After that little outburst, Kabe quickly pressed for details.
"Has anyone checked which specific job flyer is missing? How do we know it was those three who took it, and who was the last person to see them?"
At his questioning, Laki and Romeo, Macao's six year old son, stepped forward. Laki was the guild's front desk girl, handling every job that came through the guild, which made her the one who knew the most about the stolen job's specifics.
"It's the job to take down the dark guild Iron Forest, the one that just got upgraded to S Class. There's been word that Iron Forest's members have been unusually active lately, searching for some kind of demon left behind by Zeref. The Council believes their activity could pose serious danger, so they specifically raised both the difficulty and reward on the job to S Class, hoping the major guilds would send someone to deal with them quickly."
Kabe hadn't expected Natsu to cross paths with the dark guild Iron Forest again under these particular circumstances. Still, thinking of the terrifyingly powerful curse magic Deliora had left behind that they were searching for, he gave a small nod of understanding.
He then crouched down and turned to Romeo, who was clinging to his father Macao's leg.
"Romeo, could you walk me through everything you saw with Natsu and the others, one more time?"
Romeo seemed a little nervous at first, but the moment he heard Kabe's gentle voice, the older brother he'd always admired, he immediately worked up his courage and laid out everything he knew in one go.
"Okay, Kabe. So, last night I was waiting at home for Dad, but he was really late, so I figured he'd probably gotten drunk at the guild again, and I came to get him. It was right at the guild entrance that I saw Natsu and the others sneaking out. I said hi to them, but Natsu seemed really startled and didn't even respond, he just grabbed Happy and Gray and ran off. I remember Gray was holding a job flyer in his hand at the time, and I actually thought to myself how hardworking Natsu and them were, coming to the guild to grab a job that late at night. Later I took Dad home since he was drunk, and it wasn't until I came back with him to the guild today and heard Laki talk about it that I realized Natsu and the others had actually stolen an S Class job."
Romeo gave a thorough account, holding nothing back. Once he finished, Kabe glanced up at Laki.
Laki shook her head, confirming it.
"The job was never registered under me. I checked with the other girls on shift too, none of them handled any job registration last night."
With that, it was essentially confirmed: the S Class job was the one Natsu and the others had stolen.
Fighting down the urge to fly straight off and drag the three idiots back by their collars right then and there, Kabe reached out and ruffled Romeo's hair instead, putting on a deliberately serious tone.
"Fairy Tail candidate member, Romeo Conbolt. Your report today did the guild a great service, something everyone here should learn from. As a certified S Class Mage of this guild, I'm officially commending you for it. As a reward, I'm having your father take you into town to buy whatever snacks and fruit you like."
Because of Macao, the boy had wanted to join Fairy Tail for as long as he could remember. Hearing Kabe formally recognize him as a candidate member, and even sanctioning a shopping trip with his dad, Romeo's chest puffed up with pride instantly, and he declared loudly and proudly:
"Thank you, Kabe! I'll study hard so I can join the guild for real as soon as possible!"