章 316: Naming a New Guild Master

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

December 17, x784.

"Ugh… Where am I?" Alfonzo groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. "It feels like someone smashed me in the head with a sledgehammer."

*Clang!*

Though his eyes were open, Alfonzo was having trouble seeing his surroundings. So, he decided he would sit up and try to explore his surroundings while getting a glass of water for his hangover. Unfortunately, before he could raise his head too high, his forehead bumped into something cold and hard.

"Oww… What the hell is that?" Alfonzo muttered while raising his right hand to feel what he just bumped into.

Immediately, Alfonzo realized that his head had bumped into something metallic. But thanks to his hazy state of mind and the pounding from the hangover, he could not immediately identify the object. So, he ran his hand along its surface.

"This feels really familiar." Alfonzo muttered once again as he ran his hand along the curves of the metallic object hanging over his head. "Is this a chest plate? And are these curves for… titties? Big Titties…?"

As that thought escaped his lips, Alfonzo felt the chest plate shift slightly. As a result, more light fell on his face. It also allowed him to see the scarlet red hair that hung along with the chest plate.

"I see… So, I was sleeping on Erza's lap." Alfonzo muttered as he let his hand run down the curves of Erza's armor until it reached her plump thighs. Then, his hand slid along Erza's skirt until he reached her butt, before giving it a little squeeze. "And I guess Erza passed out while leaning on the table, huh? Well, I could think of… and have definitely experienced worse places to wake up with a hangover."

With that, Alfonzo carefully pushed himself from between Erza's thighs and chest plate, doing his best not to wake her up. Then after freeing himself, he stood up and stretched. At the same time, he looked at the state of the guild hall after last night's party.

"Well, pretty much everyone is here." Alfonzo said after scanning the room. "I wonder what happened after I passed out. I can tell there was definitely a lot of drinking involved, at the very least."

Shaking that unnecessary thought out of his head, Alfonzo looked towards the bar, more accurately, the kitchen.

"I guess I'll go make something for this hangover." Alfonzo muttered as he staggered over to the kitchen's entrance.

Unfortunately for Alfonzo, once he started cooking his hangover remedy, the smell reached the rest of the guild. As a result, he did not get to eat for the next few hours while the others ordered breakfast.

A few hours later, Alfonzo, sitting at his usual table, shoveled eggs, toast, and honey into his mouth to combat his hangover.

"Seriously, you guys couldn't wait until my hangover was gone?" Alfonzo asked.

"Sorry, Alfonzo." Lisanna replied with a wry smile. "We smelled the food and got hungry."

"What the hell did you even smell?" Alfonzo asked in a disgruntled tone. "I barely even seasoned the eggs, and I didn't add anything to the toast, either."

"It's instinct." Natsu replied while eating his own breakfast. "We just know when you're in the kitchen, Alfonzo."

In response, everyone at the table nodded in agreement with Natsu's statement. Alfonzo, on the other hand, pouted in response.

"Anyway, last night was really fun." Cana said with a smile while sipping a Mimosa. "I really like it when Fonzie is drunk. He's so affectionate."

Hearing that, Most of Alfonzo's girlfriends nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Lucy, whose face was now beet red, lowered her head in embarrassment.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Elicia asked while nudging the shy blonde with her elbow. "You looked really happy to spend all that time in Fonzie's lap last night."

"Lici~~!" Lucy squealed in embarrassment while covering her face with her hands.

Just like Elicia said, last night, there was a rather long stretch, before Alfonzo got too drunk, where Lucy sat in Alfonzo's lap with his arms wrapped around her waist. And the reason for that was simple, while standing next to Alfonzo and chatting with Cana and Marin, Cana playfully bumped her with her hip. Unfortunately, that caused the slightly intoxicated Lucy to lose her balance. But before she could fall, Alfonzo caught her and sat her on his lap. Something that Lucy enjoyed immensely at the time.

"Anyway, *Cough* so what are everyone's plans for today?" Lucy asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sleep!" Everyone who took part in the S-Class exam replied simultaneously.

Everyone else decided to carry on as usual. Meaning, they would train, take quests, or just hang out at the guild hall.

A little while later, after everyone finished their breakfast, they were just about to break up to do their own things. However, just at that moment, the doors to the guild hall opened. And through the open doors Lahar, Doranbolt, and an entourage of accompanying Rune Knights walked in.

Needless to say, the two from the Magic Council were not welcomed warmly.

"What does the Magic Council want with us after all that they didn't do over the last two days?" Laxus, with his arms crossed, asked in a hostile tone.

'*Sigh* I knew this would happen.' Lahar grumbled internally while adjusting his glasses. 'Couldn't the Council at least give them some time to cool down after all that happened? Instead, they send us here immediately to make demands.'

"The Magic Council demands that the method used to detect Acnologia from a distance be shared." Doranbolt said in an authoritative tone. "Our job of keeping the continent safe would become much easier were we to have this method."

Hearing Doranbolt's demand, the entire guild looked at Lahar and Doranbolt as if they were idiots.

"I think it would be best if you returned to Era." Makarov said as the elevator doors slid open. "On top of the Magic Council not having the authority to demand a guild hand over their secrets, Fairy Tail and the Magic Council are on even worse terms than usual at the moment. And if we were to go to war with the Council at this time, I'm sure that all the legal guilds on the continent would side with us."

"What insolence..." Doranbolt replied angrily.

Before he could continue, however, Lahar placed a hand on Doranbolt's shoulder to calm him down.

"You may not be happy to hear it, but Master Makarov is correct." Lahar said. "We don't have the authority to make such demands."

After speaking his piece, Lahar bowed towards Makarov.

"Please forgive our rudeness." Lahar said politely. "Since our request was declined, we shall take our leave."

With that, Lahar dragged Doranbolt and their entourage away from the Fairy Tail guild hall before things could get any worse. Meanwhile, the Fairy Tail wizards looked on in confusion, thinking they would be insulted and threatened until the Magic Council got what they wanted.

"Anyway, now that that little interlude is over…" Makarov said, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "I have an announcement to make."

Hearing that, all the wizards in the guild began to murmur. Before that could go on for too long, however, Makarov continued speaking.

"After the events of this year's S-Class Promotion Exam, I feel it's about time that I retire as Fairy Tail's guild master." Makarov said calmly.

With Makarov's announcement, the guild hall fell into silence. But after a few moments of tense silence, it was broken by a cacophony of uncertain shouts and complaints.

"Calm down, my children!" Makarov shouted, cutting through the noise. "I know this is quite sudden. But I realized just how old I've gotten during the Grimoire Heart and Acnologia attacks. And unfortunately, that has made me realize that I am no longer suited for the position of guild master."

While it was clear that most of those present still did not like Makarov's decision, they could see the fatigue in his eyes. So, they decided to let it go… for now.

"Naturally, since I'll be stepping down as the guild master, I will be naming a successor, as well." Makarov continued. "Before I make my decision, however, I will discuss it with the guild's S-Class wizards and take into account their opinions."

By that point, everyone knew there was no changing Makarov's mind. However, since the new guild master would more than likely be chosen from the S-Class wizards, no one really had anything to complain about. Well, except for two of the possible candidates. Namely, Laxus and Cana.

While Laxus' attitude had improved greatly over the last few months, the way he treated everyone before that was still fresh in everyone's minds. Cana, on the other hand, would have to do something about her drinking problem before she ever had a chance at being approved by the rest of the guild. The guild already knew what it was like to have a drunk hooligan as their guild master, and they did not want to go through it again with an even heavier drinker.

"Before I go back to my office, I would ask that none of the S-Class wizards take any long term quests until the matter of the new guild master has been decided." Makarov said, ending his announcement.

Either way, with his announcement made, Makarov made his way back into the elevator and returned to his office to consider his options. Meanwhile, the Fairy Tail wizards took some time to process what just happened.

January, x785.

A few weeks have passed since the participants in the S-Class Promotion Exam returned to Magnolia. And in that time, the calendar closed on x784. On top of that, none of the S-Class wizards had taken any quests that took longer than two days to complete. Also, over that time span, Makarov had called each of them into his office to discuss their thoughts on the new guild master.

To Makarov's surprise, despite how much he had done for the guild, Alfonzo denied his request to become the new guild master immediately. And his reason was quite simple. He had no interest in being stuck in the guild hall and doing paperwork.

Despite the disappointment he felt at Alfonzo's refusal, he did ask everyone about their opinions on who they thought would be a good guild master. And something else that surprised him was the fact that Laxus did not nominate himself, siting that he did not have the best track record with e other guild members.

But eventually, Makarov did come to a decision for the new guild master. And when he did, he called all the wizards of the guild to meet on the guild halls first floor.

"Does this mean that the new guild master has been decided?" Jet asked from his seat in the audience in front of the stage.

Probably." Levy replied.

"Then, who do you think it will be?" Droy asked curiously.

"It'll probably be Gildarts, Ur, or Alfonzo." Levy replied.

"Seriously?" Jet asked. "You really think Alfonzo is in the running?"

"But he's so young." Droy added.

"Yeah, but he's done a lot for the guild." Levy said. "And no one can deny that."

Usually, Jet and Droy would oppose most things having to do with Alfonzo due to jealousy, since Levy spends a lot of time talking to him about magic theory. But since Alfonzo saved everyone from Acnologia's [Dragon's Roar], they have scaled back their disagreements quite a bit over the last few weeks.

Like Levy, Jet, and Droy, most of the other wizards in the guild were discussing the possible new guild master as well. Before the conversations could continue any longer, however, the lights in the guild hall dimmed as a spot light fell on the stage.

"My children, let me thank you for gathering once again on such short notice." Makarov said as he stepped into the spot light. "I'm sure you all have speculations for this meeting. And let me tell you, your speculations are more than likely correct."

The murmurs in the guild hall started once again while Makarov gave his children time to digest his words.

"Alright, Old Man, don't keep us in suspense!" Gildarts shouted from his seat at the bar. "Just tell us who's gonna be the new guild master, already."

Gildarts exclamation silenced the crowd and caused all eyes focus on Makarov with anticipation.

"Ahem… Very well." Makarov said after clearing his throat. Then, with a solemn expression on his face, he continued. "From today forward, the Fourth guild master of the Fairy Tail guild will be…"

Once again, Makarov paused for dramatic effect. Then, just as the audience started to get restless, he continued.

"The Ice Witch, Ur Milkovich!" Makarov shouted with enthusiasm.

*Spurt!*

Immediately after Makarov made his announcement, the sound of someone spitting out a mouthful of liquid could be heard echoing through the guild hall.

Hearing that noise, all the wizards present looked back to the bar and saw Ur with a shocked expression on her face and wine trickling from her lips and down her chin.

"Are you fucking serious?" Ur roared in confusion. "Why the hell didn't you pick Gildarts?"

"Do you really think I could stay in one place long enough to do the job of a guild master?" Gildarts asked with a chuckle.

"Shut up, Asshole!" Ur shouted in an irritated tone. "I wasn't asking you!"

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, who was seated in the audience in front of the stage with his girlfriends, had just wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

'I'm just glad it wasn't me.' Alfonzo thought to himself while a wide grin spread on his face. 'Even though I refused outright when Gramps asked me to be the next guild master, I was still worried. I mean seriously, there's no way I would be able to handle all the paperwork that comes with being a guild master. Anyway, now that the whole business with the fourth guild master is over, I can focus on my date with Lucy and the trial against the Magic Council.'