"No."
"Perhaps it was because I was standing too far away just now."
"Or maybe Irene's magic power is so overwhelming that it skewed my judgment."
"Looking closely... it's not just Irene. The magic power inside Ide and Ur is terrifyingly strong as well."
When Makarov stepped closer to Ide, Ur, and the others, he was surprised to discover that aside from Irene, the magic within Ide and Ur was also formidable. Of course, it couldn't compare to Irene's, but it was still immense.
"Ur's magic power is practically on par with mine?"
"And this young man... his magic power is actually above mine! Perhaps even comparable to Gildarts."
After carefully observing Ide and his group, Makarov came to a shocking conclusion: he had picked up some incredible treasures.
No.
More accurately, the treasures had traveled thousands of miles to deliver themselves to his doorstep.
"Master."
"Are you done yet?"
"I'm waiting for you for round two."
Just as Makarov was internally rejoicing over recruiting three powerful wizards—Ide, Ur, and Irene—a voice called out.
A man wearing a cloak, with slicked-back orange hair, unshaven stubble, and a generally scruffy appearance, walked out from the bar area at the back of the guild hall, heading toward Makarov and the group.
"Hm?!"
"This guy..."
"Without a doubt, he's a piece of trash."
"Without a doubt, he's not a good person."
When the scruffy man approached the group and made eye contact with Ide, both of their pupils trembled simultaneously.
"I don't want to get involved with this guy."
Perhaps due to the principle of "like repels like," the moment the orange-haired man and Ide looked at each other, they both waved their hands dismissively, signaling a mutual desire to have nothing to do with one another.
"Yo."
"Gildarts, you're here."
At that moment, Makarov waved smilingly at the orange-haired man.
"Gildarts?!"
Ide silently etched this name into his memory.
Honestly, maybe it was the dim lighting inside the Fairy Tail guild, but when Ide first saw Gildarts, he thought "Red-Haired" Shanks had also been elbowed by Imu and sent from the One Piece world to Earthland.
Thinking about it, if Ide ever found a way back to the One Piece world and introduced Shanks to Gildarts... maybe even Saint Garling Figarland (Shanks' father) wouldn't be able to tell how many twins he actually had.
Saint Garling: "Red plus yellow makes orange, right? Did that woman hide another one of my children from me?!"
Cough.
"Gildarts, perfect timing."
"These are Ide, Ur, and Irene."
Makarov introduced Ide and the others to Gildarts.
"Beauties?!"
Gildarts noticed Ur and Irene's looks, and his eyes slowly lit up.
"My wife and my contractor."
Ide stepped in front of Ur and Irene, blocking Gildarts' view and speaking with obvious annoyance.
"Hah?"
"So you are a two-timing piece of trash."
Gildarts looked at Ide with disdain, as if confirming his suspicions. I knew I could spot a scumbag.
"Right back at you."
Ide retorted unhappily.
"What? You found out?"
Gildarts didn't deny it. Instead, he looked panicked, cold sweat pouring down his forehead like rain.
"You're actually two-timing?"
Makarov's eyes widened as he yelled at Gildarts.
"More than two."
Gildarts was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"..."
With Gildarts' arrival, the atmosphere among the group fell into an awkward silence.
"Cough, cough."
Finally, Makarov coughed twice to break the tension. He looked at Gildarts and Ide and continued, "Anyway, Gildarts, it looks like you finally have a rival in the guild."
"Rival?"
"Him?"
Gildarts followed Makarov's gaze to Ide. He raised an eyebrow. "Haha! I don't think this guy can be my rival."
"True."
"Because clearly, I'm stronger than you. Both in strength and in character."
Ide nodded, agreeing with Gildarts for once.
"You bastard, you want to fight?"
"Let's go then! You think I'm scared of you?"
The next second, Ide and Gildarts were pressing their foreheads together, glaring at each other. They both unleashed their magic power. The sheer pressure of their "Inhuman" level magic made the air inside the entire guild heavy and suffocating.
"A fight?"
"The newbie is brave! Challenging the guild's strongest, Gildarts, right off the bat?!"
The other guild members, realizing a conflict was brewing between Ide and Gildarts, looked on in shock.
"Bets are open! Bets are open, brothers!"
"How long do you think the newbie will last against Gildarts?"
"Hard to say, it is Gildarts!"
In an instant, everyone in the guild dropped what they were doing and crowded around the center, shouting and cheering as they watched the standoff between Gildarts and Ide.
Yes, stopping a fight? That didn't exist in Fairy Tail. Everyone here lived for the drama.
"I bet 10,000 Jewels on Gildarts one-shotting the newbie!"
"I bet 5,000 Jewels on Gildarts one-shotting him too!"
With Makarov taking the lead as the bookie, the guild members eagerly pulled out their savings, hoping to make a quick buck on this "sure thing."
"I bet 100,000 Jewels on my husband, Ide, winning."
Ur seemed to adapt to the guild's culture instantly. She pulled out a "huge sum" of 100,000 Jewels and slammed it down on Ide.
With her bold, carefree personality, Ur was practically born to be a Fairy Tail wizard.
"Ohh!"
"She's brave!"
After Ur bet on Ide to win, the atmosphere in the guild reached a fever pitch.
The "gambling addicts" cheered loudly, celebrating the addition of another member to their happy degenerate family.
"Hey, Ide."
"Let's take this to the mountain behind the town."
"With your strength and mine, if we fight here, Magnolia might cease to exist."
After probing Ide's magic power, Gildarts finally looked serious. He spoke to Ide in a low, grave voice.
"Agreed."
Ide nodded slightly.
"Wait."
"Something's not right."
"When has Gildarts ever been this serious?"
It was only after Gildarts solemnly proposed moving the fight to a safer location that the gambling addicts in the guild realized something was wrong. Perhaps this newbie named Ide was much stronger than they had imagined.