"What? The master expelled Ivan from the guild? When did that happen?"
It was noon the day after the exclusive interview.
Kabe had just enjoyed a good, solid sleep and walked into the guild full of energy, only to be greeted with this explosive yet somehow unsurprising news.
The one who told him was Macao. He sighed with a worried look on his face and replied,
"Just last night. I heard Ivan and the master had a huge argument at home.
Then early this morning, the master stormed in and announced it to everyone."
Hearing that, Kabe lifted his gaze and looked around the guild.
Very quickly he spotted Makarov sitting at a table in the corner of the hall, drinking silently.
Laxus sat beside him, arms crossed, his expression dark and difficult to read.
Kabe raised an eyebrow, patted Macao on the shoulder, and strode over to them.
Makarov sat hunched over, head lowered, shadows hiding the upper half of his face.
Only when he lifted his glass to drink could one see those eyes, cloudy with age yet still filled with that familiar kindness and pain.
He downed the liquor in his cup in one go and reached for the bottle again, when a hand suddenly pressed down on his.
Catching his wrist, Kabe sat down right beside him and began grumbling as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"Old man, you really know how to cause trouble for people.
Once word gets out that Ivan has been expelled, the exclusive interview I did yesterday to restore a bit of the guild's reputation is going to be completely wasted."
Makarov let out a sorrowful sigh from deep inside and stopped bothering with the bottle. His voice was low and tired as he said,
"Brat, you must be laughing at me inside.
I am already this old, yet my heart is still so weak that I need the children of the guild to comfort me."
"I am not here to comfort you. I am here to ask for my money.
That Weekly Sorcerer interview counts as a job, right? You can be sad all you want, but at least pay me properly first."
Makarov acted as if he had not heard a word, muttering to himself as he went on,
"That idiot Ivan... I thought he was just getting a bit twisted in the head, that his personality was growing darker.
I never imagined he had already gone completely astray, secretly founding a dark guild outside.
And he was trying to pry into the guild's deepest secrets, the ones only passed down to each master."
Seeing the old man just venting to himself and ignoring him, Kabe rapped his knuckles irritably on the table.
"Hey, old man, can you stop wandering off in your monologue?
Do not think you can dodge this by pretending not to hear. I heard that fee is pretty hefty!"
"If it were only that, it would still not be the worst of it."
Makarov suddenly turned his gaze to his silent grandson at his side, anger breaking through his sadness.
"What makes me the angriest is that he did not just ruin himself, he actually tried to drag Laxus down with him.
If that bastard had not run so fast, I would have beaten him half to death myself.
I should have been the one to personally end the bloodline of such a disgrace!"
"So stop changing the subject already, you stubborn old fossil."
Annoyed, Kabe simply reached out and grabbed onto what little hair Makarov had left.
The moment he felt his precious few strands in danger, the old man dropped the act at once and threw both hands up to protect his head, pleading quickly,
"Wait, wait, not the hair, anything but the hair! I will pay, I will pay, all right?
You brat, have a little mercy on what remains of my dignity!"
Seeing the old man instantly regain his vigor, Kabe snorted and let go.
Then he turned to Laxus, who had been quietly sitting there, and snapped,
"And you, what are you sulking about with that sour face?
So your old man ran off. The guild is still here, is it not?
If you do not mind, I am sure everyone in the guild would be happy to adopt you."
"Bang!"
At those outrageous words, Laxus finally cracked. He slammed his palm on the table and shot to his feet.
"Shut it, you idiot. I am just here because I did not want to leave the old man drinking alone.
If I hear you spout nonsense like that again, I will take your head off first to vent my anger."
"Oh, so you are not sad.
If you are not sad, then wipe that funeral face off."
Seeing that Laxus did not actually seem too shaken by Ivan's expulsion, Kabe felt a wave of relief inside.
In the original story, it was after this incident that Laxus slowly started to slip toward extremes.
So when Kabe heard what had happened, he had been genuinely worried and had even planned to give him a bit of emotional counseling.
He had not expected this version of Laxus to be so... solid on his own.
What Kabe did not know was that it had been Laxus himself who reported Ivan to Makarov the day before.
Laxus might prefer to act alone and give off the impression that he was not particularly close to anyone in the guild.
But that did not mean he had no affection for Fairy Tail.
On the contrary, from the time he was small he had admired his grandfather, Makarov, and yearned to be recognized as a member of Fairy Tail.
In his heart, he treasured this warm home just as much as anyone else.
So when Ivan invited him to leave with him yesterday, Laxus already had his answer from the very first moment.
But he also kept his guard up. He did not reject Ivan outright, instead pretending to worship his father and agreeing on the surface.
This allowed him to coax a great deal of useful information out of Ivan.
That night, using the excuse of going home to pack, he went straight to Makarov and turned Ivan in without hesitation.
Which led to the master's furious confrontation with Ivan later that night, fists flying and magic clashing, ending with Ivan losing and fleeing.
To Laxus, that made Ivan the true traitor who had turned his back on their family.
His grandfather, on the other hand, had still tried at first to pull his son back from the edge.
It was only because Ivan was so stubborn and extreme that things ended the way they did.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Makarov expelled Ivan without Laxus knowing the truth, this world's Laxus had already made his choice the night before.
He fully accepted his grandfather's decision as guild master.
Which meant the overly worried Kabe, trying to "check on his mental state," looked a bit like a clown right now.
*Seriously? Since when is this guy this emotionally stable?
Is he really the same stubborn, arrogant Laxus from the original story?*
Kabe was full of doubt, but either way, at least the guy had not snapped.
That was what mattered.
...
"Smack! Smack!"
Two firm slaps landed on the backs of grandfather and grandson. Both of them twitched at the corners of their mouths, backs snapping ramrod straight.
Grinning, Kabe hooked an arm around each of their necks and turned to shout at the others who had been sneaking glances their way,
"Hey! The master said that to celebrate my successful completion of my first S Class mission...
He is treating everyone today!"