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*****
Fairy Tail was once recognized throughout the kingdom as the strongest guild of mages.
But that was in the past.
Now, aside from George, the guild master, all the S-Class mages and stronger members of the guild have disappeared due to the Tenrou Island incident. No one knows when George will be able to rescue them.
If they were to register for the competition now, with only the remaining mages they currently have, they likely wouldn't even make it to the main tournament.
But if they don't participate, the guild's reputation will plummet even further—though, in truth, it's already hit rock bottom.
"I've been researching the Fairy Sphere lately. How's the guild doing?"
George didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked a question in return.
During this time, he had been in seclusion, focused entirely on studying the Fairy Sphere and the ultimate weapon, Shooting Star Radiance, made from the body of the first guild master. All guild matters had been left to the vice master, Macao.
Hearing this, Macao lowered his head with a dejected look.
"Not good at all. Since our mages aren't strong enough, we can't complete high-level missions anymore. As a result, the number of available missions has dropped.
With fewer missions available, our mages can't find suitable jobs. Their income has fallen, and some members have chosen to leave and join stronger guilds.
The more mages we lose, the weaker we become. That, in turn, discourages clients from bringing us jobs. We've entered a vicious cycle."
"I see."
George scratched his whiskers, showing no sign of surprise on his face.
It was exactly what he had expected—and precisely what he had intended.
In truth, George had always believed that, while Laxus's views were extreme, they weren't entirely wrong.
Survival of the fittest, natural selection, respect for strength—these principles apply in every world.
You can't rely solely on bonds and friendship to make a guild thrive.
Just look—Fairy Tail valued those bonds so much, but after the elite mages vanished, the rest just drifted away. If this continues, the guild might eventually fall to the bottom of the kingdom's rankings.
So, for a mage guild to grow stronger, they must recruit individuals who are either powerful or have potential.
However, he couldn't simply drive away the weaker mages. That would be too heartless, go against the values of the former guild master, and upset everyone else.
So he used the excuse of researching the Fairy Sphere to save the old master and others, choosing to ignore the guild's affairs for a while.
As he expected, those who had joined the guild merely for its "strongest guild" reputation—people who lacked real strength but stirred up the most trouble—left as soon as they saw the guild declining.
Those who remained, though not particularly powerful, had deep feelings for the guild and were truly loyal. George could accept that.
In his view, a guild member should either be strong or loyal. If they're neither, what's the point of keeping them around?
If not for this goal, George, with his power, could've easily taken half a day each week to use his teleportation magic and complete all the high-difficulty tasks himself.
The guild never would've ended up in its current state.
"Register us. We'll win the title of the strongest mage guild and show everyone that even in its current state, Fairy Tail is still the kingdom's top guild."
As long as they could defeat all other mage guilds in the competition and become the kingdom's undisputed number one, powerful mages would naturally be drawn to join.
In doing so, the guild's overall strength would quickly recover. With the fame of being the top guild, the number of missions would also rise again, creating a positive cycle.
And then George could go back to being hands-off and devote himself fully to his magical research again.
He was the new guild master, after all. If he managed to unseal the Fairy Sphere and bring Makarov back, only for the old master to find that Fairy Tail had become the weakest guild in the kingdom, where would that leave George, the fourth guild master? How could he show his face?
"But... Master, look here—this says the guild master isn't allowed to compete."
Macao cautiously pointed it out.
He knew how powerful George was. Back during the first Grand Magic Games that Fairy Tail entered, George had even defeated Laxus, an S-Class mage himself. George was undoubtedly among the top-tier S-Class mages.
However, according to the official rules set by the Grand Magic Games Committee, guild masters were prohibited from participating in the competition.
After all, many guild masters were S-Class mages—some, like Makarov and Phantom Lord's Jose, were even members of the Ten Wizard Saints. If they fought, the capital might not survive the destruction.
If George couldn't compete, and they had to pick from the remaining Fairy Tail members, the result would be no different than before.
"I saw that."
George casually waved his cat paw.
"That's not a problem. Starting today, Macao, you're the fifth master of Fairy Tail!"
Since the competition rules barred guild masters from entering, he would simply pass the title to Macao for now. After all, Macao had already been handling most of the external affairs of the guild. Calling him the guild master wasn't really a stretch.
Once the tournament was over, Macao could hand the title back to him. It wasn't anything too serious.
As long as they could win the tournament, the guild would attract many strong mages. By next year, they wouldn't need to bend the rules like this.
If his progress went smoothly, he might even solve the Fairy Sphere issue before the next tournament. And once Natsu and the others returned, he wouldn't have to worry about competitions at all.
"Ah???"
Macao froze in shock, but after hearing George's explanation, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"So that's what you meant. That's actually a pretty clever idea."
He didn't believe George alone could carry Fairy Tail to first place. After all, while George was indeed an S-Class mage, the other guilds had several of their own.
Besides, the competition required teams of five. The other four members likely wouldn't be much help and might even hold George back.
But at the very least, they wouldn't end up in last place. They should be able to secure an above-average ranking.
And that would be more than enough. It would show people that Fairy Tail still had strength and could help boost the number of job requests in the following year.
"All right. As the new master, go register the guild with the mayor. Then gather everyone in two hours—I'll select the remaining four members of the team."
With that, George waved his paw to dismiss Macao and returned to the magic research that had just been interrupted.
As for the remaining four participants, George didn't care much who they were. None of them would really be of help to him anyway. In the end, it was still up to him to carry the team to victory—fly them to the top, so to speak.
(End of Chapter)