After hearing the conditions, Layla quickly tells Ur to accept. They aren't bad, after all. Mermaid Heel is a big Magic Guild and being their Guild Master doesn't sound so bad except for all the busy work she needs to do.
"I know, it's not a bad deal for me to be a Guild Master even with all the difficult jobs in exchange for getting a suitable magic for Ultear. But I need to repay you first, Layla, for helping us. You even used your family name and reputation to negotiate with the Spirit King to bend some rules which gave us plenty of time. I planned to be your family's personal Mage and do a lot of work to repay you. But if I become a Guild Master, I won't be able to do that because I need to take care of the Guild."
"You don't really need to think about that, you know. I know we started this like doing a business, but now we've become close friends and friends help each other. Besides, if you talk about repaying us, then I think Alex has done enough. I didn't trust his abilities at first, but now I know he is a strong little man and he has helped us with a lot of things, saving us a lot of money by not hiring Mages."
Their merchant group often hires Mages from Guilds for a lot of jobs, escort jobs being the most common. Of course, they need to pay those Mages, but they don't need to pay Alex because that's their deal, so they can save lots of money.
Though they still pay Alex in a way, by feeding him all this time. He always joins their meals when he's in the mansion and they also often buy him stuff like clothes as if he is a relative being left in their care for a while.
They actually spend quite a lot for Alex, but the worth of his help and presence here is higher than that spending. Just him being here is enough help for the family because he plays with Lucy, taking care of her while her parents are working.
Lucy even calls him Big Brother Alex now because he always takes care of her like a bog brother does. Well, it's mainly because Lucy wants to have siblings. She even treats a doll as her little sister, so it's more normal to treat Alex as her older brother.
"Hmm, ain't that a simple problem?" Giselle raises an eyebrow because what holds Ur back is not something serious in her mind.
"It's not that simple, Master Giselle. Without her help, Ultear's condition might have gotten out of hand before I met you. So I need to repay her family properly." Ur is serious.
"That's why I say it's a simple matter with a simple solution. Just think about it, you dummy. You are going to be Mermaid Heel's Guild Master if you agree with my conditions. That means you will lead the Guild. Of course, I will beat you up myself if you don't lead the Guild properly and ruin it. But you basically operate the Guild and you have a lot of authority over it."
"I know that, Master Giselle. But it doesn't have any connection with me repaying them."
Ur's answer makes Giselle concerned and thinks whether she has chosen the correct person as her successor or not.
"What I mean is you can use our Guild to help you repay them. You can do a lot of things like making them our VIP client, prioritizing their job quests over others, giving discounts, etc. I'm also sure that partnering up with them will benefit both the Heartfilia Konzern and Mermaid Heel. Don't you think it's better for all of us?" Giselle explains while holding her forehead.
"Eh? We can do that?" Ur has never thought of that idea.
"Why not? Guilds get jobs for their members from people and merchants are the most often. It's a win-win solution, don't you think so, Lady of Heartfilia?" Giselle looks at Layla.
"Yes, that's certainly a wonderful idea. Having a personal Mage is not bad, but we don't really need one, mainly because just 1 or 2 personal Mages isn't enough to cover everything that needs Mages' assistance."
A big merchant group like them does a lot of things at once. For example, they can transport goods to many places at the same time. Just 1 or 2 Mages won't be enough to escort all those transports, so they need to hire a lot of Mages.
They have their own guards, but they need Mages when they need to pass through dangerous roads. Some jobs are also too dangerous for just normal Guards, so they often hire Mages.
"I always want to partner up with a Magic Guild, but we need to spend a lot of money to be a VIP by sponsoring the Guild which is still too expensive for us. So if a Magic Guild offers a partnership without taking a lot of money from us, then we'll gladly accept it." Layla is already in business mode.
"Well, normally we'll only receive a client that has used our Guild's service so many times and spent a lot of money on us as a VIP. But helping us get a Wizard Saint level Mage to join us is more than enough to make you our VIP. Furthermore, if this child learns the magic I'm planning to teach her, then she might be even stronger than her mother. So it's like getting 2 future Wizard Saints for my Guild, which is a great deal, right?"
"I see. If you think about it like that, then it certainly is very impressive, Master Giselle. Then if we can work more on this partnership, then I'm sure we will become a considerable force. We will have the power and wealth to be a great force in Fiore, no, even Ishgar."
"That's right. If we can plan and do things properly, then that will be possible."
Both Giselle and Layla have turned into a pair of true businesswomen as they talk about what they can achieve with the partnership. They forget about the others who don't even know how to break their conversation.
"*COUGH! COUGH* Let's talk about it later and focus on the present please." Capricorn is the one who reminds them like a true butler he is.
Layla and Giselle get back to their senses and stop talking about the business. They cough shyly before telling Ur that this is the best solution they can think of.
"I-I see. Then if you don't have any problem with that, I will accept the conditions. My daughter and I will join the Mermaid Heel." Ur looks defeated.
"Eh? Me too?" Ultear asks dumbly.
"What? Of course, you too, honey. Gasp! Do you not want to be with me anymore?" Ur trembles in shock.
"That's not it. You said that we will join the same Guild as Alex. That's why you sent Gray and Lyon there too, although that idiot Lyon didn't follow your instructions and joined another Guild."
"Well, we planned that because we didn't know where to go at first. I actually wanted us to stay in our home, but you want to see the outside world, so I could only think of Alex's Guild. But now we have another option and it's the best solution for all of our problems. I know you want to stay with the others, but it's not like we can't meet each other again. At least Mermaid Heel is also in Fiore, just like Fairy Tail."
"Your mother is right, little girl. If you want to meet your friends in Fairy Tail, then you can just use the train. Besides, I don't recommend normal people to join Fairy Tail. You will keep losing your brain cells overtime. You are a bright child, so that place isn't suitable for you. As for this kid here, he doesn't seem like someone with a complete brain, anyway, so that place is just right for him." Giselle smirks while looking down on Alex.
It really pissed him off. Alex wants to deny it, but he also knows that she's not wrong. Compared to everyone here, he surely is the stupidest and strangest. So he can't really refute that Granny. He actually doesn't know how to deny it too.
Though what saddens him is no one seems to object to what Giselle says. It makes him think that maybe the infection of the idiocy virus in Fairy Tail looks like it has reached the late stage in his brain.
Anyway, they seem to have finished the deal. So Ur and Ultear will join Mermaid Heel and their Guild will partner up with Heartfilia Konzern. Now Alex is only curious about the magic that Giselle promises to them, so he asks the old woman.
"Oh? Haven't we told you the magic? Well, seems like we forgot. It's my most valuable collection that I got years ago but I haven't had the chance to teach it to someone because I couldn't find anyone with good enough talent to learn it. I can't just choose anyone for it, you know. After all, it's a very great magic in my opinion, magic that can kill even Gods, the Water God Slayer Magic."
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Ch. 97: Truth of Existence