Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, three days have already passed since the Council's trial ended.
The Specter Dominators were disbanded that same day, and when the Council's troops came to raid their homes, they discovered that the headquarters of the Specter Dominators and all of its branches spread across every town in the Fiore Kingdom had vanished overnight.
Even Joseph himself suddenly disappeared without a trace.
This is highly unusual.
Although it is unclear where the Specters went, fortunately they could not take all of their substantial assets; after the Council's inventory, a total of 500 million J was confiscated.
For reference, a typical mage guild, after necessary expenses, would consider a few million a year a good haul.
Let alone a guild like Fairy Tail, which often has to work at a loss.
Such a huge sum couldn't have been obtained merely by extorting clients.
After a thorough investigation, the Council discovered that Joseph had secretly arranged deals between Soul and the Dark Magic Sect, accounting for more than half of the 500 million.
Thus the once‑glorious "Saint Top Ten Mages" Joseph is now wanted by the Council, along with his two subordinates, Aria and Soul, with a bounty on their heads.
As for the confiscated 500 million J, the Council split it into four equal parts.
As the enforcer of magical order, the Council naturally took one share. The Fiore Kingdom, Fairy Tail, and the Orc City government each received 125 million J as compensation for the damage caused by the Specter Dominators.
In monetary matters, the Council was quite fair; after all, for an institution that has existed for nearly a millennium, 500 million is just pocket change.
However, under Hop's suggestion, Makalov bought the Specter Dominators' super mage giant from the Council for a rock‑bottom price of 5 million.
Because Hop, together with Gajiru and a few others, concealed crucial information from the Council: the Specter mage giant wasn't just equipped with a massive magical railgun.
Inside the giant also lay a terrifying forbidden spell that can only be activated with the power of the four elements—'Purgatory Shatter'.
Its power far exceeds that of the Jupiter Cannon.
Due to the deliberate concealment by Jubia and others, and the Specters' mass exodus, the Magic Council failed to discover this hidden spell within the giant.
Now it's all cheap for Fairy Tail.
In Fairy Tail's backyard, Hop stared at the headless, battle‑damaged mage giant and said, "Five million for a forbidden spell, plus a magical railgun, and a transformable 'Gundam'—that's a bargain, right?"
'What's a Gundam…'
Erza gave a puzzled look and replied, 'But we did score a huge find; you can restore the mage giant using the "Arc of Time".'
'We can dismantle the Jupiter Cannon and give it to Celeska.'
'As for "Purgatory Shatter", it requires sufficiently strong earth, water, fire, and wind magic to activate. The fire and water energies are covered by you, Natsu, and Gray.'
'But we lack suitable members for earth ("soil") magic and wind magic in our guild.'
Hop nodded. He could improvise earth magic by using the "Arc of the Great Tree" to draw power from the soil, but there was no strong wind mage in the guild.
Nevertheless, Hop wasn't in a hurry; by mid‑next month he could go to the Miridian Magic Academy, where many prodigies study wind magic, and he could simply copy their abilities back.
Just as Hop was leisurely preparing to start today's minor repairs on the mage giant, Natsu bounded over excitedly, 'Erza! Hop! A councilwoman and her "Iron Dragon" have arrived.'
Councilwoman granny?
Hop immediately realized it was Councilwoman Belluno; she couldn't be coming to settle scores for being blackmailed with Gajiru… The two rushed back to the hall.
But upon seeing Belluno chatting merrily with Makalov, Hop knew his worry was unfounded.
'Lady Belluno.'
Hop and Erza approached and greeted her.
Belluno nodded, glanced at the scowling Gajiru beside her, and said, 'We came today because there's something I'd like to ask President Makalov.'
'Go ahead.'
Makalov was quite receptive; after all, many good things had happened lately, and Belluno had helped Fairy Tail before.
Seeing this, Belluno got straight to the point: 'I want Gajiru to join Fairy Tail; this kid grew up among the Specter Dominators and is already accustomed to guild life.'
Before Makalov could respond, the previously silent Gajiru leapt up and shouted, 'Hey, you old hag! Let me tell you, I'm happy staying outside and will never join this guild…'
Uppercut!
Before Gajiru could finish his sentence, Erza landed a merciless punch, sending him sprawling—her past made her intolerant of anyone who disrespects elders.
Gajiru scrambled to his feet, cautiously glanced at Hop, saw no reaction, then snarled at Erza, 'You stinky old woman, you dared to ambush me! Dare you fight me fair and square!'
Erza turned away, 'Follow me.'
Gajiru didn't hesitate and followed Erza to the guild's backyard; seeing a spectacle, the crowd in the hall quickly scattered.
Hop couldn't help joking to Belluno, 'Senior, it seems your godson hasn't even joined the guild yet but has already blended into Fairy Tail's atmosphere.'
Just as he finished, a scream from Gajiru echoed.
Followed by the guild's uproarious laughter and Gajiru's disgruntled challenge to Natsu.
Belluno helplessly pressed her hand to her forehead, 'Gajiru is just like my late son—impetuous, reckless… please excuse us.'
Makalov smiled contentedly, 'If you're not hot‑headed, are you even young?'
Hop shifted his weight, half‑expecting Makalov to pull a watermelon knife from behind and shout a meme about buying melons.
Makalov gave a suspicious glance at the suddenly frantic Hop, then agreed to let Gajiru join Fairy Tail.
Though they'd only known him briefly, Makalov could tell Gajiru's nature wasn't bad; otherwise he wouldn't have trusted Belluno with him.
Moreover, Gajiru's magical talent is high; wielding the 'Iron Dragon Annihilation' spell, he's already a capable battle mage.
Hop was about to congratulate Makalov on gaining another thorny member, when he inadvertently noticed Loki sitting in a corner of the hall.
The usual woman‑chaser was now hesitating—perhaps because all the girls had gone to the backyard to watch the commotion?
Hop stroked his chin, recalling something.
Last time when they were copying each other's magic, Loki was also in the guild but didn't scramble to 'sell' his magic.
But Loki didn't seem to be flush with cash either, despite usually being pampered by rich women.
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