An unexpected answer and an unexpected name left Gildarts instantly frozen in place.
"Huh??"
"Your father?"
"Then wouldn't that be... the First Master?"
"Wasn't he retired a long time ago? He still cares this much about the affairs of the magic world?"
The relationship between the past masters of Fairy Tail was no secret within the guild. Although Weston and the others had already retired by the time Gildarts arrived in Magnolia, and Darwin had already become the guild master of the Council, he still knew a great deal about the original "Fairies" because of Chris.
Weston, the First Master of Fairy Tail and the first Principal of the Fairy Academy, had achieved countless things in his life. For the past several decades, he had been a model, an idol, and a goal for almost all wizards; he was also an existence whose name alone caused dark guilds to turn pale with hatred and fear.
So that great figure is actually still alive...
Gildarts instinctively scrutinized Darwin for a moment.
Speaking of which, the guild master seemed to be nearly 70 years old this year, so the First Master must be around 90, right? The stronger a person's magic power, the longer their lifespan. Based on the First Master's past achievements, his strength must have been immense, so living to 90—or even over 100 in the future—wasn't particularly strange.
Thinking of this, Gildarts was immediately relieved, and his mind couldn't help but wander—
Could I live to be 100 in the future? If I can, how many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will I have by then?
No, no, no, thinking about grandchildren and great-grandchildren is way too far ahead. Better think about children first.
Children, children...
Right, a daughter! If only I could have a cute daughter!
But before that, shouldn't I find someone to marry first? But finding a marriage partner is so hard! If only Ms. Ur were willing to marry me; she would definitely look beautiful in a wedding dress! A pure white dress, holding a bouquet, with long hair in twin tails...
Wait, hold on! Isn't Ms. Ur short-haired? Where did the long twin tails come from?
"Hey! Snap out of it!"
A hand-chop and a heavy shout brought Gildarts back to his senses. He blinked frantically, finally seeing the person in front of him—where was the wedding-dressed Ms. Ur? There was only that Chuunibyou idiot, Serena!
"Why is it you?" Gildarts couldn't hide his disappointment.
"Who else would it be?" Serena looked at Gildarts strangely. "What were you thinking just now? To have that kind of expression... you looked like a total pervert."
"Nothing."
Gildarts guiltily averted his gaze, only then realizing that Darwin, who had been there, was long gone. Not far away, several magic soldiers from the Council were collecting the bodies of the demons.
"Where is the guild master?"
"I remember I was halfway through talking to him. Why did he suddenly disappear?"
Serena said, "You were standing here dazed like an idiot, so he took the soldiers to continue sweeping the demons' lair!"
Gildarts nodded, then looked at the soldiers who were handling the demon corpses. "What are those soldiers doing?"
"They said they want to take the demon corpses back for research, trying to find more ways to deal with the 'Demons of the Book of Zeref'."
Researching demon corpses? What a perverted thing to do!
Gildarts' brow furrowed immediately. He actually disliked this sort of thing in his heart, but he also knew that for some people, such things were necessary. Therefore, he neither supported nor stopped it, simply turning away to pretend he didn't see.
In the time that followed:
The resurrection device of Tartaros was destroyed by Descartes and the others, completely cutting off any hope of survival for the Underworld King and the Nine Demon Gates. Lamy, the mass-produced demon stationed there, was also wiped out by the group.
Darwin led the Council soldiers to clean out the rest of the demons in Tartaros, including their lair "Alegria," leaving not a single one behind. As for the method of cleaning, some were killed directly, while others were forced back to their original forms—reverting into magic books to be kept in custody.
By the time everything settled and Descartes and the others returned to the Fairy Academy, seven days had passed.
...
The story branches here.
Darwin did not return to Magnolia with them. He was, after all, the guild master of the Council and had more affairs to handle. After the battle of Tartaros ended, he first led the troops back to their respective posts, tallied the casualties, and issued the necessary pensions. Only after finishing everything did he take the confiscated demon books back to the Council headquarters to be sealed away.
Late that night.
Darwin did not go to sleep early as usual, nor was he busy with Council work. In the drawing room of his home, he set out two cups of black tea and two portions of snacks. On the table sat a book with an orange and black cover.
It was no ordinary book; it was the Book of END!
Among all the demon books confiscated from Tartaros, only this one was kept by Darwin instead of being stored in the Council's headquarters. Because tonight, he was to hand this "Book of END" over to one person.
Knock, knock, knock—
In the silent drawing room, the sound of knocking on the window suddenly rang out. The sound came from the balcony hidden behind the curtains, but this was the second floor; normally, no one should be knocking there. If there was, that person surely had something wrong with their head.
Darwin, however, seemed accustomed to this phenomenon. He merely put down the book in his hand, stood up, went to the balcony, pulled back the curtains, pushed open the French doors, and looked at the visitor.
"Can't you just use the front door? Father!"
"Hahaha... Of course not! If you want to know why, it's because visiting like this is much more interesting!"
Weston laughed as he bypassed Darwin and stepped into the room through the French doors. Nearly ninety years old, his hair was entirely white and his face was covered in wrinkles. Fortunately, his body was still sturdy, his voice was booming, and his mental state was visibly youthful. If one closed their eyes and only listened to his voice, they might think it was a middle-aged man in his forties.
"Ohhh!"
"The Book of END! You actually got your hands on it!!"
Upon entering the room, Weston immediately saw the Book of END on the table, his face instantly lighting up with joy. He stepped forward and rubbed it hard with his large, rough hands. The paper was as dry and smooth as he had imagined, and because it was imbued with Zeref's magic, it had not weathered despite existing for over four hundred years.
"So, what exactly do you want this book for?"
Darwin closed the window and slowly moved to the sofa. The reason Weston had interfered in the operation against Tartaros and provided intelligence was for the sake of the Book of END in front of him. Darwin didn't think Weston wanted the book for dangerous research like Black Arts, but he still harbored deep curiosity regarding his old father's true intentions.