Bab 272: 272. Family Job
The year has passed because it was at the end of the year when Ben dispelled the Fairy Sphere. It's year X788 now, and it's Ben's last year as Fairy Tail's 4th Guild Master. He can finally resign from this position and be freed.
Makarov will be the Guild Master again after Gildarts runs away after the talk with Makarov. Gildarts doesn't want to be a Guild Master, so he runs away under the pretext of doing a job. He even brings Cana to his job, saying he will train her while working.
There's no ceremony or a party when Ben passes the Guild Master position. They've spent too much on the Tenrou Team's return celebration. Their finance will be in danger if they keep spending money on this kind of thing.
Ben has worked hard to solve their financial problems and secure them. When Ben has just started as a Guild Master, the guild's finance was very bad. They didn't have enough funds even though they were said to be the best Magic Guild.
The reason is just one, their Mages were causing too much damage to their jobs so the Guild needed to use their money as compensation. So Ben set a rule that the involved Mages will pay the compensation fully.
The Guild will only help by lending money to them if they don't have enough money. They need to take responsibility for the problems they cause, after all. That rule is very effective and everyone tries their best to not destroy things.
The Tenrou team that has just returned also needs to follow this rule. It will be very difficult for them though because they were the ones who caused the most destruction while doing jobs in the past, especially the boys.
Anyway, now he doesn't work as a Guild Master anymore, so Ben has a lot of free time. He immediately takes a job together with Mira, Wendy, Elfman, Lisanna, Bella, & Carla.
They just take an S-Class job so their line-up is overkill. But their goal isn't the job itself, they just want to go together. This is more like a trip for them instead of working. Only someone of Ben's caliber can treat an S-Class job as a vacation.
Also, Ben & Mira want to train their siblings so they want to know what these guys are capable of. The job that they take is Magical Beasts subjugation. They will subjugate a lot of Magical Beasts so each of them will be able to show their capabilities.
Their job location is a forest on the border with a neighboring Nation. There is a raise in Magical Beasts' number there. No one knows the cause yet, but they can't let the number keep rising because it will endanger the people who live near the forest.
That's why they need to thin out the number and because there are many strong Magical Beasts, this job is classified as an S-Class job. The number of Magical Beasts is also a reason why Ben & Mira bring their siblings with them. Also, they need more people for this job.
They go there using 2 cars, Light Runner and Herbie. Ben drives Light Runner with his sisters while Mira drives Herbie with her siblings. She is a very good driver now, very good that she becomes the fastest driver after Ben in the guild.
"Bi-Big sis, slow down, please," says Lisanna scaredly while holding onto the front seat.
"Hehe, don't worry, this car is very safe," says Mira calmly.
"But you still need to drive safely," says Lisanna.
Elfman who sits in the front passenger seat then says, "Lisanna, a man needs to be brave."
"I am not a man and your legs are shaking," says Lisanna while pointing at Elfman's shaking legs.
In contrast to the frightened Strausses, Wendy & the cats are enjoying their ride. They are used to high-speed driving because Ben likes to drive very fast since he has his first car. Bella even asks Ben to go faster but he can't because they need to match the other car's speed.
They arrive at their destination in 4 hours safely but Elfman & Lisanna seem like they've lost their souls. So they rest for a bit before proceeding to do their job. They enter the forest with Ben at the front, the girls in the middle, and Elfman at the rear.
"What an atmosphere. I can feel so many sources of magic power even though I'm not that good at sensing," says Lisanna.
"Yeah, this number is not normal for a forest of this size. But, strangely, they all are gathering deep in the forest with their number. Usually, magical beasts will spread to all areas. Gathering in one spot means more competition for food so the weaker ones won't survive. But all of them are gathering, no matter if they are weak or strong," says Ben.
"Maybe there's something that lured them there," says Elfman.
"Or they have a leader, a very strong one that can suppress them all, making them submissive and obedient. That's why there's no infighting or battles for territories," says Mira.
"Well, there's no need to assume things. We will find out when we get there," says Lisanna.
"But won't it be dangerous if they all attack us at once?" asks Wendy.
"Hmm, that's right, their number is a very big problem. Then, let's lure some of them so we can fight a smaller number. We'll repeat the process to thin out their number," says Ben.
"How will you lure them?" asks Carla.
Ben just grins and then takes out an item, it's a grenade. This is not a magic grenade, it's a normal grenade filled with gunpowder. Ben made this in his free time after finding gunpowder. It exists in this world but they usually just use it for fireworks because magic is more powerful so they don't use it as a weapon.
After giving orders to the others and they get into positions, Ben throws the grenade, and it explodes. The explosion is quite loud and can be heard from deep in the forest. But because it doesn't have magic power in it, the magical beasts aren't too agitated.
Still, the loud explosion piqued their interest, and they all look at a shadow on top of a cliff. Just like what Mira said, there is a beast that leads these magical beasts like a King. It just moves its head a bit and some beasts leave the horde to check the explosion site.
20 weak magical beasts, 10 with decent power, and a rather high-level one go to check. They walk in a circle formation with the strongest in the middle. These beasts are systematic, showing that they are quite intelligent.
Going in a formation like this is normal, but that only applies to magical beasts of the same kind. These guys, however, are from different species, and some of them are hostile to each other. Even the same species will fight if they aren't from the same pack.
It makes no sense for them to walk together peacefully like this. So Ben comes to a conclusion that they have a strong & intelligent leader that can unify & organize them. This job might be more difficult than they thought.
But it's not a problem because they are ready for any kind of situation. This is an S-Class job, after all, which should be very difficult, so they should be ready for unexpected things. Sometimes the job is far more difficult than anyone thought, that's why being an S-Class Mage is not easy.
Ben gives his signal and everyone immediately attacks the beasts. They still have a lot of energy so they can defeat the beasts in a short time. It will get harder as more beasts come so they need to get ready.
Ben suddenly gets smug & says, "This job is harder than we thought, but don't worry. For I am here."
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