Things Settled, Cloak Swished Away

After defeating Deliora, Allen and the others had no time to rest before splitting up again and joining the effort to clear the chaos from the city.

The people from the Dark Magic Group had no idea that Carlton and Yaroc had already left. They continued causing destruction throughout the city.

When Allen and the others encountered them, they showed no mercy. As for the people from the Dark Guild, they had already left Irkutsk when Asmodeus was defeated.

After one final search for survivors, Allen and the others gathered in the city center with grim expressions. A moderately sized city now had only a few thousand survivors left. That meant tens or even hundreds of thousands of people had been sacrificed. No wonder the Dark Magic Group had been able to summon Deliora and Asmodeus.

Laxus smashed the nearby wall with one punch. The more he fought the people from the Dark Magic Group, the angrier he became at their actions.

The others were in poor moods as well. Allen noticed that two little boys about the same age as Ultear were standing behind Ur.

Noticing Allen's gaze, Ur patted one of the boys on the head and said, "These are Lyon and Gray. I just rescued them. Their parents are both gone. I saw them hiding in a corner and crying, so I brought them here. If there's no one here who can adopt them, I might adopt them myself."

When he heard the name Gray, Allen raised an eyebrow. Was this fate closing its loop? Even this had led Ur to meet Gray and Lyon.

Allen's head began to ache as he looked at the thousands of people in his line of sight, but he still stood on the high platform and called out, "Is there anyone among you who used to lead Irkutsk? Or can someone step forward and help arrange aid for everyone? The Ice Crystal Federation's relief troops will probably need some time to arrive. We have to make the necessary arrangements ourselves in the meantime."

Most of the survivors were still panicked and terrified. After hearing Allen's question, no one stepped forward at first. Several minutes later, a middle-aged man tremblingly raised his hand and came forward.

"My name is Per Austin. I used to be a teacher at an Irkutsk school. Some of you may know me. I can take the lead in forming the Irkutsk Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee."

After Per said this, a voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "It's Teacher Per! I know him. I'll join his Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee!"

More scattered voices rose from the crowd. Allen looked at the teacher curiously. In Per's eyes, he saw compassion, sorrow, sympathy, and a hint of ambition.

Allen smiled and pointed at Per. "Then you'll establish the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee. We'll discuss what happens afterward once the relief troops arrive."

Under Allen and the others' direction, they first cleared a large area in the city center for the survivors to live in. Then they found doctors and cooks among the survivors and had them join the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee.

As Allen watched them gradually regain their confidence, a smile finally appeared on his face.

A week later, the Ice Crystal Federation's relief troops arrived. However, after entering the city, they discovered that the disaster described in the report had already passed. Although the city appeared to have very few people left, everything was still orderly. It was obvious that someone was leading them.

After noticing the relief troops' arrival, Allen brought Per forward to welcome them.

Allen spotted Horst among the relief troops and hurried over. Horst had noticed Allen as well and stepped out from the crowd.

The two men hugged each other tightly. After looking Horst over, Allen said with both delight and reproach, "Brother Horst, I'm truly happy to see you in your current condition. But didn't your relief troops arrive a little late? At your speed, Deliora and Asmodeus could have conquered your capital by now."

Horst rubbed his head sheepishly. "There was nothing I could do. I contacted our guild master as soon as possible, and he got in touch with the Federation's leaders. But that was when we learned that the Dark Magic Group had infiltrated nearly the entire Federation. Even the vice leader was one of their people. It took us a long time to purge them before we could spare the manpower to support Maskara and Irkutsk. You've really worked hard during this time."

After hearing Horst's explanation, Allen finally realized that the Dark Magic Group had been playing a much bigger game. If he and the others had not arrived, the Ice Crystal Federation would probably have been taken over by the group. Allen then waved Per over and introduced him to Horst and the officer beside him. "This is Per Austin, the current chairman of the Irkutsk Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee. Per has been leading the committee during this time. Everything you see here is thanks to him."

Horst and the officer beside him immediately regarded Per with respect. The officer stepped forward, extended his right hand, and introduced himself. "I'm Igor Vick, commander of the relief troops. Thank you for all your hard work."

Per hurried forward to shake Igor's hand and introduced himself as well.

Seeing this, Allen said to the others, "Now that the relief troops have arrived, we'll return to Ishgar. We've only completed half of our mission here. We still have to continue investigating the Dark Magic Group, so we won't stay any longer."

Per and Horst were both shocked by Allen's sudden farewell. Per was especially stunned. Without Allen's help, the post-disaster reconstruction would never have gone so smoothly. But he knew Allen could not stay forever, so despite his reluctance, he could only bid Allen farewell.

Horst, meanwhile, regretted that he had not had time to hold a banquet for Allen. Allen laughed and patted Horst on the body. "I'll come to Gildarts again in the future. When I do, I'll find you for a drink."

"Good! It's a promise!"

Allen and the others had prepared to leave long ago. They had only been waiting for the relief troops to arrive. After saying goodbye to everyone they had gotten to know in the city, they decisively left Irkutsk and headed for Elmina. From there, they planned to board a ship to Rainbow Port in Ishgar.

It was worth mentioning that Ur had originally not wanted to go to Ishgar. She wanted to continue investigating Brian, but Ultear and Allen managed to persuade her. Allen said to her, "Ultear and these two boys are still so young. Someone has to take care of them, right? Don't you want to keep staying with Ultear?"

Ultear instantly used her ultimate weapon against mothers—she stared at Ur with tear-filled eyes. Ur was captured at once and could only agree to return to Fairy Tail with Allen.

Three months later, after training and sightseeing along the way, the group finally set foot on Magnolia's soil. Gildarts had parted ways with Allen and the others in Irkutsk, claiming that he was going on a mission to investigate the Dark Magic Group. But in Allen and Laxus's eyes, he was definitely trying to experience the northern scenery.

Unlike their lightly equipped journey there, they had bought so many things on the way back that they had to haul everything back with a cart. Allen and Laxus took turns pulling it for a day each, treating it as physical training.

The day they returned to Magnolia happened to be Allen's turn to pull the luggage cart. When he reached the guild entrance, he saw a little girl standing there with a dog.

Allen immediately used the image-recording mode on his communicator to secretly capture the scene. If he had known this would happen today, he should not have let Gildarts part ways with them. He should have made him see his daughter's pitiful appearance as she stood outside the guild holding a dog.

Kana was hesitating over whether to go inside when the area above her suddenly darkened. Then a voice came from beside her.

"Little girl, are you here to find someone, or are you planning to join our guild?"

Kana was deep in thought when she suddenly heard someone speak. She spun around and was startled. At some point, a group of people had appeared behind her, all staring at her.

Kana was flustered. Her mind went blank, and she had no idea how to respond. Just then, a mature-looking woman stepped out from the crowd, raised her hand, and smacked the man at the front. She scolded him, "Allen, you scared the little girl!" She even glared at him afterward.

The mature woman then crouched down gently, wearing a warm, friendly smile, and asked Kana again in a soft voice, "Don't be afraid, little girl. Tell big sister, are you here looking for someone?" Kana nodded reflexively at first, but soon seemed to remember something and began shaking her head frantically. She looked both adorable and amusing.

Allen could not help laughing at the interesting scene. He walked up to Kana, bent down, and said with a smile, "Haha, little girl, I think you really are here to find someone, aren't you? If so, come inside with me."

Allen then stepped forward and kicked the guild's perpetually closed doors.

BANG!!!

The doors shattered into several pieces. Everyone in the hall turned toward them with fierce looks, but when they saw Allen leading the group with Laxus beside him, they silently turned their heads away. The atmosphere in the hall suddenly fell quiet.

At that moment, Makarov also spotted Allen and the others from behind the bar. He waved at Allen from his seat and greeted him. "It's Allen! Come over and tell me what happened in Gildarts. I couldn't make sense of it when I heard it over the communicator."