"Quit acting crazy, you old geezer, get off me already!"
Kabe pried at the clinging old man with disgust.
Watching the two bicker and roughhouse so naturally, the assembled guild masters all sighed with mixed envy and amusement. Their bond was obvious.
Bob rested his chin on his hand, looking very satisfied with the scene.
After fooling around with Kabe for a bit longer, Makarov finally wiped his tears away, forced his expression back to serious mode, and spoke solemnly:
"Everyone, that is it for today's meeting.
If you get any news, please contact us as soon as possible. I am counting on you."
He bowed deeply once more.
"You are too polite, Master Makarov. As members of the regional guild alliance, this is our duty."
"And Fairy Tail will be the one cleaning up at the end. With you thanking us like this, we are the ones who feel unworthy."
"All right, everyone disperse. I will gather my guild members right away and pass the word down."
One by one, the projected light screens winked out until, in the blink of an eye, most of the guild masters had already disconnected.
Only Goldmine remained until the very end.
He looked at Makarov, who had just straightened up, and could not help reminding him before he left:
"Makarov, even though you have many guilds backing you this time, you still need to be careful.
With how petty those Council lot are, they will very likely target your guild even more in the future."
Goldmine's warning was very reasonable, but Makarov already had a counter ready in his heart.
"Relax. I have not spent these past few days only drinking. I already went and complained to that senior about everything.
With that person backing us, even the Council will not dare to go too far."
At those words, both Bob and Goldmine's expressions changed a little, and even Kabe could not stop himself from taking a longer look at his guild master.
"All this just for this little thing, and you actually went to bother that senior. Makarov, you really…"
Goldmine shook his head, clearly speechless.
Still, since even that legendary senior had been alerted, there was nothing left for him to worry about.
He said nothing more, simply nodded to the three of them and cut the connection.
"Whew. Now we just have to wait for news."
Makarov let out a long breath and slumped back into his chair, his body going slack against the backrest.
Kabe saw that there was nothing else that required him and stood up at once.
"If there is nothing else, I will head out first."
"Wait."
Makarov suddenly called after him. His gaze swept up and down Kabe's body in a quick inspection before he reminded him:
"We will be heading back tomorrow after staying one more night. You had better not stay out too late playing around tonight."
"Tch. I will return those exact words to you intact."
He really had some nerve saying that.
Kabe at least kept a regular schedule, going to bed at about the same time each night, even if the exact moment he fell asleep depended on the situation.
No matter what, it was miles better than this drunkard who spent every day plastered and whose routine was a complete disaster.
With that parting shot, Kabe said a quick goodbye to Bob and left the conference room.
Once outside, his steps suddenly slowed.
"We are leaving tomorrow. Who knows when I will be back next time. I should probably say something to that glutton and to Jenny, right?"
Thinking that, he turned and went down the stairs to the first floor.
Using his ki to sense people, he easily located Jenny, who was substituting for Bob behind the bar, chin in hand and sulking.
Jenny's expression was vacant and her eyes unfocused, so she did not immediately notice Kabe approaching.
She was still silently cursing her own bad luck over the last two days.
Ever since Aries got drunk and her very first escort job went completely off the rails, the senior staff who handled the guild's daily operations had held a brief meeting.
They unanimously decided that Jenny was still too inexperienced and temporarily suspended her from escort work.
So the poor girl could only fill in for her busy guild master and work as a bartender.
"Yo, still mad? Being a bartender is not so bad. At least you do not have to put up with those creepy customers pawing at you."
Kabe's voice drifted over, snapping Jenny out of it.
She puffed out her cheeks and glared at him angrily.
"You jerk, this is all your fault!
If not for you, with my looks I would have easily reeled in a whole crowd of regulars by now.
I would be making way more money than this lousy bartender gig!"
"Tsk. You are doing all this for money, that kind of trivial thing? Young people these days really have no sense of priorities.
When I was your age, money never even crossed my mind.
All I did every day was throw myself into training, and that is how I have what I have now, this strength and this standing.
If I had been like you, only caring about money back then, there would not even be a so called Destruction God Kabe today."
Kabe put on the tone of an old man lecturing a youngster, using himself as an example to "educate" her.
Jenny not only did not humbly accept the lesson, she snorted heavily and shot back:
"Unlike you, who goes four days without changing a single outfit, I spend a fortune every month on clothes and makeup alone.
Add on all the other little expenses, and if I do not escort, how am I supposed to maintain the increasingly high standard of living I want in the future?
It is not like everyone can be like you, where S class jobs are as easy as eating and drinking, and you casually bring in tens of millions every month."
Mid rant, Jenny suddenly paused, then lightly smacked her palm as if something had just occurred to her.
"That is right. You have been an S class mage for years now. You must have saved up a lot of money, right?"
"Nope. Nothing. Good bye."
The moment money came up, Kabe instantly went with the triple denial and turned on his heel to escape.
But there was no way Jenny was letting him get away that easily.
She planted her hands on the bar, vaulted over with nimble ease, and clamped herself onto his arm like a limpet.
"You bastard, you wrecked my job and you still want to run?
You are paying damages. Without five hundred thousand, I am not letting this go!"
Hearing her open with five hundred thousand, Kabe was stunned.
"Five hundred thousand? Are you out of your mind? That is enough for me to keep a mistress outside."
"Huh. Good idea. Why did I not think of that?"
To his shock, Jenny actually nodded in serious agreement, then very naturally followed through:
"Then it is settled. You will pay me five hundred thousand every month to keep me.
We can adjust the amount later depending on the situation. Now hand over the money."