Hades Frowns: Trouble

Hades frowned and asked, "What happened to Ultear? Has there been a problem with the Arc of Time?" 

Bluenote Stinger replied, "No. It's not Ultear; it's Ur. Ur, Ultear's mother. Haven't you seen the recent newspapers?" 

Hades shook his head and responded, "No. What happened?" He stood up and approached Stinger. 

Stinger picked up the newspaper in his hand and handed it to Hades. Hades took the paper. The center of the paper prominently featured Ur defeating the magical beasts invading the town in the East, alongside a beaming Leon. 

Stinger continued, "I've had people investigate this. This Ur entered the Eastern region two months ago, but her destination is unknown. However, based on her trajectory over the past two months, she has been moving toward our direction. We changed the direction of our airship once in these two months, and she followed suit." 

Hades narrowed his eyes at the newspaper and spoke, "Is it some kind of tracking magic? It seems she's discovered Ultear is still alive. How was it exposed?" 

Not only was Hades puzzled, but Stinger was, too. They both understood Ultear's experiences. Although Ultear claimed Ur abandoned her, they both knew it was the work of the Six Kin of Purgatory. That Brain fellow loved to use kids for experiments. However, they also didn't mind and chose not to explain, primarily because Ultear's talent was exceptionally high. 

The Arc of Time isn't something just anyone can practice, yet they encountered such an extraordinary child. After taking Ultear in, they also investigated Ur, knowing that Ur had been entrenched in the depths of Great Snow Mountain due to the child, not wanting to engage in battle. She seemed to genuinely believe Ultear was dead. 

But now… 

Ultear had been training in the guild and had no contact with the outside world. How could her existence possibly have been exposed? 

After contemplating, Hades looked at Stinger and said, "Send Ultear out first. Haven't we uncovered the construction site of the R System? You can take Ultear there to see if there's a chance to recover the R System from the Dark Magic Guild." 

"I'll observe from here to see if she's tracking Ultear or if someone from our guild is involved." 

There was a hint of malice in Hades's tone. If Ultear was being tracked, it indicated it was due to Ur herself. If it was their guild being watched, it meant there was a mole within, and that situation needed to be handled swiftly. 

But in any case, Ultear had to be sent out first, and then Ur needed to be dealt with quietly. Otherwise, the residual effects of a battle, once known, could easily alert those with ulterior motives. 

Ultear often read the newspapers, but they couldn't deliberately prevent her from seeing them; that would only raise suspicions. After thinking for a moment, Hades spoke again, "Let's set off now. Ultear didn't see today's newspaper, did she?" 

Stinger shook his head, "No, I've already destroyed all today's newspapers. Ultear is still training, and once she's out around noon, I'll take her away." 

Hades said grimly, "Let's do it this way." 

Stinger turned and left, while Hades stared at Ur's photograph in his hand, furrowing his brow, "Trouble..." 

But it wasn't overly troubling. With his strength, dealing with Ur wasn't a major problem. The East wasn't like the North. The North was filled with Great Snow Mountains and was uninhabited; losing a person there wouldn't matter much. 

The East is different—it's densely populated with many towns. If he couldn't deliver a fatal blow, the fallout from a battle involving an S-Class Mage would travel far and wide. Soon, people from the Magic Council would come to investigate. Once anyone could trace the use of magic, they'd quickly identify who had been fighting. 

This was the source of Hades's concern. There were only a handful of S-Class Ice Mages, and if the information leaked to the Magic Council and made it onto the newspapers, Ultear would certainly find out. 

In his plans, Ultear needed to infiltrate the Magic Council later on. If she were to learn the truth then, their relationship would likely turn hostile, undermining all their current efforts. Ur needed to be dealt with quietly. 

---

A few days later, in Magnolia Town, at the train station. 

Gaal yawned and stepped down, taking a deep breath, "Huff—" 

He stretched his body and headed towards his magic shop. It had been months since his last visit, and the shop's exterior still shone as if brand new. The surrounding merchants greeted Gaal, their voices tinged with envy, praising how powerful Mage were. 

Using some cleaning spell made it unnecessary to clean. Once inside the shop, he casually placed the magical crystals used for experiments from his backpack on the counter. These were all enhanced and unusable by him, so he hoped to sell them during this break. 

He also had some skins and bones from Deliora that he planned to process. After placing all the materials in a small room, Gaal locked the shop again and made his way to the Fairy Tail guild residence. 

Fairy Tail. 

At the guild residence, even from a distance, Gaal heard the uproar and Gildarts's roars, followed by flattering voices, causing him to raise an eyebrow. 

Tsk... 

Should he say it's typical of a devoted father? Usually, every time he returned, he'd grab a bunch of quests and leave; this time, how long was he planning to stay? 

As Gaal reached the entrance, he just raised his hand when Gildarts in the guild seemed to sense something, immediately turning solemn, and yelled, "Everyone, stop!" 

Seeing Gildarts's grave expression, the crowd grew tense. Following that, Gildarts's seriousness contorted into fury as he turned sharply towards the guild door and stomped down. 

Boom! 

The ground trembled as Gildarts raised his fist, and he transformed into an apparition charging towards the door, roaring, "Gaal! You bastard! How dare you come back! You've ruined my reputation!!!" 

Outside the door, Gaal's mouth twitched, and the hand he had raised immediately lit up with a vertical magic circle aimed at the door. 

Bang! 

Their fists collided. The resulting shockwave swept through the guild hall. Gildarts's eyes shone with an evil red light as he glared at Gaal. 

The large door between them had disintegrated into dust before their fists even met. Gaal tilted his head, wearing a puzzled expression, "Reputation? You still have a reputation?" 

His innocent look clearly indicated to anyone that they knew who was at fault. It more or less confirmed Gaal's remark. 

Crash! 

A string in Gildarts's mind snapped. 

"Gaal!!!!" 

He roared in fury.

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