There are also forbidden areas in sects?

"Laxus?" Mira stood in front of Rhode, blocking him with an outstretched arm.

"Rhode is a comrade who just joined the guild yesterday. He was just practicing magic."

"Magic? That? Don't make me laugh!" Laxus sneered. "What use is such pitifully weak magic?"

Warm shivered in fear. Rhode frowned; this was the person with the worst attitude he had ever encountered in the guild.

Even Ms. Porlyusica, who claimed to hate humans, was incredibly attentive when taking care of the injured.

This person, however, seemed to genuinely dislike him...

No, it wasn't dislike, it felt more like contempt. He seemed to exude an air of superiority.

Rhode, being new, didn't want to cause trouble. "If I disturbed you just now, I apologize."

"As expected, not just his magic, but his personality is also pathetically weak... I really don't know why the old man keeps guys like this around."

Laxus looked down from above. This time, he wasn't just speaking to Rhode, nor just to Mira.

"There are already too many weaklings in Fairy Tail. Why do these guys have the right to be my comrades? Huh?"

These words angered many people in the tavern, especially Natsu and Gray.

The two, who had been behaving themselves under Erza's suppression, slammed their fists on the table and stood up. "What did you say?"

The sound of tankards hitting tables echoed from other tables, and everyone glared unhappily at the blonde young man upstairs.

"Laxus is still like this!"

Erza stopped her casual chat with her friends and said with a cold expression, "No matter what, saying something like that is too much, Laxus."

Laxus's gaze met Erza's, and the atmosphere became tense. "Oh? Erza, are you going to defend these weak—"

"Enough!" Makarov, who had apparently woken up from his drunken stupor, produced a quest request.

"Laxus, there's a mission here that specifically requests you. Go take care of it."

"..." Laxus looked at Makarov, who didn't even glance up at him.

He let out a soft snort, went downstairs, picked up the quest, and turned to leave. "Boring."

Everyone watched Laxus leave, feeling more or less displeased with him.

Natsu looked indignant, as if he wanted to rush forward and fight at any moment, but Gray hooked his arm around his neck, holding him back firmly.

In a corner of the tavern, two men and one woman silently got up and followed Laxus.

The atmosphere in the tavern cooled down with their departure. After a while, everyone gradually sat down again, and voices began to fill the space.

"Sorry for causing trouble, everyone."

Rhode felt that Laxus might have issues, but the conflict today started because of him. He decided it would be better to practice in the yard next time.

"It has nothing to do with you. That guy has always been like this," Laki said with a pout. "If he weren't the Master's grandson, he would have been kicked out long ago..."

"Laki!" Mira stopped her from continuing. Seeing Laxus like this, the Master must have been suffering more than anyone.

"He's the Master's grandson?" Rhode compared the tall and upright Laxus with the short and sturdy Master.

He couldn't tell.

"That's right, he's my grandson, but..." Makarov gazed in the direction of the guild's main entrance.

"I'm sorry, Laxus turning out like this is my responsibility. Don't mind what he said."

"No, no, you don't need to apologize..." Rhode could pretty much guess what was going on.

Going by the usual story tropes, this kid probably grew up hearing things like 'As expected of the Master's grandson,' and developed a rebellious streak.

It might not have been much at first, but over time, he started wanting to gain recognition through 'his own' abilities, rather than as 'the Master's grandson.'

Konohamaru from the next series seemed to be like that.

Laxus's difference was that his rebellion lasted quite a long time, and it seemed to have gone a bit off track.

Rhode tried to recall, but he couldn't remember anything related to Laxus.

However, since Tatsuya said it would be a happy ending, this kid would probably be able to correct himself...

The guild gradually returned to its usual liveliness.

—

The sun began to set, and night fell.

Lights had been lit in the guild, and only a few scattered customers remained in the tavern, drinking and chatting.

Rhode was preparing to start sweeping with Laki.

"I'll take care of the downstairs today," Laki said apologetically. "Because I came in so late this morning."

Rhode said, "Then I'll go upstairs."

Laki stopped him. "No, the upstairs is reserved for Mira-jie to clean."

"Huh?" Rhode asked in confusion. "It's the same if I do it. Mira also worked hard today."

"It's no if it's no," Laki said. "The guild has a rule that no one other than a few recognized individuals is allowed on the second floor."

"……Why?"

This was just like a wuxia novel, complete with forbidden areas for gangs?

"Because there's a special bulletin board on the second floor with extremely difficult S-Class missions," Laki explained.

"The rewards are substantial, but you could lose your life if you're not careful. That's why only S-Class Mages are allowed to take missions on the second floor."

S-Class Mage. Rhode guessed they were probably the strongest few in the guild.

He asked, "But that still doesn't justify forbidding people from going upstairs, does it?"

Laki said helplessly, "Because there are too many reckless people in the guild."

"That's true." Rhode thought about the guild members' behavior and immediately understood the rule.

Take Natsu, for example. He was so impetuous, and being the protagonist, who knew if he'd sneak off to take an S-Class mission one day.

This rule was probably made specifically for him.

No wonder only the most level-headed Mira was allowed upstairs among the waitresses.

"By the way, how many S-Class Mages are there in the guild? Who's the strongest?"

"Hmm…" Laki thought for a moment. "Putting the Master aside, the strongest is probably that Uncle, but he's been out on a mission and hasn't returned to the guild for two years."

"Two years? What kind of mission takes that long?" Rhode asked, surprised and worried. "Could he have run into some danger…"

"No, no…" Laki immediately waved her hands to deny it. "That Mr. Gildarts is as strong as a monster. I don't know what the mission is, but he's the only one who absolutely wouldn't have any accidents."

It seemed that Uncle was quite trusted by Laki, so Rhode stopped worrying unnecessarily. "Then, besides him?"

"Besides him, there are Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, and…"

Laki corrected herself, "No, right now it's just those three. As for who's the strongest, I'm not sure."

"You've already met Laxus and Erza. As for Mystogan… you probably won't get to see him. It seems only the Master knows his true identity in the entire guild."

Another mysterious person, Rhode silently noted down Mystogan's name.

The most troublesome was Laxus.

Rhode was still thinking about when he could help the Master teach his unruly grandson a lesson, so he wouldn't always carry himself with such arrogance.

But then he thought about his current summoning magic – Poro, Canyon Swiftclaw.

It seemed that wouldn't be accomplished in the short term.