When Laxus heard that he was forbidden from approaching the guild for three months, his face turned green.
However, in Rowan's opinion, the punishment was already extremely light.
In the original story, Laxus was expelled from Fairy Tail outright. If he had not later rendered great service to the guild, he might never have been allowed to return.
Makarov had truly shown mercy.
But Laxus himself clearly did not see it that way.
"What kind of joke is this?"
After climbing up from the ground, Laxus flew into a rage. The way he glared at Makarov made it seem as though flames might shoot from his eyes.
"You're kicking me out of the guild?"
"I'm not expelling you. I'm forbidding you from coming here for three months."
"How is that any different from kicking me out?" Laxus roared.
Makarov fell silent. Deep disappointment appeared in his eyes.
"Is that truly what you believe, Laxus?"
When Laxus saw the look in his grandfather's eyes, it felt as though a heavy boulder had pressed down upon his chest.
His lips moved several times, but he could not produce a single word.
After a long silence, he snorted coldly, turned around, and left.
Makarov watched Laxus's departing back. His tiny body swayed several times, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Fortunately, Erza reacted quickly and caught him.
"Guild Master, are you alright?"
Makarov shook his head.
"I'm fine."
He pushed Erza away.
"I'm going back to rest. You can discuss what to do next among yourselves."
Erza wanted to follow him out of concern, but at that moment, a hand stopped her.
It was Mirajane.
She shook her head at Erza.
"Let the Guild Master be alone for a while."
Erza had no choice but to stop and watch Makarov leave.
The previously lively guild became awkward and silent because of what had happened.
Everyone looked at one another, not knowing what to do. One after another, they found excuses to leave.
Before long, only Rowan, Erza, Mirajane, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray remained in the guild.
"Will everything be alright?" Lucy asked cautiously.
Everything had happened so suddenly that she felt as though the guild might fall apart at any moment.
"It'll be fine. Don't worry."
Mirajane smiled faintly, reassuring Lucy.
"This is only temporary. By tomorrow, everyone will be back to normal."
"Really?"
Lucy did not quite believe her.
But the next day, when Lucy entered the Fairy Tail Guild again, she found most of the members gathered together, chatting, playing cards, strengthening their friendships, or heading out to complete jobs.
It was as though everything that had happened the previous day had merely been an illusion.
"Uh…"
Lucy was dumbfounded.
She found Rowan and could not help complaining,
"Does this make sense? Is this normal?"
Rowan smiled and handed her a cold drink.
"Perhaps it doesn't make sense and isn't normal, but it's very Fairy Tail, isn't it?"
Lucy fell silent before giving a bitter smile.
"Fine. It really is very Fairy Tail."
Then she began drinking the beverage.
"Lucy!"
At that moment, Natsu suddenly ran over with a job request in his hand.
"Let's go complete this job together, Lucy!"
"Huh? Why do I have to go with you?"
Lucy was somewhat unwilling.
After spending the past few days with Natsu, she had discovered that he was famously unreliable and a hot-blooded idiot. Once he became excited, he forgot everything else.
Most of the money he earned went toward compensating for property damage. Sometimes, he even lost more money than he gained.
If possible, she genuinely did not want to form a team with Natsu.
But Natsu gave Lucy no chance to refuse. He grabbed her and sprinted out of the guild.
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from Rowan's sight.
"Ah, youth is wonderful."
Rowan could not help sighing.
Mirajane's laughter came from nearby.
"You say that as though you aren't young yourself."
"I was merely expressing my feelings."
Rowan's expression did not change as he asked Mirajane,
"Have you decided how to deal with Jose?"
Mirajane shook her head.
"Not at all."
Or rather, she had never seriously thought about it and intended to leave the matter to the Guild Master and Erza.
Before long, Erza arrived.
When Rowan asked whether she had figured out how to deal with Jose, Erza decisively shook her head and declared proudly,
"Not at all."
"If you haven't thought of anything, why do you sound so proud?" Rowan asked speechlessly.
Erza said, "Although I haven't figured out how to deal with Jose, I have already decided how to deal with Ultear."
"Huh?"
Naturally, Rowan knew who Ultear was, but he did not understand why Erza was ignoring the immediate threat and planning to deal with Ultear first.
Erza explained with complete confidence, "I spent all night trying to figure out how to resolve the matter with Phantom Lord, but I couldn't come up with anything. Then I suddenly realised how to deal with Ultear."
"So I plan to resolve Ultear's problem first, then use the Magic Council to restrain Phantom Lord."
Rowan: "…"
Was this besieging Wei to rescue Zhao? Making a feint in the east while attacking in the west? Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing at Chencang?
Could she genuinely be a genius?
Rowan asked curiously, "How do you plan to deal with Ultear?"
Erza said, "The only reason Ultear joined Grimoire Heart was because of a misunderstanding. All I need to do is resolve that misunderstanding."
"So…"
"So I intend to find Ultear and tell her the entire truth to her face," Erza said.
Rowan fell silent.
"…That might work, but are you sure Ultear will listen to you? Her mind is currently filled with hatred and anger. She won't be easy to persuade."
"It doesn't matter. I'll persuade her."
Erza clenched her fist.
If words could not persuade her, then fists would.
As expected of you, Erza.
Rowan sighed.
"I'll go with you."
Erza froze, then looked gratefully at Rowan and said quietly,
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The two then departed and arrived at the Magic Council.
At this point, Ultear had somehow infiltrated the Magic Council and even become one of its members.
When she heard that Erza Scarlet, Fairy Tail's Fairy Queen, had come to see her, she was somewhat surprised.
As far as she knew, she had no connection with anyone in that guild.
Aside from Gray.
At the thought of that man, Ultear's gaze darkened.
Driven by curiosity, she composed herself and received Erza and Rowan in a side chamber.
"What a rare guest, Miss Erza Scarlet. I never expected you to come looking for me."
Ultear sat on a sofa with her legs crossed, sweeping Erza with a faint smile before her gaze shifted toward Rowan.
"Oh, and is this gentleman also a member of your guild?"
Rowan nodded.
"I'm Rowan, a recent member of Fairy Tail. There's also something I should warn you about."
"What?"
Ultear replied absent-mindedly.
Rowan pointed at her crossed legs.
"Sitting like that can cause anterior pelvic tilt. It isn't good for your lower back."
Ultear: "…"
At that moment, she felt as though several crows had flown over her head, crying, "Idiot! Idiot!"
It turned out that when someone was rendered speechless, they truly became speechless.
"Are all the members of your guild this unserious?"
She ignored Rowan and focused entirely on Erza.
Erza said, "You were deceived."
"Huh?"
Ultear looked completely confused.
She had no idea what Erza was talking about.
What did she mean, she had been deceived?
Deceived about what?
Why didn't she know?
"Ur never abandoned you. Brain deceived you."
Erza immediately launched her ultimate move and went straight to the point.
The moment Ultear heard the names Ur and Brain, she realised that her identity had been exposed.
Her entire expression changed instantly, going from careless amusement to murderous hostility.
"When did you learn my identity?"
She forcibly suppressed the urge to attack.
This was the Magic Council. If she openly turned hostile here, it would interfere with the plan that followed.
More importantly, whether she could successfully escape was another question.
Erza paid no attention to Ultear's vicious gaze and continued,
"You were born with an extraordinarily powerful amount of magic, but your young body could not withstand it. Ur was deeply worried about you and wanted to have you treated, so she entrusted you to Brain, the head of the research facility."
"Brain had secretly been trafficking children all along. He deceived your mother and told Ur that you had died."
"Ur believed him and was devastated. Eventually, she took in two disciples to ease the grief of losing you."
"Afterward, Brain sold you to Grimoire Heart."
Ultear went from initial shock to silence, gradually becoming calm again.
She stared fixedly at Erza, a cold smile appearing on her lips.
"Although I don't know where you learned these things, do you really think I'll believe you?"
"I believe you will. After all, everyone knows that the Fairy Queen, Erza Scarlet, considers lying beneath her, doesn't she, Miss Ultear?"
Rowan spoke at the appropriate moment.
Ultear said coldly, "Erza may not lie, but that doesn't mean what she says is true. How could she possibly know about something that happened so long ago?"
"Rowan told me."
Erza pointed at Rowan.
Ultear turned toward him.
"You? Who exactly are you?"
Rowan replied, "Someone from another world."
"Huh? Do you think I'm an idiot?"
Ultear sneered.
Someone from another world?
She did not believe such nonsense at all.
Seeing this, Rowan had no choice but to recount how she had brainwashed Jellal during their childhood, how she had manipulated him, and how the Tower of Heaven was nearly complete.
He even included her plan with Jellal to deceive the Magic Council into firing Etherion.
"Now you believe us, don't you, Miss Ultear?"