"Huh?! Me? Me!"
Kael stared at Makarov like he'd misheard.
"I completed the mission perfectly this time. The client gave glowing reviews. How am I on the list? Master, you must have made a mistake."
Makarov's eyes narrowed, but his tone was matter-of-fact.
"You did complete the mission perfectly. You saved the villagers and destroyed that dark wizard guild. But you were too heavy-handed. Everyone was either seriously injured or permanently crippled. It cost a fortune to treat them, and some of them were so terrified they went insane and ended up locked in a mental ward."
Kael didn't even blink.
"What's that got to do with me? They deserved it."
When Kael transformed, he couldn't help being tugged—just slightly—by the temperament of the character he wore.
As Ulquiorra, he became unnervingly calm.
As Yoriichi, righteous to the bone.
As Ace, impulsive, quick to ignite.
And as Fushiguro Toji…
violent.
And as far as Kael was concerned, dark wizard guilds were the kind of people who most deserved to die in the entire world of Fairy Tail.
Makarov shook his head with a tired sigh. He knew Kael wasn't wrong. It was just those stiff-necked people at the Council nitpicking again.
"Then," Makarov continued, flipping a page with a sharp snap, "you drove a ship into Hargeon Port, and afterward you shattered a cliff wall with one punch. You gave the entire town a heart attack."
"…"
Kael had nothing to say.
He did it.
"And then, Natsu." Makarov's gaze cut toward the pink-haired menace. "You wiped out the Devan thieves, but you destroyed seven private homes. You also knocked over the ancient clock tower in Jurry Village, burned down the church in Freesia, destroyed part of Rubisne City, and the observatory in Nalina Valley had to stop operating because it collapsed."
Makarov didn't pause long enough for anyone to breathe.
"And you destroyed half of Hargeon Port."
Lucy sat there, frozen, trying to reconcile the smiling idiot she'd met at the port with the list Makarov was reading.
Almost everything in that report… is Natsu.
"Also Alzack, Levy, Gray, Lidas, Vijeeter, and Bisca…"
Each name was like a hammer tap.
Everyone called out lowered their head, bracing for the real scolding.
Lucy swallowed, expecting the room to get crushed under Makarov's anger.
Then—
Makarov closed the file with a loud thunk.
"Alright! That concludes this report!"
A beat of silence.
Then Makarov's mouth curled into a grin that belonged to Fairy Tail and no one else.
"Same old advice! Let those council members go eat crap!"
With a flick of magic, the stack of documents ignited, the pages curling and blackening as they burned away.
"Don't worry about what the higher-ups think, and don't be afraid of those fools on the Council!" Makarov's voice rose, filling the hall. "Follow the path you believe in! That's what it means to be a Fairy Tail wizard!!"
"Ooooooohhhhh!!"
The pressure in the guild snapped like a rope being cut.
Everyone cheered—real, loud, relieved—faces breaking into wide, familiar smiles.
The Master was always like this.
No matter how much trouble they caused, in the end… he still stood behind them.
Lucy felt that warmth seep into her chest without permission. A smile crept onto her face.
The nervousness she'd carried about joining a new guild loosened and melted away.
This place was reckless.
Chaotic.
But it was… good.
Makarov pointed a finger at the wrecked hall.
"Now clean this place up! What if a guest sees it like this?!"
"Yes!!"
The guild surged into motion. Broken tables and chairs were hauled toward the basement, intact ones were dragged back into place, mugs and bottles gathered, debris kicked aside.
And just like that—like a storm passing—the guild returned to its usual noise.
People sat together again, drinking and talking, laughing and clinking glasses, as if they hadn't been ready to tear each other apart minutes earlier.
Kael ordered food. His table quickly filled—Natsu, Happy, Gray, Elfman, and Loke all crammed in, elbows overlapping.
Loke leaned back, amused. "So Natsu is being called the 'Fire Dragon' outside?"
"Aye!" Happy chirped.
Elfman looked genuinely jealous. "That title sounds so cool."
'Fire Dragon.'
It sounded a hundred times better than "Beast Arm."
"Tch! What's so great about it?" Natsu scoffed, chin high. "I'll get an even cooler title in the future!"
Gray's eye twitched. Of all people, he hated seeing Natsu get a title the most.
Why didn't anyone give him something like "Ice Emperor" or—
Natsu's grin widened as if he'd heard Gray's thoughts.
"'Underwear Thief'?"
Gray stiffened like he'd been stabbed.
"You bastard!" he snapped. "You want to fight?!"
"Bring it on!" Natsu rolled up his sleeves. "Who's afraid of you?!"
The air started to crackle again—
Then Kael spoke, calm and firm, without raising his voice.
"Alright, that's enough for today. If you want to fight, do it tomorrow."
Natsu and Gray glared at each other for a long second, snorted, and sat down—still simmering, but obeying.
Kael had only been in Fairy Tail for half a year, but he already had real prestige.
Some of it came from strength.
But a lot of it came from him.
Kael treated everyone in the guild as an equal. He didn't ignore people or look down on them just because they were weak.
He didn't act like a high-and-mighty powerhouse.
And when someone in the guild was in trouble, he helped—without making it a spectacle.
That was why people liked him.
Of course, even in a place like Fairy Tail, people still had their circles.
Kael's closer group was Mira, Erza, Elfman, Natsu, Gray, and the others. Then came people he was familiar with—Levy's team of three, Laki, Max, Warren…
Right now, Mira had helped Lucy register officially.
"Kael! Natsu! Look!"
Lucy pushed her hand forward, proudly showing the pink Fairy Tail emblem stamped on the back of her right hand. It was still fresh—still felt unreal.
The people she knew best here, so far, were Kael and Natsu.
Natsu stared for half a second, then nodded solemnly.
"That's great, Louise."
"It's LUCY!!" Lucy yelled, furious. It had only been a few minutes and he'd already gotten her name wrong.
Kael smiled. "Congratulations, Lucy. From now on, we're guildmates."
"Thanks." Lucy's anger cooled a little—because hearing it out loud made her chest tighten in a good way.
Just then, a small voice rose near the front.
"Is my dad back yet?"
Kael turned.
A small child—four or five years old—stood in front of Makarov.
Romeo. Macao's son.
Macao's wife had left him because he was always gone working. Since then, Macao had been raising Romeo alone.
And because he needed work to keep food on the table, he often brought Romeo to the guild, where everyone helped keep an eye on him.
Makarov's voice softened.
"Now, now, Romeo. You're a wizard's son. You should believe in your father and wait for him at home."
Romeo's hands clenched at his sides.
"But… he said he'd be home in three days…" His voice wavered. "It's been a week, and he's still not back…"
Makarov answered carefully, like he didn't want to break anything.
"Macao went to work on Mt. Hakobe."
Romeo's eyes widened, desperate. "That's not far from here!! Go find him for me! I'm so worried about him!!"
Makarov's brows drew together.
His voice turned sharp—too sharp.
"Don't be difficult! Your father is a wizard!! This guild doesn't need wizards who need others to clean up after them!! Go home and drink your milk!!"
Romeo's face crumpled.
"You big meanie!!"
He jumped up and punched Makarov right in the face—
Then turned and ran out, crying.
The hall went quiet again, but not the funny kind of quiet.
A hard kind.
Bam!
Natsu slammed his hand on the table and stood up so fast his chair scraped back.
He grabbed his bag and walked out without a word.
"Natsu!"
Happy's wings snapped open, and he hurried after him.