It was a bright, sunny morning in Magnolia.
Beneath a clear blue sky, crowds flowed through the morning market just as they always had, and the lively noise carried through the streets, filling the entire city with fresh energy.
At Ankh's estate, Ankh woke from a deep sleep feeling surprisingly refreshed.
The night before, he had attended Mystogan's wedding banquet in Edolas, then rushed straight back to Fairy Tail for the party everyone had prepared for him.
He had lost count of how much alcohol had been poured down his throat.
For once, Ankh had deliberately chosen not to purge the alcohol from his system.
If everyone was going to celebrate properly, he might as well join them, and so he had allowed himself the rare experience of actually getting drunk.
Though "drunk" was probably overstating it.
At worst, he had simply become more energetic than usual.
Compared with him, the rest of Fairy Tail had gone completely wild.
After bottling everything up for half a year, everyone had finally let themselves vent all the frustration, fear, and depression that had accumulated since the war, throwing every unpleasant thought aside for one night.
And aside from their emotional release, Ankh had noticed something else.
They had all become much stronger.
The Magic Power inside nearly every familiar face had grown far beyond what he remembered from six months ago.
If their training before the Grand Magic Games had allowed Fairy Tail to catch up with the times, then this brutal half-year of nonstop training had finally pushed many of them into the ranks of Ishgar's true elite.
The Magic Council had even stopped publicly awarding the title of Wizard Saint.
There was little point anymore.
When it came to raw strength, plenty of mages from the current generation of guilds had already surpassed many of the old Wizard Saints.
Fairy Tail stood out most of all.
Among the upper levels of the magical world, the guild was now widely acknowledged as the strongest guild in Ishgar.
Of course, something else rather unexpected had also happened last night…
Ankh sat up and glanced toward the two flushed, beautiful faces beside him.
He scratched his head.
Originally, once the party ended, he had intended to enjoy a long-overdue reunion with Mirajane.
Six months apart, plenty of alcohol, and neither of them particularly interested in wasting time…
There had only been one small problem.
They had forgotten that someone else was still living in the house.
And apparently, whatever she overheard had been interesting enough that a certain red-haired little sneak tried to listen in—
only to lose her balance and tumble straight into the room!
After that…
Well.
Things had gotten rather out of hand.
Ankh looked at the two very different but equally beautiful faces beside him.
Then his eyes narrowed.
Their long eyelashes were trembling ever so slightly.
The two women were lying unusually stiff beneath the blankets, practically clinging to each other without moving a muscle.
Yeah.
Definitely pretending to sleep.
The awkwardness in the room was practically visible.
Ankh's gaze drifted toward the rather eye-catching scenery beneath the warm covers, and it took genuine effort to tear his eyes away from the impressive consequences of two very different figures being pressed together.
He decided retreat was the wisest option.
Ankh dressed with remarkable speed and quietly escaped the bedroom.
After telling Mrs. Sotney to prepare breakfast for the two women once they got up, he immediately left for his appointment.
...
Ram Company, Magnolia Branch.
Over the past six months, Frey had finally transformed Ram Company into a genuinely major enterprise.
Entertainment was no longer its only business.
As Frey's influence within both the Magic Council and her family continued to rise, combined with Jude's considerable business talent and the company's increasingly close relationship with Fairy Tail, Ram Company had expanded into numerous industries and established a foothold in nearly all of them.
"Take a look at this. It just went on sale recently."
Jude, now the primary manager of the Magnolia branch, looked nothing like the seriously ill man Ankh remembered.
He smiled as he handed over one of the company's newest products.
"A Magic Mobile Phone."
Ankh picked it up curiously.
The icons on the screen were still fairly primitive, but the sight alone was enough to amaze him.
"You seriously invented phones in six months?"
"A Magic Mobile Phone," Jude corrected with a chuckle. "Technically, it's a miniature communication lacrima."
He tapped through several menus.
"We also followed your suggestions and added a number of entertainment features."
A simple game appeared on the screen.
Ankh stared at what was unmistakably a primitive version of Snake.
Then he smiled.
Games.
This world finally had a gaming industry!
Sure, it was still in its infancy, but if Snake already existed, how far away could MOBAs, giant open-world adventures, or extraction games really be?
"Warren really is a damn genius…"
Ankh turned the phone over in his hand, clearly impressed.
Warren had always been known for accidentally broadcasting his inner thoughts through Telepathy Magic whenever he got nervous, leading to more embarrassing situations than anyone cared to count.
But technologically?
The man was unquestionably one of the finest minds on the continent.
The Magic Mobile Phone had been his invention.
And it was far from the only one.
Magic radar.
A new generation of magic pulse rifles.
Even a new high-speed magic train inspired by Edolas technology, capable of replenishing its Magic Power directly from the atmosphere without requiring human operators to constantly recharge it.
The Magic Council had been absolutely ecstatic over those inventions.
Ankh had always known Warren enjoyed tinkering with things.
He simply hadn't realized the guy could casually tinker his way into revolutionizing half the continent.
At this point, Warren never had to worry about money again.
The patent royalties alone were enough for him to retire comfortably.
And judging by how much the Council valued his inventions, Warren's name might actually be considered more important to them now than Natsu's or Gray's.
"That's insane…"
Ankh was still marveling at everything while Jude led him farther through the branch office.
Jude chuckled.
"Everyone in the guild is growing up."
"A lot of them have become more settled and started putting their talents to use outside guild work, thinking more seriously about what kind of lives they want in the future."
Ankh nodded.
He understood exactly what Jude meant.
That was one advantage of being a guild mage.
Most mages had a great deal of control over their own schedules, and many technical professions throughout the magical world were actually side careers pursued by guild members.
Lucy had become a novelist.
Warren had turned into an inventor and researcher.
Max had even partnered with Ram Company to expand his figurine business, which was apparently doing extremely well.
Levy had agreed to become Lucy's manager and assistant, and had recently been studying everything she could about publishing and business.
Reedus, meanwhile, had naturally developed into a professional artist and had already held his first exhibition.
Looking at things that way, everyone really had become more mature.
They were paying more attention to their lives outside fighting and adventuring—something most of them probably never would have bothered thinking about years ago.
Of course…
They were still Fairy Tail.
That appetite for adventure was buried far too deeply in their bones to disappear.
The ridiculous number of jobs they continued accepting proved that much.
After chatting with Jude for a while longer, Ankh finally reached the most heavily concealed underground facility beneath Ram Company's Magnolia branch.
The people training inside immediately stopped when they noticed the two newcomers.
Jellal looked over in surprise.
Then his expression brightened.
"You're back."
He approached with a smile.
"Are your injuries completely healed?"
Ultear was considerably less restrained.
She walked straight up, grabbed Ankh's arm, lifted it, and inspected him from several angles.
"You look perfectly fine to me."
She grinned.
"You scared the hell out of us when we suddenly heard you'd been taken to another world."
Ankh gave her a flat look.
"You really never have anything nice to say, do you?"
He pulled his arm back.
"I'm mostly recovered."
"Besides coming to see how you're all doing, there's something else I wanted to ask about."
His expression became more serious.
"The White Magic Cult."
"The White Magic Cult?"
Sorano immediately frowned.
A look of disgust appeared on her face.
"You ran into them too?"
Then she clicked her tongue.
"Aren't they unbelievably annoying?"
Ankh nodded, remembering Kusin's fanatical rant from the night before.
"They seem to have a serious problem with people who possess a lot of Magic Power."