Natsu and Gray blinked, rubbing their heads.
"First, independent guilds aren't protected. While there might be some troublemakers among regular guilds, most guilds still follow the Council's rules and will hesitate to act arbitrarily due to fear of the Council's regulations and Rune Knights."
"Second, independent guilds are more suitable—or rather, only suitable—for guilds with very few members. They don't work for larger guilds because you still need a legal base to accept formal jobs. Like Jellal and Meredy—there are just two of them hunting dark mages, so they don't need to take on civilian commissions."
"Third, independent guilds can't participate in any festivals or events organized by the Council or the royal family, including the Grand Magic Games that you all have your hearts set on."
"Fourth, even if they do accept black-market commissions, the rewards for independent guilds are heavily discounted and untaxed, unlike regular guilds which receive much higher, guaranteed payments."
"That sounds so boring..." Natsu and Gray exchanged a glance, understanding now.
Regular guilds were still better.
They originally thought independent guilds could freely attack Dark Guilds with no consequences, which sounded great—fighting Dark Guilds every day.
"You're quite knowledgeable about this." Makarov glanced at Raizel, surprised he knew so much about independent guilds.
'Did he once have bold ideas himself?'
"You can just look this stuff up in the library," Raizel tapped his temple lightly, referencing his Archive magic.
Makarov understood—he was just reciting search results.
He thought the kid had started loving studying. What a disappointment.
Raizel had zero interest in joining or founding an independent guild.
Wasn't staying in Fairy Tail good enough? Why go looking for unnecessary trouble?
...
Early the next morning, Lucy, who was still sleeping in to make up for lost time, was violently dragged out of her blankets by Natsu and Happy.
"Time for training, Lucy!"
"What training at this hour?!" she shrieked, clutching her pillow.
"Raizel needs to see you!"
Since Natsu also lived in the Eastern Forest, he and Happy had unusually not disturbed Lucy last night.
When Natsu passed by, Raizel had simply asked him to tell Lucy to come to the Eastern Forest when she saw her.
Raizel meant for Lucy to come when she had time, but Natsu did some creative interpretation and dragged her out of bed at dawn.
After hastily washing up, Lucy still looked sleepy-eyed, hunched over with her arms hanging limply.
After hearing Lucy's complaints about Natsu's intrusion, Raizel finally laughed and said, "Lucy, do me a favor and summon Loke."
"Huh?" Lucy tilted her head in confusion but complied anyway. "Open! Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
When Loke appeared and saw Raizel standing across from him in the forest clearing, he spoke without needing explanation.
"I've heard about everything. The Celestial Spirit King said you need Celestial Spirit power, right?" Raizel nodded.
"Exactly. The Celestial Spirit King said you have a method."
"Simple. Take my punch." Loke's right fist glowed with fierce, blinding golden light.
Loke explained to Lucy's bewildered expression, "My Regulus light can safely infuse raw Celestial Spirit power into your body. You just need to absorb it."
"Do I need to use Take Over?" Raizel asked.
"Take Over or not, it makes no difference to the energy transfer."
The absorption of the Regulus Celestial Spirit power went smoothly.
Loke stayed in the Eastern Forest for a while to see if Raizel showed any unusual magical reactions, but everything remained stable.
...
After absorbing the Celestial Spirit power, Raizel bid farewell to everyone to search for the specific locations the Celestial Spirit King had mentioned during the banquet.
But perhaps too much time had passed—who knows how long the Celestial Spirit King had lived.
Raizel found nothing at the geographic locations the King had mentioned.
The time flow difference between the Celestial Spirit World and the human world was too great.
The ancient places the Celestial Spirit King spoke of had long changed beyond recognition due to continental shifts and human expansion.
...
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Members who had gone training or on missions elsewhere gradually returned to Magnolia.
Many had been eagerly preparing for the Grand Magic Games, training rigorously for a full three months.
Lots of people who usually never trained were cramming at the last minute—Makarov had never seen them work so hard before.
Though two people stayed true to themselves—Macao and Wakaba.
While others trained for three months, these two drank for three months.
"Elfman, you seem to have gotten stronger again." Natsu circled Elfman while carefully observing him.
Though with his finger on his chin, he looked less like he was examining a person and more like he was inspecting ingredients for a meal.
"I've been training hard in the mountains these past two months! Real men are all about muscles!!!" Elfman roared.
Elfman raised his right arm and flexed slightly, revealing impressive muscle mass and enviable definition.
His arms were thick, his shoulders broad, his muscular physique worthy of being called a devilish muscle man.
"You have indeed gotten stronger," Raizel observed after a quick glance.
It seemed Elfman's training intensity these past two months had been extremely high.
"I successfully trained myself to eat natto, which I never dared to try before!" Vijeeter declared proudly with hands on his hips.
"Well, I don't think the Grand Magic Games have anything to do with eating natto..." Lucy muttered under her breath.
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