"...Did you really do all of this for her?"
Minerva walked quietly behind Finn, her sharp eyes calculating every movement he made. She had fully expected him to command her to stay behind and manage the ruins of the guild, but he had simply allowed her to follow him out of the courtyard.
And now, as they met up with a shivering, tear-stained Yukino Agria just outside the Sabertooth compound, the terrifying reality of Finn's motivation finally clicked into place.
While the surviving members of the Sabertooth were too far away to witness the reunion, Minerva stood close enough to see the shock on Yukino's face.
"Why?" Yukino cried, her voice breaking as she stared at the masked man who had just single-handedly annihilated her former guild. "Why would you help me like this?"
It was completely unbelievable. Heavenly Blue was their absolute rival in this tournament. Why would the leader of the enemy guild step out of the shadows, comfort her, and proceed to beat the absolute living hell out of her abusers on her behalf?
How did Yukino feel about Sabertooth right now?
If she claimed she felt absolutely nothing, she would be lying. It was the guild that had taken her in, trained her, and given her a purpose. Yet, despite all her loyalty, she had been ruthlessly stripped, humiliated, and discarded the moment she showed weakness.
Watching Finn dismantle the guild and crush Jiemma into the dirt had sent a strange, dark thrill of absolute relief coursing through her veins. She felt a brief pang of guilt—wondering if she was being petty for enjoying their destruction—but she also noted that he had mercifully healed her former comrades before leaving.
But the undeniable truth remained: she felt incredibly validated that someone had hurt them for hurting her.
What is wrong with me? Yukino wondered, wiping her eyes.
Still, she couldn't comprehend the logic. Taking on the entirety of Sabertooth alone was insane. Yet Finn had done it effortlessly, and he had done it specifically for her.
"Because I wanted to," Finn replied smoothly.
"...." Yukino stared at him, completely at a loss.
"Besides, it's nice to see you making such a silly, stunned expression instead of crying," Finn teased lightly.
"Finn-sama!" Yukino flushed.
"Don't overthink it, Yukino," Finn said, his tone softening just a fraction. "I simply couldn't help but feel angry when I saw how they treated you. I hope you don't mind what I did to your guild. Don't blame yourself for the destruction; it was entirely my own selfish desire to beat the shit out of Jiemma."
"...."
Yukino continued to stare at him, her chest tight with a chaotic swirl of emotions she couldn't even begin to untangle.
Standing a few paces back, Minerva was experiencing her own internal crisis.
Did he really just casually overthrow the strongest guild in Fiore... just to avenge this one girl?!
All of Sabertooth's glory, Jiemma's decades of ruthless empire-building, the "invincible" reputation of the Twin Dragons—all of it had been completely shattered, simply because Finn was angry that Yukino had been humiliated.
Minerva was a deeply cynical woman. She couldn't fathom a man committing such an apocalyptic act of violence solely for the sake of a woman's honor. But as she analyzed the situation, she could only arrive at one logical conclusion.
Love.
What else could possibly motivate a man to possess such absolute, overwhelming wrath? Hearing that the woman he loved had been degraded, he marched directly into the enemy stronghold, conquered it, humiliated the Master, and claimed the guild as his own.
Frankly, before Finn had arrived and started throwing buildings around, Minerva had fully accepted her miserable existence. She knew her father was a complete Machiavellian tyrant who viewed her not as a daughter, but as a biological tool to further his own power. Her entire worldview was forged in trauma. When she was a child, Jiemma had thrown her into a forest full of wild beasts, forcing her to become ruthless or die. The prison of her childhood trauma had wrapped tightly around her soul, making her believe that absolute, cruel strength was the only law of the universe.
But Finn had just effortlessly torn that absolute law to pieces. He had taken everything from Jiemma in a matter of minutes.
If Finn was just another Machiavellian tyrant looking to hoard power, Minerva would have accepted it without hesitation. That was simply how the world worked: the strong devoured the weak. Fairy Tail could spout their idealistic nonsense about friendship all they wanted, but Minerva knew they were just incredibly lucky to have found people they could rely on.
Yet, looking at Yukino, Minerva felt a sudden, sharp pang of genuine envy.
Could someone ever do something like that for me? Minerva wondered, her gaze drifting to Finn's broad back. She highly doubted it. But the mere thought of having a monster of that caliber fighting on her behalf left her in a strange, hopeful daze.
"By the way, you don't have anywhere else to be right now, do you?" Finn asked, turning back to Yukino.
"Hmm?" Yukino blinked.
"Come with me for a bit."
"O-Okay," Yukino agreed without hesitation. She literally had nowhere else to go.
Finn glanced over his shoulder. "Are you planning on following us, Minerva?"
"...Is that not allowed?" Minerva asked, masking the slight sting of rejection she felt at his doubtful tone.
"Hm... I suppose it's fine. You don't strike me as the type to run your mouth to the Magic Council, so you can tag along," Finn shrugged.
Unlike the notoriously loudmouthed members of Fairy Tail, Finn knew Minerva was incredibly tight-lipped. As a villain, she possessed absolutely zero moral high ground; her loyalty belonged solely to whoever held the most power. In many ways, that made her the perfect subordinate.
Finn led the two women through the quiet streets of Crocus, eventually stopping in front of his massive, luxurious hotel complex.
Both Yukino and Minerva stopped on the pavement. Their expressions became incredibly subtle, a deep heat rushing to their cheeks as they stared up at the building.
"...This is a hotel," Minerva noted, her voice carefully neutral.
"Yes, it is," Finn replied, not breaking his stride.
"...And we are going inside?" Yukino squeaked.
"We are."
"..."
Minerva and Yukino exchanged a long, complicated glance with a cute blush on their faces before silently following him through the lobby as their hearts raced and bodies grew hotter. They weren't naive children. Earthland was a brutal, high-stress world. Mages regularly faced planetary threats, apocalyptic demons, and extreme poverty. As a result, when mages sought stress relief, they tended to go all out in their personal relationships.
Finn had just brought two beautiful women back to his private hotel room in the middle of the night. They both knew exactly what that usually implied.
When Finn pushed open the door to his penthouse suite, a figure immediately practically launched herself at him.
"Where have you been? I missed you, you know!" Sorano whined, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him like a spoiled princess. She immediately began sniffing his collar. "Hold on... there are multiple unfamiliar female scents on your coat."
"Sorano, calm down," Finn sighed.
"You've been out sleeping with other women, haven't you?!" Sorano accused, noticing that his coat was slightly rumpled from his brief fistfight with Jiemma.
"Onee-sama...?"
The soft, trembling voice cut through the room.
Sorano froze. She slowly turned her head, her eyes widening in shock as she looked past Finn's shoulder.
"Yukino?" Sorano gasped, her grip on Finn loosening entirely.
While the two sisters stared at each other in stunned disbelief, Minerva's sharp eyes were locked onto something else entirely.
Finn had casually reached up and removed his mask, tossing it onto the nearest armchair.
"...The Chief of the Fiore Branch of the Magic Council... Finn Hoen?!" Minerva breathed, her mind reeling as she finally connected the dots. The absolute strongest mage in the Grand Magic Games was the head of the Magic Council!
"Let's close the door," Finn said calmly, turning to face the three stunned women. "We have a lot to talk about tonight."
"Okay..." they murmured in unison.
Without a doubt, absolutely no one in that penthouse was going to get any sleep that night.