Chapter 125: I Really Don't Want to be the Guild Master!
Makarov's voice was heavy, echoing in the ancient, hallowed chamber. "This is our Guild's greatest secret—Lumen Histoire."
Makarov continued, his eyes fixed on the ethereal glow. "The maiden sealed within it is Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of our Fairy Tail Guild."
"It also has another name: Fairy Heart."
Ren stood frozen, his eyes wide. He knew exactly what this was, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. The sheer, overwhelming, and infinite magic power radiating from the crystal was unlike anything he had ever felt. It made his own 6-star magic pool feel like a single drop of water next to an ocean.
"This is a secret Grand Magic that surpasses the Three Great Fairy Magics," Makarov explained, his voice low. "Its core mechanism is to automatically convert natural magic power into its own, thereby achieving an infinite supply of magic power."
"In other words," Makarov said, turning to look Ren in the eye, "as long as you possess it, you will have infinite magic power and can use magic infinitely."
Makarov explained it to Ren, but Ren knew what it was the moment he first saw it. As someone who had watched the Fairy Tail anime, he naturally knew about Fairy Heart and its terrifying abilities.
The real question was why the old man was showing him this. This was a secret reserved only for the Guild Master. A very ominous, terrible, and paperwork-filled thought began to rise in his heart.
"Ma… Master," Ren said, his voice suddenly sounding strained. "Why are you... showing me this?!"
"Because you will be the next Master of Fairy Tail, Ren."
Makarov's words hit Ren like one of his own Titan punches. Ren was stunned, his mind completely blank for a solid five seconds.
"What?!!!"
"Master, you haven't made a mistake, have you?! Are you senile?! Did the Council scold you so hard you lost your mind?!" Ren sputtered, taking several steps back.
"I… I, sigh! I've only been in the Guild for a year, Master! I'm 19! I can't do it, definitely not!"
As Ren spoke, he turned and tried to run back up the stairs. He was truly, genuinely flustered this time. He loved Fairy Tail, but he didn't want to run it.
Although quests could sometimes be troublesome, he actually enjoyed the life of doing quests and getting rewards.
Most importantly, when he accepted and completed quests, the system would give him gacha rewards. He could rely on these rewards to pull cards. What was the point of life without pulling cards? Being Master meant no quests. No quests meant no gacha. No gacha meant no life!
No! He absolutely, under no circumstances, could be the Guild Master!
Slap!
Before Ren had run two steps, he was grabbed and plucked from the air by a large hand. It was Makarov, who had instantly used his Giant Magic, enlarging his hand to grab Ren like a disobedient fly.
Ren was speechless. Lately, he felt like he had a conflict with giants. He had been caught so many times already.
"Brat, why are you running?" Makarov's giant face loomed over him, his expression unamused.
"Master, I really don't want to be the Master!" Ren squirmed in his grip.
Makarov immediately became a little annoyed, shrinking back to his normal size but keeping Ren held firmly in his hand. "What? Is the position of Master so bad?"
"Yes!" Ren shouted, his face filled with genuine horror. "It's the worst! Not to mention having to preside over the Guild every day, when guild members cause trouble—which is every day—I'd have to go to the Council to be scolded! I'd have to write self-criticisms! I'd have to deal with the guild members' interpersonal relationships, attend all those boring regular meetings, and all sorts of other annoying things!"
"…"
Makarov had to admit, Ren's words all hit home. That was, in fact, his exact life.
Ren saw his opening and pressed on, looking at Makarov pitifully. "Master, I'm still young, only 19. How can you bear to let me, your surrogate grandson, suffer such pain? I just painstakingly returned from an S-Class Quest and you immediately hit me with this bad news. Can you bear it?"
"Then can you bear to see me, an old man almost ninety and close to the grave, endure such pain?" Makarov retorted.
"You can pass the Master's position to others!" Ren said desperately. "Like Gildarts! Isn't he the strongest Mage in the Guild?"
"Gildarts went on a 100-Year Quest, and I don't know if he'll return in this lifetime," Makarov sighed. "Even if he does, with his personality, he definitely wouldn't be willing to become the Master. He'd probably destroy the office just by walking into it."
"What about Mystogan?"
"Mystogan isn't good at communication. He's a good boy, but he isn't familiar with everyone in the Guild. A Master can't wear a mask all day."
"Erza!" Ren grasping at straws. "Erza has a lot of prestige normally. Even I'm afraid of her sometimes!"
"Erza is indeed a good choice," Makarov admitted, "but she's too young and still a girl…" He had indeed considered Erza. He had watched Erza grow up since she was a child and was more familiar with her, but Erza was, after all, a girl. Becoming the Master would somewhat hinder her. Girls, after all, still need to marry and live their own lives, not be tied to a desk.
"Besides," Makarov added, a small, shrewd glint in his eye, "Ren is different. Ren and Mira are in love, and it is very suitable for them to eventually be together, leading the Fairy Tail Guild."
"I'm the same age as Erza, too! And if you're worried about that, what about Mira? She's just as capable!"
Makarov shook his head. "Mira has found her peace after... after Lisanna. I will not force that burden back onto her shoulders. She is happy."
"At worst, pass it to Laxus!" Ren said, getting desperate. "He's your grandson after all!"
"That brat is even worse!" Makarov snapped. "His ideals are twisted. If I pass it to him, he'll make a mess of the Guild, turning it into some 'strong-only' dictatorship. He's not ready."
"Then you, old man, just work a little harder and keep at it!"
"No, I'm old, my body…"
"What are you talking about? You're only in your eighties!" Ren said encouragingly. "It's the age to strive! You're in your prime!"
Slap!
Makarov slapped Ren on the head with his other hand, not gently.
"Brat! Stop trying to fool me! I'm old, not senile! I've been thinking for a week while you were gone, and I still think you're the most suitable candidate."
"…" Ren stopped talking, realizing his fast talk wasn't working.
Makarov looked at Ren helplessly and asked, "Are you really so against being the Master of Fairy Tail?"
Ren, still dangling from Makarov's hand, gave the old man a direct, dead-eyed, pitiful look, letting him understand for himself.
"Since that's the case…" Makarov sighed.
Ren heard a glimmer of hope: "Then forget it!"
"Dream on!" Makarov shouted. "Since that's the case, I'll work for two more years. But you are now the provisional Master, the chosen successor. In two years, you will take over the position of Master. That way, your qualifications will be sufficient, and no one can argue. No refusing!"
Makarov had also thought for a week before making this decision. He was already very old, and Lumen Histoire was the most important secret of the Fairy Tail Guild.
His health was also not good. To be on the safe side, he had to pass down this secret, which only the Master was qualified to know.
The most suitable candidate was actually Gildarts. He had watched Gildarts grow up since he was a child, and Gildarts was also the most senior and powerful in the current Fairy Tail Guild.
But Gildarts went on a 100-Year Quest, and it was uncertain if he would return. Even if he did, with that brat's personality, he definitely wouldn't stay peacefully in the Guild. This secret was only allowed to be known by the Master, so Ren was currently the most suitable candidate.
Ren hung his head in defeat. "...Alright!"
Since the old man had said so, Ren reluctantly agreed. 'Two years. Two years is a long time. The old man would never guess how much change would happen in two years. With the Tower of Heaven and the Oración Seis arcs coming up, maybe something will happen and he'll forget all about this.'
Makarov also smiled when he heard Ren agree. He had now resolved a major life event.
As an old man who had lived for over eighty years, Makarov was very confident in his judgment of people. Although that brat Ren was sometimes unreliable and money-grubbing...
People needed to be compared. Compared to those even more unreliable brats in the Guild—like Natsu, Gray, or even Laxus—this kid was already very outstanding.
In the evening, Ren and Mira walked home together, hand in hand along the river. The sky was a deep purple, and the sounds of the town's nightlife were a soft murmur in the distance. Their relationship had progressed naturally; love was like a window pane, and as long as one was brave enough to break through it, everything else would follow.
"What's wrong?" Mira asked, her gentle voice breaking the comfortable silence. She swung their joined hands lightly.
"You're always so happy after completing a quest and getting your reward. You usually come back practically bouncing, thinking about your gacha pulls. Why do you seem so down today?"
The observant Mira noticed that Ren's mood was off. He was feeling a bit down, completely different from how he usually was after returning from a quest.
Ren sighed, a sound of deep, profound weariness. He stopped and looked at her. "You're not going to believe what the Master told me today."
Ren then told Mira about Makarov's decision, about the plan to make him the next Guild Master. Of course, he completely hid the fact that Lumen Histoire was hidden beneath the guild.
Hearing Ren's words, Mira's eyes went wide. She couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise.
"The Master... designated you as the next Guild Master?!!!"
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