"He's only two years older than me!"
After reading the newspaper's brief introduction to Kabe, Bisca felt as though her entire worldview had collapsed.
"Hey, what is wrong with Ishgar exactly?
How can someone that young become one of the ten strongest people on the continent?
Is it that the overall strength of the mages on your continent is too weak, or is this guy just some kind of ridiculous monster?"
Without even thinking, Sorano replied at once,
"Obviously the latter.
Kabe personally defeated the former Sixth of the Ten Wizard Saints. I'm not surprised at all that he could become a new Wizard Saint.
You should know that even Erza, the one who beat you, would not be able to take even a single serious move from Kabe."
"O-one move? Even that Erza..."
Bisca had always believed her own strength was nothing to scoff at. Otherwise, she could not have gone around impersonating Fairy Tail for so long without anyone managing to catch her.
And yet, even so, when facing Erza, who had not even used her full strength, she had still been instantly defeated in a single move.
As for someone who could, in turn, one-shot Erza...
Bisca found herself completely unable to imagine what kind of terrifying strength that would even be.
...
Sorano took the newspaper back from the utterly stunned Bisca and continued reading while muttering under her breath,
"Those old fossils in the Council really are impossible to understand.
They're actually still discussing whether Kabe should be allowed into the Ten Wizard Saints.
Leaving his strength aside, there are still several vacant seats anyway, so why not just let him in already?"
That said, the title of the Ten Wizard Saints really had become a little undeserving of its name by now.
Ever since the institution was established, all ten seats had never once been filled.
At most, there had only ever been six members at one time.
And now that José was dead, the current Ten Wizard Saints had been reduced to only five.
But that was also exactly what proved the weight carried by the title.
There were plenty of mages in the outside world who claimed to be comparable to the Ten Wizard Saints.
Yet aside from a very small number who truly did possess that level of strength, but had failed to be selected for one reason or another, most of the rest were just people with loud reputations.
No one had ever truly heard of anyone defeating a Wizard Saint.
Or even managing to fight one to a draw.
And someone like Kabe, who was not yet a Wizard Saint but already had a record of defeating one in battle...
across the entire continent, he was the only one.
So if Kabe were to take José's place and become the Sixth of the Ten Wizard Saints, Sorano believed that the overwhelming majority of mages, herself included, would be perfectly willing to accept it.
Which was why she simply could not understand what exactly those old fools in the Council were still hesitating over.
...
By then, Bisca had more or less finished processing the shock.
Suddenly, she leaned her face right up close to Sorano's, her eyes sparkling brightly as she asked,
"Hey, where is this senior named Kabe? Can I meet him?"
"Hm?"
Sorano instantly turned her head.
The moment she saw Bisca's glittering eyes, a very bad feeling rose inside her.
"Oi, what are you trying to do? Don't tell me you didn't hear he already has girlfriends."
The instant those words fell, Sorano clearly saw disappointment flash across Bisca's face.
But only for a moment.
In the next instant, Bisca gathered her fighting spirit all over again.
"So what if he has a girlfriend? If I don't fight for a man this outstanding, I'll regret it for the rest of my life!"
"...Even if that girlfriend is Erza?"
Bisca clenched her fist and declared with absolute conviction,
"Yes. Even if it's Erza, I still... eh? Erza?!"