When Raizel and the cleanup crew returned to Magnolia, they breathed in the crisp, fresh winter air in unison, deeply relieved.
Tenrou Island had been filled with the suffocating stench of burning corpses and ozone—the air there had been unbearable.
"Alright, let's forget today's grim work and move forward," Raizel said, pushing open the heavy guild doors.
The guild hall was as incredibly noisy as ever, perhaps even more so than usual. Natsu, Gray, and Elfman, who had all failed to advance in S-Class rank due to the cancelation, were seething with competitive frustration.
Adding Gajeel to the mix—who, though unrelated to the rankings, shared their fiery temper—they were now locked in a massive, chaotic brawl in the center of the hall.
"Ahem!" Erza cleared her throat loudly from the doorway.
"It's Erza!" a background member panicked.
"Who cares about Erza?! Don't try to change the subject, ice stripper!" Natsu yelled, throwing a fiery punch.
"Forget her! Don't you dare run, ash brain! Keep fighting!" Gray roared, tackling him.
Erza couldn't ignore those disrespectful words.
With thick veins bulging on her forehead, she marched directly into the fray.
Once inside the dust cloud, she knocked out the offending opponents with single, brutal punches.
"Everyone stop right now!" Erza commanded.
Soon, all four men had comically large bumps growing on their heads.
They sat cross-armed on the floor in a neat row, puffing with anger and stubbornly ignoring each other.
"Solved?" Makarov asked from the bar, taking a calm sip of alcohol.
"Solved. I guarantee even if the First Master return, she won't notice anything unusual," Raizel laughed, patting his chest confidently.
"Good, well done," Makarov nodded with satisfaction.
...
At the Guild Bar Counter—
"Since it's almost the end of the year, if you want to take on jobs, just pick simple ones nearby. Don't miss the Christmas party this year, old man. Even though Cana hasn't said anything these past few years when you didn't attend, I could still tell she was quite sad."
Raizel and Gildarts were sitting together at the bar, Raizel drinking hot tea and Gildarts downing a barrel of alcohol.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on leaving on a journey for now. At the very least, I'll wait until next year before taking on century quests again," Gildarts sighed, patting his prosthetic shoulder.
"My arm isn't fully healed yet. It still aches a bit when I exert heavy force."
Though he could still fight monsters like Bluenote if he really had to, it would purely be through sheer endurance and pushing past the pain.
"If you attend the Christmas party, I think Cana would be very happy," Laxus added, walking up to the bar.
Although Cana never mentioned Gildarts outright to the others, whenever they went on missions together, Laxus often noticed her nostalgic, sad expression.
Laxus understood that feeling perfectly.
He had experienced it himself back when his father, Ivan, was expelled from the guild by Makarov.
At that time, he had felt confused, angry, and deeply nostalgic for a normal family.
"Speaking of the party, you should get Cana a Christmas gift, right? After all, it's been almost three years since you last truly saw her for the holidays," Raizel noted.
Raizel glanced over at the table where the female members were sitting.
Cana was chatting happily with Lucy and Levy, completely oblivious to the tense conversation happening at the bar.
"Ahhh!!!" Gildarts panicked, frantically grabbing his orange hair.
"I knew it. You definitely didn't prepare anything, did you?" Laxus chuckled lightly, leaning against the counter.
"There's still time. Remember to get her something thoughtful," Raizel said, patting Gildarts on the shoulder.
"Any suggestions?!" Gildarts pleaded, looking back and forth between Raizel on his left and Laxus on his right.
"Clothes, jewelry, perfume, bags, or maybe some rare magic cards... it's up to you," Raizel counted off each item on his fingers.
"Or you could try making something yourself? If you know how..." Laxus's voice trailed off.
Laxus suddenly remembered Gildarts's Crash magic—anything the clumsy man tried to delicately make by hand would probably end up as a pile of shattered debris.
"I got it! Thanks, boys!" Gildarts gave Raizel and Laxus a heavy pat on the shoulder and ran out the guild doors without looking back, clearly on a frantic shopping mission.
...
The latest issue of the Magic Council Weekly in late X784 published headline news that sent massive shockwaves throughout the entire Ishgar continent.
The last time the Ishgar continent was this collectively shaken was when the Balam Alliance was originally formed, and various Dark Guilds pledged allegiance, creating a massive, terrifying force powerful enough to rival the Magic Council's military.
On December 16th, the most powerful faction within the Balam Alliance, Grimoire Heart, was permanently erased from history.
With this stunning defeat, only the most enigmatic guild, Tartaros, remained of the Balam Alliance's iron triangle.
No one had expected the mighty alliance to crumble so quickly.
Following the fall of Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart was also destroyed, with its core surviving members—the Seven Kin of Purgatory—all imprisoned in the Council's deepest jail.
And the mastermind behind all of this destruction was Fairy Tail!
If the defeat of Oración Seis could be credited to the joint efforts of the legal guild alliance forces, then the fall of Grimoire Heart was purely Fairy Tail's own staggering accomplishment.
All of this classified information originated from the sworn testimonies of Captain Laharl and Doranbolt from the Council's Rune Knights.
As for the terrifying matter concerning Zeref being on the island, the two men tacitly avoided mentioning it in their reports—it was better to avoid unnecessary continental panic.
The entire Grimoire Heart guild had mobilized to attack Fairy Tail's sacred Tenrou Island, only to be completely annihilated in the end, with their infamous Master Hades also perishing in the battle.
However, the new Magic Council boldly claimed majority credit for the downfall of Grimoire Heart in the papers.
They asserted that the Council's enforcement troops and magical combat ships had heavily participated in the battle and secured the arrests.
As for how much the Council actually contributed to the fighting... who cared?
Reading this weekly report at a cafe table, Raizel shook his head and chuckled.
Raizel didn't mind the political theft.
If all the credit were publicly given solely to Fairy Tail, the remaining Tartaros guild might easily target them for revenge.
It was far better to let the current Council share some of the dangerous attention.
Raizel didn't want to arrive at the guild one morning only to find it blown up by demons.
Let the new Council enjoy this unearned benefit alone.
However, this PR stunt wasn't without its advantages for the new Council.
Their weak public reputation was instantly rehabilitated across the kingdom.
The previous Magic Council had long been heavily criticized by citizens for its cowardly approach, which focused on avoiding both merit and blame—refusing to directly confront Dark Guilds and strictly restricting conflicts between legal guilds.
It wasn't exactly a good or bad policy, but it was undoubtedly frustrating for the populace who lived in fear.
Now, the newly trusted Council seemed to be taking bold, decisive actions.
First, by forming an alliance to crush Oración Seis, and then by directly cooperating with Fairy Tail to defeat Grimoire Heart.
Almost instantly, the negative political impact of Jellal destroying the Magic Council's ERA headquarters had vanished from the public's mind. In its place was genuine trust in the current government.
"This is hard to judge..." Raizel murmured, taking a sip of coffee.
He almost laughed out loud at the Council's shameless self-praise in the editorial section.
Raizel knew the current Council wasn't exactly virtuous either, but as long as they didn't actively provoke Fairy Tail, Raizel couldn't be bothered with their politics, adhering strictly to the principle of mutual non-interference.
Of course, if they ever went too far and targeted his family, Raizel wouldn't mind letting them experience the feeling of an explosion before the Tartaros jackals did.
It was deep winter, and the cobblestone streets and bare tree branches of Magnolia were beautifully blanketed in white snow.
The weather was freezing cold, but the ordinary people of Magnolia were excited, buzzing with lively discussions on every street corner.
Although Dark Guilds seemed like a distant nightmare, they actually had a constant, oppressive impact on ordinary lives and commerce.
For the common folk, the fewer Dark Guilds roaming the borders, the better—only then could their daily lives be safer.
Raizel folded the newspaper, tucked it under his arm, and walked along the snowy street, overhearing cheerful conversations from all directions.
"Did you see the morning newspaper? Grimoire Heart has been wiped out!"
"I did! It says it was a joint military effort by the Council and Fairy Tail!"
"It seems the new Council is finally doing a good job!"
"I'd say it's mostly Fairy Tail's credit. After all, they're the strongest guild in our Fiore Kingdom!"
"Well, you could say the new Council at least has a good eye for allies. Think about how the previous Council always unfairly targeted Fairy Tail."
"You have a point there!"
...
Hall of Shining Lights, Crocus Palace—
King Toma E. Fiore also received this exact newspaper, brought directly to his throne room by Arcadios, the stoic captain of the Cherry Blossom Holy Knights.
Standing on the other side of the throne was Darton, the Kingdom's Minister of Defense—the two ministers Toma trusted the most.
"Fairy Tail... the one in Magnolia?" King Toma mused, stroking his chin as he read the headline.
"I remember that polite boy who represented them, Raizel, right?"
Toma's impression of the fairy was quite vivid.
After all, the very first grand combat arena in the Fiore Kingdom was successfully built under Raizel's suggestion and supervision, and it was the fairy who had respectfully let Toma name the Colosseum.
As for the so-called heroic "assistance" from the Magic Council mentioned in the paper, King Toma knew very well how militarily capable they truly were.
Unless the Four Gods of Ishgar or the Ten Wizard Saints were directly dispatched to the front lines, the Council's Rune Knights were merely incompetent slackers.