Ben goes inside the Council building and goes to an office. He is guided by a guard to the office where he can report his assignment as Fairy Tail's Guild Master. This is the first thing that he needs to do here.
The process doesn't take long to finish because he just needs to fill out a few paperwork. Besides, everyone here knows Fairy Tail's situation and no one tries to make things difficult for Ben. He is thankful for that but he'll still mess with the Council today.
When he wants to leave the office, a man comes and tells him that his presence is required. Ben nods and follows the man while smirking. He knows why he is called and he is very excited about this.
Ben enters a big room that he visited once with Makarov when he was asked to be a Wizard Saint. There are many Council officials and 5 Wizard Saints. But the 4 Gods of Ishgar aren't here, none of them.
The man who guides him tells him to stand on the small stage. He does it and now he faces many people who sit in front of him. They look at him with different expressions for different reasons too.
Then Ben looks at an old man with long grey hair & beard. He is Gran Doma, the current Chairman of the Magic Council. Draculos who held this position before was just a temporary Chairman who did it because the previous one was killed in the incident that Jellal & Ultear caused.
(A.n: I made mistake by making Draculos the Chairman before, so it's just to fix it, hehe.)
'Gran Doma, he must be the one who ordered the infiltration of our S-Class exam. He was the one who started it all,' thinks Ben.
Suddenly, Gran Doma says, "Ben Cooper, first, I want to say my condolence. What happened to your guild was really unfortunate. It surprised us all that the Dragon of Destruction, Acnologia, suddenly appeared and attack you. We are sorry we couldn't do anything and we are glad that there are 2 survivors at le-."
"3, there are 3 survivors," says Ben coldly.
"*Cough* Yes, 3 survivors. We are glad that the 3 of you survived and recovered," says Gran.
Ben scoffs and says, "Well thanks."
Ben can feel the disappointment in Gran's words because there are survivors. He must've really hoped that they all died there because Fairy Tail won't have a future ahead of them.
'Well, sorry to disappoint you, old fart. No one is dead, they are just trapped in a spell,' thinks Ben.
"I heard that you've become the new Guild Master of Fairy Tail, is that true?" asks Gran.
"Yeah, I have just reported it," says Ben shortly.
Gran Doma is quite displeased at Ben's short replies. But he needs to keep his composure and stay calm. He can't show a displeased face here because there are Wizard Saints here.
"Congratulation on your ascension. I hope you can lead Fairy Tail to be a better guild," says Gran, emphasizing the word 'better'.
"I will try to do that although it will be hard. Fairy Tail is always a good guild. It's the number one guild in Fiore, after all, and the 3rd Master is an amazing Guild Master. The only way to surpass that is by becoming the best guild in Ishgar or maybe the whole world. It's a hard task but I will try to reach it so I can answer your expectation," says Ben with a humble tone, but he smirks in his heart.
Gran Doma gets more displeased and the Council officials start murmuring. The Wizard Saints, however, are smirking because they really like that Ben has backbones. They won't like a Wizard Saint that doesn't have the guts to face something like this.
Gran is displeased, but he still says, "I hope that will be a reality."
"Thanks, dude," says Ben as if he's talking to his friend.
Everyone wants to laugh at how Ben replies to Gran but they hold it. Calling an old man 'dude' with such a tone is really funny. Gran's expression gets darker but he stays calm.
"Let's get into business already or the schedule will be ruined. Ben Cooper of Fairy Tail, the reason why we called you here is that someone recommended you to be a Wizard Saint replacing Makarov Dreyar. The one who recommended you was one of the Wizard Saints, Jura Neekis. You've refused this position before, so usually, we won't ask you again. But it's a recommendation from a Wizard Saint, so we can't just ignore it. So I will ask you first. Do you want to be a Wizard Saint?" asks Gran.
"Of course, I will. I have a reason now so I will take this position. This was my 3rd Master's seat, so I won't give it to anyone," says Ben.
"Alright, then we will continue this meeting because the candidate has agreed. But first, I will inform you that there are 3 more candidates to fill the empty seat. It has been more than a month since Makarov Dreyar was gone. So we have searched for his replacement because Wizard Saints are important for Ishgar."
"The first requirement to be a Wizard Saint is strength. We need the strongest people who can protect Ishgar. As there's only a seat left, we need to find the strongest among the 4 of you. To do that, we need to hold a competition and find the strongest one. The winner will become the next Wizard Saint," says Gran.
'Competition? They didn't do it before. Jura also seems surprised and so are the other Wizard Saints. It must be new and maybe it's prepared specifically for me,' thinks Ben.
Ben's assumption is correct because when Jura asks about it, Gran says that it's a new thing that they've decided because there are some candidates at once.
"Usually, their track records were enough, but that won't really show their capabilities. We need to see to believe, that's what the Council has decided," says Gran.
Jura can't say anything more because choosing Wizard Saints is Magic Council's job, not theirs. So he can only follow it and support Ben from the side. Well, it's not like he is worried about Ben because he knows Ben's strength.
It's also impossible for Jura to worry after seeing Ben's excited expression. Ben is excited about the fight because Wizard Saint candidates must be strong. He always enjoys fighting strong opponents because it also makes him stronger.
'They are Wizard Saint candidates, so they should be at least as strong as the weakest Wizard Saint. I won't hope too much but it will be nice if they're at least as strong as Jura,' thinks Ben.
"The competition will be held tomorrow in the east of this town. There is a wide-open place there that we can use. The Council will make a preparation today and the other 3 candidates aren't here today, so we can't start right away. Now, I will end this meeting. Is there anyone who has something to say before I close it?" asks Gran.
No one raises their hands, so Gran Doma closes the meeting. Ben leaves the room with a rather disappointed face. He has planned a few things but he can't use them today because the meeting didn't go as he thought.
Jura suddenly calls him as he walks so he comes over. The bald guy apologizes to him because the meeting was different from usual. He also tells Ben to be careful tomorrow because his opponents should be strong.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. Just make sure to enjoy the show," says Ben while smirking.
Jura smiles and nods before they part ways. Ben returns to his hotel while thinking of what he'll do tomorrow. He can't wait to see what the Magic Council is up to.
______________________________________________________________
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