City and Guild

In Magnolia, Fairy Tail held a special meaning for the locals.

As long as they didn't cause too much trouble, the residents couldn't even be bothered to write complaint letters.

Over ninety years ago, before the founding four created Fairy Tail, this city was ruled by a dark guild called "Blue Skull."

A dark guild openly occupying a city, extorting the local populace, and bullying them at will—it was arrogance to the extreme.

But strangely, the Magic Council and the Kingdom of Fiore at the time—one the guardian of order in the magical world, the other Magnolia's nominal direct ruler—

showed no reaction whatsoever, as if they hadn't seen the Magnolia residents living in misery.

It wasn't until the arrival of Fairy Tail's founding four that this dark guild, which had plagued the region, was destroyed.

After crushing "Blue Skull," Mavis, fearing other dark forces would set their sights on the city again, convinced her three companions to establish a magic guild here.

Thus, "Fairy Tail" was born.

In the years that followed, leadership changed hands several times, but Fairy Tail still upheld its original promise to "protect Magnolia."

And because of this, Magnolia's residents and local government held a high degree of goodwill and tolerance toward their "guardian."

Magnolia City Hall.

In the mayor's office, the mayor, past fifty, chattered endlessly to an honored guest about the city's story with "Fairy Tail," his attitude almost sycophantic.

For someone to make a mayor act like this, the visitor must be a figure of great power and influence, right?

Unfortunately, Jude didn't consider himself a man of power. He only had the small Heartfilia Consortium, a wealthy man with just a little bit of money.

Jude turned his head to look at the third person in the mayor's office—a short, elderly man—and spoke with respect:

"Protecting a region, benefiting the locals."

"Guild Master Makarov, your guild is truly great."

Jude's heartfelt praise sounded a bit sarcastic to Makarov's ears.

When Blue Skull was destroyed, Makarov hadn't even been born yet.

As for taking over the guild later, under Makarov's leadership, Fairy Tail had indeed driven off and captured many dark mages with ill intentions, keeping the city peaceful and stable.

But in times of peace, Fairy Tail itself became the biggest problem.

One day they'd tear down a house, the next they'd smash a wall, the day after they'd destroy a bridge...

Since taking the position of guild master, the most letters Makarov received were claims for compensation.

To be honest, when the mayor had been singing the guild's praises just now, Makarov, listening on the sidelines, almost lost his composure.

Where had I been taken?

Was the guild the mayor was hyping up even Fairy Tail...

Though there was some artistic embellishment, Makarov still shamelessly accepted it.

After all, the famous Heartfilia Consortium, which at its peak controlled a third of the railways on the Ishgar continent, was coming to invest in Magnolia.

Rumor had it that the head of this consortium had a bad temper and was a money-first merchant. But meeting him today, Makarov found the man seemed to respect him, though he didn't know why.

"Mr. Jude, why did you think to invest in our Magnolia?"

Seeing Makarov and Jude chatting pleasantly, the mayor's hanging heart settled, and he asked the question on his mind.

Magnolia had no valuable industries or resources; it was just a bit more populous than other cities due to long-term stability.

Logically, a capital-first entity like the Heartfilia Consortium wouldn't even glance at this place.

But not only did they want to invest here, they'd asked the mayor to arrange a meeting with Makarov, giving him great face.

Meeting Makarov and the mayor's questioning gazes, Jude let out a breath. "True, aside from tourism, Magnolia has no other industries worth developing. Investing in this city really doesn't make sense."

"But I didn't come to make money."

A big financier saying he didn't come to make money—that was a rare thing.

If it were the old Jude, he'd never have done this and would have mocked such a foolish, money-losing move.

But now...

Jude said seriously, "Guild Master Makarov, my daughter greatly admires Fairy Tail. Could she join your guild?"

Makarov was taken aback. So all this circling around—investments and whatnot—the real goal was for his daughter.

But a pampered consortium princess, just because of admiration, joining a guild that required fighting and might often get hurt.

Was that appropriate?

"Whether she retreats after a burst of passion or perseveres out of love, that's the child's own choice. All I can do as her father is support her."

Jude's words resonated with Makarov. "I didn't expect Mr. Jude to have such insight. Your daughter must be very happy."

"It's shameful to say, but I'm actually not a good father."

Jude shook his head, a hint of guilt on his face. "If it weren't for your guild's Mr. Noah waking me up, I'd still be that bastard father who ignored and hurt his daughter for money."

"Noah? Mr. Jude, are you sure the Noah you're talking about is a member of Fairy Tail?"

In Makarov's eyes, Noah was a master of slacking off and lying flat. In the months since joining the guild, he'd only completed two requests, one of which he'd been forced to take.

A kid who never even leaves Magnolia—how could he run into a tycoon wealthy enough to rival a nation?

Seeing the confusion on Makarov's face, Jude added, "It seems Mr. Noah didn't tell you. He truly is a noble man."

If that brat counts as "noble," then This Old Man is a saint!

Makarov grumbled inwardly, but on the surface he kept an expression of waiting for Jude to enlighten him.

"My good friend Rena once issued a request to Fairy Tail. I wonder if Master Makarov remembers it. That request was actually Rena's way of helping me."

"I see. I understand."

Old as he was and sharp as a fox, Makarov could roughly piece together the whole story from just that one sentence.

With his doubts resolved, Makarov said no more and agreed on the spot to Jude's request for his daughter "Lucy Heartfilia" to join the guild.

But when Makarov asked when this Heartfilia heiress would be arriving, Jude let out a light chuckle.

"Lucy came to Magnolia with me. Barring any surprises, she should have already reached Fairy Tail by now."

Hearing this, both Makarov and the mayor's expressions flickered with a hint of unease. As the guild master and a local, they knew all too well what Fairy Tail was usually like.

At this point, all they could do was hope those bizarrely-minded brats in the guild would manage to leave at least a decent impression on the tycoon's daughter...