Makarov Was That Kind of Person?!

Hughes's brazen provocation brought the guild's atmosphere to a sudden standstill. Natsu and the others exchanged vicious grins, and magic began flowing through each of them.

"Hey! Hey! Hey, the guild was just rebuilt!"

Makarov set down the glass in his hand at the bar and sighed.

His words brought the worked-up members to their senses. Hughes stared at them, and they stared back, awkwardly finding themselves unable to back down.

Makarov wasn't the kind of master to spoil the fun. After sighing, he spoke again.

"Fight, fight! How could this be Fairy Tail without some commotion? Consider it a welcome for Hughes, Mira, Lisanna, and Elfman joining the guild."

"But no magic, and Hughes, you can't use your flame ability either."

"Put some effort into it! Hughes has a very strong physique!"

Makarov's permission made everyone's eyes light up, and they eagerly began rolling up their sleeves again.

"Oh, I'm fired up!"

The hot-tempered fire dragon took the lead, leaping out of the crowd. He clenched his little fist in midair and swung it straight at Hughes's face.

Hughes had always liked opponents who fought with such big, sweeping movements.

Why? Because he didn't have to use his brain, of course!

Hughes shifted his feet, moving his whole body, and tilted his neck to the side, easily dodging Natsu's fist.

"Kid, you've still got a lot to learn!"

Hughes opened his hand palm-up and grabbed Natsu's scarf. After giving him a ride on the merry-go-round, he hurled Natsu away like a cannonball.

Makarov's gaze followed Natsu's flight. A moment later, he pressed a hand to his heart. Just like that, a huge hole had been smashed through the roof of the newly rebuilt guild.

He'd been so stupid to think that forbidding Natsu and the others from using magic would keep them from damaging the guild...

"Take it easy, you bastards! The guild was just rebuilt!"

Makarov's roar was like background noise, automatically filtered out by Natsu and the others before it could reach their ears.

Of course, there was one more person to add to that list now.

Caught up in the fun, Hughes glanced behind him. Wakaba and Macao had already crept up on him.

Hughes was about to deal with them when Erza and Gray charged in from the right.

On the left, a group of guild members whose names Hughes didn't know converged on him as well, attacking together.

Well, look at that. They're even using feints...

In that case... Tekkai.

With Perfect-Level Tekkai covering his entire body, Hughes advanced instead of retreating, charging with a vicious grin toward the larger group on the left.

"Bang!"

People immediately went sprawling in the crowd, with some thrown into the air.

"Ah! So hard, Hughes is so hard!"

"That hurts! Go easy!"

"I can't take it anymore..."

Protected by Perfect-Level Tekkai and with his physical abilities enhanced twice by the system, Hughes charged in and out, crushing their resistance and beating them into surrender.

What a joke. He had a cheat, so why would he fear more opponents?

Hughes folded his arms across his chest and looked at Gray, Macao, and the others, who had slowed their steps. "Do you want to dance too?"

"??"

"What are you talking about, Hughes? We're here to help our family!!" Macao declared forcefully as he helped the uninjured Wakaba up and pretended to withdraw from the battlefield.

"So are we!!"

"Hughes, let's fight again!"

Another expert??

Macao and the others paused what they were doing and looked behind them hopefully, only to see Natsu blasted away by Hughes once again.

It's Natsu. That figures... Seeing no hope of defeating Hughes, the group continued pretending as they withdrew from the battlefield.

Makarov watched as the brand-new guild slowly fell into disrepair under the wanton destruction caused by Hughes and the others.

He felt his retirement savings were about to shrink again.

Mira, who hadn't joined the battle, finally remembered what she needed to do after dodging several slippers of unknown origin.

She crossed the smoke-filled battlefield, took out the folded bill she was carrying, and handed it to Makarov, whose expression wasn't looking good.

"Master, Granny Porlyusica asked me to give you this."

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..." Makarov's voice grew shakier the further he counted. He didn't understand why Hughes's medical expenses had cost 20 million J.

[Mental Stabilizing Potion: 1 million J each, 20 in total.]

[Nutritional Potion: 1 million J each, 3 in total.]

"It should have been 23 million J, but Granny Porlyusica gave you a discount and only charged 20 million J," Mira helpfully reminded him.

"It's gone, it's gone, my pension is gone..." As Makarov gradually turned into a stone statue, his heart died along with it.

"Actually, Master, you can make Hughes pay for it! You can cover it for him now and deduct it from his commission rewards later!"

Mira's suggestion brought Makarov back to life, and he looked at her in disbelief.

"Mi... Mira, Hughes hasn't offended you, has he?"

Twenty million J was no small sum. Even with the strength Hughes had shown so far, it would take him at least several years to pay it off, even if he worked himself to the bone taking jobs.

Mira smiled. She understood Hughes. He was wild and unrestrained, a person who pursued freedom, and he needed some serious restraints to keep him by their side.

"Master, you mustn't tell him it was my suggestion!"

Makarov swallowed. Mira scared him a little when she was like this.

"Mira, you're only thirteen. It's too early to be thinking about those things!"

"Huh? Master, what are you talking about?"

Elsewhere, Hughes had his right foot on the future Titania and his left foot on the dragon's son. Behind him, the guild members were piled up in a mess.

"Zehahahaha!"

Hughes laughed wildly, looking as though he regarded all the heroes in the world as worthless and unable to withstand a single blow.

Sure enough, if you were going to bully people, you had to start when they were young.

"Hughes, let me go! Let's go again!"

Natsu squirmed beneath Hughes's foot. Erza, meanwhile, had long since lowered her head, too ashamed to face anyone.

As a girl, she still had a sense of shame.

"You slant-eyed flame idiot, we only lost so badly because you went wild."

Gray lay under the pile of people, speaking aggressively.

"Hah, droopy eyes, isn't it because you're too weak?!"

The two glared at each other from a distance, hurling insults back and forth.

Hughes moved his feet away. "Natsumon, I choose you! Go! How can the power of fire lose to ice?"

"Ah, thanks, Hughes! I'm fired up..."

Natsu, who had been forbidden from using fire, put on an evil grin and walked toward Gray, who was pinned firmly in place.

A paintbrush had mysteriously appeared in his hand, and who knew where he had pulled it from.

"Hehe!"

Before long, Gray's face was covered in a bunch of unrecognizable drawings.

"Bastards, get off me already!" Humiliated by Natsu, Gray trembled with anger as cold air rose from his body.

"Damn it, Gray, you'll freeze my little guy!" Macao, who had been piled on top of Gray by Hughes, covered himself down below and punched Gray in the forehead.

"Huh? Macao, you want to fight?"

"Huh? Gray, did Natsu's fire burn all the water out of your brain?"

"Ah! Macao, you think my fire is stronger than Gray's ice too!" The smile on Natsu's face was excessively radiant.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Hughes scratched his head. He didn't understand why Natsu and the others had started fighting again. And hadn't Erza been lying at his feet?

When had she gotten over there?

"Hughes, come here. Let me show you a nice treasure!" Makarov stood on the bar and beckoned Hughes over.

"Master, I don't want to see your stick or your goldfish!"

Makarov: ...(ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ┻━┻