227 227. Cleanups

After finding out that Tenrou Island isn't destroyed and everyone on it is alive, Ben's group leaves the location. But now they need to find a way to dispel the spell used to make Tenrou Island disappear.

"Listen, this will be our secret. For now, no one beside us will know this, not even our guildmates," says Ben on their way back.

"Eh? Why? They have been worrying about this incident. Don't they deserve to know the truth?" asks Romeo.

"You're right, they deserve it. We will tell them, but not now. I am worried that there are more spies like Mest who stay in our guild. They shouldn't be allowed to know about this fact. Who knows what their groups will do after knowing it. We don't have Master now, so our enemies might try to do something," says Ben.

"Hmm, that's right. Mest might not be the only one who infiltrated our guild," says Mira.

"Romeo, can you tell me what happened in the guild while I was unconscious?" asks Ben.

Romeo nods and tells Ben everything he knows about what happened in the guild after the incident. It's mostly about everyone's grief and they didn't take jobs for days because they couldn't concentrate.

Everyone's behavior also changed a lot after the incident. The guild which was a lively and happy place became very gloomy. No one smiles since that incident although they still drink alcohol, but not for fun like usual, it's to remove their sadness.

Then, Romeo says a surprising thing. Some people left their guilds soon after what happened on Tenrou Island was announced. They said that they couldn't stay because Fairy Tail's reputation will drop and jobs will be more difficult.

Romeo looks down sadly and so are Mira & Bella. Porlyusica just sighs while Ben thinks of something different. He thinks that those guys are spies just like Mest.

"Don't worry about them. I think they are spies like Mest. They must've thought that there's no use staying in our guild again because without Master & the S-Class Mages, Fairy Tail will be ruined. Mira & I are still alive but we were gravely injured so they thought we wouldn't make it," says Ben.

"Really? But what if they aren't spies?" asks Romeo.

"It's not a problem. Leaving the guild while it's not in a good condition means that they don't have loyalty from the beginning. Well, they also need jobs and it's their freedom to choose a guild. The problem now is if more spies still stay in our guild," says Ben.

"There must be some who still stay. They must've wanted to know what happens to you and Mira. Your recovery will affect Fairy Tail's future, after all," says Porlyusica.

Ben agrees with it and says, "Then, I think we'll do some cleanups for now. Only after I'm sure that there's no spy in our guild will I tell everyone the truth."

The others agree and promise they will keep this a secret. They don't want anything bad to happen to their guild again, after all.

"Ah, that's right, everyone in the guild has been talking about who will be the next Guild Master. We can't decide anything yet because we want to wait for you guys to wake up," says Romeo.

"Guild Master, huh? Well, let's talk about it with the others later after we arrived," says Ben.

The group arrived at their guild after a few hours because Ben drive slowly. They weren't in a rush anymore, so they could move slower, and it made the passengers relieved. Besides, they needed to talk about a lot of things that they need to do.

After they arrived, Ben's group wears a fake sad & disappointed expression. Ben even stops talking to show that he is very depressed. Then the group except Romeo goes to Porlyusica's treehouse to 'take a rest'.

Romeo has promised to stay silent about it, so they don't need to worry. They just need to act sad & depressed to fool the spies that might still stay in the guild. They need to move carefully to not make the spies suspicious.

After arriving in the treehouse, Ben immediately acts based on the plan that they made on the way here. He makes 7 clones and sends them to investigate everyone & everything in the guild. This will take a few days, but it's not really a problem.

"I hope that Master has done something about this before. It will make things easier and we won't need to worry about too many things," says Ben after sending his clones.

"Eh? Do you mean that Master might have known about the spies?" asks Mira.

"Yeah, there's no way he never thought about this. He must've done something even though some of them might've succeeded to slipped in," says Ben.

"Like those who left our guild?" asks Mira.

"I don't know for sure. Maybe they aren't spies, just people who don't have an attachment to our guild. Anyway, we need to assume that there are spies for now. So we need to be careful," says Ben.

They all agree and they resume their plan to act sad & depressed for now. In the meanwhile, Ben's clones are working to investigate this matter. Ben needs to dispel & make them again every time their magic power gets depleted.

It takes 4 days for the clones to investigate this matter. They found out that Makarov really has done something about it and removed a lot of spies. But the clones still found 3 spies who luckily have left the guild.

It seems their employers have decided that they don't need to spy on Fairy Tail again because they think the guild has done for. That's not something that makes them happy, but at least now the guild is safe without any spies.

So now they can announce the truth to everyone and tell them the plan for their guild's future. Ben then sends his clones to call everyone to gather in the guildhall. Everyone who is in Magnolia comes and only those who are working don't come.

Ben, Mira, & Bella go to the guild building after everyone gathered. Porlyusica doesn't come because she doesn't like being in a crowd. The 3 arrive soon and after they entered, many runes suddenly appear on the guild walls.

It makes everyone panic, but Ben calms them down and tells them that it's his doing. His clones have set up these runes before this meeting. The rune formation was built to prevent anyone from eavesdropping from outside.

It's an important matter, after all, so they need to be careful. But it makes the clueless Mages even more confused, so Ben starts to tell them what his group found out about Tenrou Island. He explains it slowly so that they all can understand it.

Without a doubt, his explanation makes everyone cry. They are still doubting what he says but, in the end, they fully believe it because Ben explains it really well. Besides, everyone also wants to believe that their friends are alive, so they accept Ben's explanation quite easily.

Then Ben also tells them the next plan for Tenrou Island's matter. He tells them that he will be a Wizard Saint so that he can get more information about the magic that was possibly used on Tenrou Island.

Knowing the used magic will help him find a way to dispel it. Also, if Ben becomes a Wizard Saint, it will help them keep their guild's reputation while he'll have more access to a lot of hidden information.

Everyone agrees with the plan and they promise to keep this truth a secret. They'll also help to find any information even though the possibility is very low. But they don't want to make Ben & Mira work alone and they want to help even if it's just for a little.

Ben & Mira thank them and want to end this meeting, but everyone still wants to talk about something. They need to discuss and decide on the next Guild Master. Their guild has been running without Guild Master for more than a month so they need to decide soon.

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