A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Compared to her, the other four were much more at ease.

Erza returned the greeting with a slightly humble and serious demeanor; Gray and Natsu were also a little shy, but mostly happy. Of course, they were also uneasy when facing Bob, the guild master of Blue Pegasus.

Only Kira remained calm, greeting everyone with a grin: "Yo! It's been a long time, Chairman Bob! How are you all doing, Blue Pegasus?"

"You're full of energy every day!"

Kira and the Blue Pegasus people are acquainted, of course, through the Magic Weekly.

For a long time, Kira dominated the headlines of the Wizarding World newspaper, which is how he met Hibiki of Blue Pegasus, Jenny, and others. Of course, the latter got her place in the weekly magazine because of her looks, while Kira had both good looks and strength.

Kira is on those weekly "most desirable boyfriend" lists! Who can blame him when he's young, rich, handsome, and incredibly talented?

Later, he and Hibiki exchanged magical insights. The combination of Word Magic and ancient texts produced a unique magical reaction, which greatly benefited Kira.

Since the two guild leaders, Maklov and Bob, have been friends for many years, they often keep in touch.

After that, Kira went into seclusion, spending all his time in the shop doing business and crafting equipment, and gradually they lost contact.

With magic dominating the world, which had not undergone an industrial revolution, technology was underdeveloped and means of communication were extremely limited. There was no internet or mobile phone, not even electrical wires, and the basic energy source was magic crystals.

They do have magic crystals for long-distance communication, but they're about half the size of an adult, making them inconvenient to carry.

"So, Chairman, what's the news from this meeting?"

After half an hour of small talk, Kira quietly found Makarov.

Based on past experience, the Kingdom of Fiore usually takes some major measures or reforms after each regular meeting. Kira remembered that after the last meeting, the royal family began recruiting young and talented mages from the magic world, supposedly to form a personal guard, which was a sign of interfering with the order of the magic guilds within the country.

This is normal, though. Less than a century has passed since magic guilds and magicians intervened in wars and influenced the course of battles. Even though the continental magic world has a council that can stabilize the magic world to a certain extent, no one in power would turn a blind eye to such a group of people with superpowers.

The Kingdom of Fiore is located on the coast of the Eastern Continent and has an unparalleled advantage in trade. Although it has always maintained neutrality on the continent, its unique geographical location ultimately led to its passive involvement in the first trade war a century ago.

Perhaps because the magic in the world became more abundant after the extinction of the dragon race, magicians played a role in that war that was beyond the imagination of other forces: surprise attacks, assassinations, fighting against hundreds of enemies, moving mountains and filling seas...

And of course, there's data processing!

Mavis, the first guild master of Fairy Tail, known as the "Fairy Strategist," rose to fame in that battle.

Faced with powerful magic, traditional cold weapons gradually became ineffective, which made the royal families realize a fact: times have changed!

If the royal family does not have sufficient power, it could trigger an even greater disaster.

Maklov thought for a moment, figuring that he would have to tell them this sooner or later anyway, so he might as well let Kira, the smartest of the kids, advise him first: "Yes, about the Balam Union, would you like to hear about it?"

Chapter 37 The Forgotten Kageyama

“The Balam Alliance…the dark guild that formed a new alliance in the magical world this year,” Kira murmured to himself, his thoughts lost in memories of the past.

The Oración Seis dungeon should be coming up soon. I remember that it was fought by an alliance of four guilds: Fairy Tail, Boa Hancock, Blue Pegasus, and Bakeneko-no-Yosuga.

Speaking of which, this world is really strange. According to the information Kira has gathered so far, the world of Aslant, which is the magical world, currently has several continents, and he is currently in the southern continent.

Even in Uru, the story only mentions that it is in the northern part of the continent, but there is no precise description of exactly how far north it is.

The Council of Magic is an organization that manages all the magic guilds on the continent, and it has branches in various countries. However, in the original storyline, both the original Council of Magic and the newly formed Council of Magic seem to be subordinate forces of the Kingdom of Fiore.

The biggest reason is that all the plot takes place within the Kingdom of Fiore, with no depiction of other countries.

The Kingdom of Fiore is a small coastal country in Ishgar with a population of less than 1700 million. Its territory is unknown but not very large. It maintains neutrality among the various countries. The guilds mentioned in the original work, such as Fairy Tail, Phantom Lord, Blue Pegasus, Boa Hancock, Mermaid Bell, Saberbite, etc., are all magic guilds within the Kingdom of Fiore.

The only exception was the Balam Alliance, which was set up to be a dark force that spread throughout Ishgar, but it was all destroyed in the Kingdom of Fiore.

Thinking about this, Kira couldn't help but complain.

Why would the Kingdom of Fiore send a coalition of four magic guilds to deal with a dark guild like the Oración Seis? What were the magic guilds from other countries doing?

Why was the kingdom able to pardon the witch's sins at the end of the manga? Shouldn't the Dark Guilds be dealt with by the Council?

Why are all twelve golden celestial keys, said to be unique in the world, gathered in the Kingdom of Fiore?

Why are the Ten Wizard Saints, the ten strongest people on the entire continent chosen by the Council, all in the Kingdom of Fiore?

Even after Kira has been here for over 20 years, he still doesn't understand why. Is there really something wrong with the world?

After much thought, I can only attribute the problem to the original author.

"What's wrong? Do you need us to help?"

"Yes, after discussions among the guilds, it was decided that Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Boa Hancock, Phantom Lord, and Neko-no-Yo will form an alliance to carry out the extermination."

Sure enough, it's this... Hmm? Wait, is there something strange mixed in here?

"...Spectre? Guild Master, you're not mistaken, are you?"

The Phantom Lords, located in Vokur Castle in the northeast of the Kingdom of Fiore, is another guild that rivals Fairy Tail. Its predecessor was Blue Skull, a magic guild from a hundred years ago.

Back then, the Blue Skull guild master clashed with Mavis and others over the Sirius Orb on Sirius Island. In the end, he was eliminated by Mavis using Fairy Law. After Fairy Tail was established, the Blue Skull guild master became the Phantom Lord.

In other words, both guilds have histories of over a hundred years, and their founders were enemies, with their antagonism continuing from the very beginning.

Six years ago, Maklov and Joseph, the current leader of Spectre, got into a fight at a regular meeting because they had drunk a bit too much. Maklov won, and Joseph held a grudge and stopped attending regular meetings afterward.

In recent years, the two guilds have often had disputes, but since the first trade war a hundred years ago, the Magic Council has not allowed magic guilds to fight each other at will, so Maklov has always tolerated it.

Kira was completely bewildered. He had never imagined this would happen. This... shouldn't be some kind of butterfly effect, right?

"Did the Ghost Guild Master attend this meeting? I remember he hasn't been here for several years."

Kira looked around as he spoke, but did not see Joseph anywhere.

"Our relationship with them isn't very good... The rivalry between Fairy Tail and Phantom Troupe has been going on for over a hundred years, right? Why would we want to form an alliance with them?"

Maklov was also helpless: "The Dark Guild isn't so easy to deal with. Ignoring other factors, the Spectres have combat power second only to us, which is why we made this decision. The regional councilors have already decided to contact Joseph; under these circumstances, they shouldn't be able to refuse. And..."

At that moment, Kira wondered if he was seeing things, but he felt that his chairman's smile was actually quite warm.

"Although the two guilds have always been at odds, there isn't really any major conflict between them. If we face the Dark Guild together this time, we might be able to resolve our long-standing grudges."

"President..." Kira was speechless. In this respect, the people of Fairy Tail were really terrifyingly optimistic.

But what could he say? Maklov wasn't wrong either; he couldn't condemn them all just because they were enemies in the comics... Besides, Gajeel and Juvia were redeemed later, weren't they?

After a moment of silence, Kira nodded: "I understand, I will be prepared."

"Then, the intelligence gathering is up to you!"

Kira has always served as the guild's strategist and intelligence gatherer. This is not only because he has a wide business network and good interpersonal relationships, but also because there are really no smart people in Fairy Tail. They are all a bunch of impulsive, reckless idiots.

Not to mention those S-class mages, the chairman himself is also a child at heart, so Kira has really worried a lot about them. It was only in the last two years, when he shifted his focus to business, that things became a little easier.

The information Maklov mentioned included not only information about Phantom Lord, but also about Oración Seis and even Balam. Fortunately, Kira already knew the information he needed to know, and there was no need for him to know the information he didn't, which saved a lot of time.

In Kira's mind, saving is earning, and time is money. By exchanging the two, it's equivalent to making a huge profit today! Very good, very good. I'll reward myself when I get back!

"Kira, look!" Natsu's voice came from inside. "The food here is so delicious!"

"Exactly! The fish here is delicious too!"

Natsu and Happy already had food scraps all over their mouths. "You should try some too!"

Lucy awkwardly tried to dissuade her, feeling both embarrassed and trying to suppress her laughter; it was truly a difficult situation for her.

The merriment at the banquet made Kira and his companions forget the most important thing: after Erico's defeat, Kunuki Station worked through the night to clean up the mess and resumed traffic the next day.

The next day at noon, when Kageyama and his companion, Lalabai, finally arrived at Kunuki Station, they heard about what had happened the day before. Several of his underlings who had managed to escape came forward crying and recounting their experiences.

"Brother Kageyama, the boss has been captured by the council. You must complete the boss's plan!"

"That's right, that's right, we must teach those old men a lesson!"

"Now we can only rely on you!"

With all his underlings' hopes pinned on him, Kageyama suddenly felt immense pressure.

What happened? I only took a nap and missed so much? I finally managed to bring Lalabai over, and we were so close to achieving our plan! Why did this happen?

There's no other way. Now that Boss Erigor has been defeated, it's up to me now! Just wait for Ralabai's revenge! Fairy Tail! And those damned old men!!

Kageyama gripped the wooden flute tightly in his hand, boarded the last train of the day, and headed to his final destination—Clover.

"Phew...it seems the banquet isn't over yet..."

Kageyama arrived in Clover Town at night, which was quite an odd time.

Hidden in the bushes, a pair of resentful eyes stared intently at the small villa. The warm light was blinding to him, and the aroma of delicious food continued to tantalize his senses. Listening to the laughter and chatter coming from inside, Kageyama felt both uneasy and excited.

Very well, those old guys from the regular guilds are completely unaware of my arrival.

A sinister smile twisted Kageyama's face. He brought the wooden flute to his lips, took a deep breath—they could definitely hear the incantation at this distance. The moment of revenge had finally arrived! As long as I play the Lalabai, they will die—

"Young man, why aren't you home sleeping? Are you playing hide-and-seek here so late?"

! ! ! !

An old, deep voice sounded from behind, startling Kageyama so much that he couldn't catch his breath and coughed incessantly.

"Cough cough..."

After a long while of recovering, Kageyama slowly turned his head and saw that Makarov, that stinky old man, was already behind him at some point!

Chapter 38 I remember I apologized back then.

It's Fairy Tail again! Why am I having such bad luck today?!

The people who defeated Boss Eligoll were yours too, unforgivable! I'll start by targeting you!

"Um...would you like to hear me play a tune?" Kageyama used his practiced fake smile, trying to get away with it.

Maklov looked up, glancing sideways at Kageyama and the flute in his hand: "This flute looks uncomfortable. Are you really going to play it?"

Kageyama was both apprehensive and nervous: "Don't judge a book by its cover, listen to the flute first?"

"I'm busy right now! Just listen to one song!"

"Hmm... then please listen carefully!"

Stroking the wooden flute in his hand, Kageyama suddenly felt a sense of peace. If he could just play it, everything would be over…

I will no longer be a member of the Dark Guild, living like a bug in the gutter. I will no longer have to hide in the Iron Forest, but will be able to live proudly and freely under the sun. Everything will change!