— — — — — —
After the meeting ended, Makarov sought Kazuma out for a private talk.
"Lately, the dark guilds have been getting more and more reckless," Makarov said. "For the sake of national security, the Magic Council has decided to form a guild alliance to wipe them out."
He paused, then snorted. "But honestly? That's all bullshit. Their real goal is to help the newly restructured Council establish authority as quickly as possible. And to recover the face they lost before."
Makarov carefully broke down the hidden motives behind the meeting. Kazuma was still young, and he worried the kid might not see through all the political games.
"I get all that," Kazuma replied, "but there's something I don't understand. Why not just let our guild handle it?"
"Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, they're all here now. Even if I didn't lift a finger, taking down a dark guild wouldn't be hard for them."
"Is there something wrong inside the Council?"
Kazuma had already grasped the meaning behind it all, but what really bothered him was the alliance itself. This was something Fairy Tail could easily resolve on its own.
"There are still some people in the Council who don't like us," Makarov said. "Back then, they were convinced that incident was our doing."
"They're afraid that if they leave it to us and we finish the job alone, our reputation will soar. And my influence in the Council would grow with it. To avoid that, they pushed for this whole guild cooperation system."
Makarov let out a sigh.
"Oh?" Kazuma suddenly spoke up. "I've got a great idea…"
"No! Absolutely not!" Makarov cut him off instantly. "I don't want to hear any of your 'great ideas.' Just send a few people to go through the motions. No great ideas."
The moment he saw that smile on Kazuma's face, Makarov knew it could not possibly be anything good.
"Old man, you're way too soft," Kazuma shook his head. "If it were me, I'd have dealt with them directly."
He had originally planned to deliberately fail the mission this time, then pin the blame on those Council members who opposed Fairy Tail. Using the current situation, he would force them into retirement.
After that, Makarov could propose again that Fairy Tail handle things alone.
Reputation, influence, removing enemies. Three birds with one stone.
"Little brat, I know you're powerful," Makarov said weakly, clutching his chest. "But could you please stop stirring up massive incidents for a while? My heart really can't take it anymore."
He rubbed his rapidly pounding chest, his face twisted like he was about to cry.
Please, just let his poor heart rest for a bit.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Kazuma said after some thought. "We'll leave it at that for now. I'll inform the guild."
In the end, Kazuma gave up on the plan. No need to rush. Take things step by step. Too much haste only backfires.
...
Not long after, Kazuma returned to the guild and told everyone about the situation.
"I'll go," Laxus said immediately. "I'll take the Thunder God Tribe and deal with it. Consider it my way of making up for past mistakes."
"I'll go too! Me, me!" Natsu shouted excitedly. "By the way, how much is the pay this time? Is it at least a hundred thousand? I still owe Happy money!"
"I can go as well," Erza said, raising her hand. "But choosing the team might be an issue."
Kazuma sat at the bar, looking completely serious as he spoke.
"Honestly, I wasn't planning to send any of you. I was just going to have the shadow soldiers carry magic bombs and blow them all up."
"...."
"…This guy is serious."
At that moment, everyone in the guild arrived at the exact same thought.
"Then what about the cooperation thing?" Lucy raised her hand and asked.
"We'll just send a representative to go through the motions," Kazuma said casually. "Hold a banquet, announce that the problem's been solved, and that's it."
"It's not worth worrying about anyway. What I care about now is something else. You guys, come here."
He waved everyone over, then spread a large map across the bar counter. The map clearly marked the locations of all the guilds.
"Don't you think there are way too many guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore right now?"
Kazuma looked around as he spoke.
"You're not planning to absorb all of them, are you?" Erza's eyes went wide. She immediately objected. "That's not something a proper guild should do!"
"What do you mean absorb?" Kazuma shot back. "Erza, if you don't know how to phrase things, just stand there quietly and watch."
"This is cooperation. We form a massive Fairy Tail Alliance. We'll be the leading guild, and they'll become our affiliated guilds."
"That's a perfectly legitimate organizational structure, isn't it?"
Kazuma sighed. Erza really had a way with words. Throwing around terms like 'absorb' made it sound like he was some kind of villain.
"That structure is legitimate," Mira said thoughtfully, "but why would they agree to join us?"
"Those guilds are doing just fine on their own. Why would they willingly become subordinate to us?"
"It's simple," Kazuma replied. "Guilds need jobs to survive. Small guilds may have people, but they don't have enough work."
"We start by forming alliances with the smaller guilds and distribute some of our jobs to them."
"That alone will be enough to attract them."
"Then, through these smaller guilds, we squeeze the living space of the mid-sized ones."
"Step by step, we compress them until they can't survive anymore. At that point, joining us becomes their only option."
He gave them a rough outline of his plan. There were still plenty of issues to work out, but it was enough as a starting point.
"Alright," Kazuma said. "Let's be democratic. Those in favor, raise your hands."
Laxus hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand. The three members of the Thunder God Tribe followed immediately.
"Kazuma's plan sounds cruel," Laxus said, "but this is how the world works now. I've heard that other continents have already unified long ago."
"If we stay scattered like this, we won't stand a chance against them. So I'm in."
At this point, Laxus wasn't thinking about rivalry or dominance. He was thinking about how to face future crises.
"I… also agree," Erza said, raising her hand.
She didn't have any special reason. She simply owed Kazuma too much. No matter what he chose to do, she would support him.
"Juvia also agrees," Juvia said, lifting her hand.
She had no reason at all. She just liked Kazuma, so she supported him.
One by one, more guild members voted in favor. Kazuma was the guild master now, and his proposal was clearly meant to expand Fairy Tail.
"Alright," Kazuma said with a nod. "The vote passes."
"You all get busy with this. I'll go deal with that so-called guild alliance."
"As for the Fairy Tail Alliance, you can decide who handles which part—divide it up among yourselves. I'll give rewards based on your achievements."
He left the map on the table and headed toward the Magic Council gathering area, ready to take care of their alliance business himself.
.
.
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