"Sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Sentence can be reduced for good behavior."
After everyone's discussion, Gran Doma finally announced the result.
This was a result that was neither too heavy nor too light.
Crawford Seam was not young, so fifteen years was naturally very long for him.
But comparatively, he had kept his life.
And as long as he behaved well, reducing the sentence by half wouldn't be a big problem.
Of course, although he survived, he would forever be nailed to the pillar of shame, becoming a symbolic figure—just not the kind of symbol Crawford Seam wanted to be.
In the old core team, only Crawford Seam bore criminal punishment. The other council members who resigned voluntarily weren't held accountable. Not only were they not held accountable, but some were even asked to stay.
Crawford Seam watched all this.
In the end, he could only accept it dejectedly.
He made no move to resist and was taken away dejectedly by the Magic Council's supervision unit.
The era of the "Magic Council" belonging to Crawford Seam was officially declared over.
"Next is the verdict regarding Siegrain, also known as Jellal."
Having dealt with Crawford Seam's matter, everyone's eyes turned to Jellal.
The blue-haired young man had gradually calmed down. He no longer uttered painful roars but knelt on the ground, head lowered, staring blankly at the floor.
"Constructing the Tower of Heaven, intending to resurrect the Black Mage Zeref, purchasing slaves, enslaving laborers leading to multiple deaths, infiltrating the Magic Council, causing huge negative impact!"
Gran Doma summarized the crimes on Jellal.
The others didn't mean much to him; only this last one made Gran Doma particularly angry.
Although Jellal caused the "Council" reorganization, giving him a great opportunity to rise, Gran Doma would rather the Magic Council not suffer such criticism.
Now, even if he rose to power, he was just cleaning up Crawford Seam's mess.
Who knew how much effort it would take to restore the Magic Council to its former glory?
Therefore, whenever Jellal and Ultear were mentioned, he gritted his teeth.
"My suggestion is immediate execution. We must kill the chicken to scare the monkeys and eliminate future trouble! We absolutely cannot let anyone have thoughts of infiltrating the Magic Council again!"
Gran Doma said with a dark face, stating his thoughts.
It was quite radical.
Crawford Seam, guilty of major dereliction of duty, only got fifteen years in prison with possible reduction, yet Jellal was to be executed directly.
"I plead guilty, but please help me take revenge."
Just as Gran Doma finished speaking, Jellal, who had been staring blankly at the ground without speaking, suddenly spoke.
His voice was hoarse from screaming, sounding like pebbles scratching glass.
Regarding his crimes and Gran Doma's verdict, Jellal accepted everything completely. In fact, aside from death, he didn't know how he could atone for his sins.
Those memories tortured him insanely, making life worse than death.
Most critically, the power that had been controlling him seemed to be stirring again. He was suppressing that power desperately, which exhausted him.
Pain, despair, and consumption were ravaging him.
Jellal would rather atone with death than be controlled again.
"Jellal!" Erza couldn't help but speak out.
She hadn't expected Jellal to plead guilty directly.
But thinking about it from another angle, perhaps the current Jellal had truly returned to normal; he had become himself again.
"Don't be impulsive. Nothing is final yet."
Marco extended his arms and hugged Erza, who was impulsively rushing forward, pulling the girl entirely into his embrace.
This stunned Erza, but she did calm down, choosing to trust Marco.
"Ahem, some charges seem a bit too heavy."
Gran Doma's words were a bit too much for Makarov.
The old man frowned, glanced at Marco and Erza, then took the initiative to question. In his heart, he also felt this penalty was inappropriate.
Gran Doma's hatred for Jellal was higher than for Crawford Seam, obviously carrying personal emotions.
"Exactly. Although most of these charges are true, we must also consider that Jellal committed these acts while being controlled by someone else. While this cannot be a reason to exonerate him, appropriately reducing the severity of the punishment is no problem. It certainly shouldn't lead to a heavier sentence."
Holding Erza, Marco pointed this out first.
Everyone already understood that Jellal committed these acts under control, especially given Jellal's current state, which made everyone believe this even more.
He was also a pitiful person.
"Moreover, there is room for flexibility with those charges. Indeed, quite a few laborers died there, but Jellal didn't abuse them; at least the food and accommodation weren't bad. Jellal did infiltrate the Magic Council, but up to now, has he done anything inappropriate?" Marco continued.
Actually, he wasn't very willing to defend Jellal, but for Erza's sake, he could only say a few words.
Besides, immediate execution was indeed a bit harsh, especially when compared with Crawford Seam earlier.
It seemed very unequal, and the death penalty would be hard to justify to the public.
If anything, Jellal's crimes were committed first under a state of "being instigated" and "unconsciousness," and secondly, most of those crimes were currently in an "attempted" state.
The reasons for leniency were indeed much more sufficient than for Crawford Seam.
"That's right, the death penalty is too much. My suggestion is also fifteen years imprisonment."
Goldmine chimed in from the side, and Bob immediately voiced support.
Other Guild Masters followed suit one after another, appearing very united.
Especially the mage guilds of the Kingdom of Fiore, basically all expressed support clearly.
There was no helping it; "Fairy Tail" brought them tangible benefits.
Marco and the Heartfilia Konzern's railway network benefited all the mage guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore.
They had also established cooperation, giving them some direct income.
They could already be considered a community of interests.
On such matters, everyone naturally wouldn't go against "Fairy Tail." O
f course, this was also because Marco's words made sense; he wasn't calling a deer a horse or being unreasonable.
"..."
Faced with everyone's opposition, Gran Doma gritted his teeth, but he didn't persist.
Instead, he rationally chose to comply.
His current status was ambiguous; he was merely the Secretary-General of the Magic Council headquarters, considered one of the few people with the most power below the council members.
But forcibly executing the verdict with this status was naturally impossible.
Moreover, he needed to establish a good image first to facilitate competing for a higher position later, so he naturally couldn't make the atmosphere stiff.
Occupying the position of meeting host right now gave him a great advantage; there was no need to ruin a good situation himself.
"Then, as Guild Master Goldmine said, treating everyone equally, Jellal is also sentenced to fifteen years in prison. I hope he... can turn over a new leaf."
Gran Doma suppressed his dissatisfaction and pronounced the final verdict.
In his heart, he still believed that Jellal and Ultear, the two who caused the Magic Council to lose face completely, should be executed.
"..."
Jellal didn't speak.
He raised his head with difficulty and looked towards Fairy Tail, seeing Marco who defended him, and also seeing Erza held in Marco's arms.