Guild Master Candidate

The next day, Makarov went to the Magic Council to wrap up the aftermath of the incident. When it was over, he chatted with Yajima off to the side.

"You should thank me, old Makarov! I did everything I could to defend you. I used up every favor I had, or you wouldn't have been declared innocent."

Makarov waved a hand dismissively. "No need for thanks between us. Once the guild is rebuilt, I'll treat you to ramen."

"I helped you settle such a huge matter, and you're only treating me to ramen?!"

"I want a feast!"

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll have Ye catch a big fish and some game. We'll throw a party!"

"By the way, Ye's matter was thanks to you too. With the way those people are, there was no way they would've agreed to let him become one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"It wasn't me, old Makarov. It was that young man Siegrain who made the proposal."

"He said there were too many old men in the Ten Wizard Saints, people who had held the title for far too long and could no longer represent its strength. It was time to bring in some fresh blood."

Makarov frowned. That young man looked exactly like Mystogan. At first, Makarov had even thought they were the same person.

"But I always feel that young man has deep schemes. He seems to be hiding some unspeakable secret."

"Let's not talk about that, old Makarov. This time, Ye was the only reason the matter could be resolved. Otherwise, your body really might not have been able to take it." As Makarov's old friend, Yajima naturally knew that Makarov had overused that magic when he was younger. Now that he was over eighty, his body had long since declined.

"It's time you considered retirement. With Ye in the guild, you can rest easy."

"When have I not wanted to? But that brat clearly has no intention of taking over the guild right now. I think we should wait a little longer."

"That's true. Young people have their own paths to walk."

Guild construction site

Early that morning, everyone in the guild began rebuilding Fairy Tail.

"Happy, look how much wood I'm carrying!" Natsu trudged forward with difficulty, one step at a time.

Gray carried a log over to Natsu. "Who told you to carry so much at once? Are you an idiot?!"

Natsu scoffed. "That's because you can't do it. One log is your limit!"

"What did you say, bastard?!"

Unwilling to admit defeat, Gray picked up twice as much wood as Natsu. His legs trembled as he said, "Well? I'm carrying... more... than you..."

At that moment, a light breeze blew past. Like the last straw that broke the camel's back, all the wood on Gray's shoulder fell to the ground.

Natsu laughed mockingly. "Happy! Did you see that? So embarrassing! Hahahaha!"

Erza ran past them from the side. "Stop playing around and get back to work!" As she spoke, she jogged away carrying twice as much wood as Gray had just been carrying.

Natsu and Gray stared wide-eyed at the sight before them, a sense of defeat rising in both their hearts.

Then a noisy commotion came from the distance.

"Bang! What did you say?! Say that again!" The outburst startled everyone.

"Since everyone is here, I'll say it properly one more time!"

"The guild doesn't need weaklings. Even a guild like Phantom Lord dared to provoke us. I'm ashamed whenever I go out."

Gray retorted, "Why are you acting so arrogant the moment you get here? When the guild was in trouble, did you lift a finger?!"

Laxus looked at the guild being rebuilt. "Look at this place. This used to be the famous Fairy Tail guild, but Phantom Lord beat it so badly that we don't even have a guild building anymore! When I saw it in the papers, I was truly too embarrassed to say I was a Fairy Tail mage."

Mira explained, "There were hardly any people here at the time. Ye only managed to stop them because he came back in time. Nobody wanted the guild to be destroyed. This place carries too many beautiful memories."

"At the end of the day, you're all too weak. If the guild had been strong enough to make others fear it, none of this would have happened. Phantom Lord wouldn't have come looking for trouble either. It's all because weaklings like you are dragging down Fairy Tail's reputation!"

"Once I take over the guild, I'll drive out every weakling and everyone who defies me!"

"I'll build the strongest guild, one that stands above all others! Hahahahaha!"

Ye casually tossed a pair of gloves into Laxus's hands.

"Then work hard. Build the strongest guild yourself. But it's true, the old guild was getting worn out. I wonder which bastard built it, cutting corners everywhere. It broke down at the slightest thing."

After saying that, he walked away without looking back.

Everyone froze at the awkward scene before them.

"Uh... right, I still have cement to mix."

"Ah, right, I still have bricks to carry."

"My cat seems to have given birth. I need to go home and check."

"Hey, the one whose cat gave birth, I've been wanting to raise one lately. Take me to see them."

Everyone found an excuse and left, leaving Laxus behind alone.

The anger in Erza's heart also completely dissipated because of Ye's actions. She left behind only one sentence.

"The guild belongs to everyone. Even if you carried a single brick here, it would sound better than everything you just said."

Laxus's face changed from yellow to green, green to red, red to purple, and purple to black. It grew increasingly ugly.

"Ye!! You bastard!"

"Crackle!"

The gloves in his hands instantly turned to ash!

After throwing away the gloves, Laxus left without looking back.

Ever since he learned that Ye had become one of the Ten Wizard Saints, he had been extremely unhappy. He was the one who should have inherited the Fairy Tail guild, yet Ye was better than him in every way. The guild master cared for Ye even more than he cared for his own grandson, and Ye had a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate.

Now Ye had even claimed one of Ishgar's Ten Wizard Saints titles. After all, Laxus's grandfather was one of the Ten Wizard Saints. If a guild master was not one of the Ten Wizard Saints, how could that guild possibly be the strongest?

Laxus's desire to defeat Ye grew even stronger.

After Laxus left, everyone gathered together again.

Lucy said, "How can he act like that? He didn't contribute anything, yet he talks about everyone like that."

"How can Fairy Tail be handed over to someone like him? He doesn't consider the guild members at all."

Although Lucy had not met Laxus many times, she still disliked people like him.

Mira said, "It's not impossible. He is the guild master's grandson, after all. There's still a chance he could inherit the guild."

"Ahh, how can that be?! I don't want that!"

"I only said it was possible. The most likely candidate is still Ye. Whether it's his strength or his achievements, he is the strongest."

Lucy imagined Ye becoming guild master. Perhaps it would not be Phantom Lord attacking Fairy Tail, but the other way around—Ye leading a group into Phantom Lord and personally killing Jose.

Ye saw that everyone had misunderstood Laxus.

He slowly said, "Lucy, you're wrong about that."

Lucy asked in confusion, "What am I wrong about?!"

"Laxus and Mystogan destroyed most of Phantom Lord's branches."

"What?! How is that possible?!" everyone cried out.

"It's true. You didn't think Phantom Lord only had that few people, did you? There were actually far more."

"Laxus is like a child who never grew up. In truth, more than anyone in the guild, he wants the guild to do well. He's just a little extreme in how he acts, and his obsession runs too deep. That's why he became like this."

As everyone listened to Ye's explanation, they learned things they had never known before.

"Alright! Now that everyone understands, don't blame Laxus anymore. Just treat it as him venting. Go back to work."

That night, Makarov sat alone beside the guild, lost in thought.

"Retirement, huh..."

Thinking of the guild's S-Class mages, Laxus is immature, Gildarts is a wanderer, Erza isn't ready, and Ye that brat... they're all passable. But I still can't shake this feeling of unease.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll stay on for a few more years. Hahaha."

Ye's home

He opened the template.

Age: 19

Height: 192

Yujiro Hanma: 73% (Hanma Bloodline, Yujiro's martial arts, Demon Back, Force Release, suit, Ghostly Wail)

Armament Haki: Advanced (hardening, coating, emission)

Observation Haki: Advanced (perception, extended range, future sight)

Conqueror's Haki: Advanced (intimidation, coating)

Kamehameha: (depends on the amount of energy added)

Self-created martial arts: (Energy Bullet, Heaven-Guard Kick, Six Powers, Eight Gates)

Ye looked at the template before him and realized that since the plot had begun, it had increased by three percentage points.

As early as two years ago, Ye had discovered that he could create techniques based on his memories. However, he had to explore them step by step himself. Even now, he had only created four extremely useful and powerful martial arts techniques from his past life.

"I wonder what ability I'll gain at one hundred percent."

Mira woke up and found Ye staring at the ceiling, muttering to himself. She turned over, hugged his arm, rested her head against his chest, and softly asked,

"What's wrong? What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

Ye then wrapped an arm around Mira and fell asleep.

Mira looked at the young man before her, nuzzled against him, and drifted back to sleep.