Naturally, Marco accepted the position of Alliance Leader without hesitation.
There was nothing to refuse.
Besides, apart from Marco, there truly was no one suitable. No one else could convince the masses, and no one was tactless enough to stand up and compete with him.
After the Alliance Leader was chosen, corresponding rules and regulations naturally had to be established as well.
First came the term system.
One term would last four years, after which a new election would be held. Marco had no objections to this.
He had enough confidence in himself.
With Fairy Tail's position in this massive chain of interests, along with Marco's own strength, charisma, and personal connections, as long as no major accident occurred—such as Fairy Tail being destroyed or Marco losing all his power—his position as Alliance Leader was practically no different from a lifetime appointment.
The next part of the meeting was hosted by Marco, the newly appointed Alliance Leader.
Everyone pooled their ideas and began creating various rules for the standardized Fiore Mage Alliance, dividing different management powers among the organization.
At the same time, several Vice Alliance Leaders were also elected.
Goldmine, Bob, Ooba Babasaama, and Makarov were elected with high votes.
The four Vice Alliance Leaders, together with Marco as Alliance Leader, formed the highest decision-making circle of the Fiore Mage Alliance.
In truth, the change was not that large.
The original Fiore Mage Alliance had basically been led by these same guilds anyway.
Strength would always be an important part of one's right to speak.
The reason the Fiore Mage Alliance could now compete with the Magic Council for authority and fight for autonomy within the Kingdom of Fiore was also because the alliance as a whole possessed sufficient strength.
If this were some small country, a country with a weak magical atmosphere and only a handful of Mage Guilds in total, they would not dare provoke the Magic Council no matter how much courage they were given.
In an extremely lively atmosphere, this regular Guild Master meeting of the Fiore Mage Alliance continued for a full week.
Everyone worked together and finally drafted a more detailed charter for the alliance.
It was clear that everyone cared deeply about this "Mage Alliance belonging to the people of Fiore."
They also felt a strong sense of belonging toward it.
That was how things were during a rising period.
Everyone was full of confidence.
...
After the meeting ended, everyone returned to their own guilds and began looking forward to good news from Marco—good news after his communication with the Magic Council.
The official transformation of the Fiore Mage Alliance naturally had to be reported to the Magic Council.
It would not be a formal notice in an official document, but a private closed-door meeting, with Marco going directly to speak with the Councilors face to face.
Everyone in the Fiore Mage Alliance naturally hoped that, as Marco had said, they could reach a consensus with the Magic Council, avoid conflict as much as possible, achieve a peaceful transition, and allow the Fiore Mage Alliance to directly replace the Magic Council's branch in the Kingdom of Fiore.
After leaving the venue of the Fiore Mage Alliance meeting, Marco went directly to the Magic Council headquarters.
He had already informed Chairman Gran Doma and requested that he convene a Councilor meeting.
Marco was already familiar with the Magic Council headquarters. After all, he had been here quite a few times.
He entered a small private meeting room smoothly, where the white-bearded Chairman, Gran Doma, was already waiting for him.
"Master Marco, what matter brings you here this time?"
Seeing Marco enter the meeting room, Gran Doma spoke first.
He hoped to understand the cause of the matter and figure out Marco's purpose before summoning the other Councilors for a meeting.
"There's something I need to inform you of."
Marco sat down beside the meeting table with a relaxed expression, then spoke concisely, giving a rough explanation of the situation.
"..."
After hearing about the Fiore Mage Alliance, Chairman Gran Doma fell silent.
The old man's face was covered in white beard, so if one did not look carefully, it was difficult to see any changes in his expression.
But there was no need to think too hard to know that his mood must be terrible right now.
After all, this was truly cutting flesh from the Magic Council.
"Master Marco, isn't this somewhat inappropriate?"
Gran Doma stayed silent for a while, but in the end, he could not help but speak.
"What part is inappropriate? Please say whatever you think. Everything can be discussed."
Marco's attitude was very polite, looking as though everything could be negotiated.
"This..."
Gran Doma was stunned by Marco's question.
In his heart, he felt that every part of this matter was inappropriate, but could he say that directly?
Clearly, Marco had come here to inform them.
The matter of the Fiore Mage Alliance was already cooked rice.
Even if they strongly opposed it, could they really make the Fiore Mage Alliance dissolve itself?
That was obviously impossible.
"The Magic Council is responsible for managing the entire magic world of Ishgar. This has been the tradition for hundreds of years, and the Magic Council has always fulfilled its duties, working hard to maintain order.
To suddenly make such a change now and allow the entire magic world of the Kingdom of Fiore to leave the Magic Council's management is likely inappropriate, both emotionally and logically. It will cause turbulence throughout the entire magic world."
After carefully weighing his words, Gran Doma stated his thoughts.
The old man's tone was not sharp either. He seemed to be seriously discussing things with Marco.
Clearly, he also did not want this matter to spiral out of control.
"You... how can you even say that..."
Gran Doma's diplomatic words made Marco unable to resist holding his forehead.
Was this old man serious?
Had he been carried so hard that he had started hallucinating?
"The Tower of Heaven incident. The Oración Seis incident. In just this one year, the Magic Council has already exploded with two major problems! It even had to be reorganized entirely. I'm not trying to nitpick on purpose, but saying the Magic Council has fulfilled its duties is really hard to believe."
Marco shook his head and refuted him directly.
That made the corner of Gran Doma's mouth twitch.
The Tower of Heaven incident could still be blamed on the previous administration, but there was no way to argue about the Oración Seis incident.
They truly had failed to fulfill their responsibilities there.
That man Jellal was simply the Magic Council's nemesis.
Both incidents were related to him.
He had previously infiltrated the Magic Council and had even become one of the Ten Wizard Saints and a Councilor.
After the incident was exposed, he had thoroughly disgraced the Magic Council.
After the Magic Council was reorganized, they had been working hard to rebuild people's trust and confidence in the Council.
But not long after they began, Oración Seis attacked the prison and released a group of criminals, including Jellal...
The Magic Council was disgraced once again.
The little bit of authority they had just rebuilt was instantly reset to zero.
In the end, they had only managed to defeat the Dark Guild alliance led by Oración Seis by relying on the coalition of Fairy Tail and several other Mage Guilds.
Only then had they washed away some of the humiliation and regained a bit of dignity.
"The Tower of Heaven, Oración Seis, even the Edolas incident—all of them were handled by the Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore, who sent people and risked their lives. They were all fought by members of our Fiore Mage Alliance.
Chairman Gran Doma, I'm truly curious. How can you say to us that the Magic Council has fulfilled its duties and done everything it could?"
Looking at Gran Doma, Marco questioned him in a calm voice.
The meaning behind Marco's words was very direct.
The Fiore Mage Alliance was the side that had truly fulfilled its duties and done everything it could.
Fairy Tail and the Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore had already shown the Magic Council more than enough goodwill.
No matter what major incident occurred, the Mage Guilds of Fiore had never backed down.
They were the MVP every time, the carry every time!
By contrast, the Magic Council had never shown much performance at all, almost like a bystander who had done nothing and still enjoyed victory.
"That..."
Faced with the facts Marco laid out, Gran Doma had nothing to say.
He wanted to argue, but he truly could not find any direction or example to support his point.
That made Gran Doma's face pale.
He had already realized that the Fiore Mage Alliance's request seemed completely reasonable.
In fact, they were even giving the Magic Council some dignity.
Judging by the Magic Council's performance, they really did look like they had been lying on the Fiore Mage Alliance and sucking blood.
"We are only requesting to replace the Fiore Kingdom branch. We are not breaking away from the Magic Council! When manpower and resources are needed, we will not shirk our duty. You can rest assured on that point.
And this is not because of anything else. It is simply because we ourselves are defenders of order. We ourselves stand on the side of fairness and justice."
Seeing that Gran Doma had been left unable to respond, Marco softened the atmosphere a little.
The Fiore Mage Alliance wanted to take the substance, but they would still leave the Magic Council its appearance.
Marco's words eased Gran Doma's expression somewhat.
This was good news within bad news.
The Fiore Mage Alliance would still remain part of the Magic Council, only in a semi-independent state.
The region of the Kingdom of Fiore would be managed independently by them.
"The relationship between us actually won't change much compared to before. In the future, if the Magic Council has any needs, you can contact me directly. I am the first Alliance Leader of the Fiore Mage Alliance."
Marco continued.
From now on, communication with the Magic Council would be handled entirely by the Fiore Mage Alliance rather than by specific guilds below it.
"As for the employees of the original Fiore Kingdom branch, we will accept everyone we can accept. If some are unwilling to stay, we will not force them. The general management framework and laws will not really change either. After all, everyone is already familiar with these things."
As for the Magic Council's Fiore Kingdom branch, the Fiore Mage Alliance had already thought of a way to handle it.
They would accept it entirely.
If they said they would replace it, then they would replace it completely.
The branch's structure and employees were already part of a system, and that happened to be exactly what the newly reorganized Fiore Mage Alliance lacked.
They were not trying to completely deny everything the Magic Council had built. Naturally, these things could be taken over and continued.
"That's very good. It will reduce many problems."
Gran Doma finally nodded.
The Fiore Kingdom branch being fully taken over by the Fiore Mage Alliance was good for them.
Otherwise, after losing the Kingdom of Fiore, they would still have to find a way to reassign all the branch employees.
Clearly, Gran Doma had already accepted reality.
The Fiore Mage Alliance replacing the Fiore Kingdom branch was no longer something that could be changed.
What they had to do now was minimize the impact as much as possible.
It had to be said that Marco and the Fiore Mage Alliance's arrangements were indeed very thorough.
They had already considered everything that could be considered, leaving him unable to think of any further improvements.
"So? Can you accept it now?"
After explaining everything, Marco smiled and looked at Gran Doma.
"What else can I do if I don't accept it?"
Chairman Gran Doma also smiled helplessly.
"I must admit, the Magic Council has indeed relied too much on Fairy Tail and the Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore. That is not a good sign."
Gran Doma had reflected on this just now, and it was indeed a major problem.
If the Magic Council had not relied so much on Fairy Tail and the Mage Guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore, then he could have straightened his back and debated with Marco instead of being left speechless.
In the end, Gran Doma was still a righteous man. Faced with ironclad facts, he deflated immediately.
"It's fine. We will still be on the same side from now on, but you all need to work hard. We still have plenty of enemies. The world-destroying Black Dragon, Zeref who has lived for who knows how many years, and the empire across the sea that is already stirring."
Marco stood up and patted Gran Doma's shoulder with a smile.
He felt that the Magic Council had enjoyed peace for too long.
They seriously lacked a sense of crisis and needed something to hit them hard.
Of course, for such a massive organization that had existed for so long, all kinds of internal problems appearing was far too normal.
"Zeref... the Black Dragon... Do they truly exist?"
Hearing the enemies Marco mentioned, Gran Doma asked with some hesitation.
These figures existed only in legend, especially the Black Dragon.
Under Marco's publicity, the name had begun appearing in people's conversations again, but no one had truly seen it.
"I'm not in the mood to joke about something like that."
Marco answered with a serious expression, making Gran Doma stop doubting it.
The old man's heart was deeply shaken.
He felt that ever since X784 began, the entire world had seemed somewhat wrong!
Too many major incidents had happened this year. Even Zeref and the Black Dragon had appeared.
Was this world about to end?
"Convene the Council meeting."
Marco reminded the dazed Gran Doma.
"Good. I will convene it immediately. I will explain the matter clearly to everyone."
Gran Doma came back to his senses and answered seriously.
He had already figured it out.
The more they faced times like this, the less they could afford to lose Fairy Tail or the Fiore Mage Alliance.
Although relying on them was humiliating, it was still better than truly being finished.
The Fiore Mage Alliance's current request, compared with everything they had contributed, was indeed not excessive.
They only wanted greater autonomy.
They were not truly trying to part ways with the Magic Council.
Strength and dominant position—these were the Fiore Mage Alliance's confidence in making such demands.
As the weaker side, if the Magic Council did not want to truly tear everything apart, then they could only endure it.
Gran Doma could not help but sighing deeply in his heart.
How had their Magic Council fallen to this point?
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