Kabe chuckled and gave his head another ruffle before standing up and turning to Macao.
"Macao, go take our little hero to collect his reward. And remember to head home earlier from now on, so Romeo doesn't have to come out looking for you alone at night again."
Macao rubbed his nose, cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment, and bent down to scoop Romeo up onto his shoulders.
"Come on, big hero. Whatever you want to eat today, it's all on me."
"Yes! Thanks, Kabe~"
With Romeo's reward taken care of, Kabe turned his attention to the rest of the guild members and spoke up to settle everyone down.
"No need to panic, everyone. Natsu and the others left last night, so they should still be en route. Go on back inside and put your heads together on a good, creative way to teach them a lesson. Once I've hauled them back here, we'll make sure they remember this one."
Hearing that Kabe would personally go retrieve them put everyone at ease, though privately, plenty of people were already quietly composing a mental list of grievances against Natsu and company. Still, not one person in the crowd felt any real sympathy for them. Breaking guild rules and secretly taking an S Class job, worrying everyone half to death in the process, some punishment was clearly in order.
Beside Kabe, Mavis had been watching everything unfold. From the calm, methodical way he'd confirmed the facts and pieced the situation together, to how he'd rewarded little Romeo, given Macao a gentle word of advice, and reassured the rest of the guild, the more she watched, the more her approval of him quietly grew.
'Calm under pressure when something unexpected happens, the kind of presence that makes everyone trust him instantly when he's reassuring them, and most importantly, gentle and caring toward children. He checks every box for what it takes to be Fairy Tail's Fourth Master. So why on earth is he so dead set against taking the position?'
Mavis chewed on her thumb, utterly baffled, lost in thought over what exactly the man had against the role, when she suddenly felt a light shove against her back.
Confused, she looked up to find Kabe was the one who'd pushed her, just as he turned to address the red haired girl who'd led the charge out the door earlier.
"Erza, this little blonde girl here is our founding First Master, Mavis. While I'm gone, I'm counting on you all to look after her."
Mavis: "?!?!?!"
Erza: "?!?!"
"I'm not a little girl!" / "She's the First Master?!" the two of them shouted over each other, voices tangled together in a burst of outrage and shock.
A few people who'd already turned to head back into the guild froze mid step and spun right back around to look. Everyone stared down at the tiny figure currently glaring daggers at Kabe, absolutely floored.
"The First Master? Didn't she pass away decades ago?"
"Is today April Fool's or something? Kabe's just walked up with a random little kid and told us she's the First Master."
"Wait, hold on a second. I've seen the old photos we keep at the guild, and she really does look exactly like the First Master."
"You're serious? I remember clearly, the First Master's remains were laid to rest on Tenrou Island, the guild's sacred ground, after she passed. If her body's still there, then who exactly is standing in front of us right now? Her ghost?"
"Hard to say."