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Morning in the new Fairy Tail hall was quiet, carrying the fresh scent of pine and sawdust. Yuri sat at the long wooden table, prodding a piece of burnt toast with his fork and muttering about the stove. Near the front door, Warrod swept up gravel tracked in from yesterday, tired but at ease. I stayed at the bar with a cup of hot tea, enjoying the slow start to the day.
Mavis barely touched her breakfast. She was absorbed in the leather-bound book we'd brought back from the dungeon, turning the pages so quickly I thought she might tear one. Precht leaned over her shoulder, studying a strange diagram scribbled near the margin.
"Look at this script, Precht," Mavis said in a hushed, excited voice. "It isn't an offensive spell at all. It's an ancient theory for focusing and channeling enormous amounts of wind and sky magic through a single fixed point in the atmosphere. It's beautiful."
Precht narrowed his eyes at the faded handwriting. "The structure of the energy paths is incredible. If someone built a core from this design, they could project magic across an entire province."
Mavis rose to fetch a cup of water from the kitchen, still murmuring to herself about ancient sky text. Precht remained at the table, his attention fixed on the open book. His fingers twitched as he leaned closer, tempted to keep digging while she was gone.
Before he could touch the leather cover, I stepped forward and shut the book with a soft thud. With a flick of my wrist, I slipped it into a pocket dimension, and it vanished.
Precht blinked up at me, frowning.
Watch it. He was reaching for it again, Solomon's voice said in my head, dry as ever. Good thing you took it. If he figures out how that atmospheric core works, we'll never get him away from a desk. Or worse, he'll try to build it before anyone's ready.
Gotta keep the sandbox safe, Solomon, I thought back, returning to my seat.
A few minutes later, the front doors opened, and a man in a clean white coat stepped into the hall. He had a thin moustache, a strained expression, and a stack of clipboards clutched to his chest. Two young Rune Knights followed behind him with polished iron spears, both of them looking more awkward than intimidating. He was an inspector from the newly formed Magic Council, and he looked like a man having a very bad week.
He glanced around the hall, checked his papers, and let out a weary sigh. "Is this the place? Are you the wizards who took the northern cliff contract?"
Mavis came back from the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron. "Yes, we are. I'm Mavis, the Guild Master. We cleared the vault yesterday."
The inspector rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I'll be honest with you. The Council's elite squad was wiped out by the gargoyle defences at the gate last week. Headquarters is panicking. If word gets out that a group of teenagers cleared a dungeon our knights couldn't, the new Council is going to look ridiculous."
He stepped up to the table and dropped his clipboard onto it with a heavy sigh. There was no bluster in him, no threat, just exhaustion and urgency.
"Let's make this simple," he said, looking at Mavis. "You recovered the primary research book from the vault, didn't you? Hand it over to the Council so we can claim the discovery. In exchange, I'll waive the background checks, tear up the registration delays, and approve your guild application right now. No fines. No months of waiting. What do you say?"
Yuri snorted and crossed his arms. "So you want to steal credit for our raid just to make your bosses look better?"
The inspector looked faintly embarrassed. "That's bureaucracy, kid. But you get official status immediately. It saves all of us a lot of trouble."
Mavis lowered her eyes, tapping a finger against her chin. She glanced at the empty space where the book had been, then out the window toward the town square. After a moment, she looked back at us and nodded.
"All right," she said with a small smile.
I reached into my pocket, drew out the heavy leather notebook, and slid it across the table. Relief washed over the inspector's face. He grabbed it, tucked it into his briefcase, and quickly pulled a stamped parchment from his clipboard. With a flourish, he signed it and handed it to Mavis.
"Thank you," he said, sounding as though a boulder had just rolled off his back. "Fairy Tail is now officially registered as a legal guild on the continent."
The two knights stepped forward and dropped a pair of heavy, jingling sacks onto the table. The sound of gold coins hitting the wood made Yuri sit up at once.
"That's your payment for the job," the inspector said. Then he hesitated, his expression turning awkward. From inside his coat, he pulled a smaller envelope sealed with thick gold wax. He looked at me, then at Mavis. "There's one more thing. Headquarters was rattled by how quickly you cleared the place. Since they're forming a group called the Ten Wizard Saints, they want to offer a position to the one who led your team."
Yuri's jaw dropped. "A Wizard Saint? One of the strongest on the continent?"
"Yes," the inspector said, his eyes flicking nervously toward my staff. "We assumed the offer was meant for your white-haired friend."
I snorted into my tea. "Absolutely not. I'm not wasting my life in some Council chamber listening to old men argue. Give it to Yuri or throw it in the river."
The inspector stared at me, utterly baffled that anyone would refuse the highest title on the continent. He turned to Mavis, but she only offered him a polite, apologetic smile. Realising he wasn't going to get a proper answer from any of us, he tucked the empty clipboard under his arm.
"Right," he muttered, retreating toward the door. "Well, the offer remains open. You can send your decision to headquarters later. Good luck with your guildhall."
He left with the knights close behind, clearly eager to reach his carriage before anyone changed their mind.
Precht watched the doors close, then folded his arms. "Mavis, we gave up that book too easily. It was a priceless source of ancient magic. We could have learned a great deal from it."
Mavis looked down at the stamped Council certificate in her hands. Then her green eyes brightened, and a wide smile spread across her face.
"It's all right, Precht," she said, raising the paper high. "A book is only paper and ink. But this certificate means Fairy Tail is real. We have a home now, and we can chase new mysteries together as a true guild. That's the real adventure."
Yuri forgot all about the Wizard Saint title and lunged for one of the money bags. "Forget the book, look at this! I'm buying a new sword!"
"Half of that is mine!" Warrod shouted, grabbing the bottom of the sack and yanking back.
The two of them immediately started wrestling over the gold, knocking Yuri's burnt toast onto the floor and sliding across the sawdust. A moment later, they were scrambling for the door, each trying to be the first to raise our white fairy flag outside. Mavis cheered so loudly her voice cracked when the emblem finally caught the wind.
I leaned back, finished my tea, and watched them make fools of themselves in the yard.
At last, it felt like a real guild.
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[ If you want to read an extra chapter ahead, go check out the p@treon
Search for foresight_geek or https://[email protected]/c/foresight_geek,
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