"I have a request," says Mira.
"You want me to help your Guild, right? I can do that, but only if the situation has become too dangerous. We are from different Guilds and I can't intervene in other Guilds' business. That will create a bigger problem for our Guilds. I can help when the civilians' safety is threatened or when things have gone too far," says Ben.
"I know, that's what I thought too. This is our Guild's problem and we will try to solve it ourselves. But no one knows the future and anything can happen, so we need to be careful. With you here, I feel like I don't need to worry about anything," says Mira.
"Is this really your request?" asks Ben.
"Yes, but I think Master has anticipated this too. Although he won't rely on your help in this matter," says Mira.
"Alright, I will stay here for a few days and look at the situation. Master Makarov is my Guild Master's friend, so I'm sure he will ask me to help if needed," says Ben.
"Sorry for troubling you," says Mira apologetically.
"Don't mind it, this is for my girlfriend's safety too," says Ben teasingly.
Mira blushes hearing that and walks away, leaving Ben there. Ben smirks and follows her walking to her house. They arrived shortly after that and Mira enters the house. But Ben just stays outside and doesn't follow her.
"You aren't coming in?" asks Mira.
"No, I don't want to show that I'm here to help your Guild. Besides, you won't be able to sleep if I stay here tonight," says Ben while smirking.
Mira blushes again as she knows what Ben means. He means she will just think of lewd things if he stays in her house, so she won't be able to sleep. She hits Ben's chest cutely before entering her house and slams the door angrily.
Ben just laughs and says, "I'll take my leave then, White Princess. Good night and sleep well. Tomorrow will be a hard day for you."
Ben leaves Mira's house to find a hotel after saying that. He finds a hotel with a tall building easily after just walking for a few minutes. Then he rents the room on the highest floor so he can have a better view around the town.
"Phew, what a day," says Ben while bathing in hot water.
"Who thoughts that I will have a girlfriend on my way home from a job? Although a problem arises soon after it happens. Sigh, Phantom Lord, huh? What a troublesome Guild. Why'd they bothered to attack another legal Guild's territory? It will just bring problems to them as Magic Council might disband them. What's their real motive?" ponders Ben.
Ben thinks about it and doesn't find any good answer. He stops thinking about it and calls Roubaul instead. The old man picks it up and he tells what happened. Of course, he doesn't say about him dating Mira now.
"Hmm, what a problematic situation. Alright, I approve your decision and will leave it to your discretion," says Roubaul.
Ben nods and thanks to the old man before closing the call. This is a serious problem, so he needs to inform Roubaul and can't act without approval. A war between Guilds will affect a lot of things, so he needs to be careful with it.
"Phantom Lord has a long hatred toward Fairy Tail, it's a public secret. But why'd they suddenly attack frontally like this? There must be a big reason that gives them such bravery," ponders Ben.
Ben doesn't find an answer, so he leaves it and goes to sleep. He wakes up the next morning and eats before walking around the town in disguise. He transforms into a normal civilian to hide his real identity.
Roubaul has given him an instruction to hide their involvement except when the situation has become too dangerous. So he needs to hide his identity until that time and only shows up when needed.
While walking around, Ben encounters Natsu's team that has just returned. They were staying on Galuna Island for a night because of the villagers' request. Well, at least they returned before the war officially starts.
Ben ignores them and just enjoys his walk around the town. Too bad that he doesn't find any Phantom Lord's member in his walk. So he can't interrogate them to understand the reason for their attack.
At night, Ben calls Mira and asks for a report about the situation. She tells him that Makarov hasn't ordered them anything. They still don't have enough proof to attack Phantom Lord.
Those iron pillars could be from anyone, especially Dark Guild. So if they attack Phantom Lord first, the Council can punish Fairy Tail instead of Phantom Lord. They need to avoid this because their relationship with the Council isn't too good.
Ben sighs hearing that because that's correct but also wrong at the same time. But he knows they need to think more of the long term rather than the short term effect. However, if they keep silent, Phantom Lord will be more brazen in their attack.
It is proved the next day when one of Fairy Tail's team is found in a miserable situation. Team Shadow Gear has its 3 members crucified onto a tree after getting attacked & defeated by Gajeel Redfox at night.
Of course, this move enraged everyone in Fairy Tail. Phantom Lord has gone too far now and they even left their Guild's Mark on the defeated Mages. Now Makarov doesn't hesitate to attack back and he officially declares war with Phantom Lord.
The Fairy Tail Mages then leave Magnolia and go to attack Phantom Lord's headquarters. Many Mages join the attack as Phantom Lord's HQ must have many Mages in there. They just left a few Mages in the Guild to take care of the injured members.
Mira calls Ben before leaving and asks him to stay in Magnolia. Makarov knows that Ben is in the town and he requested Ben to stay through Mira. Phantom Lord might attack Magnolia while they're gone, after all.
Ben agrees and goes to the Fairy Tail building soon after that. He stays on the rooftop of the building in front of the Fairy Tail Guild building. He erases his presence and spreads his Magic Sense to detect if there's an attack.
Sometime later, he senses 2 strong magic sources. He smirks and locks the 2's position but doesn't do anything yet. Those 2 are hiding, so Ben knows they are not Fairy Tail Mages.
"Let's see what you want to do," says Ben as he keeps watching.
After some minutes, the 2's Magic Power suddenly changed a little. Ben also senses another magic source is getting closer to him from the Fairy Tail Guild building. It's Lucy who comes out to take a breath after treating her guildmates.
"Are they targetting her? Hmm, I don't know the reason, but it's interesting. Still, I can't let that happen though," says Ben while looking at Lucy who walks without any caution.
Ben makes a clone and it transforms into Lucy. Then his clone uses a spell, "Teleport: Exchange!"
His clone switches with Lucy and makes her surprised. Before she can even talk, Ben puts a Sleep spell on her so she will stay quiet. Then he looks at 'Lucy' who walks on the street.
Suddenly, a blue-haired girl walks toward 'Lucy' and says that she is from Phantom Lord. 'Lucy' gets surprised and the girl suddenly traps her in a water ball. Then 'Lucy' passed out and a strange man appears. They take 'Lucy' and leave the town immediately.
"So they are really targetting her. Good thing I made the correct move and saved her," says Ben while looking at the sleeping Lucy beside him.
Ben then smirks and says, "Now, what will they do to my clone?"
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You can read up to 35+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
Clicking that power stone/like also seem to be a good choice, hehe.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 182 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 193 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)