Walking through the streets of Magnolia, they arrived in front of the Guild building.
"Wow! It's so big! Is this the Mage's Guild?" Natsu looked up at the building, shaking with excitement.
"This is Fairy Tail," Makarov said. He leaned on his cane, resting one hand on his hip with a proud smile.
"Fairy Tail?" Natsu looked puzzled. "That's a weird name."
"Hmm. Do fairies have tails? Actually, do fairies even exist? No one knows for sure," Makarov laughed, delivering the famous speech. "Because it is an unknown mystery, it represents an eternal adventure. That is the meaning behind the name."
"I don't really get it, but it sounds amazing!" Natsu grinned, his eyes sparkling.
This was the first time Raizel and the others had heard Makarov explain it.
When Raizel joined, he didnt ask about the 'Fairy Tail' name and Ultear and Erza never seemed interested in the name's origin.
Makarov pushed the doors open.
Inside, Gray was sitting by the entrance.
As usual, he was stripped down to his boxers. Wakaba and Macao were drinking, and Cana was nowhere to be seen.
Raizel quietly stepped behind Erza. He had already signaled her earlier not to say anything yet.
As soon as Natsu and Gray saw each other, their eyes locked.
"Hmm? What's this? You've got a pretty nasty look in your eyes, kid," Gray said while crossing his legs.
He felt an urge to pick a fight just by looking at Natsu!
"Oh? You want to fight?" Natsu shot back with his hands on his hips.
Hearing the tension, Macao and Wakaba turned around, holding their beer mugs.
They started egging them on.
"Go on! Fight! Fight!"
"Gray, your clothes," Ultear reminded him calmly.
Gray jumped up from his chair, realizing he was half-naked again. "Crap!"
"What the heck? So you're a pervert," Natsu crossed his arms behind his head, looking at Gray with total disdain.
"Who are you calling a pervert, you droopy-eyed idiot!"
"You! That's who, you slanty-eyed weirdo!"
The two pressed their foreheads together, making angry faces, and immediately started brawling.
Seeing the fight start, Raizel subtly shuffled sideways to get out of the blast zone.
"This feeling..." Gray muttered as they grappled.
He felt goosebumps!
"Giving up already, droopy-eyes?" Natsu smirked, seeing Gray let his guard down.
BONK.
Erza flashed between the two and gave each of them a sharp knock on the head.
Gray froze. He didn't dare fight back.
He forced a stiff, terrified smile. "E... Erza."
Natsu, however, didn't know fear yet.
He looked excited and swung a Fire Dragon's Iron Fist at Erza face.
BAM.
Erza didn't even use her sword. With one punch each, she sent Natsu and Gray flying into the wall.
"Really, they're such impulsive kids," Erza turned around and sighed, brushing off her hands.
'...You're the one who punched them into the wall and made a huge crater. You don't really have the right to say that,' Raizel thought.
He had a face full of exasperation but kept his mouth shut.
"Why me too..." Gray, who was collateral damage, sat in the rubble waving his arms in protest.
"No fighting. Understand?" Erza narrowed her eyes slightly.
"YES!!!" Gray sat up straight and saluted.
"So strong... so terrifying," Natsu muttered.
He thought Erza was cool when he saw her sparring earlier, but he didn't expect her to be this strong.
"Right?" Gray whispered.
The two shared a moment of understanding before snorting and looking away from each other.
"Listen," Erza said, her tone softening. "Since we are all part of Fairy Tail, we are comrades. This is everyone's shared home, and a home isn't a place for fighting. Understood?"
Raizel had told her back in Rosemary Village to treat this place as home, and she had taken it to heart.
Now, she was passing that lesson to Natsu.
"Wakaba, Macao, stop egging them on. And Master, you shouldn't be squinting and smiling while watching them fight," Erza scolded, turning her gaze to the adults.
"Sumimashen!" The men quickly raised their hands in surrender.
None of them dared to cross Erza when she was in "Disciplinary Committee" mode.
"Hahaha," Raizel laughed from the sidelines.
Smack.
Ultear reached out and swatted him.
She finally understood why Raizel told Erza to stay quiet earlier—he just wanted to watch the chaos.
It was just another one of his mischievous quirks.
Raizel awkwardly cleared his throat to change the subject. "I'll handle their guild initiation."
He went to fetch the stamp.
Natsu got his Guild Mark on his right shoulder, in red. Wendy got hers on her right shoulder, in blue.
"Now that I've joined the guild, you'll fight me, right?"
Natsu recovered fast.
Despite the fresh bump on his head from Erza, flames were already flickering in his fist.
He punched his palm, looking at Raizel eagerly.
"How about tomorrow?" Raizel gave him a thumbs-up. "You can find me in the East Forest, at the same spot where we trained today."
"You idiot," Gray scoffed, crossing his arms. "Do you know who you're challenging? An S-Class Mage. One of the guild's strongest."
Gray looked at Natsu like he was a fool.
He couldn't understand this hot-blooded simpleton's thought process.
"Isn't that exactly why it's fun?" Natsu grinned. "Challenging strong opponents is the best!"
"You win this one dumbass," Gray shook his head with a wry smile and walked away.
"Whoa! Raizel actually accepted the challenge? That's rare!" Wakaba and Macao were surprised.
Gray and Lyon had challenged Raizel many times, but he always rejected them.
"Is Raizel-san very strong?" Wendy asked.
She had heard Gray mention "S-Class," but she didn't know what that meant.
She looked up at Ultear.
"Yes, very strong," Ultear replied, crouching down to be at eye level.
"How strong?" Wendy tilted her head.
"Hmm..." Ultear thought about how to explain it to a five-year-old.
Concepts like the Ten Wizard Saints wouldn't make sense to her.
"Maybe... he could hold his own against Grandeeney for a while?"
Ultear was just guessing.
Ur had once mentioned that Raizel was likely stronger than her now.
At the very least, Ur admitted she couldn't break through his white armor (Dynasmon) or the shield that blocked Laxus attack.
"Wow!" Wendy's eyes widened.
In her mind, Grandeeney was the strongest being in the world. If Raizel could fight a dragon, he must be amazing.
Raizel listened nearby while sweating internally.
'I never expected Ultear to be even better at boasting than me. Please don't let Grandeeney hear this, or she might come out later and pick a fight with me.'
'Though..'. Raizel's mind wandered. 'I wonder if the Dramon Breaker would be effective? If I can use VictoryGreymon...'
Since Natsu had nowhere to stay, Makarov asked Raizel to take him in for a few days while they found him a permanent place.
Natsu was old enough to take on simple missions, so rent wouldn't be an issue eventually.
After some consideration, Raizel agreed.
If he let Natsu stay with Gray, they would destroy the house within an hour.
The repair bills would be astronomical.
As for Wendy, she had already packed her things to move into the Girls' Dormitory.
That evening, Raizel escorted Wendy, Erza, Kagura, and Ultear to the dorms.
To his surprise, Kagura said she wanted to room with Wendy.
Since the start of the year, Kagura and Erza had been in separate rooms, but Kagura seemed attached to the little Sky Dragon Slayer.
Wendy agreed happily; she had gotten used to sleeping near Kagura over the past few days.
After dropping them off, Raizel returned to the Guild to pick up the fire-breathing problem child.
"Alright, Natsu. Let's go home."