Chapter Summaries

Hughes kept the recording Magic Crystal and parted from Makarov before taking a train back to Magnolia with a frozen feather fish. After arriving, he flew home and reunited with Lisanna, who teased him for asking where Mira was.

• Makarov tried to retrieve Hughes's recording Magic Crystal, but Hughes refused to hand it over and kept it as leverage.
• Makarov gave Hughes his share of the reward for their work in Clover Grand Canyon, then left for the Magic Council to address the public uproar.
• Hughes ate at Clover Station, slept at a nearby inn, and boarded the train to Magnolia with the frozen feather fish.
• Hughes flew from Magnolia Station to his home, where Lisanna answered the door and teased him for asking after Mira.

Hughes returned home, gave Mira most of his reward money to manage, and agreed to help Lisanna meet up with Erza and the others. He later joined them at the guild as Erza prepared to lead the group on a D-Class job.

• Mira scolded Lisanna for teasing Hughes and served Hughes a bowl of meat porridge when he arrived home.
• Hughes gave Mira his remaining 2.9 million J, and she divided the money between savings, household expenses, and allowances for Hughes, Lisanna, and Elfman.
• Lisanna asked to join Erza, Natsu, and Gray on a D-Class job, and Hughes agreed to take her to the guild despite Mira's objections.
• Mira agreed to prepare the feather fish for dinner and save one for Makarov.
• Hughes kicked open the guild doors, where Wakaba backed down and Macao was quickly beaten after challenging him.
• Lisanna reunited with Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Happy, and Erza led the group out for the job while Hughes urged her to keep them safe.

Hughes interrupted Laxus and Gildarts while they were fishing, then learned that Laxus was using fishing to calm his mind and overcome a strength bottleneck. Laxus vowed to surpass Hughes, leaving Hughes to wonder whether that made him Laxus’s grandpa.

• Hughes secretly recorded Shanks and Enel fishing together, then threw a boulder into the lake and blamed Macao, soaking Laxus and Gildarts.
• Laxus struck Hughes with lightning, but Hughes endured it and used the Flame-Flame Fruit to dry him and Gildarts off.
• Gildarts praised Hughes for growing stronger, while Hughes took Laxus’s fishing spot and cast a line of his own.
• Hughes discovered that Gildarts had fallen asleep and learned that Laxus was fishing to calm his mind and overcome a bottleneck.
• Laxus vowed to surpass Hughes, and Gildarts urged him to train harder because Hughes had grown stronger again.
• Hughes realized that Laxus’s determination to surpass him might make Hughes Laxus’s grandpa.

Hughes and Lisanna conspired to steal Makarov’s feather fish, but Mira caught on and made Lisanna work off her punishment. As the July heat left the guild members exhausted, Hughes suggested they go swimming in the lake.

• Hughes left Gildarts and Laxus fishing and flew home, setting Laxus’s fishing line on fire.
• At dinner, Hughes teased Lisanna, then helped lure Mira away so Lisanna and Elfman could take Makarov’s feather fish.
• Hughes showed Mira a recording of the theft, and they made Lisanna stand by while they ate the remaining feather fish the next day.
• Lisanna agreed to a month of housework and laundry, while Elfman felt relieved he had avoided the worst of the punishment.
• As the guild members wilted in Magnolia’s July heat, Hughes suggested swimming in the lake behind the guild.

Hughes joined the guild’s lake outing and turned a playful water fight into a chaotic battle against Gildarts and the others. After the guild members turned on one another, Hughes, Gildarts, and Laxus watched safely from the edge.

• The guild rushed into the lake, while Mira stayed behind because she felt shy around Hughes.
• Hughes splashed Gildarts, and the two started a water fight that Hughes escalated with huge waves.
• The guild members teamed up against Hughes, and Lisanna falsely claimed he had challenged Gildarts to a one-on-one fight.
• Hughes fought free, then confronted Macao and Wakaba after they switched sides and tried to use Gildarts as a shield.
• The lake descended into another brawl as Gildarts escaped through the crowd and stood with Hughes and Laxus.

Macao and Wakaba outmaneuvered the guild members on the lake while Wakaba showed off his sudden-stop technique. Their taunting ended when Warren and Marcus struck Wakaba with giant hammers, leaving him floating in pain as Macao called after him.

• Wakaba used his unusual braking technique to help Macao evade Reedus and the other pursuers.
• Wakaba taught Macao about his front brake in exchange for two extra hours at Hot Spring Street.
• Hughes and Gildarts worked out how Wakaba's technique functioned, while Laxus scorned it.
• Macao and Wakaba taunted the guild members and splashed Natsu, Gray, and the other children.
• Warren and Marcus ambushed Wakaba underwater with giant hammers, and Wakaba cried out as Macao pleaded for him not to leave.

After Wakaba and Macao were knocked out and tossed onto shore, Hughes and Mira relaxed by the lake until he pulled her into the water and teased her about acting like an old man. When Lisanna asked for an exciting water game, Hughes proposed a swimming competition between the children and adults, with magic forbidden but interference allowed.

• Hughes washed Wakaba and Macao in the lake and threw them onto shore after defeating them.
• Mira told Hughes she wished everyone could live freely and happily forever, prompting him to wonder whether she had come from the future.
• Hughes pulled Mira into the lake and splashed her, then sat nearby while she blushed and watched him.
• Lisanna asked Hughes for a fun water game, and he suggested a swimming competition between children and adults with magic prohibited and interference permitted.
• Lisanna paddled off to tell Natsu, Erza, and the others about Hughes's idea.

Hughes and the Fairy Tail guild organized a swimming tournament with no magic allowed, and the underage race began with Erza taking a commanding lead. Hughes found Macao and Wakaba’s betting sheets and discovered that Natsu was considered a hundred-to-one long shot to place in the top three.

• Mira covered Hughes’s mouth, accidentally ended up straddling him, then slapped him and hurried back to the guild.
• Hughes proposed a swimming race without magic, and Laxus and Gildarts agreed to race each other after the younger members finished.
• Marcus announced the tournament rules, and Lisanna cheered for Natsu while Elfman glowered at her support for another contestant.
• The underage race began, and Marcus reported that Erza quickly surged far ahead of Gray and Elfman.
• Hughes found Macao and Wakaba taking bets and saw Natsu listed at one hundred to one to finish in the top three.

Natsu and Cana teamed up to disrupt the race and surged toward second and third place while Erza finished first. Hughes lost his chance to bet on the minors, then reclaimed his 400,000 J after Macao and Wakaba tried to misinterpret his bet; the chapter ended with Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and Cana still battling near the finish.

• Cana joined Natsu in his lane, and they knocked Toroi and Jed out of contention with a mix of speed and dirty tricks.
• Natsu accelerated as guild members cheered, while Macao closed betting on the minors’ race because Cana and Natsu had made the outcome unpredictable.
• Wakaba offered Hughes an adults’ betting sheet that included Wakaba himself, and Hughes decided to put 400,000 J on himself to win.
• Macao and Wakaba misunderstood Hughes’s bet, so Hughes knocked them down and demanded a betting slip before slipping away with them to discuss a money-making scheme.
• Erza finished first, while Natsu, Gray, and Elfman raced neck and neck for the remaining places and Cana continued distracting Gray.

Elfman took second place and Gray narrowly beat Natsu for third in the swimming race, while Hughes teased Lisanna and Happy about their devotion to Natsu. After the finish, Natsu and Gray attacked Marcus over his commentary, Erza knocked them both unconscious, and Macao and Wakaba collected their winnings from the losing bettors.

• Elfman ignored Gray's call to team up, swam underwater, and took second place in the minors' division.
• Hughes teased Lisanna about Natsu's poor contest record, then threatened to show Mira a recording and add to Lisanna's housework; Happy tried to bargain for fish.
• Gray touched the finish line before Natsu and claimed third place, while Natsu took fourth with Cana's help.
• Natsu and Gray chased Marcus and struck him with fire and ice magic, sending him flying and dropping his microphone-shaped magic item.
• Gray took the microphone from the unconscious Natsu, but Erza knocked Gray out before he could claim the hosting role.
• Macao and Wakaba collected bets from Nab, Reedus, Warren, and the other bettors who had wagered on the wrong results.

Cana and Erza struggled to host the competition until Natsu and Gray tried to take over and were punched into the sky by Erza. As the swimming race was about to begin, Hughes prepared to carry out a plan to put Laxus in first place, while Gildarts worried that Hughes might disrupt his bet on himself.

• Cana and Erza nervously tried to host the competition, but Natsu and Gray dropped their platform and took the microphone before Erza punched them away.
• Lisanna, Elfman, Happy, and Mira waved flags for Hughes, including one that said he had been forced to compete.
• Hughes confirmed that Wakaba had paid Mira the agreed-upon 5 million J and saw Mira silently confirm the money had arrived.
• Hughes prepared to provoke Laxus and help him win the swimming race, following the plan he had discussed with the others.
• Gildarts told Hughes not to do anything reckless because he had bet his remaining 5 million J on himself.

Hughes joined a rigged adult swimming race while helping Wakaba and Macao manipulate the results and bets. After Macao secretly dumped a Lightning Storage Magic Crystal into the lake, Hughes knocked Reedus out and threw him ashore to protect him before it activated.

• Marcus began hosting the adult division as Hughes, Wakaba, and Macao carried out their plan to cheat the race and profit from the guild's bets.
• Gildarts surged into the lead at the start, with Wakaba and Laxus following, while Hughes stayed behind and joked that he was the protagonist.
• As Hughes drew the crowd's attention with his boastful remarks, Macao secretly emptied the Lightning Storage Magic Crystal into the lake.
• Hughes launched himself into the race, caught Reedus by the ankle, and hurled him back onto shore before the crystal could activate.

Hughes used Geppo to disrupt the swimming race and help Laxus and Wakaba catch up to Gildarts. As the racers neared the finish, Hughes clung to Gildarts to keep him from winning.

• Hughes flew through the air using Geppo, grabbed Warren, and dropped him safely near the shore before knocking out two other contestants.
• Lightning Storage Magic Crystals sent blue arcs through the lake, slowing Gildarts and Wakaba while Laxus absorbed the electricity and sped up.
• Gildarts suspected Laxus had put the crystals in the lake, but Laxus denied it and absorbed the nearby electricity.
• Hughes boosted Wakaba with a kick as he flew past, then wrapped himself around Gildarts to hold him back near the finish.

Laxus won the swimming race after Hughes held Gildarts back, then attacked the crowd and the two men when they mocked his victory. Hughes and Gildarts stood together to face Laxus’s powerful lightning strike.

• Hughes kept Gildarts restrained while Laxus and the electrified Wakaba passed them, and Laxus crossed the finish line first.
• The disappointed bettors mocked Laxus, who struck them with lightning and insisted he had won fairly.
• Hughes kicked Wakaba onto shore to save him from Laxus’s attack, and Wakaba blamed Macao for loading him with too many Lightning Storage Magic Crystals.
• Hughes and Gildarts wrestled in the lake to avoid taking Laxus’s Raging Volt, then joined forces when Laxus unleashed Narukami.
• Hughes and Gildarts stood calmly side by side as Laxus’s gold-and-blue lightning struck them.

Hughes won third place in the guild competition by tricking Gildarts, earning the Shigan technique from his system. He spent the evening teasing Gildarts and feeding Natsu flames, until an injured Makarov returned at dawn.

• Hughes and Gildarts taunted Laxus after surviving his lightning, and Laxus walked away in frustration.
• Hughes tricked Gildarts into turning around and punched him into the sky, completing a competition task that granted him beginner Shigan.
• Marcus announced Hughes's third-place finish, while Macao and Wakaba collected money from the losing gamblers.
• At the guild, Hughes fed Natsu increasingly powerful flames, causing Natsu and Happy to catch fire briefly.
• Hughes joined the guild members in teasing Gildarts, then Makarov returned injured at first light.

Makarov returned to Fairy Tail to find the guild wrecked and its members passed out after a wild party, and he angrily struck Hughes with Giant Magic. When Erza accidentally knocked Makarov unconscious with her armor, she feared he was dying, while Hughes asked where Makarov had hidden his pension.

• Makarov arrived at Fairy Tail and found the guild in ruins, with most of its members asleep and the lake outside dried up.
• Makarov noticed Hughes had opened Gildarts's photo books and smashed him into a pit with his giant fist.
• Macao and Wakaba briefly woke, complained about Makarov disturbing their sleep, and went back to sleep.
• Erza arrived with Cana, noticed Makarov's bandages, and tried to hug him; her armor knocked him unconscious.
• Hughes woke and recorded Gildarts licking Wakaba's foot, then Erza called for help because she thought Makarov was dying.
• Hughes told Erza to ask Makarov where he had hidden his pension.

Hughes helped Cana think through telling Gildarts that she was his daughter, but Lisanna mistook their conversation for Hughes betraying Mira and sparked a guild-wide rumor. The chapter ended with Hughes and Makarov sharing breakfast while Gildarts beat Wakaba and Mira punished Lisanna.

• Hughes accepted Cana's breakfast and quietly asked whether she was thinking about telling Gildarts that she was his daughter.
• Cana admitted she was not ready to tell Gildarts, and Hughes offered to help when she was ready.
• Lisanna saw Hughes and Cana talking, assumed Hughes was two-timing Mira, and loudly accused him of betrayal.
• Hughes threatened Lisanna, who sought Makarov's protection, but Makarov stepped aside and left her to face Hughes.
• Mira arrived, heard what Lisanna had done, and took her away to punish her while Hughes shared breakfast with Makarov.

Hughes learned that Makarov had been injured while fighting a devil created by Zeref and protecting the Custody Enforcement Unit from a dark guild. Makarov gave Hughes a Magic Council subjugation request targeting the escaped members of Threads of Illusory Evil on Alon Island.

• Hughes asked Makarov about his bandages, and Makarov revealed the claw wounds he suffered fighting a devil with the Wind Curse.
• Makarov explained that Threads of Illusory Evil had helped the devil attack the Custody Enforcement Unit while he was distracted protecting his companions.
• Hughes asked whether the devil was still alive, and Makarov said he had annihilated it in anger instead of sealing it for the Magic Council.
• Makarov gave Hughes a Magic Council request to eliminate Threads of Illusory Evil on Alon Island.
• Makarov told Hughes that the guild master, Gogirde, and other surviving members had escaped and were hiding on the island.

Hughes accepted the high-paying mission to take down the dark guild Threads of Illusory Evil, and Makarov arranged for Laxus to accompany him. Hughes and Mira returned home to pack, leaving Mira flustered after Hughes carried her there by flight.

• Hughes negotiated with Makarov over the mission reward and accepted the request after Makarov offered him a hot spring district card and a chance to attend a Sorcerer Weekly photo shoot.
• Makarov told Hughes that Laxus would join him to take down Threads of Illusory Evil, and explained that Laxus's experience would help guard against dark mages' tricks.
• Erza brought Laxus to the guild, and Laxus agreed to team up with Hughes for the mission on Alon Island.
• Hughes told Laxus to pack at home before they met at the station, then asked Mira to come home with him.
• Hughes carried Mira through the air to their home, leaving her embarrassed and wishing they had bought a house farther away.

Mira tried to spend time alone with Hughes while helping him prepare for his trip, but Hughes kept missing her hints. After she calmed down from nearly using magic, they went to the kitchen together, where Mira planned to make his favorite food and pack cakes for his journey.

• Mira took over folding Hughes's sheets and packing his travel bag, while Hughes asked whether she knew about Alon Island or the Phantom Evil Silk Guild.
• Hughes realized Mira was acting strangely, but she sent him to soak his pillowcase and reminded him that Laxus would need much longer to reach the station.
• Hughes rested on the sofa, so Mira kicked him awake and claimed she was about to make lunch, though it was only eight in the morning.
• Hughes teased Mira by pointing out the time and then squeezed her cheeks until her rising magic power faded.
• Mira decided to make shredded chicken with lemon juice and cakes for Hughes to take on the road, and Hughes went to prepare the chicken.