### Chapter 39: Glory
Makarov rolled his eyes hearing this. Only a fool would believe him. As if anyone could run away from him.
"Alzack, Levy, Macao, Reedus, Warren, Bisca..."
"You lot... caused me to be scolded by the Councilors again..."
Seeing the Master angry, the atmosphere in the guild instantly became somewhat oppressive.
Suddenly, Makarov changed his tone:
"But... let those Councilors go eat shit."
Makarov lit the documents on fire and threw them down casually. Seeing this, Natsu immediately jumped up and caught them in his mouth like a puppy.
"Listen well!! All power that transcends common sense is born within common sense. Magic is not a miraculous power. It is the connection between the spirit within us and the spirit of nature that resonates and manifests."
"If we care about what the people above think, our Magic won't be able to improve. Don't be afraid of those fools in the Council. Move forward on the path you believe in."
"That is a mage of Fairy Tail!!!"
"OHHHHHHHH!!"
Everyone in the guild cheered loudly. The oppressive atmosphere was swept away, and everyone was laughing heartily. This atmosphere also infected Lucy, who finally felt that the Fairy Tail guild was just as free and joyful as she had imagined.
"Stupid brat! Give me a detailed report on this job."
In a mage guild, reports must be made after completing missions of S-Class and above. Of course, any noteworthy matters should also be reported based on judgment.
This was mainly to enrich the database so that if similar incidents or events occurred in the future, they wouldn't be clueless.
"Yes!"
Riku began to report the details of this mission to Makarov. Although it took Riku nearly half a year to complete, ten minutes was enough for the report.
Listening, Makarov's face couldn't help but become very serious. After hearing it all, Makarov let out a breath.
"I didn't expect this 10-Year Quest to be so dangerous. No wonder it's the 10-Year Quest with the highest mortality rate. If it continued to develop for another ten years, the difficulty might be comparable to a 100-Year Quest."
He understood. The strength of the monsters in this mission wasn't particularly powerful, but each individual wasn't weak either. They possessed great strength, defense, acid, self-destruction, and other dangerous attack methods that even powerful mages couldn't withstand.
Especially the number of monsters—endless. If a mage's Magic Power was exhausted, only death awaited them.
Besides that, the most dangerous thing wasn't the monsters, but the environment. Perhaps no one could imagine that the deepest part of that dungeon was a full ten thousand meters below the ground—a veritable underground kingdom.
Even the Magic Council's Etherion couldn't strike that deep underground.
If not for Riku, allowing those monsters to rush out might have brought devastating disasters to that country and several surrounding countries.
Makarov patted Riku's shoulder: "Well done. It was truly hard on you."
In his eyes, Riku was the only one in Fairy Tail who could complete this mission. Even Gildarts wouldn't be able to.
In that environment, Gildarts' Magic would make him very passive.
This mission was so dangerous, and staying in a place without daylight for half a year... no one would say anything even if Riku gave up. But Riku persisted and chose to complete it.
Hearing Makarov's words, Riku was very excited inside. Since joining Fairy Tail, the Master had taken good care of him. Being praised by the old man gave him a sense of glory like being praised by a father. However, he put on an indifferent smile: "What's there to say? I just completed my mission."
"Good child!"
Since Gildarts went on the 100-Year Quest, Riku became a pillar of the guild, completing one S-Class mission after another, greatly increasing Fairy Tail's prestige.
With greater fame came more trouble. Some dark guilds that disliked Fairy Tail attacked its members. Then, these dark guilds all disappeared silently. Gradually, no one dared to target Fairy Tail members anymore.
Makarov knew that Riku was the one who solved those forces targeting Fairy Tail.
Later, Erza, Mira, and Mystogan rose up. Now Natsu was the most famous 'Salamander' in the Kingdom of Fiore, making Fairy Tail's fame unparalleled for a time.
"Riku! Come drink!"
"Quickly tell us what a 10-Year Quest is like?!"
"Yeah! Let us hear it!"
Many people shouted at Riku. For ninety percent of the people in the guild, they might never touch an S-Class mission in their lifetime, let alone a 10-Year Quest far more difficult than S-Class.
"Okay! Master, I'll go over first."
Makarov waved his hand: "Go on!"
Riku quickly went over and sat down. After Riku sat down, many people in the guild gathered around. They all wanted to know what Riku had experienced during his half-year absence, as this was the first time Riku had been on a mission for so long.
After downing two glasses of wine, Riku began to talk about the mission process. With some embellishments, the process seemed very tense and exciting, causing many people in the guild to exclaim repeatedly.
At this time, a childish voice rang out.
"Has my dad not come back yet?"
Riku looked in the direction of the voice and saw a boy of five or six standing in front of Makarov.
"Is that... Romeo? Haven't seen you for half a year, grown so tall."
Riku recognized the boy as Macao's son. Macao's wife ran away, and Macao raised Romeo alone afterwards.
Since he had to work and didn't have time to look after him, he often brought Romeo to the guild and asked everyone to help look after him.
Macao was popular, and with many people in the guild, they naturally helped look after Romeo when they had time. Riku had also looked after him.
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