Seeing that everyone already had a clear idea of how things should proceed, Makarov gave a brief instruction.
There was no need for him to personally step in anymore—Marco and the others would handle everything properly.
"I'll leave it to you kids!"
The moment Master Makarov left, Gildarts immediately stood up.
Chuckling, he clearly had no intention of getting involved in the preparations either.
Whatever work they assigned him, he'd do—but he wasn't about to help organize things.
"..."
Erza and Mirajane looked at each other and saw the same helplessness in each other's eyes.
The two elders of the guild were both this unreliable, so the only person they could really count on was Marco.
Both women turned to look at him, and Marco just smiled and nodded at Gildarts, directly granting the man permission to slack off.
After all these years, Marco was already used to everyone's personalities and habits.
If Gildarts suddenly started involving himself in every little detail, that would have been what felt strange.
But...
Looking at Gildarts grinning there in front of them, Marco hesitated.
He wanted to say something, then stopped himself.
As for Cana...
Marco felt that if he didn't tell Gildarts soon, sooner or later there was definitely going to be a problem.
After failing the S-Class promotion exam again and again, Cana seemed to be gradually losing confidence.
If this kept going, something was bound to go wrong. The pressure on her was simply too great.
Because they were close in age, had grown up together since they were five or six, and because Marco knew the truth of Cana's relationship with Gildarts, he had always paid close attention to her state of mind.
Over the past two years, Cana had even occasionally started drinking alone in a gloomy mood, clearly using alcohol to drown her sorrows.
Fortunately, Marco would talk her down, and Cana tended to listen to him, so it had remained only occasional drinking—she hadn't developed a true drinking problem.
"Marco? What is it?"
Seeing Marco's strange expression, Gildarts asked curiously.
Marco wasn't the kind of person to drag his feet, so this kind of hesitation was rare for him.
"It's nothing. I'll tell you after the S-Class exam is over."
Marco pressed his lips together, and in the end decided to delay it a little longer.
Once this exam was over, no matter the result—whether Cana advanced or not—he would bring Cana along and tell Gildarts everything.
This matter couldn't be put off any longer.
"Oh. Sure."
Gildarts nodded blankly, totally confused.
He had no idea what Marco wanted to tell him.
Erza and Mirajane also looked at each other in puzzlement.
They didn't know either, but judging by Marco's expression, the matter was urgent—just not that urgent.
At the very least, it could wait until after the exam.
"Stop guessing. You'll all find out after the exam. I can give you one hint, though—it's definitely something huge enough to shock you."
Seeing the confused little expressions on Erza and Mirajane's faces, Marco smiled and shook his head.
He shamelessly dangled the bait in front of them, but refused to say anything substantial.
"If you're not going to say it, then don't! Why tease us like that?!"
Erza got annoyed and immediately complained about Marco's inhuman behavior.
This was basically no different from those people who always say half a sentence and leave the rest unsaid—exactly the kind of thing that made people want to punch them.
"Hmph!"
Mirajane puffed out her cheeks and gave a soft snort, shooting Marco a sidelong glance. She was clearly unhappy too.
With how close they all were, what was there that he couldn't tell them? Why did he insist on keeping it from them?
"Haha... Well, it's someone else's private matter, so I can't say too much. I've got work to do—see you!"
Under the mock-angry gazes of the two girls, Marco decisively chose the best option: retreat.
His figure vanished instantly, and he slipped away on the spot.
"Then I'm off too. It's been a long time since I took a walk around Magnolia."
Gildarts also turned to leave, but his casual remark instantly drew Erza and Mirajane's attention.
The two women exchanged a glance and immediately saw the urgency in each other's eyes.
Gildarts... absolutely could not be allowed to wander around unsupervised.
Someone had to keep an eye on him and remind him where he was, or else that man was basically a walking disaster zone.
But Erza and Mirajane both needed to go handle matters related to the S-Class exam, so naturally they couldn't accompany Gildarts on a stroll around town.
Just as the two of them were worrying, Erza's eyes lit up.
She quickly called out to Cana, who was sneaking past with a wine flask in hand.
"Cana! Come here for a second!"
That shout startled Cana so badly she nearly dropped the flask.
She clutched it to her chest, nervously glanced around, and only relaxed after confirming that Marco wasn't nearby.
"What is it, Erza? Mira?"
Cana looked at the two of them in confusion, though there was still a trace of caution in her eyes.
She was afraid these two were about to rat her out.
"Cana, are you busy with anything right now?"
Coming up in front of her, Erza asked to confirm.
"N-no... nothing. Why?"
Cana hid the flask behind her back and answered guiltily.
She became even more convinced that Erza was about to go report her to Marco.
"We have to go prepare for the S-Class exam, so I'm leaving Gildarts to you. Keep an eye on him and don't let him go around wrecking things!"
Once Erza confirmed Cana had nothing urgent to do, she hurriedly explained, completely missing the hesitant expression on Mirajane's face behind her.
"Huh? What?!"
Cana froze for a moment, not quite reacting in time.
Actually, she had heard clearly—she just hadn't expected Erza to ask her to do something like this.
"I'm counting on you! We've got to get going!"
Erza gave Cana a serious bow, trusting that Cana would agree to help.
They both had important things to do, and keeping watch over Gildarts was important too.
Since Cana was free, Erza was sure she wouldn't refuse.
That was Erza's trust in her Fairy Tail comrades.
"Cana... if it gets difficult, you can ask someone else for help."
Just before Erza dragged her away, Mirajane finally spoke up with a reminder. She knew very well that Cana rarely ever went near Gildarts.