'He's... leaving just like that?'
The guild members watched the Council guys walk away, totally confused.
That Anselion—he was acting like he wanted a death match a minute ago, so why did he bail before the fight was even over?
With his super-weird temper and scary power, the Council had really produced a problem child this time...
While everyone was still scratching their heads over Anselion's weird behavior, Ankh suddenly gave a knowing smile.
Natsu watched the distant Council members and furiously chased after them.
Gray let out a helpless sigh and ran after Natsu, trying to drag him back.
Happy, who had stayed behind with his fish, watched Natsu and Gray chasing them with a worried look.
"Will Natsu cause any trouble?"
Mirajane comforted the scared Levy while looking at Ankh with concern.
Ankh quietly shook his head. "It's fine, they won't catch up."
After saying that, Ankh told the guild members to go back to what they were doing, and things quickly calmed down again.
Then Ankh looked straight into Mirajane's eyes and said.
"Mira, I need to talk to you alone later. It's important."
Mirajane's heart did a little flutter.
Her pretty face immediately turned bright pink as she nodded her head like a robot.
Happy nibbled on his fish, his adorable big eyes curving up into happy crescents as he made a cute, trilling sound.
"He likessssssssssssssssss you!"
Hearing that, Mirajane instantly snapped out of her daze, furiously grabbing Happy and vigorously rubbing his face.
Ignoring the chaos the "clowns" were causing, Ankh turned and went back inside the guild, heading straight for the Guild Master's office.
Makarov had been waiting there for a while.
Seeing Ankh enter, he quickly asked, "How did it go?"
Ankh nodded. "Very smooth."
Makarov let out a huge breath of relief, his face showing complicated emotions as he mumbled to himself.
"I don't know if what we're doing is right or wrong, sometimes."
After a moment of silence, Ankh finally speak.
"The Council is too soft, but when they need to be strong, they have no idea what to do, so they resort to shady moves. They've been messed up for a long time."
"Right now, the guild could be dissolved at any minute. We don't have time to worry about the Council's feelings."
Plus, out of the current ten council members, two were secret spies.
That meant whatever Ankh did now was totally justified.
Makarov nodded quietly, his eyes distant, lost in memories.
"For years, we've been secretly helping Anselion, and finally, the day has come..."
"Anselion... no, Ankh, your unique Thought Projection can finally become a Council member."
A confident smile curved at the corner of Ankh's lips—this was the elaborate plan he and the Master had cooked up.
As a Mage officially registered to a guild, he couldn't just join the Council that governed all the guilds.
So, taking a page from Jellal's book, Ankh had created a semi-permanent Thought Projection!
This Projection, tweaked by Seram, wouldn't drain Ankh's main Magic Power.
It had about 60–70% of Ankh's maximum power and was taught new Magic that was totally different from Ankh's main abilities.
Anselion was then sent out, joining the Council as a clean-slate Mage with no obvious ties to Fairy Tail, and had been diligently working his way up the ranks over the years.
Just creating this Thought Projection took Ankh almost a full year, and because of the magic's limitations, he could only have one active at a time.
Luckily, all that effort paid off.
Anselion—who was really Ankh—proved incredibly capable, growing from a rookie to a high-ranking official eligible for Council membership in just three years.
Earlier, Anselion killing the toad-man who harassed Lisanna was mainly just to vent Lisanna's anger...
As for the big fight with Ankh, that was completely staged, it was just Ankh fighting himself.
The main point was... to make Anselion look amazing.
A Council candidate with strength rivaling a Wizard Saint—when that news hit the Council members' ears, they would definitely see Anselion in a new light, guaranteeing his spot on the Council.
After all, even though the Council ran the entire magical world in Ishgar and had plenty of average and mid-level fighters, it almost completely lacked mages at the Wizard Saint level.
Well, if you don't count Jellal and Ultear.
So, adding a homegrown expert like Anselion to their ranks would naturally lead them to give him a high position to try and control him.
Ankh casually draped the gold-trimmed white Wizard Saints robe over his shoulder, playing with the badge.
His eyes held a slight gleam as he play with it.
"This Wizard Saints title is actually pretty useful."
Makarov looked at the badge in Ankh's hand, let out a long sigh, and laughed.
"No matter what anyone says, our guild now has an unprecedented two Wizard Saints."
Ankh nodded; this was going to be a huge boost for the guild's future.
Even though this version of Fairy Tail made other guilds and the Council nervous, the boost in reputation would make it much easier to attract Mages who hadn't joined a guild yet.
The title of Wizard Saints was forced on people who showed merit and power by the Council, but it didn't strictly mean these ten people were the strongest on the continent.
While their strength was a requirement, the Council valued their fame or respected status more, as it helped reassure or scare the general public.
This function reminded Ankh of a certain organization from his previous life, like the Seven Warlords in that pirate show...
The goals were a little different, but the effect was basically the same.
So, while the absolute top mages knew the truth, the normal Mages at the bottom had no clue.
They would just flock to the title of Wizard Saints, seeing them as distant heroes, eagerly hoping to join their guild.
After the serious talk was done, Makarov relaxed and looked at Ankh with a caring expression.
"Now that you're back this time, please stay at the guild for a while. Erza and the others really miss you."
Ankh nodded.
Whether Erza missed him or not was up for debate, but the others in the guild definitely did.
After all, Erza's authority was absolute—she was basically the guild's school principal, and everyone usually groaned under her strict rules.
It was only when Ankh was around that Erza would actually act like a normal young girl.
...
After leaving the Guild Master's office, Ankh went to find Mirajane.
The main reasons he'd rushed back from his mission weren't just to get his Wizard Saint award, but also because of the issue concerning Lisanna.
According to Ankh's memory, that tragic incident was getting closer...
Lisanna's "death" was the first and only time the new generation of Fairy Tail had to face the reality of a comrade dying and the shock, pain, and lesson it brought were immense.
If possible, Ankh wanted to protect Lisanna while also giving the often careless Mirajane a crucial lessons.
Just then, Mirajane approach him, her cheeks flushed pink with a bright smile on her face.
"Ankh, what did you want to tell me?"
Ankh looked at Mirajane, his eyelid giving a tiny, uncontrollable twitch.
In that short time, she had already changed into a short pink skirt, switching completely to her sweet, gentle "Mirajane" persona, gazing at Ankh with a charming smile.
'Had Mira already changed her personality before the incident even happened?'
Seeing the hopeful, expectant look in Mirajane's eyes, Ankh couldn't shake the feeling that she had totally gotten the wrong idea...
Ankh cleared his throat and asked seriously, "Have you taken on any S-Class missions recently?"
Mirajane was completely stunned.
'Wait... wasn't this supposed to be a confession?'
She'd even practiced in her head how she was going to accept him!
And now he's asking about her missions?