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*****
"What? Th-This is unacceptable!"
The king was utterly shocked upon hearing the words. He had only one daughter, who was also the kingdom's sole heir. How could she possibly join a Mage Guild and become a mage? It was far too dangerous.
"Relax. I won't harm her, nor will I let her go on dangerous missions. You can even send people to protect her, and others to teach her the knowledge she'll need to inherit the throne. But she cannot leave the guild.
If you refuse, I'll assume you still intend to oppose me.
And then I'll have no choice but to kill both you and your daughter, and wipe out the kingdom's high-ranking officials.
After all, once you're dead, a new royal family will eventually emerge."
George stood beside the king, seemingly friendly, raising a trophy with one arm while wrapping the other around the king's shoulders. But the telepathic message he transmitted made the king shiver uncontrollably.
"Or, you could make your actions public and try to rally everyone to go against me.
But I doubt anyone will side with you. Even if they do, they still wouldn't be able to defeat me—not even all of them together.
The outcome will be the same."
There were two main reasons for having the princess join the guild.
First, the fact that the kingdom's princess had joined a Mage Guild—especially the strongest guild in this year's Grand Mage Tournament—would significantly boost the guild's reputation. It would attract more talented mages and bring in more missions.
Second, having the princess in the guild was akin to holding a valuable hostage.
Completely destroying the royal family wasn't realistic, as it would spark public outrage. George knew that once he returned, he'd likely become engrossed in magical research and wouldn't pay much attention to the guild's affairs. If the royal family tried any underhanded tricks, it would interfere with his studies.
But with the heir to the throne in his hands, he believed they wouldn't dare try anything—unless they wanted to risk the royal line ending entirely.
"Very well, I'll agree to your terms," the king said, his face shifting through a series of expressions before finally forcing a stiff smile. He had no choice—he couldn't afford to refuse.
"There's one more announcement I'd like to make!"
As the award ceremony concluded, the king took a deep breath, snatched the microphone from the host, and addressed all the mages and spectators below:
"Starting today, my daughter, Jade E. Fiore, will join the Fairy Tail Guild and train there for seven years.
After those seven years, I will formally pass the throne to Jade E. Fiore!"
The king wasn't foolish. He feared George might break his promise, so he deliberately set the coronation for seven years later.
This way, everyone would know that the princess was meant to return to the capital to take the throne, and George would be unable to interfere.
Hearing the king's declaration, George merely smiled. He actually thought it was even better this way. If everyone knew the future monarch was a member of the Fairy Tail Guild, the publicity would only enhance the guild's image.
As expected, the crowd erupted in shock.
"Fairy Tail is incredible—they even have the princess joining their guild!"
"No wonder they're the strongest guild!"
To ordinary people, the royal family was the most prestigious of all—far more so than any mage.
Hearing that the future queen, the current princess, was going to join Fairy Tail left them utterly astonished.
"Father, why would you…"
The princess was dumbfounded. She couldn't understand why her father would make such an absurd decision.
But before she could finish her sentence, the king cut her off with a stern glare.
"Good. It seems you're being sincere. As long as the royal family doesn't act against me or the guild in the future, the princess won't be in any danger for the next seven years—I give you my word."
George's face lit up with satisfaction.
"Oh, by the way—was it true your royal palace collapsed by accident?"
"…"
The king's lips twitched. He wanted to retort that it was George who brought it down—but considering the man's overwhelming strength, he could only nod silently.
"You should know that I originally gained fame through restoration magic. I can restore the collapsed royal palace—this would save you a huge sum on reconstruction costs. What do you say?"
As the award ceremony concluded and the king was about to leave the stage, George transmitted his voice telepathically once again.
Upon hearing this, the king was instantly intrigued.
"What's the condition?"
Hosting the Grand Mage Tournament had already drained a significant portion of the royal treasury. Rebuilding the palace on top of that would place even more pressure on the kingdom's finances.
He didn't want to impose additional taxes on his people because of it.
"Not a bad king at all."
George, sensing the king's thoughts, nodded inwardly.
Putting aside everything that had happened, during this old king's reign, the citizens of Fiore had lived quite well. He was, in many ways, a responsible and competent ruler.
"It's very simple. I want access to all the magic tomes in the Department of Magic Development and the Royal Library."
If he were to go by himself, he wouldn't have a valid reason, and some of the most critical and hidden tomes might remain inaccessible. But if the king gave his personal approval, that would be a different story.
The king nodded almost without hesitation.
"That's not a problem."
To the king, the magical tomes passed down through the royal family were certainly important—but George only wanted to read them, not take them away.
As for whether this might further increase George's power, it didn't really matter. No one could match his strength now anyway. Whether his power increased a little or a lot made no difference.
It was like facing a man with a gun while you're unarmed—whether it's a handgun or a submachine gun, the outcome is the same. All it takes is one bullet to kill you.
"Excellent!"
With that, George spread his wings and flew from the awards platform to the ruins of the palace, where he began casting a restoration spell.
"Restore to former glory!"
Due to his research into time magic, his understanding of the Restoration Spell had deepened significantly.
He believed that if he could fully master time magic, restoration might not be limited to objects—perhaps even people could be restored.
The essence of the Restoration Spell was to rewind time. If one could rewind the time of an injured—or even dead—person to when they were alive, wouldn't that count as restoration too?
"So he's that famous restoration mage!"
The mages and spectators looked on as George flew to the ruined palace and began casting. In just a few seconds, the palace was miraculously restored to its original state. That's when people remembered—Fairy Tail had once had a well-known restoration mage.
What they didn't know was that the renowned restoration mage was actually a cat. And not just any cat—one of overwhelming power.
By the time the award ceremony ended, it was already noon. George was just about to head to the Royal Department of Magic Development when Minerva arrived at their dormitory with a group.
"I'd like to bring them with me to join the guild."
"Rufus Noah, Orga Nanagear, and Yukino Agria? No problem. Take them inside and find Macao."
These three were none other than the remaining participants from Sabertooth. Orga, in fact, had even been defeated by George in a single strike. All three had solid strength and were worth recruiting.
(End of Chapter)