Magic Council Branch.
"Ahem... Makarov-san..."
The frog messenger reading the verdict document was disturbed by a loud snorting sound and spoke up to remind the slumbering Guild Master.
The Council members also watched the scene with varied expressions of annoyance and disbelief.
"Yes!"
The snot bubble on Makarov's nose suddenly popped as he jerked awake.
"A trial is currently underway... You couldn't possibly have fallen asleep, could you?" the messenger asked sternly.
"Absolutely not! Hahaha!" Makarov rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly to hide his embarrassment.
After the trial concluded, Council Member Yajima called out to Makarov, who was about to scurry away.
"Fairy Tail actually being found not guilty—this verdict is truly unexpected," Makarov admitted, wiping sweat from his brow. "I had originally thought I would at least have to write a massive letter of self-criticism."
"You should be grateful, 'Makky'. I didn't want to defend you initially," Yajima sighed.
"Consider it a favor I owe you, Yajima. Once the guild is rebuilt, come visit, and I'll treat you to ramen."
"I want the Fairy Ramen with 12 slices of chashu."
"Twelve slices is too much!" Makarov protested.
"Because this incident violated the treaty prohibiting conflicts between guilds..." Yajima began to lecture.
"I know, I know!"
"After you return, properly advise them," Yajima said, his tone softening slightly.
"Recently, Fairy Tail's destruction has been too severe. Michello even submitted a formal request to disband Fairy Tail."
"I understand," Makarov's expression turned serious as he nodded.
...
Sitting in the skeleton of the still-unfinished guild hall, Makarov took a swig of alcohol, contemplating Yajima's parting words.
"Retire?"
He recalled Yajima advising him to step down from his position as Guild Master to appease the Council.
The guild is being renovated; shouldn't the Guild Master position also be passed to the next generation?
Makarov pondered his options.
Raizel said he's not interested.
Laxus... with his temper, how would he write a letter of repentance?! He'd probably start another war.
Ur might work... Wait, it seems Ur can't write one either...
Makarov felt Ur had the qualities of a virtuous wife and loving mother, but writing formal reports or bureaucratic letters of repentance was simply too much for her wild nature.
'Maybe I should wait for Ultear...'
Makarov's feelings were quite complicated now.
A bunch of unruly kids caused trouble for him every day, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.
...
A Few Days Later.
Laxus returned to the guild with the three members of the Thunder God Tribe.
"Spending so extravagantly—doesn't the old man's wallet hurt?" Laxus asked, sitting at the temporarily built bar and looking surprised at the massive scale of the guild under construction.
"Don't mention it, or he'll start crying again," Raizel whispered, signaling that he shouldn't bring up sore subjects.
Yes... Makarov had already cried once before about the construction costs.
Raizel and Ur had a hard time comforting him.
"Then what about them?" Laxus pointed at Natsu and Gray, who were sitting nearby covered in bandages from head to toe.
Everyone else had recovered from the Phantom Lord war, so why were these two still wrapped in bandages?
"Oh, them? I heard they went on a job with Lucy, and after returning, they had a pillow fight at Balsam Village," Raizel explained.
The guild had already started accepting job requests again several days ago, after all—there were still so many tasks to handle to pay for the repairs.
"How do you get so seriously injured playing pillow fights..." Laxus didn't know what to say.
Should he comment that this was just typical of them?
"And that was way too obvious! How could they not notice it all this time?"
Small heads suddenly popped up from behind where the two were arguing. Natsu and Gray were still bickering endlessly about who actually won the pillow fight.
"Lucy, I won, right?" Natsu shouted.
"Shut up," Lucy snapped.
She was in a terrible mood, gloomily eating sweets, and couldn't be bothered with their nonsense.
"S-sorry..." Natsu shrank back.
Laxus gave a thumbs up in admiration. "Impressive! I didn't know anyone other than Erza could keep them in line."
Elfman nodded in agreement. "Lucy is a man!"
"Lucy, you've been in a bad mood lately. Are you still angry about the prank I played on you?" Happy jumped onto the bar counter and looked at the sulking Lucy.
"No, besides your prank didn't even succeed!"
"Sorry, I was thinking about something else," Lucy sighed.
"You can talk to me about it!" Happy raised a paw, wagging his tail vigorously.
Just then, chaos erupted at the entrance.
"Where's Loke!"
"Has Loke come?"
"Who are you people?"
Several girls swarmed the temporary guild bar, asking about Loke's whereabouts, and even started arguing among themselves.
"Last night he suddenly said he wanted to break up with me!"
"Though it's frustrating, same here!"
"Me too!"
"Who... who knows..." Mirajane, being cornered by several crying girls, gave an evasive answer, sweating nervously.
"Whew~~"
Mirajane finally managed to persuade the girls to leave and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which, Loke has disappeared for several days again, right?" Mirajane said, resting her chin on her finger thoughtfully.
"That guy has been acting strange lately," Elfman noted.
Even someone as thick-headed as him thought Loke had been acting weird recently.
"Loke, that guy originally... never mind," Bickslow started to speak but stopped himself.
He wanted to say that guy had always been strange, that he wasn't even human to begin with.
Raizel picked up on Bickslow's words and interrupted, "There are two types of people I hate most in my life—one is those who only say half of what they mean, and the other is..."
Raizel trailed off into silence.
Laxus's forehead vein bulged as he gripped the wooden cup tightly and slammed it heavily on the bar.
"Just say what the other type is! Damn it!"
"The other type is people who get angry easily," Raizel finished with a smirk.
"So you're talking about me, right?!" Laxus roared.
"Please don't take it personally," Raizel chuckled.
Bickslow seemed to remember something and steered the conversation back.
"I think... Loke might not have much time left, but there's nothing we can do."
Bickslow had noticed it the first time he met Loke—his Figure Eyes could tell at a glance that Loke wasn't human and he possess the soul of a spirit, though he didn't know exactly what kind of Spirit he was.
The only thing he knew was that Loke must be quite powerful, as he had already been in the human world for three years since their first meeting.
Bickslow had even specifically researched Celestial Spirit Mages about this matter, but he couldn't find the specific reason for a spirit staying in the human world, and he hadn't even mentioned this to Loke.
Laxus asked, "Why?"
Since Laxus had asked directly, Bickslow couldn't pretend not to know.
"Celestial Spirit... I can only say he is a Celestial Spirit. I can't say anything more—that's Loke's private matter."
"So.... what about him being afraid of Celestial Spirit Mages?"
Bickslow shook his head. "I don't know about that matter either."
Other than knowing Loke was a Celestial Spirit, he knew nothing else about his history.
"Celestial Spirit... Celestial Spirit Mage..." Lucy overheard these conversations from the corner and lowered her head in contemplation, pieces of the puzzle starting to fit together.
...
Evening, Karen's Grave—
"Loke."
Loke, who had been absent for several days, appeared before Lucy, who had tracked him down.
The two gazed at the stars in the night sky as they spoke, the air heavy with unspoken sorrow.
"Tell me, Lucy... can you comprehend the sorrow of stars that can never return to the sky?"
Loke adjusted his glasses, his smile sad and resigned, before bidding farewell to Lucy.
"I'm glad we could have such a leisurely chat like this... Goodbye, Lucy."