Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October 25, x788.
The day after Naruto and Jiraiya arrived in Magnolia, the Harvest Festival festivities went on as planned, with the Miss Fairy Tail Pageant starting off the day, followed by the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament, and ending with the Fantasia Parade.
This year, the winner of the Miss Fairy Tail Pageant surprised everyone, as it was not one of the usual favorites. Instead, it was a first-time contestant. And that was Irene Belserion. In fact, the fact that she decided to enter at all was a surprise to everyone present.
Actually, the reason Irene entered was simple. After finding a man in Alfonzo, she was feeling both younger and sexier than ever. So, just to let the world know how she was feeling, she entered. And even to her own surprise, she won.
Though, there was a simple reason why Irene won over all the younger girls in the guild. And that was because of her elegance. She was a former queen, after all. And when she came out in her evening gown, her elegance was put on full display, stealing the hearts of all those present.
After the pageant ended, all the members of the guild moved out to the town's outskirts for the Battle of Fairy Tail Tournament. And like they had for the last three years, the Thunder God Tribe took the championship. However, like every year they've won, Laxus, Bickslow, Fried, and Evergreen were not happy, as they still had not defeated their true target, Team Steel Threads, who had not competed in the last three tournaments.
After that, the Fantasia Parade went off without a hitch as always. And this being Naruto and Sasuke's first time seeing it, they were both amazed. Even Jiraiya, who had seen it before many years ago, found himself captivated by the floats and performances. Though, the fact that many of the ladies of the guild were dressed in fairly skimpy costumes had quite a bit to do with it, as well.
After that day, time passed quickly. And now that he did not have to worry about completing any jobs, Alfonzo was free to focus on the thing he wanted to make the most over the last two years.
"Damn Ur..." Alfonzo muttered to himself while lounging on the couch in the living room of the Mansion on the Lake and drawing a blueprint with is [Archive Magic]. "Because you accepted all that work on my behalf, I had to put this off for almost two years."
"Are you finally gonna get started on that?" Elicia, who was sitting on the floor of the living room and playing with Amar'e, looked back and asked after hearing Alfonzo's muttering.
"Yeah, finally." Alfonzo replied.
Hearing Alfonzo's confirmation, Elicia smiled brightly. Then, she swept Amar'e into her arms and jumped into Alfonzo's lap.
"Hahahaha!" Amar'e laughed happily.
Meanwhile, Elicia kissed Alfonzo on the cheek. Then, she turned and kissed Amar'e on the cheek, too. Before switching back to Alfonzo. She continued alternating kisses between Alfonzo and Amar'e making both her favorite guys smile.
"What's got you three so happy?" Ultear, who just came back from the guild hall, asked with a smile upon entering the living room and seeing the happy atmosphere.
"Tear! Tear!" Elicia exclaimed happily as she stood up, put Amar'e on Alfonzo's lap, and rushed over to Ultear. Then, while dragging her over to the couch, she continued. "Now that Fonzie doesn't have to leave for any long term quests, he's finally gonna start building it."
"It?" Ultear asked while tilting her head in confusion. "What it?"
By now, Elicia and Ultear had arrived at the couch. When they did, Elicia picked up Amar'e once again. Then, she sat herself and Ultear on Alfonzo's thighs. However, when she heard Ultear's questions, she tilted her head in confusion.
"Fonzie, didn't you tell everyone about the things you wanted to build already?" Elicia asked with her head tilted cutely.
"I did." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "But that was more than two years ago, before my dear mother-in-law set me on the path of endless work... Actually, now that I think about it, that was three years ago. I've been working at the Leaf Village for two years. And the year before that, I was working for Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus, and Quatro Cerberus."
"Hmm... Now that you mention it." Elicia muttered while cupping her chin in a thinker's pose. "It really has been a while, hasn't it."
"Um... Are you guys gonna tell me what you're talking about?" Ultear asked while tickling Amar'e. "Or are you just gonna keep talking about 'it'?"
"I'm designing an airship." Alfonzo said simply.
Hearing that, Ultear's eyes lit up, as that was enough to jog her memory. A moment later, however, she put on an apologetic expression.
"Uh oh. Something tells me that look isn't good for Fonzie..." Elicia said after seeing Ultear's expression.
"Uh oh~~~~~" Amar'e parroted happily. "Hahaha!"
"*Sigh* Lici's probably right." Alfonzo added. "I thought it was a little strange that you were back so early, Tear. So, what does mother-in-law dearest want me to do this time?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Ultear replied while shaking her head. "But after Mom saw the new quests, she asked me to come find you."
"This sounds like trouble." Alfonzo said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "*Sigh* But I guess I have to go. I don't want Ur coming over here and freezing everything just because I didn't go to see her."
"Yeah, once is enough for that." Elicia added with a nod.
With that, Alfonzo deactivated his [Archive Magic] and picked up Elicia, Ultear, and Amar'e in his arms. Then, he gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before he sat them down on the couch where he had been sitting.
"I'll be back in a little bit." Alfonzo said as he turned around and made his way out of the living room. "And I swear, if this is another long term quest or job, I'm gonna fight her."
"You should be careful about saying that, Alfonzo." Ultear said with a smile. "If you win, I'm sure Mom would try to push the title of guild master onto you."
"Hmph!" Alfonzo snorted without turning around and left the room.
About twenty-five minutes later, Alfonzo was standing in front of Ur in her office. In his hands, he held a pair of quest sheets. And the objectives were quite similar. However, they were on opposite sides of the scale, as well.
"Are you serious, Ur?" Alfonzo asked with his right eyebrow twitching in irritation. "You do know that I got back from the Leaf Village less than a week ago, right?"
"*Sigh* As much as I'd like to let you rest, you're my best option for quests of this nature." Ur said while wearing a genuinely remorseful expression. "I'd send Gildarts or even Irene, but they're both a bit too.... destructive for quests like these."
'Yeah, I'm sure the ones pulling the strings would love to see Gildarts or Irene on one side of this conflict.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he looked down at the two quests, both of which took place in the Kingdom of Caelum. 'But to think both sides of the coup attempt made quests for aid. On the other hand, Mei Terumi is pretty hot. So, meeting her might not be so bad.'
That's right, the two quests Ur wanted Alfonzo to take were opposing each other. One was to assist the Mizukage, ruler of the Village Hidden in the Mist, Yagura Karatachi, to deal with the rebels led by Mei Terumi, who wanted to pull him down from his post because of the way he has been running the village into the ground with his policies.
"And which of these would you prefer I take?" Alfonzo asked while placing the two quest sheets onto Ur's desk.
"I actually had a conversation with Jiraiya about this before I sent Tear to find you." Ur replied as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. At the same time, she shivered at the thought of being alone with a pervert that was even worse than Gildarts, in her opinion. "And he said it would be better for the world of shinobi if Yagura was brought down from his post. His brutal way of running the Mist Village makes the other villages just as nervous."
'Well, that Obito is the one behind all that shit.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But I guess there's no way for anyone else to know that.'
"I see." Alfonzo replied. "And do you want me to go alone? You know, I could assassinate that guy without anyone knowing, probably."
"Ha... Ha... Ha..." Ur laughed hollowly while dripping cold sweat down her back. "Come on, Kid, we don't joke like that. We're Legal Wizards, after all."
"Oh, I wasn't joking." Alfonzo said in a flat tone. "I could probably be done in a few days. And no one would even know I was there. "
'I'd have to take that Byakugan from Ao first, though.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
Hearing the serious tone in which Alfonzo said that, Ur could tell that he was truly at the end of his patience. And she could not blame him. Because of her accepting the jobs to remodel all the training facilities for their allies, though she did leave Alfonzo to negotiate the details and his pay for himself, she was the reason that he had not been able to take a long time to relax over the last three years.
'The worst thing is that I can't even promise that I won't ask him to interrupt his well-deserved break again.' Ur thought to herself. 'He's just to versatile. His skill set is just perfect for most quests.'
"Anyway, pick two more S-Classes to take with you." Ur said, deciding that changing the subject was better for her mental health. "Oh, and bring Shizuka with you, too. Her [healing Magic] will be helpful for the side you decide to assist."
"Well then, I guess the Village Hidden in the Mist will have a new Mizukage soon." Alfonzo replied as he picked up the quest submitted by Mei Terumi. "I just hope she'll be able to keep Shizuka safe while me and the others are busy with the missions assigned to us."
'Yeah right, like I would ever pick Yagura's side.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'That crazy son of a bitch controlling him would probably order him to have us killed just so Fairy Tail help destroy the Mist. Speaking of Obito, I should probably put up some countermeasures against the Akatsuki in Magnolia, too. More specifically, Zetsu. The good thing is that his [Mayfly] technique shouldn't work on my mansion or the guild hall, since they're both made of metal. Still, I don't want that mother fucker in my town, at all.'
Falling into thought about how he could stop the two most elusive members of Akatsuki from coming and going as they please, Alfonzo absent-mindedly finished the conversation with Ur, taking her suggestion to bring Marin, who could use her magic for infiltration and investigation, with him on this quest, before leaving her office.
Then, without a word to anyone in the guild hall, Alfonzo left the guild, walking straight through the ongoing brawl on the first floor. Unfortunately for those participating in the brawl, Alfonzo was too engrossed in his thoughts. So, when anyone, even his wives, Erza and Sun got in his way or attacked him accidentally, they were sent flying without even registering to him.
Luckily, Erza and Sun were more than strong enough to not be harmed by Alfonzo when he was in that state. Yet, they, along with Cana, Mirajane, Marin, Lucy, and Shizuka were quite curious to know what had Alfonzo's attention. So, after making brief eye contact, the seven women stopped what they were doing and followed Alfonzo out of the guild hall.
On a side note, Saeko, Rika, and Irene would have followed him as well, had they been at the guild hall. However, they were all away on quests.
When Alfonzo came back to his senses, he was sitting on the couch in the living room again, surrounded by all nine of his wives. And they were all looking at him in anticipation, curious to know why he was acting the way he was.
"What's up with all of you?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"Don't give us that." Cana replied while rolling her eyes. "You were acting weird when you left the guild hall, and we wanna know why."
"Yeah, tell us what's going on, Fonzie." Marin added excitedly.
"It's because of what my mom wanted to talk to you about, right?" Ultear asked, sounding much calmer than the glint in her eyes would suggest. "Just tell us about what's going on."
Smiling in reply, Alfonzo let his gaze pass over all nine of the ladies.
"Well, that's part of it." Alfonzo replied. "but it's mostly about something else."
Alfonzo then went on to explain the quests that he had seen in Ur's office and told them his decision to aid the rebellion in the Village Hidden in the Mist.
"But what I'm most concerned about is Naruto." Alfonzo said, continuing to talk about his contemplations. " As long as I'm here, it would be hard for those guys from Akatsuki, as Jiraiya called them, to do anything to him. But as long as I'm not in the town, things could get dicey. Not to say that none of you are capable of handling it."
"Then, what are you going to do?" Elicia asked, though she already had an idea, since she knew about all the abilities of the members of Akatsuki.
"I'll have to add some stuff to the barrier surrounding the town." Alfonzo replied. "Adding a space lock would probably be a good idea. I mean, our house and the guild hall have one. Oh, Irene's house does, too. But I'd rather not having someone just teleporting into the town, kidnapping Naruto, and teleporting away."
Hearing that, the nine women nodded their heads in agreement.
"And if that doesn't work, they might try something else." Alfonzo added. "Something like coming through the ground. So, I'll have to add something to stop that, too."
Once again, the ladies nodded.
"So, how long will it take to make the additions to the existing barrier and make the underground barrier, to?"
Making the adjustments to the barrier that's already in place shouldn't be that hard." Alfonzo replied. A moment later, he frowned slightly before continuing. "But making something that stop people from coming from below ground will be more difficult. I have to do it in a way that won't stop any underground sources of water from making their way into the town, too."
'I wanna add a feature that will trap Zetsu if he ever tries it, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself while smiling deviously on the inside. 'Then, I can take the time to experiment on how a [Soul Armament] will effect a creature of will like Zetsu. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if Zetsu even exists. I mean, magic power has existed on Earth Land far longer than Kaguya would have shown up in this world, right?'
'He's probably thinking about catching Zetsu.' Elicia thought after examining Alfonzo's expression. 'But does he even exist?'
Despite those thoughts, Alfonzo led the girls in brainstorming about the best way to block off access to Magnolia from underground. And that lasted until deep into the night. And just before they got ready to go to bed, Alfonzo told Marin and Shizuka to start getting ready for the quest, as he would be taking them with him.
As for the last member of this four-man team, Alfonzo asked Laxus to come with him, since [Lightning Magic] was a great counter to all the [Water Magic] they would undoubtedly face when fighting against Yagura's supporting shinobi.