Hughes Arrested

The sound of heavy, pounding footsteps came from outside the guild, interspersed with the clatter of armor and the clang of spears hitting the ground.

"Listen up, you inside! You are surrounded by the First Custody Enforcement Unit! Release the envoy from the Magic Council immediately!"

The commotion, far exceeding anything seen before, frightened the residents of Magnolia Town, who quickly distanced themselves from the Fairy Tail guild, fearing they might get caught up in the drama.

"These guild members are never able to give us a moment's peace..." the townspeople, secretly observing with curiosity from afar, thought to themselves.

Inside the guild, everyone looked at each other, completely bewildered.

As veteran mages, Macao and the other guild elders recognized the Toad Messenger from the Magic Council.

They were completely baffled. Why did Natsu bring this unlucky thing back to the guild, and why did he drag it along?

To put it bluntly, no legitimate mage guild would welcome Toad messenger from the Magic Council.

Because 99% of the news they bring is bad, especially now that they've brought the First Custody Enforcement Unit to Fairy Tail.

"You haven't done anything against the Magic Council's rules lately, have you?" Macao asked quietly after reflecting on his own actions.

The Magic Council is making such a big fuss; they're probably going to arrest someone. Hopefully, it's not someone from the guild.

Gildarts's lips twitched. Why did everyone turn to look at him after Macao said that? Was he really that despicable in everyone's eyes?

"No, I haven't destroyed any towns lately, nor have I started dating anyone new!" Gildarts said helplessly.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The guild's number one suspect had been behaving himself lately, so it was unlikely that he was here to arrest someone from their guild.

At this moment, the Toad messenger lying on the ground was also feeling frustrated. It had been so long, why hadn't anyone come to help it up?

When out in public, it represents the face of the Magic Council; how dare these people treat it with such contempt?

Does Makarov, this "Ten Wizard Saints," actually know how to manage the guild? If not, he should just retire.

No wonder the other messengers refused to come to Fairy Tail; it initially thought there was no profit to be made there.

Unexpectedly, this guild turned out to be a completely insane one. Before they even reached the Fairy Tail guild, they saw two mages with the Fairy Tail guild crests fighting in the street.

As a righteous messenger of the Magic Council, it immediately stepped forward and ordered the two to stop.

The Toad messenger assured that it did so not to show the nearby people its righteousness, but to protect their property from loss.

As a result, the two mages saw it as if they had seen some rare species, their eyes sparkling like stars.

The boy who used fire grabbed it and ran away while laughing.

***, if you're sick, just say so earlier. If I had known those two mages were mentally unstable, I wouldn't have stepped in to stop them.

The Toad messenger was inwardly grumbling, while Makarov and the others looked puzzled.

Why isn't this Toad getting up? Does it need someone to help it up?

Ha, so pretentious. You're obviously a newbie. Even the old Toad messenger knows what to do when he comes to Fairy Tail.

This is the reputation built up by three successive Fairy Tail guild masters...

Makarov coughed twice, then said, "Esteemed messenger, what brings you to Fairy Tail?"

At this moment, the First Custody Enforcement Unit outside the guild could no longer contain themselves. Why hadn't the people inside responded to them at all for so long?

Fearing something might happen to the Toad Messenger, they slammed their spears into the ground, creating a loud clanging sound as both a reminder and a warning. Then, in formation, they stormed into the Fairy Tail guild, whose gates were wide open.

Looking at the First Custody Enforcement Unit standing behind him, the Toad Envoy immediately felt more confident.

Hmph, since they won't help me up, I'll get up myself...

The arrogance on the Toad messenger's face returned. He straightened his clothes, his Toad eyes looking up at the sky, and was about to announce the decision of the speaker and members of parliament when he was interrupted again.

Hughes suddenly spoke, his eyes deep and unfathomable. He pointed to the Toad messenger's Toad eyes and said, "Have you noticed? It has cross-eyed eyes! A Toad with cross-eyed eyes, hahaha!"

... The atmosphere fell silent instantly, and Macao and the others frowned as they looked at Hughes.

Seeing that he was the only one laughing, Hughes's laughter gradually faded.

"Uh, isn't it funny?" Hughes nudged Macao and asked, puzzled.

Macao scratched his head and explained to Hughes, "Well, the Toad Messengers' eyes are very flexible and can move freely; sometimes they expand their field of vision and enhance their dynamic vision by moving their eyes; so it's quite normal for Toad Messengers to have crossed eyes."

After hearing Macao's explanation, Hughes paused slightly and could only mumble a vague reply.

Damn, this is a bit embarrassing!

The Toad Messenger, his defenses breached by Hughes's ignorant remarks, roared at Makarov, "Makarov, look at your guild members! It's one thing to be ignorant and inexperienced, but to embarrass yourselves like this! What's wrong with cross-eyed Toad? Which Toad doesn't cross its eyes?"

The Toad messenger roared with its neck stiffened, its distinctive cross-eyed expression and arrogant demeanor exuding a sense of vulnerability.

Make the whole Toad look funny and make people laugh.

Macao, who has a very low threshold for laughter, couldn't help but burst out laughing first.

This laugh was like turning on a tap, causing everyone around to burst into laughter, even the First Custody Enforcement Unit behind the Toad Envoy could faintly chuckle.

"What's so funny!" Hughes said, slightly annoyed. Was she laughing at his ignorance, or was she really laughing at Toad?

Macao laughed so hard he could barely lift his head, and could only put his arm around Hughes's shoulder to explain, "Hughes, I wasn't laughing at you, the point is the Toad Messenger's look and demeanor just now were really funny!"

"Yeah, it's really funny," the others said with a laugh.

The Toad messenger, Hong Wen, glanced around. If this lousy guild ever comes again, he'll punish it so it'll never get to eat swan meat again.

Seeing that the Fairy Tail members were still laughing, the Toad Envoy clapped his hands angrily and pointed at Hughes, saying, "It's you! Come back to the Magic Council with us!"

"Hey, Toad, I'm the only one here who didn't laugh at you. You can't arrest me just because I didn't laugh, can you? Or should I make up for it?" Hughes stared at himself, dumbfounded, and asked in surprise.

If you don't laugh, you'll get caught. Does this Toad have some kind of special hobby?

"What Toad? You are the Toad Messenger! You are suspected of damaging the territories of the Kingdom of Fiore and the Kingdom of Bosco, which is a serious violation of the Magic Council's regulations. You need to be investigated!"

Although the Toad messenger was angry, he explained the situation to Hughes and then waved his hand behind him.

A man from the First Custody Enforcement Unit stepped out from behind, holding handcuffs made of Magic Sealing Stone, and handcuffed Hughes directly.