Precht is already in his thirties this year.
Although he remains single to this day, it doesn't mean he cannot empathize with Weston and Mavis as parents.
"I see..."
"I can understand that way of thinking, but as for how things actually develop in the future, it will ultimately depend on their individual will, won't it?"
Mavis laughed brightly: "Of course!"
"By the way, there's actually another reason I don't want Darwin to become the Guild Master—and that is because I am very aware that this child has no talent for managing a guild!"
"Among the four of them, perhaps Makarov is more suited."
Precht was taken aback: "Makarov?! You favor that kid? For real...?"
"Weston shares the same view as I do."
"Even Weston... is that so? Then I understand!"
"Huh? What do you understand?!"
Time passed minute by minute.
By the time Precht had mostly finished setting up the temporary camp, Weston arrived just in time.
As soon as he reached the site, Weston extended a warm greeting to the two guardians, especially Precht.
"My, my..."
"Having to test everyone's strength, and then building a camp for this bunch of good-for-nothings after the fight, you've truly worked hard!"
"How is it, Precht? Was everyone's strength enough to satisfy you?"
"I'm guessing probably not, since you are so serious and strict in your work, and they've all been spoiled by me over the years..."
"The situation is indeed not optimistic right now, but it hasn't reached a hopeless state yet. Don't be too hasty in your actions!"
However, to Precht's ears, Weston's words of consolation sounded more like a lack of regard for the guild and its partners. Considering he was busy doing everything here while the other party looked as relaxed as if he were on vacation, Precht began to grind his teeth in anger.
"You bastard... you certainly timed your arrival well!"
Having known him for many years, as soon as Weston heard Precht's tone—which sounded like that of an aggrieved wife—he knew exactly what he was angry about.
"Alright, alright, calm down!"
"I know what you're mad about. You just think I'm slacking off, right?"
"But I can swear on Darwin's appendix that the situation is absolutely not what you think!"
Weston patted Precht's shoulder and explained: "As the Guild Master, I've actually been very busy during this examination!"
"Since this morning, I've been monitoring the movements of all our partners without a half-minute's rest, precisely because I was worried about accidents occurring during this test."
"Think about it, how much magic power, physical strength, and mental energy does it take to oversee the movements of over a hundred people?"
"The fact that I can still appear here instead of sleeping at home is proof enough of how much importance I place on this examination!"
After Weston said this, Precht's psychological balance was indeed slightly restored: "Since you've been monitoring everyone's movements, how are the others who aren't here?"
Weston found a spot to sit beside him and took a temporary rest: "About one-fifth of the people haven't even made it out of the first stage. Warrod and Yuri have set up a temporary camp in the western forest as well; everyone is gathered there now."
"The remaining ten or so people are quite scattered. Some are on their way here, some are still in the mountains looking for the 'Beast King,' and a few have headed back to Magnolia first—likely intending to rest up and tackle the second stage tomorrow, or perhaps they plan to withdraw from the examination altogether."
Hearing this, Precht's face instantly darkened.
Going home to rest in the middle of an examination?
As expected, these guys are still too lazy!
Reviving the spirit of Fairy Tail is a long and difficult road!
At nightfall.
Darwin had a dream.
In the dream, he and Erza were about to walk down the wedding aisle.
Amidst the melodious music, the wedding gradually proceeded to the step of exchanging "tokens."
At this point, he and Erza looked toward Chris, signaling her to bring out the rings prepared in advance.
However, Chris reached into her bosom and rummaged around, but what she ultimately pulled out were not rings, but two stinking, nauseating salted fish.
"What is this?!"
"You can tell just by looking, can't you? It's salted fish!"
The Chris in the dream replied: "I pickled these myself on the day you got engaged. I've kept them for nearly ten years now; they are filled with my blessings!"
"Eh?! Blessings? I only see a lot of parasites! People will die if they eat this kind of thing!"
"Stop nagging! Hurry up and eat them—only then can you prove your love for Erza!"
"Huh? Why does my love for Erza have to be proven by eating salted fish?!"
At this moment, the Erza behind him also spoke: "Darwin, don't you want to marry me anymore? Hurry and eat them, so we can be together forever!"
"Erza?! How could even you..."
Not just Erza, but everyone else at the wedding began to close in on Darwin, and every single person had a salted fish in their hand.
In an instant, the world crumbled and the mountains roared. A quantitative change triggered a qualitative transformation, and everything before his eyes turned into a black substance emitting a terrifying aura.
His familiar friends and relatives all turned into demons with black wings and fangs, their mouths repeatedly chanting a single phrase: "Eat... hurry up and eat...!!"
"No, don't!"
"Papa, Mama, Aunt Zera, Aunt Irene, everyone!!"
"Stay away from me!"
Darwin snapped his eyes open and kicked off the covers, sitting upright.
He had been scared into a cold sweat by the nightmare; his heart was pounding wildly as if it might fly out of his chest at any moment. He could only pant heavily to calm himself down.
However, at that very moment, he smelled an odor exactly like that of the terrifying salted fish from his dream!
What is that?!
Terrified, Darwin turned his head and followed the scent.
Good grief!
I was wondering why something smelled so foul—it turns out it was Chris's two stinky feet!!
"This girl... did she go to bed without washing her feet again?!"
After taking a moment to recover, the memories from before he lost consciousness flooded back, and Darwin finally realized something was wrong.
"Wait, that's not right!"
"Weren't we in the middle of the examination?"
"Could it be over already?"
Just as the doubt arose, the starry night sky overhead, the flickering flames not far away, and the sound of numerous breaths in his ears made Darwin realize that was not the case.
"Everyone is still out in the wild; it seems the examination isn't over yet!"
"But what's with this bed?"
"And why is Makarov sleeping next to me?"
That said, compared to Chris—who had her feet propped on him, her head resting on Erza, and had kicked off the quilt with zero sleeping manners—someone like Makarov, who was simply curled up quietly at the foot of the bed to sleep, was a ten-thousand-times cuter sight.
"Whatever, I need to pee first..."