Several days later.
Inside the Fairy Tail Guild.
"By the way, that is coming up soon, right?"
"Yeah, now that the Harvest Festival is over, it's time for the most critical moment of the year for us Fairy Tail wizards."
A group of guild members huddled together, whispering excitedly.
Meanwhile, the members who usually spent their time playing cards, drinking, or chatting were suddenly energized as if they were on stimulants. They were frantically taking on jobs, seizing every moment to work. This left Ide, who had just entered the guild early in the morning, completely confused.
"Huh?"
"What's going on here?"
"Why is everyone so diligent all of a sudden?!"
"Did you all get hit by a curse where you die if you don't work?"
Ide looked suspiciously at the guild members working like maniacs. He grabbed Macao, who had just accepted a job request, and asked.
"Ide, what do you take your guildmates for?"
"Do you think we wouldn't work without a 'curse' or something?"
Macao retorted, looking at Ide.
"You wouldn't?"
Ide paused for a moment, then retorted with shock.
"Tch."
Macao didn't argue further. He just clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Ide, of course it's because the annual Fairy Tail S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial is coming up."
"S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial?"
Ide froze, and then his eyes lit up.
"Alright, no time to explain. I have to go do my job."
Macao didn't give Ide a chance to ask more. While Ide was still processing the words "S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial," Macao rushed past him with his job flyer and bolted out of the guild.
"Wakaba, so you're here?! Perfect timing, I need to ask you something."
Having lost Macao as an intel source, Ide locked his gaze on Wakaba, who was puffing smoke in front of the request board.
Ide slung his arm around Wakaba's shoulder and asked with a smile, "Tell me about this S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial."
"Ugh."
Startled by Ide appearing beside him like a ghost, Wakaba shivered. After taking a deep breath, he explained, "The so-called S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial is held every December. It's an exam to promote ordinary guild members to S-Class wizards! And one of the criteria for qualifying is the total number of jobs completed that year."
"I see."
"Thanks for the intel, Wakaba."
"After I pass the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial this year, I'll remember to treat you to a drink."
Having extracted the necessary information from Wakaba, Ide casually snatched all the subjugation requests from the board.
"Wait, Ide."
"Leave a few for me."
"You can't be this greedy!"
Seeing Ide sweep the board clean in an instant, Wakaba panicked. He tried to stop Ide and grab some flyers back.
Unfortunately, Wakaba failed.
With a wave of his hand, Ide froze Wakaba in place. He waved the stack of flyers and laughed. "Who told you to be so slow? According to guild rules, whoever takes the job off the board first gets it!"
"Alright, don't look at me with those resentful eyes! How about this: after I finish the jobs, I'll give you one-third of the reward money. As for the credit... it all goes under my name. I need to pad my stats before the end of the year."
Ide patted Wakaba on the shoulder, then personally lit a cigar and stuck it in Wakaba's mouth.
Puff, exhale~
"I need stats too, Ide."
Puff, exhale~
"I want to participate in the S-Class Trial too."
"I'll remember this, Ide."
Puff, exhale~
"I'll really remember this."
Frozen in place, Wakaba puffed furiously on his cigar, creating clouds of smoke as he wailed incoherently at Ide, who was swaggering away.
---
"Ur, let's go do some jobs!"
Ide returned to the flower shop, dragged a still-sleeping Ur out of bed, and said cheerfully.
"Ide, I'm so sleepy."
Ur rubbed her drowsy eyes and complained.
"No time to sleep, Ur! Next up is the guild's annual S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial."
Ide explained.
"What are we waiting for then?"
"Let's go!"
Hearing this, Ur instantly woke up. She washed up and got dressed in record time, looking spirited and ready to go.
"So fast."
Ide admired Ur's speed. Once she was ready, he pushed the stroller with Ultear and Erza inside and headed straight out of the flower shop.
"Irene, we're leaving the house to you!"
When Irene returned to the flower shop from the mountains behind the guild after finishing her daily planting work, she saw Ide and Ur sprinting down the street pushing a stroller. She fell into a speechless silence.
By the way, Irene and Porlyusica had developed quite a good relationship. They had a lot of common ground when it came to plants and herbs.
Also, Porlyusica seemed to have vaguely realized the fact that Irene wasn't exactly "human."
---
Kingdom of Fiore.
On a snowy mountain a hundred miles outside the capital, Crocus.
"Hahaha."
"We robbed another batch of nobles today."
"A few more rounds of this, and we might become the richest people in the kingdom?!"
This was the headquarters of the infamous bandit group Twilight Nightmare, which terrorized the entire Kingdom of Fiore.
Probably no one would have guessed that these bandits were bold enough to build their lair so close to the capital.
"Hmph!"
"Those idiots in the capital will never figure out our movements."
The bandits counted their loot confidently, seemingly having zero respect for the kingdom's knights.
BOOM!
However, just then, a piercing roar exploded in their ears. The iron gate of the Twilight Nightmare's lair, weighing over a hundred tons, was blasted flying by a single punch.
"What?"
"Enemy attack?!"
"Someone actually found this place?"
The bandits were stunned by the sudden turn of events. They dropped their treasures and stared at the smoke rising from the entrance.
Screech.
As the bandits' attention was drawn to the gate, the first sound they heard was the friction of wheels on the ground. Then, what appeared in their sight was a twin-seat baby stroller.
Behind the stroller, a couple looked at the wealthy bandits who were in the middle of dividing their spoils. They smiled gently.
"Robbery!"