Ur's return really brings joy to everyone. The 1 year time limit is almost up, so everyone is worried whether Ur has found the suitable advanced magic for Ultear or not. But now, she finally returns 2 months before the deadline.
"Ur! You've finally returned." Layla greets Ur happily. She is worried about the Gold Keys, but Ur's return is a happy occasion, so she is very happy with it.
"I'm back, everyone."
"Do you find it?" Alex asks eagerly.
"I won't return before finding it." Ur answers it with a smile.
"Great! Then we can fix Ultear's problem now."
"Yeah, but not right away. There is still a problem. Ultear can't learn it right away because I don't have the Advanced Magic Book with me now." Ur scratches her head while smiling awkwardly.
"Huh? What do you mean? You said you found it, but you don't have it?" Alex is confused, just like Layla and Lucy.
"Well, that's because it's owned by someone else and she refused to sell it to me no matter what." Ur seems defeated while looking far to the back.
Everyone looks at where she looks and they see a small old lady floating in the air beside a tree. She looks at it very seriously as if she's admiring the gardener's work.
"Master Giselle, please stop looking at the bugs. You can look for them later, but please introduce yourself first to the owner of the house."
"Fine, fine, geez, you are such a nagger."
Unexpectedly, the small old lady is actually looking at some bugs on the tree instead of looking at the tree itself. She also acts like a kid being reprimanded by her mother when Ur tells her to greet Layla.
"You must be Layla, the owner of this big mansion and this must be your daughter. That means this cheeky-looking brat is your disciple, right, Ur?"
"You are right, but didn't I tell you to introduce yourself?"
"But you already said my name and they must've heard it."
Ur sighs tiredly while holding her forehead. Just from this short interaction, everyone knows that this small old lady is someone difficult to deal with.
"Sorry, everyone, let me introduce her. She is Master Giselle, the Guild Master of Mermaid Heel, a female only Magic Guild in Fiore."
Alex is surprised to know that this small old lady is the Guild Master of Mermaid Heel. She was never shown in the story, so he doesn't know about her.
Though maybe she wasn't the Guild Master anymore when Mermaid Heel was introduced for the first time in the Grand Magic Games because that was 14 years from now and maybe she has retired or even left this world already.
"I see, a Fairy Tail Mage, huh? So you are that midget old man's Guild member." Master Giselle looks at Alex up and down.
"But you are also a midget." Alex blurts that out without thinking, making the others' eyes bulge.
"I see, you really are a Fairy Tail Mage. Every single one of them is really cheeky like you." Master Giselle smiles before she suddenly throws Alex to the pond using her magic.
Ur just slaps her forehead while sighing tiredly. Seems like she has been dealing with this for quite a while, so she isn't even surprised anymore.
Meanwhile, Alex is surprised by what has just happened. He isn't even mad. Instead, he is very curious about the magic that Giselle has just used on him because he felt like being grabbed by something when he was thrown.
But he can't even ask because everyone is going to the mansion. Layla tells Alex to dry himself first and goes to her study room later. So he dries himself and changes his clothes quickly before going there.
Alex arrives in the study right when Layla is about to summon Capricorn who will bring Ultear back from the Celestial World. It has been quite a long time since they saw Ultear, so they are very excited.
It doesn't take long for Capricorn and Ultear to arrive. Ur immediately hugs her daughter that hasn't changed since she left to find the advanced magic.
Ultear hasn't even grown because for her, it hasn't even been 4 days since she entered the Spirit World even though it has almost been a year on Earthland.
Lucy was shorter than Ultear last year, but now they are the same height while Alex who was already taller than Ultear has grown even taller now, so the gap has gotten bigger.
But it doesn't matter because the most important thing is that Ultear's condition doesn't worsen because only 4 days have passed for her in the Spirit World.
"Mama, I need to tell you something. It's important." Ultear suddenly says that while Ur hugs her.
"W-what is it, honey? Are you sick?" What Ultear says makes Ur very worried and it seems she realizes she makes a mistake.
"Ah, no, i-it's not that. Uh, sorry, it's important but it's not urgent, so I can tell you about it later."
"I see, then you can tell me when you want." Ur is relieved it's not because her condition has worsened.
"So this is the child." Old lady Giselle suddenly approaches Ultear and checks her body while nodding.
"I see, no wonder you were very worried. There is a chance her condition will be cured as she grows up, but the chance is really small because before she can grow up, her high amount of magic power will most likely kill her first. Those evil researchers that kidnapped her in the past must've been very interested in her condition because it is a very rare case. They might find a way to fix her problem, but it would surely be very painful because they'll operate her body like a lab rat. Your solution is right and it's the least painful, we can use advanced magic that can strengthen her body to match her high amount of magic power to solve it."
Giselle blabbers about her analysis on Ultear's condition. Ur has told Giselle a lot about Ultear including the part where she was kidnapped and the researchers even told Ur that she has died. Now Giselle knows clearly why those researchers did that.
"Ur, the other kid that was kidnapped by those researchers, was it him?" Giselle looks at Alex.
"Yes, he was also the one who saved my daughter from that place."
Giselle looks at Alex up and down again, now with more interest. "Hmm, at least you don't look lecherous like your Guild Master."
Alex doesn't know what to say about that, so he just stays silent. He almost talks back to her, but then he remembers how she threw him to the pond, so he shuts his mouth.
"So, Master Giselle, can you help her?" Ur looks worried.
"You are asking the wrong question, my dear. It's not whether I can help her or not, it's whether she can help herself or not. As long as you agree with my conditions, I can give you the magic book. But even if you have it, whether your daughter wants and can learn it will depend on herself. After all, it's not some easy and basic magic. She will need a lot of effort to learn it and she might give up if she doesn't have the will to learn it seriously." Giselle flies to the sofa and sits while closing her eyes.
Ultear looks at her very seriously. "I can learn even the most difficult magic if it means I will be cured, so Mama won't be worried about me all the time. You don't need to worry about that. But what conditions are you talking about?"
Alex and Layla are also curious by the conditions that Giselle means.
"Hahaha! No need to be that tense, little girl. I'm not asking for something like human sacrifice or other evil things. As you know, I am Mermaid Heel's Guild Master, so my Guild is the most important for me. The magic that you need is also our Guild's property. That means we can't give it to outsiders."
"Are you saying they need to join your Guild?" Layla catches up quickly.
"Of course, but it's not just that. This magic is too valuable for just a normal member to learn, you know. So I've told Ur that my conditions are for them to join Mermaid Heel forever and I want her to be my successor."
"Eh? You want Ultear to be the next Guild Master?" Layla is surprised.
"No, not the kid, the mother." Giselle smiles slyly as if it's a trap.
"What?! Ur becomes Mermaid Heel's Guild Master?" Of course, everyone is surprised.
"Why are you so surprised by this? Isn't it normal for me to want someone of her caliber to join my Guild and lead it in the future? She is a Wizard Saint Candidate, you know. Maybe by the time I pass down the seat, she will officially become a Wizard Saint already and when that happens, Mermaid Heel will be one of the strongest Guilds in Ishgar."
Alex is surprised by this condition. This old lady is really a Guild Master that prioritizes her Guild above all else, similar to Makarov. But it makes him even more curious about the magic that Giselle promises to Ur until she makes such conditions.
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Ch. 96: Ten Tails