Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Freesia.
January, x780.
After his short battle with Giovanni, Alfonzo dug up all the members of Behemoth Claw before slapping cuffs with magic suppressing sigils inscribed on them. Then, after piling them all up in a spacious area of the dark guild's base, Alfonzo began searching for valuables and kidnapped citizens.
After searching for three hours, Alfonzo finished his search. Unfortunately, not all the kidnapped villagers were still alive. Apparently, some of them were unlucky enough to have been targeted by Hammer, the second strongest member of Behemoth Claw, when he was in a bad mood, resulting in them being tortured to death. Not to say that the others were in anything remotely close to good condition.
It was clear that they had all been through some level of torture, were dehydrated, and had not had a decent meal in days, or weeks in the most severe cases. Luckily, they would all recover, physically, with the correct treatment. The mental scars, on the other hand, would be a much more daunting task to fix. Only time would tell if those people would ever recover.
"And this is the reason I hate dark guilds." Alfonzo said while creating a couple of wagons he planned to use to bring the prisoners and kidnapped citizens back to Freesia Town. "These sons of bitches have no bottom line."
A few minutes later, Alfonzo had created the wagons and connected them to the back of his Vanquish. Then, before he started loading up the passengers into the wagons, he loaded up all the valuables he found in the hideout. Among those valuables were magic books, jewelry, cash, as well as herbs, both medicinal and poisonous.
"There really was a lot of good stuff in there." Alfonzo said with a smile while thinking about two of the magic books in particular. "Lici and I are gonna get a lot stronger after we master those magics."
Alfonzo then frowned slightly.
"But seriously…" Alfonzo said with a bit of confusion in his tone. "Why does it seem like the coolest magic always ends up in the hands of the bad guys? I mean, most of the forbidden or ancient magic you see in the canon are in the hands of Fairy Tail's enemies."
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Alfonzo finally started loading all the people in the Behemoth Claw base onto the wagons, the citizens being loaded on the wagon closer to the Vanquish. Then, once the wagons were full, Alfonzo began driving back to the town.
"Good thing I made my baby out of extremely durable materials and super-charged the engine." Alfonzo thought to himself while he drove. "If it were like a regular Vanquish from my past life, there would be no way for me to bring all these people back in one trip."
Like that, Alfonzo arrived at the town entrance with the two wagons in tow. Naturally, it took much longer for him to return than it did to reach the mountain from the town. In fact, it took even longer than towing the two wagons should have under normal circumstances with Alfonzo driving slower to not make the kidnapped citizens even more uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, at city hall.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
"Mr. Mayor!" Oliver Cromwell's secretary shouted while knocking on the door." "He's back!"
Putting down the document he was reading, Oliver rubbed the space between his eyes.
"Come in." Oliver said, fatigue and annoyance mixed into his tone. Then, when the door opened and his female secretary entered his office, Oliver continued. "Who's back?"
"The wizard from Fairy Tail." The woman said with an excited, happy smile.
"*Sigh* I knew he would fail." Oliver said, having not seen the excited expression on his secretary's face. "Fairy Tail doesn't do anything right. IN fact, they're even worse than some dark guilds with all the damage they cause."
"Huh?" The secretary exclaimed, confused by the mayor's words.
Hearing the secretary's confused voice, Oliver finally looked up at her.
"What's wrong?" Oliver asked. "And where is that kid?"
"He's on his way here." The secretary said.
"Then why did you tell me he's back so soon?" Oliver asked with a frown.
"Because one of the guards at the town gate just contacted us." The secretary replied. "They said that he was towing two wagons with the members of Behemoth Claw and the kidnapped citizens."
*Bang!*
Hearing that, Oliver stood up explosively and slammed his hands on his desk.
"Why didn't you mention that first?" Oliver asked as he walked from behind his desk and stormed out of his office.
Meanwhile, the secretary could only look at her boss with confusion in her eyes.
"Shouldn't he be happier?" The secretary asked herself while tilting her head cutely.
A few minutes later, Oliver, along with his secretary, were standing outside of city hall, waiting for Alfonzo's arrival. It did not take long for them to see the magic vehicle driving slowly down the street toward the two of them. About a minute later, Alfonzo pulled up in front of city hall and parked before opening the door and exiting the vehicle.
"There ya go." Alfonzo said with a smile as he approached the mayor and his secretary. "with the ones I caught last night and the ones I brought back today, I caught 'em all. At this rate, I'm gonna be the very best, like no one ever was."
Not understanding the reference, Oliver only snorted at what he perceived as the arrogance of a youngster.
"How much damage did you cause while catching them?" Oliver asked, clearly disgruntled.
"Dude, are you serious?" Alfonzo asked. "Instead of getting people to check on the condition of your kidnapped citizens, that's the first thing you ask about?"
Though he was angered from being questioned in such a manner, Oliver knew Alfonzo was right. The citizen's well-being was more important than whatever damage Alfonzo's battle with the dark guild may or may not have caused.
"Lisa, contact the hospital." Oliver ordered. "Let them know we have a large influx of patients incoming."
"Yes sir." The secretary, Lisa, replied before running inside city hall to carry out the order.
Oliver then walked toward the wagons that were hitched to Alfonzo's vehicle. First, he examined the state that the citizens of his city were in. When he saw the poor physical health of the citizens, he gritted his teeth in anger.
'Well, at least he really does care about his people.' Alfonzo thought as he watched the mayor of the town's emotions change.
A moment later, Oliver approached the second wagon. And when he saw the unconscious and injured members of Behemoth Claw, his expression gained more than just a hint of disgust. And when he saw Giovanni Regalia, he leaked murderous intent.
'Hmm… Looks like there is a story there.' Alfonzo said to himself. 'But I don't think I care enough to find out. This Cromwell guy has been an asshole to me ever since I met him yesterday morning.'
"You've completed the quest." Oliver said as he turned away from the wagon with the members of Behemoth Claw. "Come with me and I'll hand over the completion letter."
"Sure." Alfonzo said with a shrug, following Oliver, who had already started walking back inside city hall.
A few minutes later, Oliver was seated behind his desk, filling out the form that would signify the completion of Alfonzo's quest. Meanwhile, Alfonzo was standing on the opposite side of the desk, Oliver conveniently forgetting to offer him a seat.
"And with this, your quest is complete." Oliver said with a stoic expression on his face as he handed the letter to Alfonzo.
"A pleasure doing business with you." Alfonzo said, taking the completion letter.
"Hmph! Typical wizard." Oliver said with a snort. "All you care about is getting paid. Saving those people and taking down that dark guild is nothing but a job to you."
"Dude, I don't know who pissed in your Wheaties." Alfonzo said, having reached the limit of his tolerance.
At the same time, Oliver showed slight confusion on his face. He had never heard the term Wheaties before, so he was a bit unsure where Alfonzo would go with his statement.
"But why should I be polite to someone who has been nothing but a dick to me ever since we first met?" Alfonzo asked, his annoyance clear in his tone. "I'm a wizard, not a saint. I'm not the type to turn the other cheek. Hell, you didn't even thank me for rescuing your people. Typical politician."
Once again, though Oliver wanted to explode in rage at Alfonzo, he knew what the young man said was correct. As a staunch believer in the magic council and his own bad experience with wizards in the past, he had shown hostility from the moment he first met Alfonzo. So, he should not have been surprised by Alfonzo's attitude toward him.
Taking a couple deep breaths to calm down, Oliver eventually put a stoic expression back on his face.
"I have another request." Oliver said. Then, before Alfonzo could respond, he continued. "Would you please bring the injured citizens to the hospital?"
"Sure, that's not a problem." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.
Nodding in response, Oliver opened his mouth once again.
"Also, would you stay in Freesia until the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Unit arrives?" Oliver asked again.
"Yeah, I was planning to do that anyway." Alfonzo replied. "Gotta make sure I get my bounties, after all."
With that, Alfonzo turned around and left Oliver's office with the quest completion letter in hand. A few minutes later, he was disconnecting the wagon that carried the members of Behemoth Claw from the back of his car.
When he was done, Freesia's town guards escorted the captured dark wizards to the underground prison where Hammer and the rest were imprisoned. At the same time, Alfonzo, with the mayor's secretary Lisa, riding with him brought the injured citizens to the town's hospital.
"Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Marcus." Lisa said with tears in her eyes while bowing her head to Alfonzo after the last of the kidnapped citizens was admitted to the hospital. "My husband was among the kidnapped people. You saved my family."
"I'm glad I could help." Alfonzo said with a genuine smile on his face. "My family was taken away from me because of one of these dark guilds, so I know what the people of Freesia were going through. Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm going back to my hotel to get some sleep."
Hearing that Alfonzo had lost his family, Lisa looked up and opened her eyes wide. However, Alfonzo had already turned around by that time. Then, without stopping he walked away under Lisa's gaze.
After that, it did not take long for Alfonzo to return to his hotel room. Then, after a long, hot shower and a change of clothes, Alfonzo laid down and quickly fell asleep.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
A few hours later, Alfonzo was awakened by someone knocking on his door. Annoyed and still groggy from sleep, Alfonzo slowly made his way to the door. Then, without looking through the peep hole, he pulled the door open.
"Who the fuck are you? And what the fuck you want?" Alfonzo asked in an irritated tone.
On the other side of the open door stood a slim man of average height, carrying a metal briefcase, with long, black hair tied into a ponytail and bangs that cover his forehead and frame his face. He had violet eyes that were covered by a pair of circular-lensed glasses. He also wore the attire of a magic council associate, consisting of a white cape, draped over a long blue jacket, a high collared blue shirt, white pants, white gloves, and a pair of shoes with a serpentine patter.
"I am Lahar, Captain of the third squad of the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Unit." The black-haired man, Lahar, replied. "And I am here to deliver the bounty for the members of Behemoth Claw, 2.5 million Jewels, and thank you for your service."
After hearing that name and seeing that face, Alfonzo's grogginess was blown away. Then, he looked at Lahar skeptically.
"A member of the Magic Council thanking a Fairy Tail wizard?" Alfonzo asked, turning around to look out the hotel room's window. "Is the sun rising from the north today?"
"Contrary to what you might think, "Lahar said, beginning his reply, "the Council does not have anything against Fairy Tail. We only have an issue with the guild's destructive tendencies."
"Sure." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "Keep telling yourself that. Then, one day it might become true."
In response, Lahar simply adjusted his glasses before shaking his head.
"Anyway, here is the bounty for the members of Behemoth Claw." Lahar said, setting down the metal briefcase he was carrying just inside the hotel room door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some criminals to escort to Magic Council HQ."
Lahar then turned around. Before he took his first step, however, he looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with Alfonzo.
"A wizard of your talent is wasting his potential with a guild like Fairy Tail." Lahar said. "I would suggest finding yourself a less destructive guild, or even joining the Magic Council. I'm sure you would be welcomed with open arms wherever you go."
"Yeah, no thanks." Alfonzo said, waving Lahar away dismissively. "If you've got nothing else to say, I'm going back to sleep. I've got a long drive ahead of me tomorrow."
Just like that, Lahar left. Then, Alfonzo closed the door and went back to bed, falling asleep quickly.