A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Kira muttered under his breath, "Nothing changed? No way! It's been renovated countless times, even the address has changed..."

Makarov: "..."

As soon as the group entered the guild, Gildarts, the acting guild leader, quickly greeted them: "Guild Leader, First Generation! Did anything serious happen to you on this trip?"

"Of course it's fine! The guild has been..."

However, before the two could respond, his gaze fell on Brandish and Timalia beside Lucy. Instantly, the unkempt, stubble-faced man's eyes turned into pink hearts, pounding wildly.

"Oh, new faces?! And super pretty young girls!! Two of them?!"

Makarov: "..."

Not far away, Macao and Wakaba, who were smoking, were also admiring the figures of the two beautiful women, their faces flushed with excitement, and they almost drooled.

"Wow... such revealing clothes... I love them..."

"Since Bisca got married, very few people in the guild have dared to dress so daringly..."

What? You mean Kana? Her figure is completely overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol! Besides, Gildas is there too. They can look, but they dare not make any jokes.

Three lecherous middle-aged men, as if seeing Happy at the whole fish feast, swarmed around the two young ladies, asking them insincerely, "What are your names, young ladies? Are you going to join 'Fairy Tail'? Would you like to have a drink together and experience the enthusiasm of our guild?"

"What are you guys doing?!"

Lucy and Cana shouted at the same time, rushed forward and punched all three of them, sending them flying.

"Honestly, all this bastard dad does is drink and flirt with girls all day long..."

Kana, holding a beer bottle, huffed and complained, then turned to the two of them and apologized, "Sorry, Gildas may be a bit of a womanizer, but he's still very reliable..."

Brandish nodded silently, not really caring.

She could sense a magical power emanating from Gildarts that was no less than that of the Twelve Shields, but it was about the same as that of Serena, not quite outrageous.

Timalia didn't take the three men's advances to heart. In her eyes, wasn't it normal for men to make such an unsightly display when they saw her body? Anyway, it was just flirting, and she didn't lose anything.

Besides, if she wanted to, she could give them a good beating in an instant.

The two men's nonchalant attitude only fueled the arrogance of the lecherous older men, who approached again with renewed vigor, only to be beaten up once more, a cycle they seemed to enjoy endlessly.

"Your guild members really haven't changed at all..."

Ultear and Jellal followed Kira into the tavern. The two were already familiar with the place. Although they didn't have any other friends in the guild, entering the tavern felt like coming home.

Kira laughed and said, "This is just a typical day in Fairy Tail!"

On the other side, Serena, after surveying the tavern before him, unleashed his inner chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), launching into a seamless singing and dancing performance: "God! Is this the number one magic guild in Fiore? I'd heard so much about you guys before going to the Western Continent, but I never expected it to be like this..."

The air was filled with the smells of smoke, sweat, and alcohol, and the sounds of arguing and laughter were equally noisy. These mages, from all over the country and of varying strengths, shared a common characteristic: they were all very energetic, free, and enjoying themselves.

"What a vibrant guild, God!"

As he observed the tavern, the guild members were also observing him.

"Who is that chubby uncle with pigtails? The way he talks is so weird..."

"What are Kira and the others thinking?! Why didn't they just bring back a beautiful woman? Why did they bring back such a fat old man?!"

How could such a voice escape Serena's ears? He was instantly furious and jumped up and down, shouting, "Which bastard is talking bad about me?! Calling me 'fat uncle'?!"

Dispel chuckled at the group of people whispering, "Don't let his size fool you, he's incredibly strong—though he can't beat me."

Although they rarely saw Despel take action, everyone knew that his strength was similar to Kira's, so they were all taken aback: Isn't it normal that we can't beat you?

"Is this 'Fairy Tail'?"

Amid the argument, August, Mavis, and Precito finally entered. Their somewhat weathered eyes swept across the guild, instantly discerning the strength and character of each individual.

"Ah! Another old man! What a pity, why isn't he a beautiful woman?"

"At her age, she should have long passed the legal retirement age in the Kingdom of Fiore, right? Still a mage? True love!!"

"He looks about the same age as the chairman. Doesn't he have any children or grandchildren to take care of him in his old age? How pitiful..."

August: "..."

The eye for detail in this line of work is really terrible!

Makarov sighed helplessly. What could he do? He was helpless too!

He could only laugh awkwardly again and say, "Hehehe... I'm so sorry! It seems the kids need some discipline while I was away."

Several tens of minutes later, thanks to Natsu and the others' announcement, the guild members finally learned the identities of the four people.

"The 'Twelve Shields of the Holy Guard' of the Alvarez Empire?!"

"What did you say?! Even Laxus, the Thunder Legion, and Erza's entire squad combined couldn't defeat them?! These two young girls?! Really?!"

"This chubby guy is Ishgard's number one 'Ten Wizard Saints'?! Isn't that above Kira and the Chairman? I never knew he was that strong!!"

"No way?! This old man is a child of the first generation?!"

"You even met Erza's mother?! She's also one of the Twelve Shields?!"

That afternoon, gasps of shock echoed repeatedly in the Fairy Tail tavern. Everyone was deeply curious about their experiences over the past three months, asking again and again about the customs and culture of the Western Continent.

……

Three days passed quickly.

"Everyone!! Quiet down!!"

On this day, Makarov jumped onto the bar, his small body and loud voice quickly attracting the attention of everyone in the guild.

"It's already December. According to the guild's rules, we need to start preparing for this year's S-rank mage exam. Everyone, get your spirits up!!"

"Eh?!?!?!?!" ×N

Chapter 576 This year's S-level assessment needs to be changed!

The S-rank assessment is held once a year. Last year, Natsume and the others were particularly dissatisfied because Cana, whose strength was not up to par, beat them to the test. They have been training hard all year and want to prove their strength in this year's assessment.

This year, with the significant improvement in the strength of each guild member, the competition is bound to be even more intense.

"Great!! I've finally waited for this!!! I'm definitely going to get the S-rank this year!!"

"I should be the one who becomes an S-class!!"

"Hmph... How naive! I won't give it to you so easily!"

"What did you say?! You want to have a match right now?!"

"Come on then! Who's afraid of you??"

In less than a minute, everyone started arguing, just like the guild always does.

Finally, a huge fist slammed down, pinning the group of hot-tempered individuals who were about to start a fight to the ground: "Listen to the rules properly, you little brats!!"

"Yes...yes...! ×N"

Seeing that Makarov was angry, everyone broke out in a cold sweat and stood in a row like obedient children. The person who was pinned to the ground pretended to be unconscious and dared not continue to act recklessly.

"First, I need to announce something: for this year's assessment, we've brought in outside help!"

Everyone was stunned: "Foreign aid??"

"That's right! Foreign aid!"

Makarov's aged eyes gleamed with a cunning light; he was clearly a shrewd old fox. "The guests who have visited the guild in the past few days will be your opponents or teammates, participating in the assessment together!!"

The entire guild fell silent instantly, and everyone wore an expression of disbelief.

"I've been a guest at the guild these past few days..."

"Hey... really? Are they going to go this big this year?"

"Those guys are not easy to deal with..."

Who else could be visiting the guild? The Western Continent Returnees, right? Each of them is at least a 'Ten Saints' level mage!! For an S-rank selection, isn't it a bit too much of a fuss to invite these kinds of figures to lend their support?

Several people who had gone through the assessment last year instantly turned pale and raised their hands to ask, "President... I think it would be best to follow the rule of voluntary registration for this year's assessment..."

"Huh? Voluntarily signed up??"

"Uh-huh!!"

The group nodded vigorously like chickens pecking at rice, their calculations running smoothly: if the assessment was something they had to sign up for voluntarily, as long as they didn't rush to join in, they wouldn't have to face those terrifying monsters.

But how could things possibly go so smoothly?

"dream!!!"

Makarov roared, his voice instantly reaching dozens of decibels, "The quotas have always been awarded based on a year's performance, how could we possibly expect you to volunteer?!"

Everyone panicked even more: "Then...then do we have the right to refuse to participate...?"

"No!! The selections and schedule have already been finalized. How could I let you withdraw on your own?! Even if you say you'll never participate in the S-level assessment again, it won't do! All the candidates I'm calling out later must give their all in this year's assessment! Otherwise, you'll be facing the wrath of both me and the foreign aids!!"

"Eh?!?!"

Seeing everyone's faces turn ashen, Makarov felt a surge of satisfaction and added fuel to the fire: "Hmph! I went to great lengths to get them to come forward!"

In fact, Makarov had only mentioned it casually to them, but they seemed very interested and eager to try it out. Some even volunteered to come to Makarov for a spot in the assessment after hearing about it, and Makarov was naturally happy to agree.

If thugs are offered up for free, why not take them?

Sure enough, as soon as Makarov said this, everyone stirred up in unison.

"Why are you doing something so unnecessary, President?"

"Exactly...they're not even guild members!!"

"Shut up, all of you! I'm doing this all to train you!"

Makarov, looking utterly exasperated, berated the cowardly brats, "You all better count how much work you've actually done in the three months I've been away!!"

"All they do is fight, brag, and flirt with girls. They're so young, yet they don't think about working hard or cultivating. All they do is eat, drink, and have fun! Can this still be considered the number one magic guild in Ishgar?!"

Upon hearing this, the guild fell silent, everyone looking embarrassed, but mostly indifferent.

The number one magic guild in Ishgar? So what if it's the number one magic guild in the world? We don't care about that stuff! Didn't you teach us that as long as we're happy, that's all that matters...?

Of course, they dared to think such things, but not to say them, because although Makarov was old, his punches really hurt!