Chapter 23: Master Makarov Makes His Entrance!

Slap!

After the battle had ended…

Ian, Erza, and Cana exchanged a celebratory high-five.

Erza was celebrating her "victory" over Laxus, taking the chance to show off in front of Ian.

Meanwhile, Cana and Ian were celebrating their big winnings for the day. Ian also secretly felt proud that his daughter was so outstanding, reminding him of his younger days…

Once the trio had found seats in the guild hall…

Ian happily announced, "Later, I'll take you all to the best restaurant in town for a feast!"

"Oh!!" 

Erza and Cana cheered excitedly upon hearing that.

"Going to a restaurant?" 

At that moment, Gray, who had just finished cleaning the dining hall and completing his house chores, entered the guild. He looked a bit confused as he glanced at Ian, asking, "What's the occasion for celebrating?"

"Gray, let me tell you!" 

"This morning, Erza fought Laxus…"

"And she actually beat him! She's gotten so strong!" 

Cana pulled Gray to sit beside her and began to recount the morning's events vividly.

"It's a shame you missed the exciting battle this morning," she added, feeling sorry for Gray.

"Do you know why Gray is always so late getting to the guild each day?" 

"Gray not only has to prepare breakfast for you all, but after you've eaten, he also has to clean up the dining area, wash the dishes, and tidy up your rooms! He even regularly washes your clothes. If even half of you were as responsible as Gray, I'd have a lot fewer headaches."

Ian looked sternly at Cana, reprimanding her.

That said, Ian's room was also cleaned by Gray…

So, yes, Gray truly was a responsible child.

If only he didn't walk into the guild every morning wearing nothing but his underwear, unconcerned and acting like it was completely normal...

Indeed, the Gray sitting beside Cana at this moment was dressed only in a pair of underwear.

"By the way, Gray, where are your clothes?" 

Suddenly, Cana remembered something, turning to Gray with the question.

"Huh?!" 

Gray, startled, instinctively looked down. When he realized he was practically naked, his face turned pale with shock. "Oh no! I took off my clothes this morning when I was washing laundry and threw them into the washing machine with everything else!"

"Just go buy a new set…" 

Ian said generously.

Well, he had earned quite a bit of money today, after all.

Noon.

Ian led Gray, Erza, and Cana to the restaurant.

After a hearty meal, Ian furrowed his brows and murmured, "I feel like I've forgotten something important… oh well, if I can't remember, it must not be that important."

Maybe Ian had gotten used to always having three children around, so when he saw that none of them were missing, he simply yawned, ready to head back for a nap.

"..."

Meanwhile, Natsu, who had been knocked out by Erza, earned the achievement of going hungry at noon.

Once again, the world where only Natsu suffers had been born.

Afternoon.

After Ian had taken his nap, he returned to the guild with the kids, only to find Natsu slumped over a table, nearly fainting from hunger.

"Oh! I forgot about Natsu."

At that moment, Ian finally realized his mistake.

"Ian, you're back?!" 

Just as Ian was about to send Erza and the others to take Natsu to the town for food, an elderly voice suddenly echoed beside him.

"Oh?"

Ian looked up and saw a massive shadow, exuding an overwhelming pressure, appear in the guild, greeting him with a booming voice.

"So… big…" 

"Is this an enemy?"

"What a powerful presence!"

"His strength is on par with the captains of my mother's elite forces…" 

Erza broke into a cold sweat, instinctively drawing her knight's sword from her waist.

"Erza, calm down. He's not an enemy, he's my benefactor!" 

"And also the master of our Fairy Tail guild." 

"Not to mention, he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, recognized as one of the ten strongest mages on the continent of Ishgar by the Magic Council. This is Makarov, our guild master!"

"You can just call him Gramps."

Ian placed a hand on Erza's sword, stopping her from attacking, and smiled as he introduced Makarov.

"Not an enemy…" 

"It's the guild master?" 

Hearing this, Erza sheathed her weapon.

"Gramps, stop scaring the newbies and change back already!"

After calming Erza, Ian turned to Makarov, speaking in exasperation.

"Haha! I heard the newbie who joined recently was extraordinary, and even defeated that arrogant brat Laxus..." 

"So I got curious and wanted to play a little prank."

As Makarov spoke, his body slowly shrank until he transformed into a small, frail old man dressed in a clown-like outfit.

"Nice to meet you all!" 

Makarov stood before Erza, waving with a warm smile.

"So small!" 

Erza gaped at the tiny old man in front of her, completely unable to reconcile him with the giant who had just filled the room like a mountain.

"Where's Laxus?"

Ian looked around and asked Makarov.

"Laxus stormed off earlier, grumbling…"

"You had him train in Dragon Slayer Magic, but didn't tell him about the glaring weakness of motion sickness…"

"He then accepted over a dozen A-Class missions and went off to train."

Makarov explained as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"Is that so?"

Ian scratched his head lightly.

In fact, the magic he had invented specifically to target Dragon Slayers wasn't flawless.

At least that invincible Acnologia had figured out a way to counter it...

Ian had originally planned to tell Laxus how to overcome it, but it looked like he would have to wait for another opportunity now. What a shame.

"Ian…" 

As Ian lamented Laxus's impatience, Makarov looked at him seriously and said, "There's something important I need to discuss with you. Come with me."

"What's it about?" 

Ian narrowed his eyes. His instincts told him that whenever Makarov wanted to talk to him alone, it was never good.

"Just come along and you'll find out."

Without further explanation, Makarov pulled Ian towards the guild's basement.

"Could it be…"

"Is Makarov planning to entrust me with the guild's ultimate secret, the Fairy Heart?! What an honor!" 

Although Ian already knew what the guild's top secret was, he was still delighted to be trusted by Makarov.

"I'll be back shortly. You three wait here while I discuss some important matters about the guild's future with the master," Ian said to Erza, Cana, and Gray as he followed Makarov closely.

They first entered the guild's storeroom. After some fiddling, Makarov opened the door to the basement.

"I didn't expect the guild to have such a place!" 

Ian pretended to be surprised, even though everything was within his expectations.

However, just as Ian thought Makarov was going to lead him to the room where the first guild master Mavis's body was kept…

Makarov suddenly stopped in his tracks and muttered, "This should be a good place where no one will disturb us."

"Huh?" 

Ian frowned, sensing that something wasn't right.

"Ian, help me!"

Before Ian could react, Makarov dropped to his knees, clutching Ian's leg, sobbing as tears and snot streamed down his face. "You're the only one who can save me!"

"Huh?" 

Ian was taken aback. He yanked Makarov off his pants and asked, "Master, calm down and tell me exactly what happened."

"Well, you know…"

"I went to the Fiore Kingdom's guildmasters' conference for the light guilds, right?" 

Makarov, sitting on the floor like a scolded schoolboy, began to explain.

"And then?"

Ian folded his arms, his gaze sharp as he looked at Makarov.

"Then I… had a little too much to drink…" 

Makarov hung his head, speaking as if squeezing out the truth.

"And then?" 

Ian pressed further.

"Then… I had a bit of a verbal spat with that bastard Jose…" 

Makarov lowered his head even further.

"In the end?" 

Ian's sense of foreboding grew stronger.

"In the end, we ended up fighting…" 

"You know how it is. With Jose and I both being powerful mages, even if we tried to hold back, there was still a lot of destruction." 

Makarov confessed, bracing himself.

"What did you destroy?" 

Ian's voice grew colder as he fully grasped the situation.

"We wrecked three villas, leveled two mountains, and destroyed 100 acres of farmland… The total damage was about 350 million jewels! But, hey, I won the fight..." 

Makarov couldn't help but smile as he recounted his victory.

"You… give me back my trust in you, old man!" 

Ian pointed at Makarov in frustration, yelling angrily.

"Er… the damages are being covered by me and Jose together…" 

"The villas and all the properties at the conference site belong to Bob, after all." 

"You know, Bob and I go way back!" 

Makarov said, with a hint of pride.

By "going way back," he meant kneeling at the gates of Blue Pegasus, begging Bob for three days and nights to forgive him.

"Bob didn't even hesitate and waived my share of the compensation."

"So now Jose is the only one left to shoulder the debt."

Makarov grinned, clearly gloating.

Jose was still too young to swallow his pride…

"If you don't need to repay the money, why did you come to me?" 

Ian asked, confused.

"Well, Bob may have let me off the hook…" 

"But the Magic Council's fine still needs to be paid." 

Makarov shifted awkwardly, looking at Ian.

"How much is the fine?" 

Ian asked.

"The fine isn't much, just five million jewels."

Makarov answered truthfully.

"How much do you have on you right now?"

Ian inquired.

"Uh… two… two hundred…" 

Makarov stammered, hesitating slightly.

"Two hundred thousand jewels?" 

Ian sighed. As exasperated as he was, Makarov was still his guild master, so he would have to help.

"Ian, you misunderstood. I meant two hundred jewels!" 

Makarov lowered his head, embarrassed.

"..."

For a moment, Ian and Makarov both fell into silence.

---

Since we reached 100 power stones, so as promised here is the bonus chap!

Thank you everyone for the stones, I really appreciate it <3< p>

Next Milestone is 150 power stones.