Fores, the Western Gateway Town

"Are you the merchant Kino?!"

"You are suspected of abusing magic power. Come with us!"

The Magic Council soldiers surrounded the boss with barely any hair on his head, along with his subordinate Naiwa, and coldly announced their decision.

"Abusing magic power? Which one of your eyes saw me abusing magic power?"

"Besides, even if I did abuse magic power, did I abuse it as much as those people did?"

"Turning into a giant and running through the streets, hauling a hunting ship out of the sea, even flying into the sky—plenty of people can testify to that!"

Kino, Monet's underground kingpin—whose name, with two extra characters added, was the same as a certain coffee—and the owner of countless nightclubs, pointed at Ywen and the others who had called the authorities and roared indignantly. He had a hundred grievances in his heart.

"..."

The soldiers turned around at those words and looked Ywen and the others over, then immediately turned back as though they had seen nothing.

"Enough nonsense. Take him away!"

"At a time like this, you're still constantly pointing out other people's problems. It's obvious you have no intention of reforming!"

"Those wizards may have done plenty of outrageous things, but they have the heart to reform. That alone makes them better than you!"

The leading soldier looked disdainfully at the boss before him, thinking, Do you happen to be called Fairy Tail too?!

His face cold, he gave the order. Before long, the boss named Kino and the wizard named Naiwa beside him were both shackled and taken aboard the flying vehicle behind them.

"Then, Lord Makarov, we of BLACKVOX's dedicated investigation unit will take our leave first!" The leading soldier turned around and gave Makarov a slight bow, the respect due to one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Then he stepped closer and spoke quietly. "Lord Makarov, if anything comes up in the future, just come to us! And thank you for helping Mr. Tocchi Anderba. I have no way to repay you, but for anything within my duties, feel free to ask!"

"Hehe, not at all, not at all. It was only natural..."

Makarov was clearly delighted inside after getting such a benefit, yet he still put on a solemn expression.

"Then we'll be going. There's no one in the prison right now, so we need to fill it up a little more, or we won't pass the assessment..."

The captain spoke in a low voice.

"Mhm, go on, go on~"

Makarov nodded, smiling at the soldiers like a kindly elder.

After sweeping up all these dark forces, the soldiers in robes bearing the Magic Council emblem gave Makarov and the others a light bow, then hurried away aboard their warship. They looked to be in quite a rush.

Just as the leading soldier had said, they were busy arresting people and had no time to waste.

"Now that this is settled, let's continue on our way!"

After watching BLACKVOX's flying vehicle leave, Makarov spoke to Ywen and the others.

"Alright..."

Ywen nodded lightly. Next, they just had to go to the station, buy tickets, and return to the guild.

"Guild Master, Gildarts doesn't seem to be back yet..."

Just as everyone was preparing to leave, Ul glanced around and spoke to Makarov.

"That idiot Gildarts—forget him. Let's go!"

After hearing Ul's words, a hint of displeasure flashed across Makarov's face, and he intended to take everyone back to the guild first.

"Guild Master, wait for me..."

Just as everyone was about to set off, they saw Gildarts rushing toward them in a cloak.

He dashed up to them, panting heavily as he answered, "Perfect timing. I've finished all my tasks already, so let's head back together! Back to the guild..."

"Really? You actually remembered the guild? I thought you were going to accompany those two girls to another town and stay there."

Ywen let out an exclamation after hearing Gildarts.

"Ahahaha..."

"Though my charm is indeed unmatched, they were still a little too young."

After hearing Ywen's words, Gildarts used his cloak to wipe the bright red lipstick marks from his cheek. They were the reward he had received for helping those two girls escape from their heartless boss and finding them a place to settle in another town—the proof of a real man.

"Anyway, we finished today's task quickly. There's no need to delay. Let's check out of our rooms and leave at once!"

Seeing that Gildarts had arrived, Makarov spoke to him.

"Alright!"

Gildarts nodded lightly in agreement.

After deciding to leave, everyone first returned to the inn to check out. They had originally thought Gildarts would need a long time to finish his task, but now that it had been completed early, there was no need to keep the rooms...

After checking out, they headed straight for the station...

Since Monet was a coastal city and most people traveled by ship, no train station had been built there. Thus, they could only walk to the next town to catch a train. Fortunately, the town with a station was not far from Monet...

Led by Makarov and Gildarts, Ywen and the others crossed a mountain and finally arrived at Fores, the gateway town leading west.

"Hey! Gray, Gray..."

"Look, there's a little girl over there. She's so cute! She has curly blue hair, and she's carrying a little umbrella even though it's sunny~"

Not long after Ywen and the others entered the town, Lyon seemed to have spotted something. He tugged on Gray and whispered to him.

"Ah!?"

"Just so-so..."

After hearing Lyon's words, Gray followed Lyon's gaze. Sure enough, there was a blue-haired girl carrying a package and hurrying onward. Gray looked her over from head to toe, then shook his head.

"Damn it, Gray, do you have any idea how cute that girl is?"

Lyon looked as though Gray's words had dealt him a devastating blow.

"Hm?" The blue-haired girl seemed to have heard Gray and the others, and turned to look their way. The instant her eyes fell on Gray, she felt as if her heart had trembled. Her face immediately flushed red, and she hurried away, muttering, "Juvia mustn't be tempted by handsome men on the road. Juvia has to deliver this to Uncle quickly..."

"Gray, look! She looked at me! She looked at me!"

Having witnessed the scene by chance, Lyon grabbed Gray and shook him excitedly.

"Yeah, okay, okay. She looked at you. Good job!"

Gray soothed his senior apprentice brother as if he were calming a child.

"Hehe..."

Ywen, standing nearby, had noticed the scene as well.

As for the ill-fated connection between Gray, Lyon, and that blue-haired girl, who seemed to be in a great hurry over something urgent, Ywen could only say there was nothing he could do to help.

Let fate take its course! They would meet again eventually...

After Ywen withdrew his gaze, his eyes landed on a boy who brushed past him, someone who looked slightly older than he was. Ywen reached out and grabbed the boy by the wrist, saying coldly, "Hey! You'd better take out what you just stole before I lose my temper!"

"Hm?!" The boy's expression changed drastically after hearing Ywen's words. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and disbelief flashed through his mind. How is that possible? Don't tell me... I've been found out?!

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