"Makarov, come up and talk about how to deal with the people from the Magic Council."
After everyone had chattered away for a while about various policies and roughly set a common direction for future progress, Oba directly called out Makarov by name.
Everyone turned to look at Makarov, their eyes clearly carrying smiles. As the person who dealt with both the Kingdom of Fiore and the Magic Council the most, Makarov giving a solo speech was well deserved.
In the entire Kingdom of Fiore, there was no one who understood better than him how to deal with the Magic Council.
"Pop~"
Makarov's snot bubble burst, and his whole body lurched forward before he immediately steadied himself. He rubbed his eyes and looked toward Moen.
"Moen, is the meeting over?"
Makarov asked. He had fallen asleep very early on, just a few minutes after Oba started speaking.
"How could it be over? You haven't gone up to give your speech yet."
Moen smiled helplessly. But he could understand Grandpa Makarov being sleepy—Oba Grandma's speaking was simply far too long-winded! Her muttering mouth never stopped, and the topic scattered especially badly.
Let alone Makarov—if Moen hadn't been here for the first time, and if he hadn't been full of curiosity about the meeting content, he probably would have fallen asleep long ago as well.
"Oh right, the speech!"
With Moen's reminder, Makarov finally reacted. He stood up and walked onto the stage, completely unconcerned with the smiling looks from everyone.
Makarov walked up to the podium and switched places with Oba. Neither of them was tall, and the small stool Oba had been standing on was just right for Makarov to use—otherwise, he would have had to use magic to make himself taller.
Standing firmly at the podium, Makarov quickly entered his state. He cleared his throat and tried to recall the speech he had prepared beforehand but he couldn't remember a single word. After sleeping for a while, he had completely forgotten the manuscript.
So Makarov simply began speaking off the cuff. He hadn't brought the script anyway, so improvisation was the only option.
"Ahem, regarding matters related to the Magic Council, I'll emphasize three points here."
Seeing everyone looking at him, Makarov spoke with a serious expression.
"First, as long as you obey the law, there's no need to be afraid of them.
Second, always put guild companions first. When necessary, even if you violate some regulations, it doesn't matter—just accept the fines and punishment afterward.
Third, try to stuff some people into the Council whenever possible. That way, if something happens, they can help look after things. As a neutral magical great power, the Kingdom of Fiore has an extremely large number of magic guilds and should rightfully have greater influence within the Magic Council."
Makarov said whatever came to mind, making Moen's eyelids twitch wildly. If people from the Magic Council heard this speech, Grandpa Makarov would definitely have to write another self-criticism.
'No—why aren't you following the script?!'
Moen couldn't help but press a hand to his forehead. The manuscript prepared beforehand absolutely wasn't written like this!
He had read it earlier. That draft was full of very normal content, seemingly drafted by Sister Erza, and could be described as harmonious all around.
The main focus was on how the local guild alliance should cooperate with the Magic Council to better manage the magic guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore. The wording was extremely official—the kind that absolutely couldn't go wrong. Makarov only needed to read it out loud.
Yet Makarov completely ignored the script and directly voiced explosive opinions. He was sincere, yes but also truly gave no face at all!
"Makarov! You can't say things like that recklessly!"
Oba Babasama couldn't help but speak up from the side. It was fine if Fairy Tail liked to mess around, but they couldn't drag everyone else into it—after all, not every magic guild had the same foundation as Fairy Tail.
"Uh, I was just speaking casually."
Makarov didn't say much more. After finishing those three points, he decisively stepped down from the podium, looking like he had already finished speaking.
Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, the little old man clasped his hands behind his back and slowly returned to his seat, wearing the showy demeanor of a detached master.
Toward the Magic Council, most magic guilds primarily cooperated. In any case, the Council wouldn't step onto the front lines to manage affairs directly. As long as the rules and regulations set by the Council weren't violated, they generally wouldn't interfere.
Not every guild was like Fairy Tail, constantly dealing with the Magic Council.
Most magic guilds only interacted with the Magic Council during joint missions or when providing information about dark guilds. Everyday trivial matters simply weren't enough to alarm the Magic Council.
Therefore, Makarov's shocking remarks truly left quite a few guild masters stunned.
Is this really the attitude large guilds have toward the Magic Council?
So completely lacking in courtesy?!
In truth, it wasn't actually that disrespectful, because Makarov had emphasized obedience to laws and regulations.
Aside from situations involving intense battles where restraint was genuinely impossible, there was no other choice.
Fairy Tail caused trouble so frequently, yet at most they were only scolded by the Magic Council, with Makarov merely being made to write self-reflections.
The most crucial reason was that they actually had a strong sense of "limits."
They only caused issues like "battle damage spreading over too large an area."
It sounded very serious—well, the destruction was indeed quite serious but it never crossed true lines of principle.
So what counted as truly crossing the line?
Guild wars that harmed civilians.
These were absolute red lines that could never be touched.
Even major guilds would face severe punishment if they crossed them—disbandment, erasure from records, or being labeled a dark guild were all completely normal outcomes.
This was precisely why dark guilds were called dark guilds in the first place: everything they did constantly crossed the bottom line.
"If Fairy Tail keeps messing around like this, sooner or later you'll be labeled a dark guild, and then we'll all join forces to crusade against you!"
Standing on the podium, Oba Babasama was furious over Makarov's outrageous speech.
Originally, after Makarov casually said a few words, the meeting should have ended, and she would have successfully completed her role as moderator.
Instead, Makarov had dropped a massive bomb, leaving her extremely embarrassed as the host.
If this spread outside, it better not drag Lamia Scale down with it—they had always followed the rules and laws!
Moreover, she was currently working hard to help Jura Neekis compete for the title of "Wizard Saint."
She absolutely could not afford to offend the Magic Council.
Just look at Fairy Tail's Gildarts—despite his overwhelming strength, he had never received any official title.
That definitely had something to do with Fairy Tail's terrible reputation!
Oba Babasama thought this to herself.
If not for the negative impact it would cause, she believed the Magic Council would love nothing more than to strip Makarov of his "Wizard Saint" title but that was naturally impossible.
First, because of Makarov himself.
His fame was far too great; he was a genuine legendary veteran whom no one could easily insult.
Second was the third point Makarov had mentioned earlier—it was simply too real.
Planting people inside the Magic Council truly worked!
Even now, there were council members who came from Fairy Tail, frequently speaking up for the guild.
Although she complained and criticized Makarov verbally, Oba Babasama did not actually believe there was anything wrong with what he said. It was simply that these matters were not suitable to be spoken aloud.
As for Oba's complaints, Makarov did not care at all.
To put it bluntly, even if the Magic Council were given ten thousand times more courage, they would still never dare label Fairy Tail as a dark guild—doing so would destabilize the entire order of the Kingdom of Fiore.
After this small interlude passed, aside from some inner shock among the attending guild masters, there was no real impact.
With a sour expression, Oba Babasama wrapped things up briefly, then announced that this regular meeting had officially concluded.
Logically speaking, a banquet should have followed the meeting, but this time there was obviously none.
Everyone simply packed up and dispersed.
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