"There's no need to be that radical."
Bob shook his head, rejecting Goldmine's view.
He felt that the Magic Council's existence was not necessarily bad.
The Fiore Mage Alliance could completely coexist with the Magic Council.
Having two places where people could seek help was a good thing for everyone, was it not?
"The problem is whether they want to coexist."
Ooba Babasaama sneered.
Having lived this long, how could she not understand the nature of the Magic Council's bureaucrats?
"With Master Marco here, can the Magic Council really turn hostile?"
Marco had not even spoken yet, but someone had already brought him out as a shield.
As a mage who was almost certainly destined to dominate an era, everyone's attitude toward Marco had already become extremely respectful.
This respect did not only come from Marco's overwhelming strength. It also came from the righteous acts he had consistently carried out to help smaller Mage Guilds.
Some people, after rising to success, only cared about enjoying themselves.
Others, after rising to success, truly tried to help the world around them.
Of course, saying that Marco and Fairy Tail helped the entire world might be an exaggeration, but saying that they supported the Mage Guilds of the entire Kingdom of Fiore was certainly not wrong.
Fairy Tail was able to make the cake larger, and they were genuinely willing to share that cake with everyone.
Because of that, within the entire Fiore Mage Alliance, the Guild Masters were generally supporters of Marco.
If they truly had to elect an Alliance Leader, then it would inevitably be Marco.
There would absolutely be no second candidate.
"Ahem."
Seeing everyone look toward him, Marco coughed lightly twice.
"I actually think Master Bob makes sense." Marco spoke softly.
He was not a radical person.
In truth, if he had truly been radical, then during the last reorganization of the Magic Council, he could already have acted.
He could have found a way to clear out all the old fellows in the Magic Council and then use a group of puppets to forcibly control it.
But doing that would have been far too dark.
It was no longer a matter of whether his position would be legitimate or not. That was completely the method of a villain.
Therefore, Marco had not acted and had allowed the Magic Council to reorganize itself.
It was not that he had not wanted to act.
The timing had simply not been right.
Back then, whether in strength, status, or reputation, he had not been what he was now.
At the very least, he had not reached the point where heroes everywhere would respond if he raised his arm and called out.
But now, within the Kingdom of Fiore, if Marco raised his arm, everyone would naturally be willing to follow him.
"The framework that should be built can naturally be built, but we should still coexist with the Magic Council rather than turn hostile against them.
What we need to do is replace the Magic Council's branch in the Kingdom of Fiore, then directly insert ourselves into the Magic Council's system."
Marco stated his thoughts.
Although the Magic Council was decayed, it was still largely a management organization with positive functions.
He did not want to directly fall out with the Magic Council, much less reach the point where they had to use force to compete for power.
Each side could take a step back and give the other some face.
The Fiore Mage Alliance could be semi-autonomous and manage itself, while still remaining under the Magic Council and obeying the central Magic Council's orders.
If a major incident occurred, the Fiore Mage Alliance would still provide manpower and resources.
"We can let them treat the Fiore Mage Alliance as a Mage Guild. The Alliance Leader would be the Guild Master, and the Kingdom of Fiore would be like Magnolia, a fief belonging to the Fiore Mage Alliance."
Marco proposed this idea.
Thinking about it that way, perhaps the Magic Council would find it a little easier to accept.
Treat the Fiore Mage Alliance as a Mage Guild.
The only Mage Guild in the Kingdom of Fiore.
If something happened in the Kingdom of Fiore, they could discuss it with the "Guild Master" of the Fiore Mage Alliance.
"That's a great idea! Thinking of it like that really does make it much easier to accept!"
As soon as Marco finished speaking, someone immediately echoed him loudly.
Everyone praised the idea and found it very interesting.
But they also understood that just because they found it easier to accept did not mean the Magic Council would think the same.
After all, the Magic Council would suddenly lose such a large territory.
What would happen to the staff of an entire branch? Where would the hidden interests inside it be compensated from?
Why did everyone in the Kingdom of Fiore want to escape the Magic Council's restrictions and establish their own Fiore Mage Alliance?
In the end, it still came down to interests.
It was about survival.
The Magic Council was not a charity organization either. They needed money to pay salaries and maintain their combat forces.
Where did that money come from?
Naturally, it came from the people they managed.
In other words, the Mage Guilds.
The current situation was that while the Fiore Mage Alliance could perform many of the Magic Council's functions, it could also share the cake with everyone instead of turning everyone else into cake on the table.
Compared side by side, which one everyone would choose was obvious.
No matter how charming Marco was, it was impossible for him to make the Guild Masters disregard everything and follow him in rebelling against the Magic Council purely out of personal loyalty.
Everything, in the end, was being driven by interests.
And Marco was the person capable of making the cake bigger.
"Good. Then let us now vote on whether to reform the system."
After a period of discussion, the meeting host announced the start of the vote.
This might be the most important vote in the history of the Fiore Mage Alliance, because from this moment on, the Fiore Mage Alliance would be completely transformed.
The meeting hall fell quiet.
The vote soon ended, and the result was almost the same as last time. This time, there was not even a single opposing vote.
The Guild Masters could be said to be united in purpose.
There were still abstentions, of course. That was unavoidable. After all, there would always be people unable to make up their minds, unable to decisively support and unable to decisively oppose. In the end, they could only choose to abstain.
This could probably also be considered a kind of going with the flow.
Whichever side had more people, they would follow that side's decision.
"I nominate Guild Master Marco as Alliance Leader!"
After this proposal passed, a new proposal was immediately raised.
Everyone could not help looking toward the person who had shouted it.
That Guild Master stood with his chest lifted and head high, looking as though there was only one sun in his heart, and that sun was Marco. His expression was incomparably firm.
"I second it!"
"I second it!"
The others quickly reacted and began echoing one after another.
Marco did not speak.
His gaze swept across the Guild Masters present.
Their support for him was indeed quite high.
"Good. Then we will proceed with another vote, this time on the proposal for Guild Master Marco to serve as the first Alliance Leader of the Fiore Kingdom Mage Guild Alliance."
The meeting host did not hesitate at all and immediately began the vote again.
This vote produced results even faster.
It passed almost unanimously.
Why "almost"?
Because Marco himself had abstained.
"Why is there still one opposing vote? Who opposed it?"
Looking at the final voting pattern, Goldmine spoke in confusion.
He had thought it would pass unanimously.
At worst, there might be a few abstentions. He had not expected there to actually be an opposing vote.
"I cast it."
Ooba Babasaama waved her fan and spoke bluntly, with no intention of hiding it.
She represented Lamia Scale and openly opposed!
"Why?"
Makarov looked unhappy as he questioned Ooba Babasaama.
As the Guild Master's Advisor, the old man had naturally come along too. He had stayed silent the whole time, pretending he did not exist.
But now, he truly could not hold back anymore.
That irritating old woman, Ooba Babasaama, really loved making people uncomfortable!
"Because there needs to be a voice of opposition."
Before Ooba Babasaama could speak, Marco answered first.
His incomparably sunny face carried a warm smile.
He was not angry because of this strange opposing vote. Instead, he looked as though he understood Ooba Babasaama very well.
"Exactly. The Fiore Mage Alliance cannot become your personal echo chamber, Marco Dreyar. It cannot become Fairy Tail's echo chamber either."
Ooba Babasaama nodded and looked at Marco with considerable approval.
The fact that Marco could understand and accept this made her quite happy.
In truth, Ooba Babasaama did not oppose Marco becoming Alliance Leader.
Lamia Scale was also benefiting from the cake Marco had made larger.
Or rather, powerful guilds like theirs could actually receive even more benefits.
She had even more reason to support Marco.
Marco's personal reputation, the Grand Magic Games he had created, the nationwide railway network he had vigorously promoted, and the various magical item research projects he strongly supported—all of it greatly benefited the development of the magic world in the Kingdom of Fiore, turning Fiore into a true sacred land for mages.
In fact, it was not only the magic world of the Kingdom of Fiore.
The entire magic world of Ishgar was being influenced by Marco.
He was truly the trendsetter of this era.
Someone like him was naturally the only real choice for Alliance Leader of the Fiore Mage Alliance.
Ooba Babasaama would not go against her conscience and claim that anyone else was more suitable than Marco.
However, she did not want the Fiore Mage Alliance to become Marco's one-man show.
The purpose of casting an opposing vote was to remind Marco not to lose himself after becoming Alliance Leader.