Makarov and Ur stayed in Crocus for nearly three days.
There was no helping it.
The reorganized Magic Council had far too many places where they needed help.
The Four Gods of Ishgar had never been people who handled daily affairs in the first place.
The whole thing was like a hastily assembled troupe, running around in circles, overwhelmed from every direction.
Among the new councilors, only Org, Belno, and Jellal had any real experience.
With the three of them helping, the Council finally managed to begin its meeting on the final day—the very meeting that had just ended, discussing Acnologia and Zeref.
As for the discussion about Zeref, it ended in a hurry.
They had conducted a full-scale search for nearly a year, but there was still no trace of Zeref anywhere in Ishgar.
They could not even find animals or plants that had died from Zeref's death magic.
Zeref had simply vanished from Ishgar.
The only conclusion they could draw was that Zeref might have gone to the western continent, Alakitasia, or perhaps to the even more distant northern continent, Guiltina.
If that was the case, there was nothing they could do.
The western continent had no Magic Council at all. The northern continent did have one, but Ishgar had no authority to command them.
...
When Makarov and Ur returned to Magnolia, they were once again greeted warmly by the townspeople.
Thanks to the reports from Weekly Sorcerer and Ishgar Magic Weekly, Fairy Tail's name had once again resounded across the continent.
The number one Magic Guild in Ishgar!
Of course, this did not have much impact on the guild members themselves.
They ate when it was time to eat, drank when it was time to drink, and lived as usual.
But it did affect the guild.
For a while, Mages who wanted to join Fairy Tail nearly wore out the threshold at the entrance.
However, Makarov rejected them all.
For now, he had no intention of recruiting more Mages unless they were strong enough.
After all, just think about the enemies they would have to face in the future.
Acnologia.
Zeref.
Was he supposed to recruit a hundred thousand background extras instead of focusing on elites?
The moment Makarov returned, he immediately handled one extremely important matter—throwing a banquet!
There was singing, dancing, rap, basketball...
The party started in broad daylight.
It was just a little unfortunate that Natsu and Gray, the noisy ones, were both missing.
Ultear had also completed the restoration of the Eastern Plains and returned to the guild.
Wendy had been sad for an entire day, but she eventually decided to look forward.
She had a new family now!
She believed Grandeeney would always watch over her from the sky so she had to live happily.
That way, Grandeeney would be happy watching her too.
...
Three months after the Tartaros War, the aftershocks of the battle had finally settled down.
The guild members returned to their daily lives of training and taking requests.
There were just a few fewer people around.
Gray and Juvia had also sent a letter saying they would be training for a while.
More accurately, Gray wanted to stay in the northern lands for some time to train his Ice Devil Slayer Magic.
Juvia was merely following him.
Of course, there was no denying that having Juvia around would save him a lot of trouble.
But the stubborn Gray would never say that out loud!
...
Fairy Tail, Second-Floor Meeting Room
A hollow circular red wooden table with a diameter of 4.3 meters stood in the room.
Steaming white porcelain teacups sat on top of it.
Makarov, Ur, the guild's current S-Class Mages including Raizel, as well as Lucy, Kagura, Wendy, and Gajeel, were seated around the table.
At the center, a projected lacrima screen displayed the current Magic Council members and the Ten Wizard Saints.
It seemed some of the other guilds had not connected yet, so the meeting had not officially started.
On the screen, Warrod and Precht were still resting with their eyes closed.
"What exactly happened?" Cana whispered, covering her mouth with one hand.
"I'm just a little shrimp here... Why do I have to attend a meeting like this?" Lucy looked troubled as she glanced at the people sitting around her.
"It must be something important, considering how big this setup is," Mira replied softly.
The Council's message to Fairy Tail had notified the guild master and all S-Class Mages to attend together.
As for Lucy and the others, Raizel had asked Mira to call them over too.
It was worth mentioning that the current Magic Council now held meetings through long-distance communication lacrima projections.
They had technically been able to do this before as well, but the previous Council felt that doing so would be disrespectful to them.
Well...
That rule had naturally been abolished.
From now on, Ur and Makarov no longer needed to run to a Council branch or headquarters every time there was a meeting.
Ultear voiced her guess.
"With a lineup this serious, it should be one of three possibilities: Zeref, Acnologia, or a war involving the kingdom—or even the continent."
As Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth, Cross Knights, and other guilds gradually joined the meeting, Warrod Sequen officially began presiding over it.
Jellal went straight to the point.
"According to reliable information, over the past two months, the Alvarez Empire on the western continent has been reorganizing and strengthening its military. They appear restless and may be preparing to launch a war."
"If war breaks out, the Kingdom of Fiore, being the closest to the western continent, will be the first to suffer."
Although Ishgar's spies in the Alvarez Empire had previously been purged once, Ishgar had continued sending spies there.
More importantly, the Alvarez Empire did not think much of Ishgar.
When the lower-ranking people carried out the purge, many of them had only gone through the motions.
Although some spies had been eliminated, others had managed to remain.
"Again?!" Makarov's voice instantly rose by an octave.
He said "again" because Alvarez had already tried to invade Ishgar twice before.
The last time was in X781.
Four years had already passed since then, though both invasions had ultimately ended without results.
"This time is different from the previous probes. The last western continent offensive was merely the personal intent of certain leaders. But this time... it is the entire military."
"I have a question," Cana said weakly, raising her hand. "What exactly is the Alvarez Empire...?"
"Same here..." Gajeel and Wendy silently raised their hands as well.
Raizel lowered his voice and explained to them.
"It is a super-empire formed from all the Magic Guilds on the western continent. More than seven hundred and thirty Magic Guilds are managed under unified military control."
"The most important part is that the western continent has a massive population, and the average level of its Mages is higher than Ishgar's."
"Seven hundred and thirty?!!"
Cana and Wendy cried out softly, then quickly covered their mouths when they remembered this was a meeting.
Even though the two of them were not exactly fond of studying, they still knew that all the Magic Guilds across the entire continent of Ishgar only barely exceeded five hundred.
Seven hundred and thirty against five hundred.
Ultear added, "More importantly, the Alvarez Empire invests a large portion of its financial revenue into the military."
Ultear had researched the western continent before.
In terms of military strength, Ishgar without F.A.C.E. and Etherion would be completely crushed.
Over there, they had entire organized fleets of magical cruise warships.