These past few days, he had been busy searching for the remnants of the dark guilds and had forgotten that the team was moving further away from Magnolia day by day.
In Magnolia—especially usually within the guild—he basically had whatever he wanted to eat. Whether it was home-cooked meals, desserts, or drinks, the guild provided them all internally.
But the towns outside weren't like that.
Outside, a tavern was a place for drinking; at most, they would serve some snacks to go with the alcohol. If you wanted a meal, you had to go to a restaurant, and if you wanted dessert, you had to go to a dessert shop.
Especially since they were now quite a distance from Magnolia, there were significant differences in the culinary cultures of the two places.
A move like theirs, ordering all sorts of random food in a tavern, could basically be considered a provocation to the establishment.
"Sorry, sorry, let's order again."
Weston smiled sheepishly and re-ordered a few bottles of alcohol, planning to drink them on the road later, and asked again: "So, have there actually been any strange people appearing around here lately? I mean people other than us!"
"Other than you guys, then no!"
Seeing that Weston was being reasonable, the bartender stopped fussing over their previous "rudeness."
"That's good then."
"I heard that a while ago, Wizards from dark guilds were wandering around this area, and I was worried they might cause trouble here..."
The bartender suddenly understood: "So that's it. You're talking about the news published in the Magic Newspaper a few days ago, right?"
"Yes. Old man, do you follow that too?"
"After all, I run a tavern; I can't afford not to know about current events!"
As the bartender spoke, he couldn't help but complain: "Honestly, that group from the Council—it's bad enough they're incompetent, but they also engage in alarmist talk. It's a real waste of our tax money!!"
Although ordinary shops don't have a direct connection to the Council, they have to pay taxes to the kingdom they belong to. Part of the Council's operation relies on funds provided by the major kingdoms, so when merchants say they pay taxes to them, they aren't entirely wrong.
Hearing this, Weston could only chuckle: "Hahaha... is that so..."
Since there were no abnormalities in this area, he planned to take everyone and continue forward.
"Of course it's like that!"
"On this point, those Council guys don't even do as well as the local guilds!"
The bartender continued to ramble: "If it weren't for the fact that they failed to completely wipe out the members of the Dark Alliance, how could they have wandered into the Kingdom of Fiore?"
"Fortunately, recently, Wizards from Fairy Tail came by to help clear out the remnants of the dark guilds, otherwise I really don't know what this town would have turned into..."
Hearing this, Weston subconsciously curled his lips upward.
Well said!
If it weren't for us Fairy Tail helping—
Eh, wait!
Something's wrong!
How does the bartender know that we people from Fairy Tail are clearing out the dark guild remnants?
On this route, only his own team should be operating; it shouldn't fall within the search parameters of the other teams!
"Old man, what's the story with the Fairy Tail Wizards you mentioned helping to clear out the dark guild remnants?"
"You mean that? That just happened yesterday. A gang of evil Wizards came to the town to steal things, and luckily a few Fairy Tail Wizards were passing by. They took care of them and handed them over to the Council."
"But didn't you just say there haven't been any strange people lately..."
So that's it!
Is it because the other party was dealt with that he didn't think much of it?
"Did those Wizards from Fairy Tail leave their names?"
"No!"
The bartender shook his head and said: "They said they do good deeds without leaving names, and to just credit it to Fairy Tail."
"To thank them for taking action, the townspeople sent them quite a lot of food and drinks."
Impossible!
In Fairy Tail, there are no such Wizards who 'do good deeds without leaving names' or 'do good deeds and then take rewards'!
Weston instantly saw through the flaws in this matter.
Those Wizards claiming to be from Fairy Tail were definitely not people from the guild!
And in all likelihood, they were in cahoots with the people causing trouble!
One side causes trouble, the other side resolves it—using this self-directed, self-acted method to scam food and drinks from this town!
Fine!
Someone actually dares to impersonate a Fairy Tail Wizard?!
Unforgivable!!
The bartender continued: "Although those people didn't leave names, someone heard them referring to one of them as 'Master'."
"Who else could the Master of Fairy Tail be? Naturally, it's that famous 'Fairy Commander,' Weston!"
Weston's eyes widened instantly.
Those guys not only impersonated Fairy Tail Wizards, they impersonated me?
What absolute nerve!
"Those guys claiming to be from Fairy Tail, where are they now?"
Feeling the waves of chill radiating from Weston, the bartender sensed something was wrong. Cold sweat broke out, and even his speech became shaky: "You... what do you want to do..."
"Answer me!!"
"They... they are staying at the 'Grand Hotel' on West Street..."