Leaving After Things Are Settled

After eliminating Deliora, Allen and the others didn't have time to rest before they continued to split up and engage in clearing out the chaos within the city.

The Dark Magic Group had no idea that Carlton and Yaroc had already left; they were still causing destruction within the city.

Allen and the others showed no mercy towards these people. On the other hand, the members of the Dark Guild had already left Irkutsk when Asmodeus was defeated.

After a final search for survivors, Allen and the others gathered in the city center, their faces grim. A medium-sized city now had only a few thousand survivors left. This meant tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, had been sacrificed. It was no wonder the Dark Magic Group could summon Deliora and Asmodeus.

Laxus punched and shattered the nearby wall. The more he fought the Dark Magic Group, the angrier he became at their actions.

The others weren't in a good mood either. Allen then noticed two little boys, about the same age as Ultear, following behind Ur.

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

Hearing Gray's name, Allen's eyebrows shot up. Is this the convergence of fate? he thought. Even like this, Ur could meet Gray and Lyon.

Looking at the few thousand people in his sight, Allen's head began to ache. Still, he stood on the high platform and asked loudly, "Are there any leaders from before in Irkutsk among you? Or, can anyone step forward to help arrange the upcoming rescue efforts? The Ice Crystal Federation's rescue forces will still take some time to arrive. We need to make our own follow-up arrangements during this period."

Most of these survivors were still in a state of panic and fear. After hearing Allen's question, no one stood up for a moment. It wasn't until a few minutes later that a middle-aged man tremblingly raised his hand and stood up.

"My name is Per Austin. I was a teacher at Irkutsk School before. Some of you might know me. I can lead the establishment of the Irkutsk Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee."

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

Then, intermittent voices came from the crowd. Allen looked curiously at the teacher before him. He saw compassion, sadness, sympathy, and a hint of ambition in Per's eyes.

Allen smiled and pointed at Per, saying, "Then you will establish the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee until the support forces arrive. We'll discuss what happens after that later."

Afterward, under Allen and the others' direction, they first cleared a large open space in the city center for the survivors to live in. Then, they found doctors and cooks among the survivors to join the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Committee.

Watching them regain their confidence step by step, Allen finally showed a smile.

Thus, a week later, the Ice Crystal Federation's support forces arrived. However, when they entered the city, they found that the disaster reported was no longer present. Although the entire city looked empty of people, everything was orderly. It was clear someone was leading them.

Noticing the arrival of the support forces, Allen brought Per forward to welcome them.

Allen saw Horst among the support forces and quickly walked over. Horst had also noticed Allen long ago and then walked out from the crowd.

The two embraced tightly. Looking at Horst's current state, Allen said with a mix of happiness and complaint, "Brother Horst, I'm truly happy to see you in this state, but aren't your support forces a bit slow? With your support speed, Deliora and Asmodeus could have already occupied your capital."

Horst sheepishly rubbed his head. "There was nothing I could do. I contacted our Guild Master immediately, and the Guild Master contacted the leaders in the Federation. But it was then that we learned the Dark Magic Group had already infiltrated the entire Federation. Even the deputy leader was a member of the Dark Magic Group. It took us a long time to clear them out before we could spare the hand to support Mascara and Irkutsk. You all worked hard during this time."

Hearing Horst's words, Allen finally understood that the Dark Magic Group had played a grand game. If it weren't for their arrival, the Ice Crystal Federation would likely have been directly occupied by the group. Allen then waved to Per, signaling him to come 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, and everything you see now is his accomplishment."

Horst and the officer beside him immediately showed respect. The officer stepped forward, extended his right hand to Per, and introduced himself, "I am Igor Vick, an officer of the support forces. Thank you for your hard work."

Per quickly stepped forward and shook Igor's hand, also introducing himself.

Allen looked at this scene and said to them, "Since the support forces have arrived, we will return to Ishgar. Our mission here is only half complete. We still need to continue tracking the Dark Magic Group, so we won't be staying here any longer."

Hearing Allen's sudden farewell, Per and Horst were greatly surprised, especially Per. Without Allen's help during this period, the post-disaster reconstruction would not have gone so smoothly. However, he knew Allen couldn't stay forever, so despite his reluctance, he could only bid Allen farewell.

Horst regretted that he hadn't had time to host a banquet with Allen. Allen laughed heartily and patted Horst's shoulder, saying, "I'll come to Gildarts again in the future. I'll find you for a drink then."

"Alright! It's a deal!"

Allen and the others had already made preparations to leave, waiting only for the arrival of the support forces. After bidding farewell to everyone they had met in the city, Allen and the others decisively left Irkutsk, preparing to head to Elmina and board a ship back to Rainbow Port in Ishgar.

It is worth mentioning that Ur initially didn't want to go to Ishgar; she wanted to continue tracking Brian. However, she was persuaded by Ultear and Allen. Allen said to her, "Ultear and these two boys are still so young. Someone has to take care of them. Don't you want to continue being with Ultear?"

Ultear immediately used her ultimate weapon against her mother – teary eyes, looking at Ur. Ur was instantly captured and could only agree to return to Fairy Tail with Allen.

Three months later, the group, who had been training and sightseeing along the way, finally set foot on the land of Magnolia. Gildarts had parted ways with Allen and the others in Irkutsk, under the guise of taking on a mission to investigate the Dark Magic Group. However, in Allen and Laxus's opinion, he must have wanted to experience the northern scenery.

Unlike their simple departure, their return journey involved transporting many purchased items by cart. Allen and Laxus took turns pulling the cart for a day each, considering it a form of exercise.

On the day they returned to Magnolia, Allen was the one pulling the luggage cart. As he pulled it to the guild's entrance, he saw a little girl holding a dog standing in front of the guild.

Seeing this, Allen quickly used the recording mode on his communicator to secretly take a picture. If I had known it was today, I shouldn't have let Gildarts part ways with them, he thought. I should have let him see his daughter standing pitifully in front of the guild with her dog.

Kanna was hesitating whether to go in when the sky above her suddenly darkened. Then, a voice came from the side.

"Little sister, are you here to find someone, or do you plan to join our guild?"

Startled by the sudden voice while lost in thought, Kanna spun around and was immediately taken aback. A group of people had suddenly appeared behind her! And they were all staring at her.

Kanna was at a loss and her mind went blank, completely unsure how to answer the question. Just then, a mature and steady-looking woman stepped forward from the crowd, playfully flicked the man at the front, and chided, "Allen, you've scared the little sister!" She then shot him a glare.

Following this, the woman gently crouched down, a kind smile on her face, and asked Kanna in a gentle tone, "Little sister, don't be scared. Tell big sister, are you looking for someone?" Kanna nodded reflexively at first, but then quickly shook her head vigorously as if she remembered something, looking both cute and amusing.

Allen, seeing this amusing scene, couldn't help but laugh. He stepped in front of Kanna, bent down, and said with a smile, "Haha, little sister, I think you're here to find someone, right? In that case, come in with me."

Then, Allen walked up to the perpetually closed door and kicked it.

BANG!!!

The door shattered into several pieces. Everyone in the hall looked over with fierce eyes. Upon seeing Allen and Laxus at the front, everyone silently turned their heads back. The atmosphere in the hall was suddenly quiet.

At this moment, Makarov, who was at the bar, also saw Allen and the others. He sat on the bar, waved at Allen, and greeted him, "It's Allen! Come over quickly and tell me about what happened in Gildarts. I couldn't understand everything on the communicator before."