Chapter 110
A few days after Marshall’s conversation with Makarov, the Guild Master formally announced Fairy Tail’s newly revised Official Member Benefits Plan.
According to Makarov, the policy had been painstakingly designed after extensive discussion with several of the guild’s core S-Class Mages.
Which mostly meant Marshall.
The package included workplace injury coverage, accident insurance, retirement support, discounted housing, marriage and childcare benefits, and considerably more.
These weren’t ordinary guild benefits.
Most members’ own parents had never treated them this well!
The moment the announcement was made, the entire guild erupted.
Everyone loudly declared that if anyone ever dared to leave Fairy Tail, they would personally beat the traitor to death before they reached the door!
The celebration that night lasted almost until morning.
The members drank together, toasted Makarov without pause, and repeatedly shouted:
"Master, we love you!"
Makarov nearly lost himself in the adoration.
Some of the newer members had already begun calling him the saintly Mage of the new era.
The policy earned Makarov enormous prestige, and several newspapers even sent reporters to interview him.
"Master Makarov, the new member benefits introduced by Fairy Tail have attracted tremendous attention throughout the Mage community. What inspired you to create such a comprehensive welfare system?"
"Hahaha! It wasn’t my idea."
Makarov smiled proudly.
"It was designed by Marshall, one of our S-Class Mages."
"That child has always regarded Fairy Tail as his home. Once the guild began earning money, his first thought was to use it to improve the lives of everyone here."
"This entire policy represents his feelings for his family."
"I’m very proud of him."
"I understand! We’ll report your words exactly!"
And then...
...
[Guild Master Makarov has introduced an unprecedented benefits system in his attempt to turn Fairy Tail into the guild every Mage dreams of joining.]
[However, the more pressing question is why no other guild has ever managed to offer comparable support.]
[Is Fairy Tail attempting to monopolize the guild labor market?]
Makarov’s face turned green when he read the article!
"Do these reporters even understand what ’reporting exactly’ means?!"
"They simply wrote whatever they wanted!"
"Not one sentence in this article came out of my mouth!"
He even began worrying that Marshall might think he had stolen the credit.
"Marshall, you know me."
"This old man never intended to claim your achievements as his own!"
"Those reporters are deliberately twisting everything!"
"I’m going to file a complaint!"
"Hahaha. This is what happens when you don’t control the voice shaping public opinion."
Marshall smiled knowingly.
"Now you understand why possessing our own media company is so important, don’t you?"
Makarov sighed.
"As always, you thought several steps ahead."
"I’ll have Levy issue a statement through our magazine and expose those newspapers immediately!"
"Don’t panic, Master."
Marshall casually stopped him.
"I secretly paid them to write it that way."
"Oh, all right—"
Makarov froze.
"Huh?!"
"You did this?! Why?!"
"Because I don’t need the fame."
Marshall folded his arms.
"But you need to understand something, Master. The greater your reputation becomes, the more Fairy Tail benefits."
"The better our benefits and the more famous we become, the more threatened the other guilds will feel."
"They’ll start placing obstacles in our path from the shadows, so you need to be more careful."
"But..."
Makarov didn’t know how to answer.
Deep down, he was secretly delighted by the praise, but he still tried to maintain a disapproving expression.
"Stop worrying about it."
Marshall waved dismissively.
"I don’t care, so why should you?"
"If you have time to spare, I suggest paying more attention to your old friends."
Makarov frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"These articles aren’t entirely harmful."
Marshall leaned over the desk.
"Think about it, Master. There are countless Mage guilds throughout Fiore, yet Fairy Tail is the only one capable of launching a welfare program on this scale."
"We can afford it because we’re wealthy."
"But do you think the other guilds can simply watch us do this without reacting?"
"Well..."
"I originally intended to wait until Fairy Tail had developed further and grown even stronger before introducing these benefits."
Marshall shrugged.
"But now that we’ve already done it, we need to think about what comes next."
"What comes next?"
Makarov eyed him warily.
"Marshall, you aren’t planning another wicked scheme, are you?"
"Excuse me?"
Marshall smiled and spread a map across the desk.
"I’m only thinking about how Fairy Tail can earn more money while preventing future problems!"
He pointed to several marked locations.
Each one represented a guild situated near resources Fairy Tail’s industries needed.
"Our factories now consume enormous quantities of raw materials."
"Lacrima is the most important, but we also require cotton, iron, gold, and many other resources."
"Plenty of merchants have offered to work with us, but merchants aren’t always reliable."
"It would be safer to establish influence over the actual sources of those materials."
Marshall tapped one location.
"For example, one of Fiore’s largest Lacrima deposits lies near Quatro Cerberus."
He moved his finger to another.
"The town where Blue Pegasus is based is known for its textiles and surrounded by extensive cotton fields."
"We should bring them into our businesses and let them earn money with us."
"For now, Fairy Tail possesses the technological advantage."
"They can supply our raw materials."
"Later, once our technology improves further, we can transfer certain upstream and downstream industries to them."
"We’ll create a new alliance of guilds centered around Fairy Tail, all advancing and retreating together."
Marshall smiled.
"Everyone earns money."
"I doubt many Guild Masters would reject an offer like that."
The more Makarov listened, the brighter his eyes became.
"Good! Very good!"
"This is an excellent idea!"
"We’ll do exactly that!"
"We?"
Marshall glanced at him.
Makarov suddenly felt that they might need to clarify whether Fairy Tail belonged to the guild as a whole or to Marshall personally.
Perhaps the division of profits deserved a separate discussion.
"Also, the Heartfilia family has supported us for years."
Marshall continued before the old man could interrupt.
"They should be brought into the alliance as well."
"We need as many friends as possible."
"It’s fine if people envy us, but we must never let that envy blind them into becoming our enemies."
"We should form a powerful bloc that no one in Fiore dares provoke."
"Eventually, the entire kingdom will have only—"
Marshall coughed.
"That part is slightly premature."
"For now, we’ll begin with this."
"Good luck, Master. I have other work to handle."
"Oh!"
Makarov clenched his fists, suddenly filled with passion.
"This old man is fired up too!"
He failed to notice anything suspicious and immediately hurried away to boast to his old friends.
The wheels of history continued rolling forward.
Along Fiore’s southern coast, a brilliant sun bearing the name Fairy Tail was slowly rising.