Two years flew by in the blink of an eye, enough for many things to change.
For instance, Blanc, once a tiny little kid, had grown into a fresh-faced, handsome youth. Meanwhile, Natsu and Erza had ventured ever further down the path of demolition and destruction, showing signs of becoming the "twin terrors of the Magic Council's blacklist."
Morning at the Fairy Tail guild was as sunny as ever, and the air was, as always, filled with the smell of alcohol and boundless energy.
After entering the guild, Blanc looked around, searching for a particular figure.
Before long, he spotted his target-a boy with a shaved head and three scars on his cheek sat behind a table, enthusiastically crunching away at its corner with his mouth wide open. Between bites, he indistinctly bragged to his companion about the new infiltration tricks he had learned.
"Mest!" Blanc called, smiling as he waved.
Mest turned toward the voice. Seeing Blanc waving at him, he said a few words to his companion before walking over.
"This is about infusing magic, right? Have you got your card ready?"
"Yeah. Sorry for the trouble." Blanc took a blank card shimmering with a mysterious glow from his clothes.
"No big deal." The two then found an open space and began making the card.
"Teleportation Magic! Get!" Blanc raised the card in his hand and cheered.
Blanc had asked Mest to make teleportation cards not to bolster his strength, but to prepare for major events down the line-first and foremost, the Beast King incident that would take place two years later.
After all, Blanc had no way of knowing when the Beast King mission would begin. Even setting aside whether he could stop taking missions two years from now and keep a constant eye on the girls, Mira was so proud that she probably would not let him join them even if he caught them in time. She might even take it as an insult to her abilities and give him a beating.
That was where teleportation magic came in.
Blanc had specially prepared small pieces of equipment fashioned into jewelry, wrist guards, and the like, then distributed them to everyone. There had even been a small incident while he was handing out the gifts.
Each piece had a defensive spell built into it, which would activate upon a fatal injury, along with teleportation coordinates. Blanc would be able to sense the defense activating and teleport straight over to save them.
The only problem was that using them this way was rather expensive. The teleportation magic inscribed on the cards certainly would not withstand an extremely long-distance teleport, so a single use would probably ruin the card.
And the materials used to make cards capable of holding powerful spells like teleportation magic were precious. Blanc had spent practically all the savings he had accumulated over the past few years on them.
Still, they should be enough. Aside from Lisanna's incident, he probably would not need them at any other time.
Then, visibly moved, he patted Mest on the shoulder.
"Sorry for the trouble, Mest. Your magic has a really important role to play!"
Blanc's praise instantly went to Mest's head, and he waved a hand smugly.
"No problem. It's nothing. Even a few more would be fine."
Blanc's gentle expression changed in an instant, becoming the smile of a hunter eyeing easy prey. "Really? That's wonderful." Like a magician, he promptly drew a thick stack of prepared blank cards from his sleeve. There had to be at least a dozen.
"I was just wondering how to ask you about the rest. Since you're feeling so energetic, shall we keep going?"
Mest's eyes instantly went dead. Staring at the stack of cards, he wished he could slap himself. But a boast was like spilled water-there was no taking it back. With tears in his eyes, he could only accept the cards and begin wringing every last drop from his magic power.
Just as Mest transformed into a "soulless worker," heavy footsteps sounded from the stairs leading to the second floor.
Laxus came down holding a mission request. Having become an S-Class Mage two years earlier, he had grown even more powerfully built, but his gaze had become increasingly cold.
As Laxus approached, Blanc smiled and greeted him.
"Hey, Laxus."
Laxus did not even slow down. He merely snorted, shot Blanc an intimidating sidelong glance, and walked straight out of the guild.
"Ah, Laxus really is getting colder by the day." Macao, who had witnessed the whole exchange, could not help shaking his head with a sigh.
Wakaba came over too, blowing a smoke ring. "Yeah. Everyone used to keep bringing up how he was the Guild Master's grandson, and he was desperate to prove himself. That was when he started talking less and less."
"Now, with Ivan being expelled from the guild on top of that, he's become even more extreme. He can't even hold a civil conversation anymore."
Looking toward the doors, Blanc chimed in, "I hope he can move past it soon. Still, he's strong enough that a little prickly pride could count as a charming quirk? Though he really does deserve a beating."
While his thoughts wandered, Guild Master Makarov suddenly popped his head out from behind the counter and beckoned with a serious expression. "Blanc, come here a moment."
"Hm? An urgent S-Class Mission?" Sitting on a round stool beside the counter, Blanc frowned slightly at the special commission bearing the Magic Council's official seal that the Guild Master slid toward him.
"Yes. This time, it has to be you." Guild Master Makarov sighed deeply, rubbing his temples as he complained.
"Gildarts is completely wrapped around his daughter's finger now. Cana comes first in everything. He won't take a mission unless he can bring her, won't take anything dangerous, and certainly won't take anything that lasts too long! He spends every day circling the nearby towns. We can't count on him."
Blanc's mouth twitched as he pictured Gildarts spending all day fussing over Cana.
"As for Laxus... you saw him yourself. He goes his own way now and refuses to cooperate. I can't talk him around anymore." The Guild Master spread his hands helplessly. "So the only available, dependable S-Class Mage left in the guild is you."
"What kind of mission is it that can't wait even a moment?" Blanc opened the request curiously.
"This incident is rather strange. It involves some ancient ruins that suddenly appeared. You're to investigate what's causing the widespread anomalies around the ruins and resolve it. Unknown ancient magic is involved, and the affected area keeps expanding, so it needs to be dealt with urgently."
After hearing the details, Blanc looked conflicted. This sounded like an exceptionally troublesome mission. He casually pushed the request back.
"Guild Master, you know me. Missions with this many unknowns that sound like trouble right from the start aren't my thing! Why not try asking Gildarts?"
Hearing that Blanc intended to refuse, Guild Master Makarov's helpless expression vanished. In the next instant, his eyes reddened visibly.
"Blanc-!!"
The Guild Master suddenly let out an utterly heartrending wail, jumped down from the counter, and clung to Blanc's leg.
"You can't just leave me to die! Look at all this white hair! Look at this back of mine, growing more hunched by the day from writing apology reports!"
The Guild Master wiped nonexistent tears with his sleeve, his voice trembling like a candle flickering in the wind.
"Gildarts only has eyes for Cana now. If I dared separate that father and daughter, he'd tear all of Magnolia apart! Laxus rebels against me every day. He won't even spare this old man a proper look..."
As he sobbed, the Guild Master secretly studied Blanc's expression through his fingers. Seeing that Blanc remained unmoved, he steeled himself and unleashed his ultimate finishing move-letting go of Blanc's leg, he flopped onto his back and began rolling around in a tantrum.
"Boo-hoo... Fairy Tail is finished! All the young people despise the guild now! They despise this old man! If nobody takes this mission, those old fools at the Magic Council will definitely use it as an excuse to cut the guild's mission quota!"
"Then we'll have no missions and no funds! Everyone will be too poor to afford even the cheapest booze! After living to this age, am I really going to end up taking the children out into the streets to beg? Oh, heavens, I can't go on! I'll throw myself into Natsu's flames and end it all right now..."
Watching this normally imposing member of the Ten Wizard Saints rolling around on the floor like a three-year-old, several passing guild members silently turned away, pretending not to know their embarrassing Guild Master.
Blanc's eye twitched violently. He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to kick the Guild Master across the room as a vein throbbed at his temple. "Enough, enough! Guild Master! Drop the terrible acting! Natsu isn't even back yet! And you haven't shed a single tear!"
"If you don't agree, I'm not getting up!" The Guild Master lay on the floor, shamelessly refusing to budge.
"Stop! I'll take it! I'll take it, all right?" Rubbing his aching temples, Blanc surrendered completely to the shameless old man. To end the farce, he hurriedly snatched up the mission request.
Guild Master Makarov sprang up from the floor in an instant. His tears and misery vanished without a trace, and he even expertly dusted off his backside before flashing the sly grin of an old fox whose scheme had succeeded.
"As expected of the guild's finest young man! I knew I was right about you. Our funds and this old life of mine are all in your hands!"
Blanc's mouth twitched. He had known it was an act all along, but the Guild Master really did switch gears fast.
Before Guild Master Makarov could show a satisfied smile, however, the guild doors burst open with a bang.
"Guild Master, bad news! Natsu burned down a forest on his mission! A letter from the Magic Council just arrived, demanding that you pay enormous damages immediately and submit a ten-thousand-word apology report!!"
Thud.
The sly grin froze on Guild Master Makarov's face. In that instant, he seemed to hear his wallet and soul shattering together.
The old man, brimming with energy only moments before, lost every trace of color. Turning into a gray-white stone statue, he dropped to his knees before the counter with a thud and roared in despair.
"What-?! That little bastard Natsu!! I haven't even finished the apology report for Erza smashing the Town Memorial Statue last week!! My back is going to break!!"
The guild immediately grew lively. Everyone even began placing well-practiced bets on how many liters of blood the Guild Master would cough up in fury this time.
Blanc, however, calmly stepped forward and considerately reached out to stroke the Guild Master's back, comforting him in a gentle voice. "Guild Master, don't get so worked up. Anger is bad for your health. We need to learn to see things from another angle and look on the bright side."
Guild Master Makarov raised his head shakily, tears glistening in his eyes. "It's one disaster after another! What bright side could there possibly be?!"
Blanc struck his palm with his fist and said with a sincerity that suggested the Guild Master had just struck it rich.
"Look, Guild Master. Now you can combine both apology reports into one, use the same template to write them together, and submit them together. Not only do you save the time it would take to write another report, you also save yourself a trip to the Magic Council to get it stamped! Isn't that a good thing?"
The guild fell silent for a second.
Then Guild Master Makarov's body began expanding wildly. Finally, he turned into an enormous giant and roared at Blanc, veins bulging.
"How is any of that a good thing-?! Are you trying to anger me to death so you can inherit my position as Guild Master?! Get out there and do your mission-!!"
Amid the gusts and roars stirred up by the Guild Master, Blanc slipped away with a hearty laugh. Scooping up the stack of cards Mest had just finished, he hummed a little tune and strolled leisurely toward the guild doors under the Guild Master's fiery glare.