Raizel and Jura immediately reported the positive results to the Council members via Lacrima communication.
Raizel naturally told the truth.
Since Midnight showed no intention of reforming, Raizel wouldn't speak up for him or force the issue.
The Council still seemed unable to fully trust the Oración Seis and kept discussing the matter at length.
Yukino and Wally stood to the side in the hall, nervously wringing their hands.
Ur stood beside Yukino, gently patting her shoulder.
Raizel and Jura, however, waited for the final result calmly and composedly.
Finally, Council Chairman Gran Doma rapped his gavel on the table and declared.
"In that case, we will formally consider cooperating with the four compliant members as a provisional black-ops unit. We will also monitor their performance and magical signatures closely."
"Yes!"
"Great!" Wally excitedly punched the air, and Yukino jumped for joy.
After the group left the Council building, Jura looked at Raizel and bowed.
"Raizel-dono, I extend my deepest gratitude on behalf of my friend, Richard."
"Richard can be my friend too, can't he?" Raizel shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hahaha—indeed!" Jura laughed heartily.
"Jura-san, Raizel, thank you," Wally took off his square hat and bowed slightly, offering his most sincere thanks.
"If you want to thank me, treat me to a meal after Richard is officially released," Jura stroked his beard and said with a smile.
"If you ever have time, you are all welcome to visit Lamia Scale. Farewell."
"You are also always welcome to visit Fairy Tail," Raizel offered.
Jura nodded and then turned to leave for his own guild.
Yukino looked back at the towering Council building.
Ur patted her head and said, "Don't worry, Yukino. They will notify us when Sorano goes on missions. I'll see if there's a chance for you to safely meet her then."
When Ur saw Sorano today, she knew the girl wasn't inherently bad.
Now that Yukino had seen her sister and had tangible hope, perhaps they would soon meet outside those prison walls.
It wasn't surprising that the Council was willing to cooperate.
Raizel suspected that their earlier political arguments might have just been an act to save face.
Because the truth was, the Council desperately lacked high-level combat power.
It was rather tragic, actually.
The Magic Council, which managed all the legal magic guilds across the massive continent, only had magic siege weapons and the Rune Knight Enforcement Squad.
They didn't have their own S-Class mages.
The Enforcement Squad only had numbers; in terms of high-level combat power, their captains were at best equivalent to ordinary guild A-Class mages.
The Ten Wizard Saints and the Four Gods of Ishgar weren't at their permanent beck and call either.
The Oración Seis could help them resolve dark guild incidents to a certain extent, and most importantly for the politicians, utilizing prisoners wouldn't cost them anything.
...
After returning to the guild in Magnolia, Wally, Millianna, and their group decided to stay in town for a while before resuming their travels, as Simon wanted to spend some quality time with his sister, Kagura.
Moreover, they only realized later that although they had traveled across the continent searching for Erza, they hadn't really explored Magnolia much.
The only time was several years ago when they attended Magnolia's Fantasia Harvest Festival, but they didn't get to see much of the town—there were just too many people; they ended up mostly watching the crowds.
Kagura and Simon were quite interesting too—the two siblings quickly teamed up and took on two combat missions together.
"Doing missions while traveling—why not earn some Jewel?"
That's what Kagura said herself.
...
Fairy Tail Guild Hall —
"Missions! Missions!"
The moment Natsu kicked open the guild doors, he rushed straight to the request board, crossing his arms as he studied the flyers intently.
"Let me see, let me see!"
"Natsu, how about this one?" Happy, flying in the air, tore off a request sheet and handed it down to Natsu.
"Capture the fugitive Velveno and protect my daughter—4,000,000 Jewels.'" Natsu read aloud.
"This looks great! The reward is huge! Let's take this mission!" Lucy stretched her neck to peek from behind Natsu's shoulder.
"Don't decide on your own, Lucy," Natsu grumbled.
"Ah, whatever. We're short on rent money anyway, so isn't this perfect?" Natsu agreed, handing the request sheet to Lucy.
"Wait a minute, this Velveno guy..." Lucy suddenly remembered something as she looked at the wanted poster.
She seemed to have heard Gray mention him.
"Hold on, that's the one I had my eye on!" Gray exclaimed as soon as he entered the guild and heard Velveno's name.
"Just because you had your eye on it means it's yours? Did you apply for it? Did Mira approve it?" Natsu fired off three questions in a row, getting in Gray's face.
"I had my eye on it yesterday! Besides, how hard can this mission be? I can handle it alone!" The two of them started butting heads again, sparks flying, neither willing to back down.
"How about you two go together? The client for this mission is Earl Balsamico," Mira suggested, holding a tray with both hands, smiling with her eyes narrowed.
"I don't want to go with him!" Natsu and Gray answered in unison, pointing at each other.
"Earl Balsamico, you say? Now that you mention it, I heard Earl Balsamico is planning to host a massive Mage Ball," Macao said, walking over to the board with a drink.
"Mage Ball?" Natsu looked puzzled.
Raizel explained from the bar, "It's a formal ball exclusively for mages, held once every seven years at Earl Balsamico's estate. The ball should be this Saturday."
"Then let's go to the ball too! And catch Velveno while we're at it!" Happy excitedly raised his paw.
"Alright, I'm fired up!" Natsu clenched his fiery fists, looking thrilled at the prospect of a fight.
"Then let's set off now!" Lucy got caught up in the excitement too.
"Charge!" Natsu was already poised to dash out the door.
"Wait!" Raizel interrupted Natsu's momentum. Natsu, caught off guard, stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face.
"The Mage Ball is a formal event, Natsu. Do you even know how to dance?" Raizel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Eh??? Dancing???" Natsu and Happy exchanged bewildered looks.
Clearly, they didn't.
"I'll teach you!" Lucy winked playfully at Natsu and snapped her fingers.
Then, like a marionette, a protesting Natsu was dragged by Lucy out to the open-air café courtyard.
"Natsu learning to dance... This is going to be a good show! I've got to see this," Raizel stroked his chin with great interest, standing up.
"Count me in!"
"Me too!"
Soon, the courtyard was packed with laughing onlookers.
Lucy and Natsu stood facing each other on the cobblestones.
"So many people... Whatever," Lucy sighed, shaking her head.
If they wanted to watch her make a fool of Natsu, let them.
"First, we'll start with the basics. Here, hold my hands."
"Tch, so troublesome..." Natsu grumbled dismissively, but his actions were obedient.
He stepped forward and awkwardly took Lucy's gently offered hands.
"Music," Raizel said, pressing play on a magical stereo lacrima he brought outside.
A soft waltz began to play.
"Left foot rock step, left side step, basic left turn." Lucy announced the name of each step as she guided Natsu through the movements.
Natsu danced stiffly under Lucy's lead, looking at his feet.
Meanwhile, Lucy moved with effortless grace, even maintaining perfect, elegant facial expressions.
After all, she had been dancing since childhood—it was a compulsory high-society skill she'd mastered at the Heartfilia estate.