Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious

"Ron, I'd like to talk to you about this privately."

After Makarov finished speaking, Ron turned around and winked at Leqi.

Leqi nodded slightly and replied with a smile:

"I've almost finished organizing the materials, so I'll head over to the theater troupe to get back to work."

After saying goodbye to Makarov and Ron, Leqi left the study, closing the wooden door behind her.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced back, wondering what Makarov wanted to discuss that required such secrecy.

She finally shook her head, tiptoed down the stairs, and headed toward the theater troupe's tent.

"The first ERA Youth Mage Examination?"

After listening to Makarov's account, Ron raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised.

Makarov nodded and continued:

"That's right, this is a new internal assessment recently finalized by ERA. It's not just a regular mage guild, but also a joint assessment with various magic academies."

To control the size, each of our guilds has only one slot for the candidate.

After much deliberation, I still feel that you are the most suitable person to represent our Mage Guild in this assessment.

Makarov sighed; he had no other choice but to come and ask Ron for his opinion.

First of all, Laxus's current personality is not suitable for participating in this kind of assessment. As for Cana, Gray and Rio are still young and their strength has not improved much yet. They need some time to realize their potential.

Furthermore, this assessment also needs to take into account the commissions they have participated in before. In this respect, the resumes of other members of the same generation in the guild cannot compare to Ron's record of sealing Deliora. Even if the council members ultimately determine that Ron is only a support, he has still participated in an S-rank mission.

"If I pass this assessment, I will be a candidate for councilor."

What are your thoughts? Would you like to participate?

No, I refuse.

Ron rejected Chairman Makarov's proposal without even considering it.

"As you can see, my theater troupe is currently busy discussing with newspapers about serializing my plays, and we also need to set up a new theater, so I can't spare the time for now."

Besides, I never intended to become a council member; it's more suitable for me to just perform in town.

"As I expected, you refused."

Hearing Ron's excuse, Makarov smiled knowingly and shook his head slightly.

However, he still got up and sat down next to Ron, continuing to persuade him:

"How about I give you a few more days to think it over? Why don't you consider just going through the motions?"

Ron was about to shake his head in agreement, but then he raised an eyebrow, sensing something was off.

He then looked at Makarov with a puzzled expression and said:

"President, there shouldn't be a shortage of spots for the Council in the future, so why did you personally come to invite me?"

This is unlike Makarov's usual style. Normally, the old man would ignore the council's letters at times like this. Why is he suddenly so concerned about this assessment?

Makarov smiled; it seemed better to lay everything out in the open.

"You really can't hide anything from me, kid."

The reason I insisted on letting you go was because of Uru.

"Uru?"

Ron was slightly taken aback. How did this relate to Uru?

Makarov explained earnestly:

"That's right. Uru told me that the reason she joined the guild was to use the guild's intelligence network to find out the whereabouts of the Magic Development Bureau from back then, and to find clues as to whether her daughter is still alive."

For the past few months, she has been trying to find clues, but has yet to obtain any useful information.

Ron lowered his head and remained silent, knowing that Uru was doing this to find her daughter, and that he was the one who had told her this information.

Makarov continued:

"The Magic Development Bureau that was destroyed back then belonged to the Council of Magic, so I think there might still be some intelligence in the Council that hasn't been discarded and could help Uru locate her daughter's whereabouts."

Ron raised an eyebrow and asked Makarov.

"So, President, you mean you want me to help gather intelligence when I go for the assessment?"

"No, that's not necessary."

"???"

Ron was full of questions. If he wasn't going to gather intelligence, why was he insisting on sending him?

Could it be that they're going to perform for the council to attract their attention, and then let others infiltrate?

Makarov coughed twice, then whispered his plan.

"Actually, I got some inside information from MPs Yajma and Tochi."

Those who rank in the top three in this first youth assessment will not only become candidates for judges, but they will also have a special right.

That means recommending another councilor to the council for consideration, but whether they agree or not still depends on their vote.

Upon hearing this, Ron's eyes lit up, and he instantly realized what was going on.

"So, President, you mean I should get into the top three in this assessment, and then recommend Uru to the Council, so she can legitimately become an ERA insider and have access to old files?"

"That's right! And the selection of the first-place judge isn't mandatory. You can provide them with a convincing reason at the end, and they will understand."

After Makarov finished speaking, he scratched his bald head somewhat embarrassedly, revealing a guilty expression.

"To my shame, Uru and I assured you that if we stayed in our guild, we would definitely be able to find any clues about your daughter, but after these past few months, we still haven't heard anything."

He sighed and continued:

"I felt really bad about it, which is why I insisted on having you participate in the assessment."

The two people in the study fell silent.

Ron looked at Makarov, who was filled with remorse, and felt a little touched.

He then gave a confident smile and nodded in agreement.

"If you had told me earlier that I could choose not to be a councilor, wouldn't this have made things much simpler?"

"But president, don't get your hopes up too high. I don't think I can get into the top three."

This plan is indeed quite good.

This way, they could send Uru to the council to investigate her daughter's whereabouts without wasting their own time working like slaves in the council.

When Makarov saw that Ron had agreed, half of the weight in his heart could finally be lifted.

Makarov nodded and joked:

"Don't be modest. If you couldn't even make it into the top three, I can't imagine what kind of geniuses those top three must be."

"I can win... I'll give it my best."

Ron had intended to announce his award acceptance speech ahead of time, but then thought it was a bit unlucky and changed his mind halfway through.