Since the interrogation had already reached a foregone conclusion, the process itself turned out to be... incredibly dull.
Most of it revolved around routine details: whether Fairy Tail had prior conflicts with Phantom Lord, how Phantom made their move, under what circumstances the Jupiter Magic Cannon and Purgatory Shatter were used, and so on.
However, compared to his other guildmates, Chase, as the one who defeated Jose and helped destroy Phantom Lord's entire headquarters, was required to provide a much more thorough account.
Lahar didn't officially wrap up the session until he had gone through three full cups of tea and nearly polished off all the snacks and sweets placed on the table.
Just as Chase stood up and stretched his limbs, getting ready to finally leave, Lahar called out behind him.
"Wait a moment, Mr. Chase."
"I've said everything I need to say. What now?" Chase replied, clearly impatient.
He had been sitting for far too long. By this point, he didn't feel like putting on any polite mask for the Council.
Lahar picked up on his irritation and scratched his cheek, looking a bit awkward.
"What I'm about to say isn't in my capacity as the Council's Captain of the Compulsory Inspection Unit...
It's... more personal."
He cleared his throat and straightened up. His expression, which had always been stiff and serious, somehow became even more solemn then he stood and gave Chase a deep bow.
"I never had the chance to thank you properly. Thank you for protecting my sister and her family during the Demon Ruins Island incident."
"Oh? That was your sister?"
Chase blinked in surprise, then chuckled to himself. "What a small world…"
He smiled and replied easily, "Power's meant to protect people. That's all. It was no big deal. Just treat me to a couple of drinks sometime."
So that's why this guy, who usually follows Council rules to the letter, gave me a heads-up about Natsu earlier...
Unfortunately, Lahar's strength wasn't exactly impressive, so it wasn't likely Chase would ever get a proper card explosion battle out of him.
"Of course," Lahar nodded seriously.
Chase waved casually, then turned and walked out of the interrogation tent.
Next up was Mistgun.
Since he was currently using the face of Councilor Zeke Rein, Mistgun had prepared for the worst from the start just in case. To avoid unnecessary attention and explanations, he used disguise magic beforehand to change his appearance.
Oddly enough, when the actual questioning began, Lahar never asked him to remove his black veil.
As the clear victors of the guild war, Fairy Tail held the advantage in both public sentiment and official regulations.
Now that the final judgment was essentially set in stone, the remaining interrogations were just formalities a matter of filing testimony, cross-checking records, and assembling the facts.
This evidence would ultimately be used to sentence Jose, the Phantom Lord Guild Master, and serve as a warning to other guilds not to overstep their bounds.
Even so, the whole procedure dragged on for two full days.
It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that the clam-faced Council envoy finally announced that members of all three guilds were now free to move about the base.
No more tent confinement.
That same night, Fairy Tail took down every single tent.
And for once it wasn't through their usual explosive methods. Under the watchful eyes of Makarov and Erza, everyone worked together to carefully disassemble and stack the tents neatly in a corner.
After all, these tents belonged to the Council, and it wouldn't be great to trash them... at least not while still under official watch.
But the real reason behind all this effort?
Simple.
They needed to clear out space for a proper banquet.
Right after the battle with Phantom Lord, they were dragged to this desolate place and confined for several days.
Forget energetic types like Natsu even someone like Lucy felt like her body was starting to rust from inactivity!
With an eager grin, Natsu opened his mouth and breathed a stream of fire to light the bonfire.
The long-awaited banquet officially began!
At first, everything seemed to be going well.
The members of Fairy Tail sat in neat rows on the grass, drinking, eating, and bragging with smiles on their faces.
There was laughter, cheerful chatter, and a picture-perfect sense of harmony.
Well at least that's the version imagined by Lahar and the Council Envoy.
It was also the only reason they agreed to Makarov's request to host this "civilized celebration."
But…
Of course, things didn't stay quiet for long.
Just as the first round of meat and ale was passed around, Natsu and Gray got to their feet.
The two who never missed a chance to bicker locked eyes and that was all it took for chaos to erupt.
Fists flew.
So did meat skewers, mugs, and at least one chicken leg.
They pulled everyone else into the mess including Elfman, who was yelling "This is manly!" while suplexing someone, Cana, who was swinging a barrel of ale like it was a dance prop, Macao and Wakaba, who were in the middle of a philosophical discussion about "the origins of mankind," and Loke, who had collapsed in the arms of a pretty girl, looking absolutely drained but not regretting a thing.
In the blink of an eye, the whole area descended into absolute chaos.
Plates flew.
Cups shattered.
Cakes exploded.
"Mr. Makarov… this is what you meant by 'they're all good kids'?"
In a corner of the banquet, Lahar quietly peeled a flying onion leaf off his glasses, his mouth twitching as he looked at the total disaster unfolding in front of him.
Do these lunatics even realize they're still under Council watch?
I regret everything. I should never have agreed to this no matter what my sister's family owes this man.
"This is outrageous!" the Council Envoy barked, pointing furiously at the carnage. "If this is what your party looks like, Master Makarov, I insist you shut it down immediately!"
"Ahaha… ahahaha…"
Makarov, standing awkwardly between the two officials, scratched his head with a nervous laugh.
"Don't worry. We have someone to keep things in line."
The moment he said that
The noise died down.
Just like that.
Because Fairy Tail's "Disciplinary Committee" had stepped in.
"Hey! I know you lot act like this back at the guild, but could you please look around before starting your usual brawls?! Do you realize the Council's inspection team is right here watching us?!"
Erza stood with arms crossed, her eyes narrowed into twin blades. An overwhelming aura of authority pulsed from her like a shockwave.
"I understand, Erza! We'll behave!"
"Love~!"
Natsu and Gray immediately abandoned their fight, hugging each other with stiff smiles and matching terror on their faces.
They looked exactly like the "well-behaved kids" that Makarov had proudly described just moments ago.
"Harpy No. 2 has returned limited time only!" Lucy whispered to Levy, clearly amused.
With those two cowed into submission, the rest of the guild quickly followed.
The others who'd been seconds away from launching friendly punches suddenly retracted their arms and slung them around each other's shoulders instead, pretending they'd been deep in heartfelt conversation all along.
"I'm serious, if you all really need to burn off steam after being cooped up for days," Erza said, letting her intimidating aura slowly fade, "then learn from Vidgita over there."
She turned and pointed toward a quiet corner of the field.
Over in the corner, Vidgita stood alone beneath the moonlight.
Clad in a sleek black bodysuit, she twisted and turned in a strange, flowing dance like a shadowy enchantress lost in her own world.
There was something mesmerizing about her movements subtle, hypnotic, and definitely… eye-catching.
"Lu-chan… I don't think Vidgita is blowing off steam," Levy leaned in and whispered to Lucy.
"I don't think so either." Lucy nodded seriously, her eyes narrowing as she glanced in Vidgita's direction. "He's totally just in love with her."
Since joining Fairy Tail, Lucy hadn't interacted with Vidgita more than a handful of times. But even so, every time she visited the guild, she'd catch glimpses of her dancing alone in some quiet corner.
Now that she thought about it, she really did dance a lot.
"Come to think of it…" Erza suddenly perked up, eyes gleaming. "I'm supposed to be the Dancing Queen, but it's been ages since I've danced in front of everyone!"
She stood proudly, placing a hand on her hip as her tone rose with enthusiasm.
"This is a rare chance we've got music, food, and friends! Let's make the most of this banquet and have some fun!"
....
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