Morning.
Magnolia Town.
Gildarts led Caelan, Finn, and Rook right up to the town entrance.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
A series of loud, frantic warning bells suddenly echoed through the streets.
Having just retired from their short-lived bandit careers, Finn and Rook reacted entirely on instinct.
In a flash, they ducked behind Caelan, shivering.
“Boss!
Boss!” Finn panicked, grabbing Caelan’s sleeve.
“Did this old guy trick us?!
Is he bringing us to his turf to execute us?!
Listen to those bells—he obviously just signaled an ambush!
Let’s get out of here, Boss!” “Yeah, what he said!” Rook chimed in, equally terrified.
Caelan stared at his two idiot subordinates, absolutely speechless.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble violently, rumbling like a stampede of ten thousand horses.
Hearing the deafening noise, Finn and Rook immediately assumed an entire army was charging their way.
Swallowing their fear, they leaped out from behind Caelan and threw themselves in front of him to act as human shields.
Finn completely dropped his cowardly act, puffing out his chest with sheer bravado.
“Don’t you worry, Boss!
Sounds like they’ve got a thousand men, but as long as me and Rook are here, we’ll put all thousand of ’em in the dirt!
You keep the old guy busy, and we’ll handle the army!” “Yeah, what he said!” Rook yelled.
Gildarts watched the two of them posture and completely lost it, bursting into booming laughter.
Seeing him laugh only fueled Finn’s indignation.
“You’re finally showing your true colors, aren’t you, old man?!
Our boss might be young and naive enough to fall for your empty promises, but not me!
I saw through your evil plot from the start!
Bring it on!
I don’t care how many guys you have, I’ll take them all on myself!” Rook blinked, his memory of last night suddenly catching up with him.
“Uh, Finn…
weren’t you the one begging the boss to come here last night?” “What do you know, Rook?!” Finn hissed, sweating.
“I was just lowering the enemy’s guard so we could infiltrate their ranks!
It’s called strategy!
But I wouldn’t expect a meathead like you to get it.
I swear, this whole operation would fall apart without me!” A very visible vein throbbed on Caelan’s forehead.
“Rook!” “Here, Boss!” “Throw him away.” “Yes, sir!” Finn blinked.
“Huh?” As the entire town mechanically shifted, sliding apart on massive rails, a direct, elevated path to the Fairy Tail guildhall appeared before them.
Caelan ignored his men and calmly followed Gildarts down the newly formed street.
Rook practically had stars in his eyes, completely amazed by the shifting town—something he had never seen before in his life.
He trailed closely behind, his right hand casually dragging a half-dead Finn by the collar.
Before long, the four of them stood in front of the grand doors of Fairy Tail.
Before Caelan could even take in the sight of the building, Gildarts stepped forward.
He didn’t bother reaching for the handle.
Vmmmm—Crash.
In an instant, the heavy wooden doors were dismantled into hundreds of tiny, glowing wooden cubes that clattered to the floor.
The rowdy, chaotic noise of the guild immediately spilled out into the street.
Macao, sitting near the front with a mug in hand, grinned broadly.
“You’re back, Gildarts!
Come have a drink!” “Hahaha, hold on a sec,” Gildarts called back.
“Is the Master around?” “Gildarts!
Fight me!!” A pink-haired teenager suddenly vaulted over a table, launching himself at Gildarts with a fiery battle cry.
Bam!
Without even looking, Gildarts casually swatted the kid out of the air, slamming him face-first into the floorboards.
“Later, Natsu.
I’ve got business to handle,” Gildarts said, stepping right over him and heading toward the bar.
Sitting on the counter was Makarov, staring at his completely obliterated front doors with a dangerously dark aura radiating from his small body.
“How many times do I have to tell you?!” Makarov exploded.
“Can’t you open a door normally for once in your life?!
Do you have any idea how much it costs to replace those every single time?!” “Hahaha!
Sorry, sorry.
Next time for sure,” Gildarts laughed, completely unbothered.
He thumbed over his shoulder.
“But look, I brought you a really great recruit.” Hearing the word ‘recruit,’ Makarov paused.
His eyes shifted toward the shattered entryway, landing on the three young men standing outside.
“Come on in, you three,” Gildarts called out.
Caelan led the way, stepping over the threshold.
Almost immediately, the chaotic noise of the guild died down.
Sanmao and Ergou tensed up, suddenly hyper-aware of the dozens of eyes sizing them up.
Then, the aggressive whispering started.
“Hey…
which of those three do you think is Gildarts’s illegitimate kid?” “Why just one?
Knowing him, it’s probably all three.” “That’s a terrifyingly good point.” “My bet is on the one in the middle.
He’s definitely got that playboy look about him.” “Tch, listen to you.
You’re just jealous of the new kid.” “What did you just say?!
Me, jealous?!” “You wanna fight about it?!” “Bring it on, tough guy!” In a matter of seconds, the quiet guild completely erupted into a massive, free-for-all tavern brawl.
Finn and Rook stood frozen, utterly dumbfounded by the sheer chaos.
Suddenly, a flying guild member was launched straight at their heads like a human cannonball.
Reacting on pure instinct, Rook threw a flying kick, launching the guy right back into the fray.
A second later, both Finn and Rook were screaming battle cries and throwing themselves into the brawl.
Up at the bar, Caelan and Makarov both stood in utter silence, wearing identical, dark expressions.
Makarov was irritated by his guild’s destructive habits, while Caelan was deeply regretting his life choices after being accused of being Gildarts’s bastard child.
Gildarts, meanwhile, was just laughing heartily, totally oblivious to the tension.
Makarov took a deep breath, and his furious scowl instantly melted into a warm, grandfatherly smile.
“Hahaha!
Please, excuse them.
They aren’t usually like this.
Your arrival must have just gotten them a bit excited.” He coughed lightly into his fist.
“So, what’s your name, young man?” “Just call me Caelan, Master.” “Hehe.
Well, welcome to Fairy Tail, little Caelan.” Makarov stood up on the bar counter, reaching out to pat Caelan’s shoulder.
Right at that exact second, a stray egg flew out of the brawl and smashed directly against the side of Makarov’s head.
The shell cracked, and raw egg yolk slowly dripped down the old man’s frozen, smiling face.
The warmth vanished from his eyes.
“CAN YOU BRATS QUIET DOWN FOR ONE MINUTE?!” Magic Power erupted through the hall.
Caelan watched in awe as the tiny old man suddenly expanded, his muscles bulging as he grew into an absolute giant.
With one sweeping backhand, Makarov cleared the entire center of the room, sending the brawlers crashing into the walls.
Just as quickly as he had grown, Makarov shrank back down into a sweet, harmless-looking old man.
He pulled out a magic stamp and smiled at Caelan.
“Now then, little Caelan, what color would you like your guild mark to be?
And where do you want it?” “G-gold is fine,” Caelan muttered, still staring at the devastation.
“On the back of my right hand.” ‘Holy crap,’ Caelan thought, genuinely impressed.
‘So that’s Giant Magic.
Seeing it up close is insane.’ He turned back toward the pile of groaning wizards.
“Rook!
Finn!” “Here, Boss!” they yelled in unison, crawling out from under a broken table.
“Hurry up and get your guild marks.” “Yes, Boss!
Right away!” Once the three of them had their marks stamped, Makarov led Caelan into the back room for a private chat.
Nobody in the hall knew exactly what they discussed.
By the time Caelan finally emerged, he found Finn and Rook completely integrated into the guild.
They were sitting on a table with tankards in hand, loudly bragging to a captive audience of Fairy Tail mages about just how insanely powerful their ‘Boss’ was.
Before Caelan could even tell them to shut up, the pink-haired kid from earlier—Natsu—spotted him.
Looking completely fired up and entirely unsatisfied with his quick defeat by Gildarts, Natsu slammed his fists together.
“Hey!
I heard you’re super strong!” Natsu yelled across the hall.
“I don’t believe it!
Fight me right now!!” “Huh?” Caelan blinked, thoroughly bewildered.
He was naturally lazy to begin with, and before he could even process what was happening, the fired-up kid was already launching himself straight at his face.