"Eheheh... nice, very nice..."
Gildarts was so mad he almost rushed up to strangle the brat on the spot.
But out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed two people slowly walking over, and his gaze spun slyly as a wicked grin crept onto his face.
Kabe, who was completely absorbed in the magazine in his hands, did not sense at all that danger was quietly approaching.
"Hiss... unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable. Is that really a size a human can have? It is bigger than my head!"
"Ah, this one, this one, no good, I have not watched any anime in two years, and now that I am suddenly looking at this, my primordial instincts are about to break loose."
"But still, heh, this stuff is just too good..."
Just as Kabe was getting into it, a faint fragrance slipped into his nose.
At the same time, a flash of striking crimson appeared at the edge of his vision, accompanied by a voice he knew far too well, Erza's familiar "gentle" tone.
"What are you looking at?"
Shock.
"Erza, y: you are back!"
Kabe's body jolted. He snapped the magazine shut and hurriedly hid it behind his back.
But that one fleeting glimpse was more than enough for Erza to see what was inside.
Purer even than Cana, Erza's brain went white hot in an instant. Her hands and feet moved on their own as she grabbed Kabe by the collar and exploded.
"D: do not you dare look at that kind of thing!"
With that, she hoisted him up and executed a textbook shoulder throw, slamming half of his body straight into the ground.
Now stuck in the floor like a turnip, Kabe could only watch as Erza huffed, tucked the magazine away, and stomped off in a puff of righteous fury.
Gildarts, grinning like the devil, strolled over to the "Kabe-turnip" and snickered.
"Serves you right, you little brat. That is what you get for snatching my books. Now Erza and Cana have seen your true colors. From now on, those two little girlfriends of yours will not be paying you any attention."
Laughing uproariously, Gildarts was in such high spirits that the sight made the newly returned Makarov's face go dark.
Fresh from a joint meeting with the regional guild alliance, Makarov shot out a kick and booted the smug Gildarts flat onto his back.
"What are you so happy about, you idiot? Who told you you could wreck the ground in front of the guild door!"
Flattened by the kick, Gildarts pushed himself back up with an aggrieved face.
"It was not me, Master, that was Erz..."
"Save the excuses. You caused this, so you are paying for it. Do not even think about dumping it on someone else."
Under Makarov's tone that brooked no argument, Gildarts sulkily dug around in his pockets, finally fishing out barely over a thousand Jewels in small change.
"Haha, there was a little accident on the way back, so all my money went into compensation..."
Scratching his head in embarrassment and fretting over his empty wallet, Gildarts suddenly noticed Kabe quietly levering himself out of the crater and dusting himself off.
His eyes lit up at once. He reached out and grabbed the kid by the tail, his gaze turning vicious.
"Hey, brat, I think it is about time we settled the debt between us."
After two years of training, Kabe was never going to forget that his tail was a big, shiny weak point.
Scowling, he yanked his tail out of Gildarts' grip, smoothed the fur back down, then turned to Makarov and started complaining.
"Master, why has the men's dorm been demolished again? What kind of guild master are you? Can you not keep Natsu and the others under control for once? My secret stash of one hundred million Jewels in that dorm is gone now. How is the guild going to compensate me!"
Now that the ball had been kicked right back into his hands, Makarov's face grew even darker.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Where would you get one hundred million Jewels from?! Do not think I do not know everything you have is sitting in Fiore's national bank. Extorting money from your own guild now, are you, you little brat? You trying to get yourself kicked out?"
"I do not care. I say I had a hundred million, so I had a hundred million. Either you pay me back, or you bring proof that I did not."
"Then why do you not bring proof you did have a hundred million!"
Seeing that Makarov had absolutely no intention of "paying up," Kabe turned around and spread his hands helplessly at Gildarts.
"See? The old man refuses to cough up, nothing I can do about it. How about we just write this whole thing off, pretend nothing ever happened."
"As if we could just write it off!" x2
In the blink of an eye, things deadlocked. The three of them each owed the other something, and none of them were willing to take a step back.
Kabe knew simple arguing was not going to get them anywhere now.
He let out a cold chuckle, flexed his hands, and took the initiative.
"If no one can convince anyone else, then we let our fists do the talking."
Gildarts gave a sharp, delighted grin and was the first to accept.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Let me see just how much you have grown in this time, little brat."
Of the three, Makarov was clearly the least enthusiastic. He had only just gotten back from that meeting.
But faced with two young men burning with fighting spirit, his refusal to admit he was getting old would not let him back down.
"You stand by your own words, you hear me, brat. Get ready to pay up."
The three reached an agreement with a single clap. They immediately decided to head out to East Forest outside the town and settle it once and for all.
The news that the guild's strongest of the old, middle, and young generations were heading out of town for a brawl spread through Fairy Tail like wildfire as some member rushed back to share the story.
The moment they heard that their own "top three" were going all out, the members could not sit still. They poured out of Magnolia in droves, all eager to go spectate.
Cana and Erza, who had still been mad at Kabe over what happened just now, hurriedly joined the crowd as soon as they heard about it.
Up in the guild's library, the Strauss siblings set aside their magic texts and got ready to run after everyone to watch as well.
Only Natsu, badly injured and still stuck in the hospital, had no idea any of this was happening.
...
Each of the three fighters had a rough sense of the others' strength.
So they very sensibly chose the depths of East Forest, far from Magnolia, for their battleground.
The thought that he was about to fight the two strongest mages in the guild made it hard for Kabe to suppress the excitement rising from the depths of his Saiyan blood.
Seeing his body tremble slightly, Gildarts folded his arms and teased him.
"What is wrong, Kabe, are you shaking from fear already?"
"Afraid? It is just two over-the-hill old geezers, a scruffy uncle and a bald fossil. How could I possibly be afraid!"
Compared to two years ago, Makarov's hairline had receded even further, and he was even more sensitive now about others mentioning it.
"You little brat, looks like it is time I taught you the meaning of respecting your betters."
"Do not kid yourself. Not every bald head belongs to a strong guy."
As the words left his mouth, Kabe moved without a frame's delay. He thrust both palms out toward the two of them and fired off a barrage of ki blasts.