After my declaration, the nine Magic council members secretly discussed amongst themselves, which, in my opinion, was just a waste of all of our time. If they were going to punish me, they would've done so long ago; they're merely putting up a pretense. 'I'm starving. I've been locked up for two days, and these bastards hardly gave me any food.'
Softly growling in annoyance, I turned and glanced at two wizard saints in the distance; they were both staring at me with a hardened gaze. Clearly, they didn't have a favorable impression of me, which is understandable, considering I had made a mockery out of them. 'They were about equal to Jose Porla, well, maybe slightly weaker.' Now that I wasn't in a hurry, I took my time observing the older woman, only to realize that underneath her red robes, she had quite a banging body.
'Will she agree if I ask her on a date?' Raising an eyebrow, I looked at her eyes, only to lower my head and sigh when I saw nothing but anger. Seeing how I threw away any chance at a relationship, I ignored her and sat down, waiting for the magic council members to finish their discussion.
"Cooper." Raising my head, I glanced at the Mystogan knock-off, who continued to speak. "After much discussion, we've decided that your status as a Mage will be suspended for one month, and you will be required to pay a fine of one million jewels. Do you accept?" "Hehe, yeah, sure, I accept." Standing up, I cracked my neck and nodded, prompting one of the council members to gesture to Mest, who approached me with a key in his hands.
Outstretching my cuffed arms, Mest unlocked the industrial-sized cuffs, freeing my arms and magic, causing me to smirk as I stretched lightly. "Now, failure to uphold your end of the agree-" "Oi, you're a Wizard Saint, right? Let's fight." Ignoring whoever was speaking, I shifted my focus and pointed at the Mystogan knock-off, who merely raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not against it, Cooper, but are you sure you're in the best condition? I can't take much pride in defeating you when you're weakened." Hearing his words, I furrowed my brows and glanced down at my body, which was covered in bandages, causing me to click my tongue. "Tsk, good point. I'll come challenge you sometime. I'll mail the jewels. Seeya." It was unfortunate, but he was right, with the way I was right now, I wouldn't beat him.
Turning around, I waved at the council members behind me and exited the room, leaving them behind as I leaped out a nearby window and fell to the ground. "Ahh, now, time to fucking eat."
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Once I was released, I spent the first day eating until my stomach was about to burst. Then, I spent the next two days returning to Magnolia, taking my time to heal a little bit along the way, and now, I was approaching my guild.
Walking past the gate, I walked up the short couple of steps and stood before the entrance, only to smirk as I raised my leg, kicking the doors inwards. "I'm back!" Entering the guild with my hands in my pockets, I eyed everyone for a card to be thrown at me, though I caught it with my mouth before glancing at a drunk Cana, a common sight. "Heh, glad you're back, big bro."
Cana's words were like the catalyst that broke the dam, as everyone else joined in the attack. "Haha, big bro!" "Taste my fist, big bro!" "It was boring without you!" "Finally, now we old men can properly beat you up!" "Good to see you all better, big bro!" "I'm just attacking because everyone else is, but I'm still happy you've returned!"
Chuckling, I met all of their attacks head-on. Catching Natsu's fist, I brought him close and punched him into the ground, then I deflected Elfman's fist and dug my own fist into his gut, causing him to keel over, dropping to his knees. Next, I caught an ice spear and returned it right back at Gray before shifting my focus to Wakaba and Macao, whom I both grabbed by the face and tossed into the wall. Raising my arm to the left, I blocked a wave of sand from Max and kicked his stomach, flinging him into several tables, only to swiftly tilt my head, dodging Vijeeter's punch before grabbing his arm and slamming him onto the ground.
"Heh, good to be back." Glancing at my defeated little siblings, Macao and Wakaba, they responded with smiles while I approached the bar, though my welcoming ceremony wasn't quite over yet. Leaning backwards, I raised both hands, clasping my palms between the broadside of the blade while I glanced at Erza, who was sporting a faint smirk. "Aren't you supposed to greet me? That was just a plain sneak attack." "Glad you're back, big bro."
Flashing Erza a light smile, I pulled myself closer to her, kneeing her face and then grabbing her head as I RKO'd her. Leaping onto my feet, I dusted myself off and sat beside Cana while glancing at Mira, who suddenly thrust her clawed arm forward, prompting me to tilt my head and grab her wrist using my mouth. "Mu, I missed you, big bro." I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw Mira's adorable expression.
"I missed you, too." Yanking Mira over the bar, I grabbed her face and planted her head-first into the ground, causing her dress to fall, revealing her panties, which the men appreciated the sight of. "Haha, nice job, Cooper!" "I, no, we men owe you one." Glancing at Macao and Wakaba, who were ogling Mira, I rolled my eyes and grabbed Cana's beer, only to notice she was staring intensely at me.
"Um, yeah?" Glancing at Cana, I felt a firm hand grip my shoulder, and I glanced at Erza, whose nose was bleeding. "Don't you have something to say to me, big bro?" "Me as well." Sensing a shift in the atmosphere, I nervously looked between the two, trying to figure out what I was supposed to say. "Um, you changed your hairstyle? It looks good."
I had no idea if I was purely lucky or if they both happened to change their hairstyle, but either way, it seemed what I said was correct, as their hardened expressions eased while a faint blush crept onto their cheeks. "I'm surprised you noticed, big bro." "Hmph, I'll let you off the hook this time." Softly smiling, I nodded, going along with their words, although I was internally confused.
'So they did change their hairstyles? It looks exactly the same, though?' While I struggled to comprehend what was different, Gramp's loud voice cut through the boisterous guild. "Cooper!" Raising my head, I looked at Gramps, who leaped from the second story, landing right beside me atop the bar, causing us to silently eye each other.
"You know, you really make this old man worry, Cooper." "Sorry." "Haa, it's hard staying upset when you're so adorable." With a faint smile, Gramps rubbed my head as if I were a pet, causing my face to twitch. 'Adorable? I would've beaten anyone else up if they dared to call me adorable.' I did have half a mind to toss Gramps into the wall, but I just sighed and let it go, as I'm sure I caused him a lot of trouble.
"Hehe, big bro was called adorable." "Oh, please tell me you saved that, Levy." Snapping my head at Levy, Jet, and Droy, I silently glared at them while letting them see their future if they didn't destroy that video this instant. 'You're dead!' "Hmm, man, that window is so clear, not a single smudge." "Yeah, now that you mention it, Droy, it's super clear, might call it a super window."
"So, what were the punishments from the Magic Council?" Snorting, I shifted my focus back to Gramps while Mira, who had freed herself and knocked Macao and Wakaba unconscious, handed me a cup of beer. "My license as a Mage has been temporarily suspended for a month, and I must pay a fine of one million jewels." "Hehe, that's it? They might as well have sent you home with a cake." "I would've eaten it, especially if it were strawberry."
Earning a snort from Erza, I just laughed. The punishments I received were at most a slap on the wrist; a million-jewel fine wasn't expensive to me, as I had over a hundred million worth of jewels in the bank from my numerous S-class and SS-class missions. As for the month-long suspension, it really just meant I couldn't accept the reward on quests, so I could still take quests if I wanted to; it would just be out of the goodness of my heart, though.
"Anyway, I still need to thank you for telling EVERYONE about my past, Gramps." Smiling at Gramps, he quickly tried to back away, though there was no way I was about to let him. Lunging forward, I grabbed him by the back of his collar and carried him like a child out of the guild. "C-C'mon, Cooper, don't be like this, I was just wanting to help ease the kids, you know how restless they can get." "Yep, I know."
Stepping outside, I enhanced myself and began to spin around, gaining speed, to the point where I was creating a tornado, only to stop as I threw Gramps as far as I possibly could. "D-Damn, you Cooper!" As Gramps' voice faded into the distance, I watched him soar out of Magnolia with a satisfied smile. "Ah, I feel much better now."