"Everyone, we're back!" Zorn and Laxus pushed open the doors of the guild. The members, who had been making a racket, fell silent and looked at the two travel-worn men before erupting in deafening cheers.
Caught up in the excitement, Zorn and Laxus joined them and started talking.
"Laxus, fight me!" Seeing Laxus return, Natsu wanted to avenge his earlier defeat. For nearly half a year, he had followed the training plan strictly, and even the master had acknowledged his strength.
"Oh, not bad, kid." Laxus sensed that Natsu really had grown somewhat stronger over the past five months. It seemed he had indeed been training diligently. Well, Laxus would accept and see how good Natsu was.
"N-Natsu, maybe you shouldn't. Didn't you hear that Laxus learned some really powerful magic?" Happy trembled in the air beside him as he tried to talk the impulsive Natsu out of it. He didn't want Natsu to get hurt by the electricity.
"No way. I'm going to make Laxus acknowledge my strength." Natsu knocked his fists together and stared fiercely at Laxus, full of fighting spirit.
"All right, then follow me outside the guild." Laxus turned and motioned for Natsu to follow. Some of the members wanted to watch the fun, so they followed noisily to see the two fight.
Lisanna carried Happy in her arms as she followed everyone outside.
"Natsu's sure a fiery young man."
"You can say that again, hahaha."
Wakaba and Macao didn't go out to watch. They stayed in the guild, drinking cup after cup and talking about Natsu.
Zorn turned and looked around, but he didn't see the master, Cana, or the others. He looked over at Erza, who was still choosing a job at the request board. Ever since he and Laxus had returned, she had been standing there, stroking her chin as she carefully made her selection.
"Erza, where's the master? I haven't seen him," Zorn asked as he walked over to the request board.
"He went to a meeting at the Magic Council about you and Laxus. Oh, right, there's this too. The master told me to give it to you. Take a look." Erza casually took a sheet of paper from her waist and handed it to Zorn without a change of expression. Then she turned back to study the request board.
"What is it? Let me see... This..." Zorn looked at what was written on the paper and instantly turned to stone. He fell stiffly to the floor, his soul rising from his mouth.
"Hey, hey, Zorn, are you all right? What did you see?" Macao and Wakaba both looked at the paper as it fluttered to the floor. They didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was packed with bills, and after seeing all the zeros at the end of the total, they couldn't blame Zorn for reacting like that.
"So this is the bill for almost six months of training, plus the compensation?" Zorn sat in a chair, propping up his head with one hand. Unable to face reality, he turned to Erza for confirmation.
"Yes. That's why Mira, Gray, and some of the other guild members have all gone out on jobs. Now that you're back, I'm going out to work hard too." Erza clenched both fists, her eyes full of fighting spirit. After registering her request at the bar, she excitedly ran off to carry out the job.
"Haha, that was quite a show."
"But Natsu still got taken down in one hit, hahaha."
"Laxus really is strong."
Having finished watching the fun, the guild members filed back inside, discussing the exciting moments from Laxus and Natsu's fight. Laxus also walked in, carrying the unconscious Natsu over his shoulder. He casually tossed Natsu onto the floor and was surprised to see the utterly dejected look on Zorn's face.
"Hey, is Natsu okay?" Happy poked Natsu's head and asked curiously. Lisanna watched Natsu worriedly from the side, occasionally poking him with her hand just as Happy did.
"Yo, what's wrong? This is..." Laxus stepped over a chair and sat down beside Zorn, looking at the paper that had clearly caused his unusual behavior. He was just as shocked by the amount. After deducting what they had spent on training from their reward for the job, they had only about half left, nowhere near enough to pay the bill.
"All right, no more moping. We'll hurry and do a few more S-Class Missions to earn the money back." Zorn sprang to his feet, took the bill from Laxus, and ran upstairs. Checking the amount against the jobs on the request board, he picked out several and quickly registered them.
Then he grabbed Laxus and set off on the jobs. "Come on, Laxus. Time waits for no one. Let's go."
"Hey, hey, aren't you going to take a break?" Macao ran out of the guild and called after them.
"No, old man. When the master gets back, tell him Laxus and I will be back soon." Zorn's words echoed through the air. The two had already turned into lightning and light and vanished into the sky. They weren't planning to take a boat or any other transportation. They would finish as fast as possible and pay off the bill before the year was over.
"That kid. All right, I can't give up either."
"Wakaba, we've rested long enough. Let's hurry and take a job too. We can't lose to the youngsters." Macao turned and went back into the guild, then teamed up with Wakaba to go on a job.
Meanwhile, the meeting at the Magic Council was underway...
Smack.
"Makarov, this is how many complaints we've received about the destruction your guild causes while carrying out jobs. Take a good look." A council member threw a stack of complaint letters in front of Makarov, speaking with indignation.
"Well, well, if our guild's wizards caused the damage, we've already agreed to pay compensation." Makarov's heart tightened as he looked at the stack and thought of what the guild had already tallied, but he maintained a calm facade and answered without changing expression as he drank his tea.
"Yes, and didn't their guild do a fine job on its most recent S-Class Mission? They resolved the thunderstorms that had plagued the Leize Mountains for so long. Surely that makes up for their faults," said one of the wizards who was on good terms with Makarov, speaking up on his behalf.
"Besides, this meeting is also supposed to discuss the agenda for the Ten Wizard Saints selection," another, neutral council member reminded them.
"Hmph, of course I know that. They also destroyed a mountain range in the area during that job, so it can only make up for that. The earlier complaints still stand." Council Member Ogre, who had thrown the list to Makarov, emphasized what could be offset.
"You... Why, you, Ogre!"
"Enough. We'll set that matter aside for now and discuss the Ten Wizard Saints selection first." The chair struck the table, putting an end to the pointless argument and bringing the meeting back to its original topic.
"..." The discussion continued.
"All right, it's settled, then. Notify the guild masters. Makarov, I'll leave this matter to you. Meeting adjourned." Having made the final decision, the chair dismissed the meeting. Makarov and Yajima walked out of the council headquarters together.
"Well then, Makarov, I'll be off." Yajima nodded to Makarov and dispelled his thought projection magic.
"Makarov!" A furious roar came from the Magic Council's main hall. Makarov turned to see Ogre looking angry. Without a word, Makarov smiled and dispelled his thought projection magic.
"Damn it..."
To be continued~