"Why do I have to wear a suit?" Asked Natsu as Macao and Wakaba observed him while nodding their heads.
Natsu was dressed in a white collared shirt with a black suit over it, paired with black pants and black shoes. He left his scarf with Happy, and despite being dressed he feel naked.
"You need to look presentable." Said Macao.
"You are going to meet the magic council, not to mention other guild masters or their representatives will watch your inauguration ceremony, we can't look bad." Added Wakaba.
"Still," Natsu rubbed his neck, "I feel naked without my scarf."
"Just bear with it," said Laki, before handing him a paper, "Your speech. After your meeting with the councilmen, you will take the stage and swear an oath and the like. I prepared this for you."
"A speech? Are you serious?" Natsu groaned in annoyance, "That is annoying."
"Be in your best behavior," said Laki, her voice a little stern, "We're already on the disband list of the council, we can't give them more reasons to disband us."
"I get it," said Natsu, sighing in annoyance, "You're starting to sound like Erza."
Laki ignored that comment and asked, "Who will be accompanying you? We can't have our next master go without an escort."
"I already asked Macao, Alzack and Bisca." Replied Natsu.
He actually wanted to bring Happy, but his partner is currently being tutored by Mavis in the ways of magic at his request.
So yeah, Happy is currently stuck in the library.
"I'm ready to go." Said Macao, grinning as he showed off his black suit, "I'm actually a little nervous, this is my first time meeting with he council."
"I'm surprised you did not volunteer Laki," said Wakaba.
Laki fixes her glasses, "Due to the absence of a master, the paperworks piled up without anyone doing them. Even after a week I'm still not done organizing them. I will stay behind and finish it all."
"Now you're acting like a secretary."
"Until master Makarov and the others return, we must ensure that the guild remain standing and even develop as smoothly as possible." Said Laki before she looked around, "by the way, where are Alzack and Bisca?"
"They are double checking everything we needed, we don't want to forget something important now do we?" Replied Macao. "They said they will meet us up in the train station."
Natsu nodded at that, "Well, shall we go?"
"Sure." Macao nodded before turning towards everyone in the guild, "Alright guys, make sure to not cause trouble until we come back."
"I'll make sure to keep an eye on them," said Laki.
Natsu stared at his guild mates, "Well guys, we're off. I still think you people could've chosen better candidates but it is what it is. But, since you have chosen to give me your trust, I will do everything in my power to make sure this guild remain strong."
"Just make sure you don't end up burning down their headquarters then we're all good."
"What he said."
"I doubt Natsu can hold back."
"It's Natsu after all."
Natsu felt his veins popping on his head, "Oh fuck you guys!"
In that lively atmosphere, Natsu and Macao left the guild, leaving the guild members in a cheerful mood.
...…
...
…
The interior of the Magic Council Fiore Brach, similar to the exterior, was absolutely massive and detailed.
The floor beneath Natsu was layered with marble and the structure had a high ceiling with a curved roof coupled with arched pillars to provide décor and support for the building.
In front of him was a very long hall that stretched to the opposite end of where he was standing.
Just to the front right of him was a wooden desk with a froglike amphibian in Magic Council attire awaiting to assist him.
"May I help you sir?" The Magic Council employee called out.
Natsu walked over to the desk, his escorts—Macao, Alzack, Bisca —following after him.
Similar to Macao, Alzack was dressed in a black suit as he stood beside Macao while following after Natsu.
Bisca was dressed in a simple black one piece dress with a black boots, her long greed hair tied to a ponytail.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, we have an appointment with the council." Said Natsu.
"Oh yes," the frog-like creature nodded, "Please, this way. The council has been expecting you."
"Thank you." Natsu nodded at the frog.
The four of them then followed the frog in the long corridor. Despite how large and important the Magic Council Fiore Branch was, that the interior was shockingly simple.
Aside from the long corridor, there were only a row of large double doors to the right of them.
"Apologies, but your escorts cannot accompany you inside." Said the frog.
"I see." Natsu nodded before turning towards Macao and the others, "Wait here guys."
They nodded and stood guard as Natsu began to approach the final set of double doors, he began to change to a more serious demeanor. He was after all moments away from meeting some of the most important citizens of Fiore.
Taking a deep breath to keep himself calm, he used the metallic door knocker to alert the Magic Council members inside of his presence.
Immediately after, the wooden doors were opened by a pair of Magic Council Rune Knights who gave him access to the well lit room before exiting and closing the doors behind him in order to give those inside privacy.
As he entered, he immediately found himself in the presence of several figures he noticed to be just a "Thought Projection"—something of a hologram.
"Natsu Dragneel," said Gran Doma, the chairman of the Magic Council and the one who sat at the highest position, "I was expecting your guild to choose someone like Laxus Dreyar as a master, imagine my surprise when I saw the name of the most destructive member of your guild."
'I'm with you there.'
"Natsu Dragneel… I assume you have an argument as to why we should uphold the decision of your guildmates? What reason do we, members of the Magic Council, have to appoint Fairy Tail's most notoriously unruly mage as their Guild Master?"
'Figures it wouldn't be this easy,' Natsu sighed.
The magic council has been looking for an excuse to disband their guild for a long time, and now their master and their S-class mages are gone, it would be far too easy for them disband the guild so long as they don't accept the guild's decision to make him the master.
"Because there's no reason not to?" Natsu shrugs, "Without S-class mages, our guild is already on the verge of collapse due to our debts. Whether I became a guild master or not, it doesn't change the fact that our guild is in dire state."
"Like you said, whether you became the guild master or not it wouldn't change a thing, so there is no reason as to why we should accept your …promotion."
"Indeed." Natsu nodded, "But you forgot, the council has the right to dispatch guild masters whenever they feel like it. Unlike the Saints whom you can't force due to their influence."
Gran Doma raise a brow, "Are you saying we make use of you? Please. You're not even an S-class, you have no use to us."
"Normally, that is indeed the case. However …If you do a little investigation, you'd find out that it was me who beat the guild master of Oracion Seis, and it was also me who defeated Jellal and cleaned up the mess made by your predecessors. Jellal was a Saint, and I beat him. Having me as a master which you can control sounds good, don't you think?"
Gran Doma narrowed his eyes, "…If what you said is true, then you are indeed qualified to rise as a master. Very well, you have convinced me—"
"I have one condition though," Natsu raised a finger, "You will stave off some of our debts depending on the difficulties of jobs you will send me."
Gran Doma glared at him, "What makes you think we would agree to that?"
"Because a guild master can reject the summon under certain conditions; one of them is to have three other guild masters petition for a rejection." Natsu smirked, "and as you know, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and Quatro Cerberus have close relationships with our guild and I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping me out."
Gran Doma was barely holding on his anger, "…You really have the guts Natsu Dragneel. Do you believe that we will reject your application for the master position?"
Natsu smiled, "You could do that. But then you would lose an opportunity to have someone like me, who is at the level of a Saint, under your command."
Gran Doma stayed silent.
Natsu chose to shut his mouth as well and have a stare down with the chairman of the magic council.
Finally, after a few moments, Gran Doma relented.
"You have a deal."
Natsu's mouth rose to a smirk.