The first floor of the guild is a lounge area, as well as a place for entertainment, eating, and drinking. There's also a display board for quest requests, but the quests on the first floor are only grades A, B, C, and D, with the highest being merely an A-rank.
The second floor of the guild, however, has a special declaration: only Mages with S-rank strength are allowed upstairs. Besides being a symbol of status, it's also because all the quests on the second-floor quest board start at S-rank, and there are even extremely difficult Ten-Year Quests and Hundred-Year Quests.
If these quests were to be classified by rank, they could probably be categorized as SS-rank and SSS-rank!
These quests are often difficult, time-consuming, and attempting them without sufficient strength can be life-threatening. Therefore, to prevent reckless Mages in the guild from losing their lives, they are specifically placed on the second floor.
The reason Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe rarely show up at the guild is that they spend most of their time outside executing S-rank quests.
And now, Laxus and the others, who seem to have just completed their last S-rank quest, are going to take on new S-rank quests... 7 PM, Master's Office.
This is a spacious and elegant room, located on the top floor of the guild. Upon opening the door, one can see a huge floor-to-ceiling window, wide and bright, offering a panoramic view of Magnolia's street at night.
The room is exquisitely and comfortably furnished, filled with an artistic atmosphere.
A large desk sits in the center, piled with documents and unfinished fruit tarts.
On both sides are two rows of tall bookshelves, filled with various books and materials.
Some exquisite paintings hang on the walls, including beautiful scenery of Earth Land and oil paintings of previous Masters, adding to the room's cultural ambiance.
A set of sofas and a coffee table are arranged in one corner of the office for guests to rest and converse.
The entire room's decor is simple and elegant, yet tasteful!
Ezreal and Makarov were sitting on the sofa, leisurely sipping tea.
The old man and the young man looked very content.
"This iced tea is indeed delicious. The drinks from your world are really good. Recently, everyone has been ordering this a lot; the revenue from selling iced tea is almost catching up to selling alcohol." Makarov took small sips from his teacup. Inside the cup were three ice cubes and two slices of lemon, and the tea was reddish-brown.
"There's no special technique involved. It's just sugar, ice cubes, and lemon slices, then pouring in pre-brewed tea. Many drink shops and bookstores in the city have already started making their own versions. People are just trying something new; once winter comes, iced tea won't sell as well." Ezreal had a straw in his cup, and he was also taking small sips of the otherworldly drink he had developed.
This iced tea was originally something Ezreal made for himself to drink, having taken some tea leaves from the guild. He casually made two cups and gave them to Mira and Laki.
Unexpectedly, after the two of them tasted it, they jointly suggested to the Master to introduce this tea as a new product in the guild's drink menu, and it received a good response; both adults and children loved to drink it.
Ezreal also received a 3,000 cash reward for contributing the recipe and a lifetime free iced tea privilege at the guild.
The cash didn't matter much, but Ezreal really liked the lifetime free iced tea; he wasn't accustomed to the alcohol in this magical world, but he quite liked iced tea and the guild's other fruit drinks.
"The merchants in Magnolia are too fast. We only launched it a month ago, and they've already started releasing new products based on iced tea." Makarov said with a hint of indignation, holding his teacup.
"There's no exclusive secret recipe, so it's easy to copy. The ingredients aren't hard to find either. Of course, they'd act quickly when they see a business opportunity." Ezreal was indifferent. He had even tried the iced tea sold by other shops in the city, and the taste was good. It's impossible to monopolize something with no barriers to entry.
"Well, I can understand. Everyone's trying to make money. Speaking of making money, Laxus made a lot of money again on this S-rank quest. What do you think of him?" Makarov's tone suddenly shifted.
One moment they were discussing guild drinks, the next he brought up his tsundere grandson.
"Master, isn't that transition a bit too abrupt?" Ezreal rolled his eyes.
"Never mind that, just tell me. You two fought today, and I thought you got along quite well." Makarov awkwardly tugged at his beard and continued to ask, sticking out his neck.
"Huh?"
"The first time we met, he struck me with lightning seventeen times. You call that getting along?" Ezreal was stunned. Can you really say something like that?
"His greetings are always… unique." Makarov's expression froze, looking a bit embarrassed.
"..." Ezreal silently watched the old man wringing his hands, then said, speechless, "You two are both quite unique…"
"Young people should be polite and patient with elders! Now answer the question!" Makarov stood up from the sofa, tapped Ezreal's head with his teacup, and then sat back down.
"Laxus, he's very strong."
"Purely in terms of magical power, he's the most immense among all the guild members I've met. I'm afraid in a few more years, our guild will have another Ten Wizard Saints."
Ezreal took a tissue to wipe the tea from his hair, giving his honest assessment.
"Of course, I know all that. Laxus's magical talent even surpasses mine; becoming a Ten Wizard Saints is only a matter of time."
"Tell me something else besides his strength."
Makarov's face showed a proud expression; he had always been very satisfied with his grandson's strength since he was little.
But these were things he already knew. Makarov now wanted to hear something different from this young man who had just joined the guild.
"His personality is indeed not easy to get along with, but he's not as bad as others in the guild say."
"Perhaps the age gap is a bit large, and he doesn't quite connect with others." Ezreal pondered for a moment before giving his opinion, then added, "Actually, I don't usually connect much with everyone in the guild either. Aside from sparring, most of the time I prefer to communicate with people my own age or be by myself."
To be honest, if it weren't for building rapport with the main characters, he would actually prefer to spend his time studying magic.
"Is that how you see it? Oh… that actually makes sense." This was something he hadn't noticed before. Makarov put down his teacup, slapped his forehead, and continued, in strong agreement.
"Yes, there is indeed a bit of an age gap between Laxus and his guildmates. He's 21 this year, and the younger generation of the guild are all mischievous kids."
"The oldest is only you. Everyone else is still only 15 or 16. Even Erza and Mira, who seem mature and steady, just turned 17 this year." Makarov looked at his reflection in the cup, lost in thought.