"Hah?"
"What are you mumbling about, kid?"
Hearing Ide's muttered insult, the bandit leader felt his dignity had been challenged. He pulled a machete from his waist and swaggered right up to Ide's face.
"Idiot."
Ide glanced at the bandit leader, then immediately shifted his gaze to Irene. He was terrified that she might suddenly fly into a rage and turn this entire area into a fiery hellscape.
Of course, Ide didn't care if the bandits lived or died. He was worried that Irene might accidentally wipe out the town fifty miles away in the process.
"Is this... a legendary robbery?!"
However, to Ide's surprise, Irene wasn't angry at all. Instead, she looked ecstatic. Her eyes practically sparkled with stars as she spoke with intense excitement.
"Interesting."
Even Ur found the scene novel. It was her first time actually being robbed.
Back when Ur was in the Kingdom of Iceberg, unless it was someone like Barclay—a rebel leader with thousands of mage subordinates—ordinary bandits would wet themselves in terror the moment they saw her face.
"Heh."
Seeing Ur and Irene treating a robbery like a fun tourist attraction, Ide fell silent again.
"Bastard, are you listening to me?!"
"I said, leave your valuables and your two women behind, then take your brats and get lost!"
Realizing Ide was ignoring him, the bandit leader continued to shout threats.
"You're too loud."
"Become an ice sculpture and vanish."
Ide, finally annoyed by the constant shouting, snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at the bandit leader with cold indifference.
"Ice-Make: Ice Coffin!"
Although Ide was holding Ultear and Erza in his arms, it didn't stop him from casting magic.
Hummmm!
As his voice fell, an icy blue magic circle lit up beneath the bandit leader's feet.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by a howling cold wind, a pillar of ice rose from the magic circle! Before the bandit leader could react, he was encased in ice, frozen into a lifelike sculpture.
Before his minions could even process what had happened, the ice sculpture shattered into a thousand pieces, turning into a cloud of ice crystals that vanished into the air.
"B-Boss... Boss got one-shotted?!"
The remaining bandits were dumbstruck. "Oh no, he's a Wizard! We're screwed!"
"Is it too late to beg for mercy?"
Realizing the situation was hopeless, some bandits dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in a prostrate position, shouting their plea.
"Too late."
Ide smiled and shook his head, activating his magic.
Five seconds later.
The clearing was empty, save for a dozen new ice sculptures and Ide's group walking calmly past them.
---
Fifty miles away, inside the town.
After a journey that took half a month, Ide, Ur, and Irene finally arrived at the destination they had been longing for: Magnolia.
"Excuse me, do you know where the Fairy Tail Guild is?"
As soon as they entered the town, Ide stopped a friendly-looking local to ask for directions.
"The Wizard Guild, Fairy Tail?"
"Just follow this road straight to the end, and you'll see it."
"But... why do you want to find Fairy Tail?"
The townsperson pointed out the path but then looked at Ide with a mix of suspicion and pity.
The local had lived here a long time, but he had never seen anyone dragging their whole family—wife, friend, and newborn babies—asking for directions to that place.
"We're going to join them, of course," Ide replied calmly.
"Uhh."
"Is that so?"
"Good luck."
The townsperson fell silent for a moment, offered a cryptic blessing, and then walked away without looking back.
"Uhh."
Ide watched the local walk away, his eye twitching.
Honestly, that reaction wasn't a good sign.
"Should I read his mind?" Ide wondered. Although using Observation Haki to read minds without permission was rude, he was curious.
"Ide, let's go."
"I can't wait to visit Senior Makarov, one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
Just as Ide was hesitating, Ur urged him on in a whisper.
"Okay."
Ide smoothed his furrowed brow. Seeing how much Ur respected this "Senior Makarov," he let his guard down slightly.
Someone Ur respects can't be a bad person, Ide thought.
Following Ur and Irene, he walked toward the Fairy Tail Guild.
---
Moments later.
Ide, Ur, and Irene stood before a three-story building with the words "FAIRY TAIL" emblazoned on the gate.
"So this is the Fairy Tail Guild?"
"As expected of a historic guild recommended by Ur. Even the building feels vintage."
Ide marveled at the sense of history radiating from the structure. He smiled, took a deep breath to adjust his mood, and pushed open the heavy doors of the guild.
What greeted his eyes was...
"Drink up, brothers! DRINK!"
Four or five drunks huddled around a wooden table, chugging beer.
"Hahaha!"
"I win it all!"
"Damn it, I lost again!"
Seven or eight degenerate gamblers screaming over a game of chance.
Puff... Exhale...
And clouds of smoke billowing from chain-smokers.
"Huh?"
Ide stared at the scene before him. It was vastly different from the noble, "Japanese-style Western Fantasy" guild atmosphere he had imagined from light novels. His jaw dropped.
"I definitely opened the door the wrong way."
Bam!
Thinking this, Ide slammed the guild doors shut.
Then, he pushed them open again.
"Yup."
"I wasn't seeing things."
Ide smiled.
It was the kind of smile people give when they are speechless to the extreme.
"Let's go, Ur, Irene."
"We're in the wrong place."
Ide turned around, fully intending to go home.
"Excuse me, is Senior Makarov here?"
"We are new recruits looking to join the guild."
Just as Ide was about to leave with his daughters, Ur walked straight into the guild and addressed the crowd.
"New recruits?"
"Hah? Newbies?"
"We actually have newbies?"
The moment Ur spoke, the card players, the gamblers, the drunks, and the smokers all stopped what they were doing. Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto Ide's group at the door.
"You want to fight?"
Ide immediately dropped into a combat stance.
"WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL!!"
But the very next second, the mob of thugs, hooligans, and degenerates broke into brilliant, welcoming smiles and cheered loudly.
"Huh?"
Ide froze once again.