Fairy Tail: Capturing the Demon Mirajane at the Start.

A month has passed in a flash.

The year is April of X781.

This is also Igor's first month as the acting guild master of Fairy Tail.

Fortunately, nothing happened during that month.

Well, Igor went to great lengths to keep those huskies in the guild from running around and having fun.

First, Igor launched the Fairy Tail guild literacy campaign, assigning Levy, Mirajane, and Freed as teachers to instruct the guild's mages in "Elementary Magic Refining Method".

As it turned out, Ig's plan was effective. After Ig restrained Natsu and Gray, the number of complaints from the Magical Council ERA against the Fairy Tail guild decreased.

Incidentally, the reason why the complaints about Fairy Tail decreased rather than disappeared after Ig confined Natsu and the others to the guild for training is because the biggest husky in the guild, Gildarts, is still roaming outside, causing huge losses to the guild.

"That damned Gildarts."

In response, Igor grumbled and cursed.

Secondly, Igor settled the debts on the Fairy Tail guild's books. After paying off all the debts, the Fairy Tail guild now has a solid 20 million J in its books.

Yes, Fairy Tail guild's debt was finally paid off after Igor paid the full membership fee of 70 million J he earned from the Magic Council ERA, which is 35 million J.

Igor realized the problem: instead of sending Natsu and the others out on missions, it would be better for them to stay obediently in the guild.

Natsu going out on missions not only fails to generate revenue for the Fairy Tail guild on paper, but also leads to a continuous decline in membership fees.

Often, when Natsu goes out to do an 'A-rank' subjugation mission worth 300,000 J, the guild will receive a fine of one million J the next day from the 'Magic Council ERA', signed by a council member.

"If we let Natsu continue working like this, the guild might go bankrupt, right?"

"Igor said, his head bald."

Fortunately, there are reliable people in their mage guild, Fairy Tail.

At least Erza, Mirajane, Laxus, and the 'Thunder Gods' will all be somewhat sensible when doing missions, and won't leave any grounds for the 'Magical Council ERA' to issue a fine to the guild.

Simply put, it means running fast.

After all, Erza, Mirajane, and Laxus will all be flying over.

The main point is to deny everything and have no way to prove it.

cough cough.

At the guild bar.

"Being the president is tough."

Igor rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Oh?"

"Igor, you look very tired."

Just as Igor was having a headache over the mess at the Fairy Tail guild, Laxus appeared beside him with a golden flash of lightning and asked with a smile.

"you do not say."

Igor sighed and said truthfully, "The so-called guild leader may look glamorous on the outside, but in reality, he's just a head teacher who has to clean up the messes of all the problem children in the guild."

"hehe."

Laxus sneered and said in a deep voice, "If you ask me, as the guild leader, you should kick all that trash out of Fairy Tail! That way, Fairy Tail will be better off."

"hehe."

Igor smiled and asked the naive Laxus, "Laxus, in your eyes, who exactly are the so-called trash in our Fairy Tail guild?"

"Those guys whose names I don't know are all trash."

Laxus snorted coldly.

"That's where the problem lies, Laxus."

"Those trash you're talking about are the ones who contribute the bulk of our 'Fairy Tail' guild dues."

"Although they may not have much of a presence, Ridsoo Jonna, Nob Lazaro, and Warren Lakao never give me a ticket from the Magic Council ERA."

Igor smiled and replied.

"Uh."

Laxus paused for a moment, then stubbornly said, "But the missions they do are just some 'B-rank' and 'C-rank' trash missions, which can't show the guild's strength at all."

"Interesting. If we're judging by the difficulty of the mission, then Laxus, do you think Gildarts is trash?"

Igor was amused by Laxus's naiveté and continued to ask.

"Kildarts is definitely not trash!"

"Gildarts is the most powerful mage in our Fairy Tail guild."

"Known as the strongest mage in the western part of the continent of Ishgar."

Laxus still admires Gildarts. He admires Gildarts' strength and hopes that one day he can be as powerful as Gildarts.

"hehe."

Igor laughed again and shook his head, saying, "Laxus, you're wrong. Gildarts' strength is superficial, but in reality, he has many problems."

At this point, Igor handed a bill to Laxus, saying, "Take a look at this and you'll understand."

"What is this?"

Laxus looked at the bill in his hand, his eyes filled with confusion.

On the bill in Laxus's hand was a string of numbers: 158 million minus 135 million equals 23 million.

"What does it mean?"

Laxus was somewhat bewildered.

"The 135 million J at the end is Gildarts' total income last year. He completed thirty 'S-class' missions and one 'ten-year' mission in one go!"

"The 158 million J mentioned above is Gildarts' total fine last year! In the end, all of Gildarts' mission rewards were deducted, and he even owed the guild more than 20 million J."

At this point, Igor pointed to Nob, Lazarus and the others, and laughed, "As for these nameless people in your eyes, they add two to three million J in membership fees to the guild every year! Although it's not a lot, without them, our Fairy Tail guild would have gone bankrupt long ago."

"What did you say?"

Laxus's eyes widened in disbelief. He had always thought that a guild was simply about finding a group of strong companions so that Fairy Tail would become the most powerful guild. He never imagined that running a guild would be so troublesome. It wasn't just about collecting companions; it involved food, clothing, shelter, and paying fines.

"How's it going, Laxus?"

"Does it suddenly feel like your ideals are lofty, but reality is harsh?"

"Running a Magister Guild isn't about fighting and killing; it's about interpersonal relationships, financial management, and making money."

Igor paused slightly, then uttered a harsh statement: "If Laxus were to become the guild master, our Fairy Tail guild would probably go bankrupt within a year."

Chapter 85 Who is the most powerful magic user in the Fairy Tail guild? (Part 2)

"..."

Laxus said nothing and walked away silently.

To be honest, Laxus suffered a huge blow today. He discovered that running a mage guild was much more difficult than he had imagined.

Laxus is not currently prepared to manage the entire guild properly, without the possibility of it going bankrupt.

After Igor explained the guild's operations to Laxus, he realized that his previous ideas were somewhat too optimistic and presumptuous; in short, they were too naive.

Being powerful is never the same as being rich.

Money is essential for the stability of a mage guild.

This is the core of the Archmage Guild's strength.

After all, as the guild leader of the Archmage Guild, the first thing he has to do every day when he opens his eyes is to find a way to feed the hundreds of mouths in his guild.

This is still the Fairy Tail guild, a mage guild that focuses on "elites" and does not expand outwards.

For a super-large mage guild like 'The Ghost Dominator', which has branches all over the Kingdom of 'Fiore' and has more than a thousand mages in total, the amount of funds required is enormous.

It is precisely for this reason that Joseph Bora, one of the 'Ten Holy Archmages', ultimately chose to take a risk and abandon the 'good reputation' he had accumulated over decades (Joseph always presented himself as a gentleman to outsiders).

He planned to win over Lucy, the youngest princess of the Heartfilia family, and negotiate with Jude, the head of the Heartfilia family, in order to obtain more rewards.

"money."

"We simply don't have any money."

"If we were to support two Gildarts, the entire guild would go bankrupt."

Laxus sat on the stairs leading to the second floor of the Fairy Tail guild, muttering to himself, "Grandpa, how on earth did you manage to turn the Fairy Tail guild into such a mess?"

For the first time, Laxus understood Makarov's power.

Old Ma's strength is not only reflected in his superb strength, but also in his all-round strength, making him a well-rounded warrior with no weaknesses.

"Is Mr. Igor, one of the 'Ten Holy Archmages', here?"

“I am a staff member of the Magic Council ERA.”

"Your package is here; please come and sign for it."