X717.
Five years after graduating from Fairy Academy, Darwin temporarily left Fairy Tail to travel abroad, using the excuse that he "wanted to see more of the world while still young." In less than six months, he was awarded the title of Wizard Saint by the Council. Immediately afterward, Darwin pivoted and joined the Magic Council. Leveraging his immense strength and formidable family background, he advanced rapidly within the Council, soon becoming one of the councilors.
X718.
The Fiore Royal Family, noticing that Fairy Tail had become the sole dominant power in the domestic magic world, could no longer sit idly by. They personally stepped in to establish the Fiore Kingdom Public Magic Academy and supported several entrepreneurs in founding private magic schools, hoping to provide a counterweight to Fairy Academy. Under the Royal Family's manipulation, Fairy Academy's influence indeed began to weaken.
X720.
Darwin and Erza married, and they had a son following the wedding.
X730.
The six members of the "First Generation Fairies" simultaneously announced their retirement into seclusion.
Precht appointed Makarov as the third-generation Master of Fairy Tail.
Weston appointed Erza as the second-generation Principal of Fairy Academy, with Chris as the Vice-Principal.
After succeeding the position, Erza quickly implemented reforms at Fairy Academy. She changed the original "6+1" academic year system to a "6+3+3" system: six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of university.
The enrollment age was adjusted from "under 12" to "above 6." Every year, after passing the entrance examination, new students would complete six years of magical elementary school. If they had no intention of pursuing magic further, they could graduate and leave. If they wished to go deeper into the magical arts, they had to apply for an academy assessment to promote to the middle school department; the same applied to the university department.
Furthermore, to ensure students didn't become fragile "greenhouse flowers" buried in books, only the six elementary years remained full-time. The three years of middle school became part-time, and the three university years were changed to a "Field Study System."
Through Erza's reforms and Darwin's constant support from the Council, Fairy Academy funneled a massive amount of talent into the Fiore Kingdom every year, greatly increasing the magic popularization rate. Other magic academies followed suit, and from then on, major magic schools became highly bonded with nearby magic guilds, essentially becoming "talent cultivation bases" for their respective guilds. However, this also caused their individual influence within the Fiore Kingdom to dwindle over the years.
X748.
Due to several consecutive years of economic downturn, a large number of magic schools declared bankruptcy. In this environment, only Weston's Fairy Academy and the Royal Family's Fiore Kingdom Public Magic Academy remained standing. Young, magically talented youths gradually gravitated toward these two institutions, causing the "Magic Academy" scene to show signs of a second spring.
X760.
Fairy Academy, Fairy Club.
"Did you hear?"
"Apparently, there are exchange students coming to our school this year!"
This sudden news instantly revitalized the students who were drowsy from the burden of schoolwork.
"Exchange students? From where?"
"Where else? The only one in the country qualified to compare with our Fairy Academy is the Public Academy founded by the Royal Family!"
"You mean the Fiore Kingdom Public Magic Academy? But our relationship with them isn't exactly great, is it? Why the sudden exchange student program? It's nonsensical!"
"Exactly! Every year during recruitment, their people always jump out to snatch students from us! What's more annoying is that they always look down on people just because they have the Royal Family backing them..."
"I heard someone say those exchange students were specifically chosen to establish their academy's prestige and authority here!"
"What!? To show off? Hmph! I knew nothing good comes out of that school!!"
"It's too early to judge. Let's wait until they arrive and see..."
The grudge between Fairy Academy and the Fiore Kingdom Public Magic Academy went back a long way. Years ago, after the passing of Queen Lily, the succeeding monarchs could not stand to see Fairy Tail's development reaching its zenith as the sole power in the magic world. They shamelessly stepped in to create and support various magic schools to compete with Fairy Academy.
The rift was formed then. During the economic depression of the '40s, other schools went bankrupt, and the Public Academy took the opportunity to annex their resources, becoming Fairy Academy's sole rival. For over a decade since, while there hadn't been major conflicts, small frictions were constant.
As they spoke, the crowd instinctively looked toward a corner of the club. Sitting there was a handsome youth holding a pen and paper, calculating math problems. The atmosphere of the Fairy Club was much like Fairy Tail—everyone did their own thing, and no matter how loud others were, they could concentrate intensely on the task at hand.
This youth was the perfect example. Sunlight spilled through the window onto his desk, illuminating the mountain-like piles of scratch paper. The paper was originally pure white, but it had turned a grayish-black, covered in letters, numbers, axes, and geometric shapes. Anyone looking at it would feel dizzy or nauseous—especially these students who knew exactly what those symbols implied.
However, the youth treated this pile of "filthy" things like treasure, taking them everywhere. Even more terrifying was the output! If someone looked away for just a moment and looked back, it seemed as if the papers had learned to reproduce, with a new stack appearing out of nowhere.
"I say, Descartes."
"Do you know anything?"
The boy named Descartes looked up, his clear eyes showing a hint of confusion. "What did you say? I wasn't listening just now."
The crowd seemed to have expected this reaction and collectively facepalmed.
"Exchange students! Exchange students!"
"Word is that students from the Public Magic Academy are coming here this year!"
"You must have heard something about this, right?"
No one doubted that this classmate named Descartes had access to such information channels. In the Fairy Club... no, in the entire Fairy Academy and even all of Magnolia, his family background was unmatched!
After all, he was the great-grandson of the first Master of Fairy Tail, the grandson of the current Chairman of the Magic Council and the Academy Principal, the son of the Middle School Dean and the town's wealthiest woman, and the biological nephew of the Mayor of Magnolia—
Descartes Lagrange!!