Ankh's unrestrained accusations against the Council members once again pushed all the councilors into a deeply awkward position.
Gran Doma's face turned ashen as he forced a faint smile. "This is merely the Council's advice. We certainly wouldn't blame a Magic Guild that has contributed so much to Earthland. We simply request that your guild moderate its approach slightly."
Without giving Ankh any opening to retort, Gran Doma immediately continued, "The reason we summoned you here today is actually to convey another highly important matter to both of you."
Following Makarov's subtle hint, Ankh ceased his verbal assault on the Council, crossing his arms with Makarov as they coldly listened to what the Chairman had to say.
Gran Doma secretly breathed a sigh of relief before adopting a serious expression.
"Having just returned from Edolas, you both must be unaware of the events currently occurring with the Western and Northern continents."
"Our Council has recently attempted communication with numerous nations in the Western Continent. While ordinary kingdoms have been receptive, expressing goodwill toward Ishgar and a willingness to establish future connections... the Magical Kingdoms have not."
In this world, although every country develops magic to some extent, not all are considered "Magical Kingdoms."
Most remain ordinary nations, merely importing some magical technology.
The largest Magical Kingdom in Ishgar is the Fiore Kingdom, where most of the powerful Magic Guilds are established.
In the Western Continent, the counterpart to Fiore is the notorious Alvarez Empire.
"The magical forces of the Western Continent are entirely led by the Alvarez Empire. That empire has never shown friendliness toward Ishgar, so the other magical forces of the West have similarly refrained from making any statements."
When Gran Doma mentioned this, his aged face couldn't help but show a look of helplessness and confusion.
Calling it the Western Continent's counterpart to Fiore was merely self-comfort from Ishgar's perspective.
In reality, the two nations were completely different in scale, with their magical capabilities worlds apart.
During this period, the Council had joined forces with all magical institutions across the continent to send envoys with letters and gifts to the Alvarez Empire with sincere goodwill, but the result...
Their overtures sank like stones in the ocean.
The returning envoys looked utterly bewildered, claiming they had never received any mission to Alvarez at all, as if their memories had been completely altered.
Ankh asked curiously, "So, what do you need our guild to do about it?"
Gran Doma gathered his spirits and inquired.
"Actually, the Alvarez Empire sent an envoy this very morning for a visit, expressing a willingness to engage in friendly exchanges."
"First, they... hope to purchase a piece of your guild's overseas property, specifically..."
Gran Doma's tone was uncharacteristically hesitant, but quickly turned matter-of-fact.
Ankh's heart skipped a beat, immediately realizing what he meant.
"Tenrou Island?!"
Gran Doma nodded and explained.
"They are willing to pay a substantial sum to lease your guild's Tenrou Island. This represents our very first communication channel with the Western Continent's Alvarez Empire, so..."
"Council Chairman!!"
This time it was the usually timid Makarov who suddenly glared with anger, his voice clearly suppressing a volcanic fury.
"Tenrou Island is where our guild's first Guild Master, Mavis, was born and buried! It is the sacred ground of our Fairy Tail! It absolutely cannot be sold or leased to anyone!"
Gran Doma fell silent, trying to persuade him. "It is just leasing... This matter would greatly benefit future relations between the two continents, you see..."
"Absolutely not!" Makarov scoffed at such reasoning.
How could a guild's most private sacred ground be leased to others?
Would you agree to someone borrowing your family's burial plot?!
There must be some dark purpose behind leasing it.
With the first Guild Master whom Makarov respected most buried there, he would never agree to such a request, no matter what.
Moreover, Makarov never trusted the Alvarez Empire to begin with. This specific condition might very well be targeting the guild directly.
Although the old man was generally considerate of the bigger picture, deep in his mind, when comparing the future prosperity of the entire continent against potential harm to his guild, he would not hesitate to choose the latter.
Selfish toward the world, selfless toward the guild—that was Makarov.
Gran Doma wanted to say a few more comforting words to Makarov, but the unusually resolute little old man snorted coldly, said his farewells, and walked right out.
Leaving the council members staring at each other in bewilderment, Ankh watched Makarov walk out and naturally followed.
Before departing, he calmly told the council members.
"Tenrou Island holds extraordinary significance for our guild, and its geographical location is rather unique. It would be best for all of you to carefully reconsider this matter."
Tenrou Island was located in the outer seas of Ishgar—if the Alvarez Empire were to truly acquire this place, it would become the perfect logistical hub and staging ground once war broke out.
After casually sharing his tactical analysis, Ankh also took his leave from the Council.
Watching these two audacious Mages depart, the council members, who had been aggressively suppressing their emotions, immediately broke into heated discussions.
"These short-sighted Mages! With the era of great chaos approaching, they are still clinging to their own little territories!"
A bearded old man with gloomy eyes slammed the table angrily, cursing without restraint.
The elderly Leiji, sporting an afro and thick glasses, coughed lightly and reminded them in a low voice.
"However, its true that we promised the envoy usage rights of Tenrou Island to Alvarez without first consulting Fairy Tail..."
"Hmph! The entire guild had disappeared! Who were we supposed to ask?!"
"Moreover, since when do Magic Guilds have any say in such political matters? So what if it is their private land! It is still part of Ishgar!" a wrinkled old woman who appeared extremely rigid spoke in a gloomy voice.
Sitting beside her, Yajima couldn't help but frown and retort.
"If we can freely use civilians' assets to make deals with other foreign forces, then what is the purpose of the Council's existence?!"
"Is it wrong for common people to protect what is rightfully theirs? These political responsibilities should be ours to bear, not theirs! The taxes they work hard to pay aren't meant for us to better oppress them!"
Yajima's voice trembled with anger.
But his words clearly didn't move the old woman who had spoken earlier.
She sharply accused, "A single guild with two... no, three Ten Wizard Saints, filled with numerous S-Class mages—the de facto strongest guild in Ishgar that even dares to completely disregard the Council, handling otherworldly matters we don't even know about!"
"Yajima! Don't you find it ridiculous to call these bloated, dangerous tumors of the magic world 'civilians'?!"