Fairy Tail: Capturing the Demon Mirajane at the Start

A month passed quickly.

The year is July of X781.

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

Fortunately, nothing happened this month.

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

First, Igor launched the Fairy Tail guild's general education program, assigning Levy, Mirajane, and Fried as teachers to instruct the guild's mages on "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 Igor confined Natsu and the others to the guild for training is because the biggest husky in the guild, Gildarts, is still wandering around outside, causing huge losses to the guild.

"That wretched Gildarts."

In response, Igor grumbled.

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 was 35 million J.

In response, Ig realized the problem: instead of sending Naz and the others out on missions, it would be better to have them stay obediently in the guild.

When Natsu goes out to do missions, not only will he fail to generate revenue for the Fairy Tail guild on paper, but his membership fees will also continue to decline.

Often, if Natsu goes out to do an 'A-rank' raiding mission worth 300,000 J, the guild will receive a 'Mage Council ERA' notice the next day, signed by a council member, worth one million J.

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

"Ig said, his head bald."

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

At least Erza, Mirajane, Laxus, and Thor's little devil would all have some sense of propriety and wouldn't leave any grounds for the Magical Council ERA to issue a penalty to the guild.

Simply put, it means running fast.

After all, Erza, Mirajane, and Laxus can all fly here.

The main theme is to deny everything to the death, plus the fact that there are no witnesses to prove it.

cough cough.

Guild bar area.

"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 Fairy Tail, 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 I were to say, as the guild leader, you should kick all that trash out of Fairy Tail! That would make Fairy Tail even better."

"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 lion's share of our Fairy Tail guild fees."

“Although they may not be very noticeable, Ridasu Jonna, Nob Lasaro, and Warren Lako 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 nothing but '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 strongest mage in our Fairy Tail guild."

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

Laxus still admired Gildarts, appreciating his strength and hoping that one day he could be as strong 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.

The bill in Laxus's hand showed a string of numbers: 158 million minus 135 million equals 23 million.

"What does this 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 penalty 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 Lasaro 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 stared wide-eyed 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 strongest. He never imagined that running a guild would be so troublesome. It wasn't just about gathering companions; it involved food, clothing, shelter, and paying fines.

"How's it going, Laxus?"

"Do you suddenly feel that your ideals are very lofty, but reality is very harsh?"

"Running a mage guild isn't about fighting and killing; it's about interpersonal relationships, plus 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 Fairy Tail guild? (Part 2)

"..."

Laxus said nothing and walked away silently.

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

Laxus is not currently prepared to take over the entire guild without causing Fairy Tail to go bankrupt.

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

Powerful does not necessarily mean rich.

Money is essential for the stability of a mage guild.

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

After all, as the president of the Mage 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 the elite and doesn't expand outwards.

For a super-large mage guild like 'Phantom Lord', which has branches all over the 'Fiore' Kingdom 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 Wizards of the Ages', ultimately chose to take the 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 have absolutely no 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 build up this mess of a Fairy Tail guild?"

Laxus understood Makarov's power for the first time.

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.

"Excuse me, is Mr. Igor, one of the 'Ten Wizard Saints', here?"

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

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

Just as Laxus was deep in thought, pondering how to make money, the voice of a staff member from the Magic Council ERA came from outside the gates of the Fairy Tail guild.

"They're here, they're here."

"I've arrived."

Ig looked around and finally saw the staff of the Magic Council ERA arrive at the Fairy Tail guild. He left the guild like a whirlwind, went to the gate, and started talking to the council's deliveryman.

"This is your custom-made magic power meter (MPF)~"

"This magic power meter costs ten million J."

"Please pay the money immediately, and thank you for your support and help to our 'Magic Council ERA'."

As the deliveryman spoke, with the help of dozens of ERA (Enchanted Religious Association) staff, he carried a machine into the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Okay, okay."

Igor smiled and nodded, then reluctantly spent 'ten million J' to buy the MPF.

Thank you for your patronage.

After handing the machine to Igor, the council's deliveryman immediately turned and left.

"Huh?!"

After Igor moved the Magic Power Analyzer (MPF) into the guild hall, the entire Fairy Tail guild was filled with envy and dismay. "What is that?" they exclaimed.

"Be professional when you're working!"

"Call me Acting Chairman!"

Igor first corrected the guild members' way of addressing him, and then introduced the working principle of the MPF magic power tester: "This machine is called MPF, which is a magic power tester. It is an instrument that the Magic Council ERA specially provides to the mages in the army to test their magic power!"

"Igor, why did you buy this?"

Mirajane tilted her head, looking at Igor with a puzzled expression.

"Of course, it's used to measure the strength of the magic power within the mages of our 'Fairy Tail' guild."

Igor smiled and said softly, "Don't you want to know who the most powerful mage in our Fairy Tail guild is?"

"So it's okay for Mirajane to call Igor by his name?"

"As expected, there's something going on between Igor and Mirajane."

Harpy would occasionally fly above Ig and Mirajane's heads, covering his mouth and chuckling.

"Huh?!"

As Igor finished speaking, the entire Fairy Tail guild erupted in excitement. Everyone present eagerly exclaimed, "What? Igor, are you saying we're going to use this machine to select the most powerful mage in Fairy Tail?"

"The strongest?"

Erza keenly caught the word 'strongest'.

"Just to my liking."

Mirajane smiled, thinking it was time to teach Erza a lesson and show her the difference in their magical abilities.