'The fuck is happening?'
Kazu dashed towards the guild. He didn't know what was happening, but being at a safe place during uncertainty seemed the correct decision.
He soon reached the guild's tavern and opened it.
"What's happening?" Kazu asked as he looked at the people with solemn faces.
Looking at their faces, Kazu felt even more uncertain.
"...Gildarts has arrived in the city." Macao was the one who answered.
Kazu's eyes widened.
'It's already that time? I haven't seen him in the last 2 years, so I didn't think he would be returning this soon.' He looked around in the tavern and saw Cana sitting at a table with Gray and Levy.
Several glances were on her now and then.
'Right. Everyone must be thinking who would be the one to break the news to Gildarts.' Looking at everyone's faces, Kazu mentally prepared to do the deed himself only. He was already on her bad side, so doing that job won't make him even more hated.
As if she could hear his thoughts, Cana shot him a glare. "Nobody is going to open their mouth, especially you, Kazu. Don't go near the counter and do that stunt like last time. Just sit here." Cana patted the seat beside her.
Kazu clicked his tongue as he headed towards her table. 'Master, I hope you do break the news.' He stopped himself from glancing up as he was afraid that Cana would also convince him somehow.
The tension in the tavern seems to be increasing with time.
THUD
A wall suddenly broke, causing some people to flinch. Dust flowed around as a man's silhouette was visible.
He walked forward and soon his face became visible.
A muscular man with orange hair slicked back. His presence was dense, giving a vibe of reassurance and danger at the same time.
'I didn't notice it last time, but he really is at least on par with the master in terms of the aura I am feeling.'
"What's with this atmosphere? It's as if somebody died. Are you guys that sad on my arrival?" Gildarts grinned.
Some light chuckles broke out in the tavern, especially from older members.
"We seem to have quite a several new faces. How long has it been since I've been here?" He looked around the tavern, spotting new faces.
His gaze paused on the table where Kazu was sitting.
He then grinned and started walking towards them.
'Oh fuck. Does he already know? How does he know? Did the master inform him via a lacrima beforehand? No, that would have been pretty risky. Maybe...' Kazu's mind went into overdrive as he looked at Gildarts heading towards their table.
It was just not him. Everyone in the room, including Cana, was wondering the same thing.
Did he already know?
The answer soon came.
"Hey, kid. It's been a while. You seem to have grown considerably in these last 2 years. Grown in multiple ways. It now looks like you won't try to off yourself like last time." Gildarts laughed at his own joke.
Kazu just sheepishly rubbed his head. "Sorry for the trouble last time. I didn't even get a chance to thank you properly for saving me."
'Okay, so he doesn't know.' Kazu glanced at Cana beside him. The tension in her shoulders released as she sighed. Her relaxation mirrored some other people's reactions in the room. Though some shot glanced at Kazu, who didn't know about this before.
"It's all right. I had a feeling that you might not have needed my help if you weren't mentally shaken." Gildarts shook his head.
Kazu raised a brow. "Hmm?"
"Anyway, I need to debrief on my mission." With that, Gildarts went to the first floor.
---
"It's been a while, old man." Gildarts took a seat in front of Makarov, who sat at the table.
Makarov nodded. "Yes. A lot has changed in the last 2 years since you went on the quest. How did it go?"
"It was a pain in the ass. Took me a while to complete it. No wonder it's called a Ten-Year Quest." Gildarts frowned as he passed the quest paper to Makarov.
Makarov glanced at the paper before he paused. "You completed this 6 months ago."
Gildarts shrugged. "I was just travelling around. Anyway, why did you call me urgently?"
Makarov's face turned serious.
"Recently, one of our members almost died when encountering a certain man."
Gildarts raised a brow. "Oh? Is that an S-rank?"
Makarov nodded, though his face turned grim. "That person is definitely stronger than me."
"Stronger than you!? Is that one of the ten wizard saints? Is this incident related to the recent reformation of the Council?"
Makarov shook his head. "Not directly. The person in question is none other than the second guild master."
"What!?" Gildarts's eyes widened in shock.
"Isn't he even older than you? How is even alive? What happened?"
Makarov started explaining about the encounter between Kazu and Hades, along with the mission involving Anne.
"He wants Zeref's revival? To reach the origin of magic?... Why does everything circle back to Zeref?" Gildarts sighed. He could already see why the master called him back.
"It's as you think. I want you to investigate that man. You are the only one in the guild who can safely do that."
Gildarts nodded, although with a frown.
"Well, I will get right on it in a few days." Gildarts had been in the guild for 2 years, so he wanted to spend some decent time before he left again.
Makarov nodded. "Right... That reminds me, I have another thing to mention." As if suddenly aged, Makarov's face appeared older by 10 years.
This shook Gildarts. 'What is he going to say? If this was that shocking, he should have started at the beginning, not at the end.' He internally cursed the old man.
Makarov stayed silent for a few seconds, as if trying to come up with the right words.
Gildarts felt the silence pretty uncomfortable. 'He is... not going to pass on his position to me, right?... No, if he wanted to, he wouldn't have given me the mission of investigating that old guy. I could bet my left arm that he would have rather gone on the mission himself while appointing me as the guild master. It would have been a perfect excuse.'
Makarov's expression became resolute. He took a deep breath before looking Gildarts right in the eye.
"You have a daughter."
Gildarts blinked. "...Pardon?"
"You have a daughter. She's in the guild."
As if his brain stopped processing, Gildarts continued blankly looking at Makarov.
"Wait, what? Who? How? Why?" The words finally sank in his mind.
Makarov nodded. "She should be on the ground floor. I believe saying anything more would be disrespectful to her."
Gildarts just looked at the man in astonishment.
He sat there for a few seconds before getting up and heading downstairs.
He then stood on the base of the stairs as he looked around.
"Does he know?"
"He must! He looks like a ghost."
People muttered as they looked at Gildarts, looking around with a blank expression.
"So, you all know beforehand. That old man said that I had a daughter. For a second, I thought he had gone senile... So, who is it?"
Nobody answered. They just looked at him in astonishment.
"Oh my god. He doesn't know! Let's start the betting pools. 10,000 Jewels for him guessing it incorrectly."
"50,000 for him choosing incorrectly."
"1 Million for choosing incorrectly."
"How can we bet if you all choose only one side?"
The silent tavern soon got cheerful as betting started.
A tick mark appeared on Gildarts's forehead.
"You all..." He sighed. He then focused back on finding his 'so-called' daughter.
'Her hair... I think I can distinguish her with that. It should he closely related to Orange, right?'
His gaze soon paused. He started walking towards the table where Kazu and Cana were sitting.
"Kid, seeing how you haven't thanked me for saving you, I would forgive you if you told me who it is." Gildarts shamelessly asked Kazu.
Kazu speechlessly looked at the man in question. "Uh...Old man, my hands are tied. You should already be grateful to me. I was the only one who told everyone. Though now I am on her bad side."
Gildarts blinked. "...Thank you?... That does narrow some things down." 'So, she is angry with this kid.'
He looked at the kids who were sitting at the same table.
Cana felt her heart beat rising as she felt Gildart's gaze pass over her.
'This wasn't supposed to happen like this...Also, I wanted to bet too.' She glanced at the betting stand.
"I figured it out." She snapped out of her thoughts as she turned towards her father.
"I could guess who your mother was. She was my only true love—Corneila. You are her daughter, right?"
Cana's eyes widened.
"Uhh...You got the wrong person. She's not my mother." Erza replied with an awkward expression.
***
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