Raizel had explained his current stance to Makarov and Ur clearly: unless a demon was involved, he would not be taking any missions for the time being.
The fame from the Onacxes incident was still too hot, and he needed the heat to die down.
Ur, understanding his predicament, immediately decided that she would handle any urgent quests herself as a way of settling the score for Raizel taking the burden of the "Demon Hunter" role.
Fortunately, the world remained peaceful.
There were no urgent S-Class quests, and there had been no news of demons for over a month.
Raizel took advantage of this quiet period.
He retreated to the depths of the East Forest, spending his days in meditation and practicing the high-level magics he had acquired.
He focused on two disciplines: Teleportation Magic and Archive Magic.
Teleportation didn't require much physical practice once the theory was mastered; it was a matter of calculation.
Constructing the magic circle in his mind became second nature.
However, to teleport directly to someone's doorstep from across the continent—like the Magic King August could—required further training.
The upper limit of one's Magic Power determined the maximum distance and the number of people that could be transported.
Raizel was pushing that limit daily.
The practice of Archive Magic, however, was a different beast.
It was simple in concept but infinitely complex in execution.
It involved "Searching."
In his consciousness, Raizel would visualize the person or information he wanted to find.
The magic didn't pull from a written database; rather, the "database" was the ethernano of the continent of Ishgar itself.
The magic connected him to the flow of information in the world.
Search: Location of Gildarts Clive.
An overwhelming flood of data would rush into his mind.
The trick was to filter this ocean of noise to find the single drop of truth he needed. If he knew the general location, it reduced the search parameters, making it easier.
August could use this technique to find a single person on the vast continent in just over ten seconds.
Raizel... wasn't there yet. It took him minutes of intense concentration.
How did August do it so fast? Raizel wondered, sweat dripping down his forehead as he broke his meditation.
Did he hold back some secrets when he taught me via the mental link? Or is the gap in our talent and experience just that wide?
He remembered the sensation of the mental link.
August had transmitted the spell structures to him instantly—faster than 5G internet downloading a file.
It was immediate comprehension.
Raizel realized that this magic was a game-changer. He could glance at a mission request, use Archive to search for details on the target or location that the client left out, and then use Teleportation to arrive instantly.
It turned the chaos of adventuring into a simple checklist.
While Raizel was contemplating the nature of information magic, a flutter of wings interrupted him.
A mechanical messenger bird, stamped with the Fairy Tail emblem, landed on a branch nearby.
It opened its beak, projecting a small holographic magic circle.
Makarov's face appeared in the projection.
"Raizel. Come back to the Guild. There's something we need to discuss."
The message ended.
Raizel analyzed the old man's face.
Makarov looked calm, perhaps a bit annoyed, but not grave.
"Gramps's expression isn't serious," Raizel muttered, standing up and dusting off his clothes. "So it probably isn't a world-ending threat."
He remembered the expression Makarov wore in his memories of the future, when the Alvarez Empire prepared to attack.
That was the face of fear and this was just the face of business.
"Teleport."
Raizel visualized the guild hall coordinates and the magic circle enveloped him.
...
Fairy Tail Guild
The guild was noisy as usual. Natsu and Gray were in the middle of a brawl near the center of the hall.
Flash.
Without the heavy wooden doors opening, a white magic circle manifested in the middle of the room.
"Take this, Ice Princess!"
Natsu grabbed a heavy ceramic mug and hurled it with full force. However, his aim was off. The mug sailed past Gray, heading straight for the newly arrived Raizel.
Raizel didn't even blink.
He casually raised his hand, caught the mug mid-air, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed it back.
BONK.
The mug struck Natsu squarely on the forehead.
"Guuoh..."
Natsu's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor, knocked out cold.
"Problem solved," Raizel dusted his hands.
"H-How did you get in here?!"
Gray stared, astonished. He looked at the closed doors, then at Raizel.
"Teleportation Magic," Raizel answered simply.
He pointed at Gray. "And also... clothes."
"What?!!" Gray looked down.
He realized that somewhere between throwing a punch and Raizel arriving, he had stripped down to his boxers.
"Damn it! Not again!" Gray yelped, scrambling to find his pants.
Raizel shook his head and walked toward the bar.
As expected, it wasn't an emergency.
If it were, Makarov would be in the basement library or his office. Instead, he was sitting casually at the bar counter with Ur.
Wendy was there too, swinging her legs on a high stool and sipping a glass of orange juice.
"Gramps, Ur," Raizel greeted them. He turned to the little girl and smiled. "Good morning, Wendy."
"Good morning, Raizel-san!" Wendy chirped, beaming at him.
"Why did you call me back so suddenly?" Raizel asked, taking a seat.
"It's nothing major," Makarov said.
He wasn't drinking alcohol today, which was a sign he had official business.
"The Mayor of Magnolia invited us to lunch. He wants to discuss the competition venue for the upcoming Harvest Festival, along with some general event details."
"The Mayor invited me as well," Ur added, leaning her elbows on the counter. "Since we are the two Wizard Saints of the town, he wants our input."
Raizel blinked.
"That's all?" he asked, feeling let down. "I thought there was another demon for me to deal with. Or an invasion."
"What do you mean 'that's all'?!" Makarov tapped Raizel's shin with his cane, scolding him. "This is important civic duty! The Mayor mentioned it yesterday, but you've been hiding in the forest like a hermit. I had to send the bird to drag you out of that damn forest!."
Raizel sighed.
This was indeed a significant issue for Magnolia, specifically because of the Gildarts Shift.
If this were any other town, building a festival venue would be easy.
But Magnolia was designed like a puzzle box.
Except for the suburbs and elevated areas like Fairy Hills, the entire town was rigged to split apart and move whenever Gildarts returned home.
If they built a stadium in the wrong spot, Gildarts would walk in one day, the town would shift, and the stadium would be torn in half.
'That damn stupid old man', Raizel thought.
His destructive tendencies are a logistical nightmare.
"I don't know the first thing about architecture," Raizel complained. "Why do I have to go?"
"Because you are the Guild's S-class Mages," Ur smiled, patting his shoulder. "And because there will be free food."
"Fine."
...
Restaurant "Le Magnolia" - Private Room
An hour later, Raizel found himself sitting at a round table with fine white tablecloths.
The group consisted of Raizel, Makarov, Ur, Wendy (who was happily eating a kid's meal), the Mayor of Magnolia, and his secretary.
After exchanging pleasantries and ordering the main course, the atmosphere turned business-like.
"Do any of you have suggestions for the venue?" the Mayor asked, wringing his hands. "Last year's street parade was fine, but we want to host a tournament this year. We need a designated arena."
Raizel swallowed a piece of steak.
"Is land reclamation feasible?" he asked.
He knew nothing about construction, but he knew Magnolia was a coastal town with a large lake.
Creating new land seemed logical.
The secretary, a sharp woman with glasses, shook her head immediately.
"We've considered it," she replied, flipping through her notes. "It's not impossible, but the waters around Magnolia are deep. Filling them in would be astronomically expensive."
She adjusted her glasses. "Additionally, the Mayor and I discussed safety. If the reclamation isn't perfectly stable, a battle between high-level Mages—like yourselves—would collapse the foundation. We can't guarantee the safety of the spectators if the ground falls into the lake."
Raizel nodded. Fair point. If someone punched the ground too hard on a floating island, everyone would drown.
"Is there any way to allocate a piece of land within the existing town limits?" Makarov asked, frowning.
He stroked his mustache. "Surely there's an empty lot."
"We've considered that," the Mayor nodded. "But we circle back to the Gildarts Problem. We would need to identify a zone that is unaffected by the mechanical shifting mechanism, or disable the shift in that specific sector permanently."
"That would require rewiring the entire town," the secretary sighed.
"What about terrain similar to our Guild's female dormitory?" Ur suggested.
Fairy Hills was located on a high rise, a natural hill within the town borders but structurally separate from the shifting streets.
"If we utilize a natural elevation," Ur continued, "we wouldn't need land reclamation. We would just need to reinforce the ground and build stands. Do we have any other hills like that?"
The Mayor looked thoughtful.
"There are several locations with similar terrain," he admitted. "We looked at the West Ridge and the South Slopes. However... none of them are large enough in surface area to host a grand tournament and seat thousands of people."
The table fell silent.