"Makarov, come up here and explain how to deal with those Magic Council people."

After everyone had enthusiastically discussed various policies and established the general direction they would collectively advance in, Ooba Babasama directly called upon Makarov by name.

Everyone turned their gaze toward Makarov, their eyes clearly filled with amusement.

As the person in the entire Fiore Kingdom who dealt the most with the Magic Council, Makarov giving a solo speech was well-deserved.

In the entire Fiore Kingdom, no one understood how to handle the Magic Council better than he did.

Pop~

Makarov's snot bubble burst, causing him to lurch forward before quickly catching himself.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked at Marco.

"Marco, is the meeting over?" Makarov asked.

He had fallen asleep early—just a few minutes after Ooba began speaking.

"How could it be over? You haven't given your speech yet," Marco replied with a helpless smile.

But he could understand why Makarov was drowsy.

The old hag speech was unbearably long!

She kept muttering nonstop, and her topics were all over the place.

Honestly, if Marco hadn't been attending for the first time—and if he hadn't been brimming with curiosity about the meeting's content—he probably would've dozed off too.

"Oh right, the speech!"

Prompted by Marco, Makarov snapped back to attention.

He stood up and walked to the podium, completely unfazed by the amused looks from the crowd.

Makarov stepped onto the stage, swapping places with Ooba.

Neither of them was particularly tall, so Makarov made use of the small stool Ooba had been standing on—otherwise, he would've had to use magic to make himself taller.

Once settled, Makarov quickly got into the zone.

He cleared his throat and tried to recall the speech he had prepared earlier.

But not a single word came to mind—after his nap, the entire script had vanished from his memory.

So, Makarov decided to wing it.

Without his notes, improvisation was the only option.

"Ahem."

"Regarding the Magic Council, I'll emphasize just three points here."

Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Makarov spoke with a solemn expression.

"First, as long as you abide by the law, there's no need to fear them.

Second, always prioritize your guild comrades. If necessary, don't hesitate to bend a few rules—just be ready to accept the fines and penalties afterward.

Third, try to get as many of our people into the Council as possible. If anything happens, they can help smooth things over. As a neutral magic superpower country with countless Mage guilds, our Fiore Kingdom should naturally wield greater influence within the Magic Council."

Makarov spoke whatever came to mind, making Marco's eyelids twitch.

If the Magic Council heard this speech, Makarov would definitely be writing another self-criticism report.

Wait, why isn't he following the script?!

Marco couldn't help but facepalm.

The prepared speech had been nothing like this!

He had read it before—it was drafted by Airo and full of perfectly diplomatic, inoffensive statements.

The main points were about how the local guild alliance should cooperate with the Magic Council to better manage Fiore's Mage guilds.

The wording was impeccably official, guaranteed not to cause any trouble.

All Makarov had to do was read it.

But instead, Makarov tossed the script aside and went straight for the jugulars.

It was sincere, sure—but also incredibly blunt!

"Makarov! You can't just say things like that!" Ooba Babasama couldn't help speaking up from the side.

"You people from Fairy Tail can mess around all you want, but don't drag everyone else into it. After all, not every Mage guild has the same foundation as Fairy Tail."

"Uh, I was just saying whatever came to mind." Makarov didn't elaborate further.

After making these three points, he simply stepped down from the podium, as if he'd finished his speech.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the little old man leisurely returned to his seat with his hands behind his back, looking like he doesnt give a fuck.

Most Mage guilds primarily cooperated with the Magic Council.

After all, the Council wouldn't directly involve itself in management as long as no rules or regulations were violated.

They wouldn't interfere unless provoked—not every guild interacted with the Magic Council as frequently as 'Fairy Tail' did.

Most Mage guilds' contact with the Magic Council usually involved joint missions or providing information about Dark Guilds.

Trivial matters couldn't possibly draw the Council's attention.

Thus, Makarov's shocking speech truly surprised many guild masters.

Was this how a major guild treated the Magic Council?

To show so little respect?!

Actually, it wasn't that disrespectful—after all, Makarov had emphasized the importance of following rules and regulations.

Except during intense battles, when it was truly unavoidable.

Despite 'Fairy Tail' knack for stirring up trouble, the Magic Council merely scolded them and had Makarov write self-criticisms.

The key reason was that they actually had a sense of "propriety," only causing incidents like 'excessive collateral damage during intense battles'.

It sounded serious—well, the destruction was indeed quite severe—but it didn't involve any real breaches of principle.

What counted as a real breach of principle?

Guilds waging war against each other or harming civilians.

These were absolutely forbidden, like sliding down a slippery slope.

Even major guilds would face severe punishment—disbandment, expulsion, or being labeled a Dark Guild—if they crossed these lines.

This was also why Dark Guilds were Dark Guilds: they constantly violated these bottom lines.

"If you fools from Fairy Tail keep acting so recklessly, you'll eventually be branded a Dark Guild, and then we'll all band together to take you down!" Old Hag Ooba stood at the podium, thoroughly irritated by Makarov's outrageous speech.

Originally, after Makarov's brief remarks, the meeting should have concluded smoothly, and she could have considered her hosting duties successfully fulfilled.

But then Makarov had to go and drop a bombshell, making her, as the host, look terrible.

If word got out, she hoped it wouldn't drag Lamia Scale into the mess—they had always been law-abiding guilds after all.

Besides, she was currently working to get Jura Neekis recognized as one of the Ten Wizard Saints.

She couldn't afford to antagonize the Magic Council now.

Just look at Fairy Tail's Gildarts—despite his immense strength, he still lacked an official title.

That had to be related to Fairy Tail's terrible reputation!

Ooba Babasama thought to herself that if not for fear of bad optics, the Magic Council would probably love to strip Makarov of his "Ten Wizard Saints" title—though of course, that was utterly impossible.

First, Makarov himself was far too renowned, a true legendary figure who couldn't be slighted.

Second, there was the third point Makarov had just made—it was painfully accurate.

Planting people in the Magic Council really did work!

Currently, there were councilors within the Magic Council who had come from Fairy Tail and they often spoke up for the guild.

Though she griped and criticized Makarov verbally, Ooba Babasama didn't actually disagree with what he'd said.

It was just that such matters weren't suitable to discuss openly.

As for Ooba's complaints, Makarov paid them no mind.

To put it bluntly, even if the Magic Council had ten thousand times the courage, they wouldn't dare label Fairy Tail as a Dark Guild.

Doing so would destabilize the entire order of the Fiore Kingdom.

The minor incident passed without much impact, aside from leaving the attending guild masters somewhat shaken.

With a sour expression, Ooba Babasama gave a brief closing statement and declared the routine meeting officially concluded.

Normally, there would be a banquet after such a meeting, but this time, it was clearly canceled.

Everyone packed up their things and prepared to leave.

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