Fiore Kingdom – Magnolia Town – Fairy Tail Guild…
"Phew~"
In the guild's bathhouse, Gildarts, who had been badly beaten by Selene during a mission and forced to retreat, now lay soaking in the hot water, battered and bruised. Across from him sat Evan, Laxus, Makarov, and several other male Fairy Tail members.
"So, what did you call us all here for, Gildarts?"
Evan, submerged waist-deep in the water, looked at Gildarts curiously.
"Phew~" Gildarts exhaled in comfort, then gave Evan a helpless look and said, "Evan, things can't go on like this! Ever since Selene and Irene formed that so-called 'Fairy Tail Women's Association,' we male mages have seen our status in the guild drop like a rock! I'm not even allowed to peek into the women's bath anymore and watch the young, beautiful girls bathe. This is outrageous! Those women don't even treat us like people anymore…"
"No, no, no, you never had the right to peep in the first place…"
"And it's not that those women don't treat you like a person. It's that, as a person, you insist on acting like a perverted mutt. Who would treat someone like that with respect?"
Evan raised an eyebrow. Just listen to the kind of trash Gildarts was spouting.
"True, forbidding peeping is way too much. That should definitely be condemned!"
"Also, last time, when I ordered all the female mages in the guild, under the authority of my role as guild master, to only wear miniskirts, the Women's Association gave me a warning. Poor old me, all I wanted was to catch a glimpse of some youthful underwear. What's so wrong with that?!"
Makarov, the tiny old man, nodded enthusiastically at Gildarts' words, clearly in agreement.
"That's even worse!"
Evan was speechless. He didn't even know what to say about this dirty old man anymore.
"Master…"
Gildarts looked at Makarov with heartfelt gratitude.
"Gildarts!"
Makarov returned the gaze with equal feeling. Their eyes met, as if silently saying, I understand you, brother.
"You two are beyond saving…"
Evan stared at Makarov and Gildarts, utterly exasperated.
"So, in order to protect the rights of male mages in our guild, I was thinking… why don't we form a Fairy Tail Men's Association or something? What do you guys think?"
Gildarts continued building on his earlier thoughts.
"Men's Association?"
Evan raised an eyebrow. Something about this idea reeked of ulterior motives. Gildarts was definitely planning something shady and wanted to drag him down with him.
"A Men's Association would be a group where men help each other out. For example, when I'm trying to peek at the women's bath, you, Evan, would help me distract Selene and Irene, so they don't stop me…"
Gildarts looked at Evan dead serious as he made his ridiculous request.
"I'm leaving."
Evan stood up wordlessly, ready to go.
"Wait!"
Seeing Evan about to leave, Gildarts jumped up from the water and grabbed onto him.
"Don't drag me into this nonsense!"
Veins bulged on Evan's forehead as he shouted at Gildarts.
"But Evan, you're the only one who can hold off Selene and Irene! No one else in the guild can stop them! Please, help us! Just let me peek, I'm begging you!"
Gildarts clung to Evan's leg, tearfully pleading.
"Absolutely not!"
The veins on Evan's forehead throbbed harder as he flat-out refused.
"Evan, I'm begging you too."
Just as Evan was about to kick Gildarts away, Makarov, perverted old man that he was, latched onto Evan's other leg.
"Master, you too?!"
Evan twitched in disbelief as Makarov unexpectedly joined in.
"Please! If you help us distract Selene and Irene, when it's your turn to sneak a peek, we'll risk our lives to stop them for you…"
In an instant, both Makarov and Gildarts clung to Evan's legs, pleading in unison.
"Oh really? So if I help you two, I get to peek too? How kind of you."
"But I refuse."
"I, Evan, despise lowly, depraved behavior like this. You two scumbags, even worse, scumbags who are fathers, let go of me. Now."
Evan barked at them, full of disgust.
"Please, Evan! You're the only one who can do this!!"
"And we promise not to peek at Erza and Irene!"
Makarov and Gildarts continued begging, holding tightly onto Evan's legs.
"What?! You actually want to peek at Erza and Irene?! You two have a death wish?! Say the word and I'll personally punch you both straight into hell!"
Evan's face darkened with fury.
"Please!!"
Undeterred, Makarov and Gildarts persisted. After all, shamelessness was one of Fairy Tail's many spiritual values.
"You two done yet?! Let go! I'm finished bathing, I'm leaving!"
Evan roared at the two leg-clingers like a man at his limit.
"Pathetic…"
On the other side of the bath, Laxus rolled his eyes. He had thought Gildarts summoned him for something serious. But it was for this?
A faint blush crossed Laxus's usually stern face. With a cold snort, he walked off without another word.
It wasn't that Laxus wasn't curious, but as Fairy Tail's top idol, he absolutely could not stoop to such depravity.
Boom!
Moments after Laxus left the bath, Evan slammed his signature "Azure Dragon's Crushing Fist" down on Gildarts and Makarov.
His strike was precise, Gildarts was almost beaten half to death, while Makarov only received a symbolic scare.
Being a sly old fox, Makarov instantly realized what Evan meant. He immediately let go of Evan's leg, dared not block his path again, and didn't utter another word about peeking on the women's bath.
Slap…
Just as Evan was about to leave, an old hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
"Hm?"
Evan blinked in surprise and turned slightly.
Standing there was a white-bearded elder, shirtless, wrapped in a white towel, his gaze fixed intently on Evan.
"Uh…"
Feeling that gaze, Evan instinctively shuddered.
"August? It's only been a few days, don't tell me you've suddenly developed an interest in men?"
Evan looked at the old man, testing the waters.
"Huh?"
The elder, August, froze for a second, his brows furrowing deeply.
"What are you talking about?"
He looked completely puzzled by Evan's remark.
"Oh, really? Nothing. Just asking casually…"
Evan glanced at August's calm expression and let out a small sigh of relief. It was clear to him now that August hadn't suddenly "come out," which eased his nerves a bit.
"Evan, actually… there's something I'd like to ask of you."
August's expression turned serious as he looked at Evan, his eyes flickering slightly.
That was because August had just heard some astonishing things from ERA's former council chairman, Crawford Seim. And through observing Evan and Fairy Tail's behavior, he had come to an even more shocking conclusion, that Fairy Tail's ultimate goal wasn't merely the conquest of Earthland, but the conquest of the entire universe, and the horrifying creation of Fairy Tail colonies across it…
So now, August had decided to confirm this with Evan directly.
"Uh…"
"You're not planning to sneak a peek at the women's bath too, are you? If it's the Alvarez Empire's bathhouse, go ahead, I don't manage that. But as for Fairy Tail's bathhouse, I'd advise you not to. After all, your mother's soul is over there too, enjoying a good soak~"
Evan blinked at him, then looked August up and down. Shaking his head, he muttered inwardly, Who would've thought? August acts all serious, but turns out he's just another old pervert.
"What nonsense?!"
August froze. Peeping on the women's bath? What the hell?!
Did he, August, look like that kind of man?
"I actually came to ask you something serious. And I hope you'll answer me honestly."
August looked at Evan, completely exasperated, trying to explain.
"You scared me for a second. I thought you were here with the same intentions as those two 'corpses' over there~"
Evan chuckled and pointed at Gildarts and Makarov, who were either unconscious or pretending to be after his earlier beatdown.
"…"
Hearing this, August's eyes narrowed as he looked at Gildarts and Makarov's floating bodies.
He had just overheard that his mother's spirit was bathing in there too. Whether or not ghosts actually needed baths was debatable, but facts were facts.
So Gildarts and Makarov were trying to spy on his mother bathing?!
As the thought crossed August's mind, a sudden urge surged within him to obliterate the two 'corpses' floating nearby.
Fortunately, just as he was about to act, reason triumphed over rage, and Gildarts and Makarov were spared.
A lucky day for those two degenerates. Truly, a cause for celebration…
"Sigh… So what did you want to talk about, Mr. August?"
Evan looked at him helplessly.
"Evan, could you tell me… in detail… about Fairy Tail's strategic plans and future goals for universal conquest?"
August asked with a deadly serious expression.
"...Huh?!"
Evan froze. He had no idea what August was even talking about.
"Don't lie to me, Evan. I'm a member of Fairy Tail now, I should be allowed to know about its core plans, shouldn't I?
I know that Fairy Tail is building up strength, preparing to conquer the world of Earthland…"
August's eyes gleamed with intensity as he spoke.
"If such a plan did exist, I'd honestly love to tell you. But the truth is… we have no such plan."
Evan sighed, clearly confused and exasperated.
"Huh?! That can't be right…"
August blinked in disbelief.
"Also, where exactly did you hear about this conquering the universe thing, Mr. August?
That's incredibly dangerous, why would we ever want to do that?!"
Evan asked, still baffled.
"Uh… well…"
August hesitated. From Evan's expression, he could tell the man wasn't lying.
Maybe he had misunderstood everything after all…
"I suppose I should explain everything properly…"
August decided to come clean.
Meanwhile…
Fairy Tail Women's Association – Meeting Grounds
Elentear World – Mount Kuroya at Night – In a Hot Spring…
Yes, the Fairy Tail women's gathering wasn't even happening in Earthland!
They didn't bathe in Earthland at all. So Gildarts' wild ambitions had been doomed from the start.
"So… why did we end up holding this meeting in a hot spring anyway?"
Kagura sat in the water with only her head above the surface, her face slightly flushed, her eyes scanning the others.
Erza, inheriting Irene's prime genes, had already become quite… developed.
Mirajane, who rivaled Erza in power, also matched her nearly measure for measure.
Cana, usually low-key, turned out to be surprisingly well-endowed too.
Then there was Ul, mature, confident, and a shining example of big-sister appeal that put even Mira, Cana, and Erza to shame.
Ultear, as Ul's daughter, had clearly surpassed the master.
As for Selah, Selene, and Irene… there were no words. Their sheer volume made Kagura's blood pressure spike.
"Why is everyone so blessed…?"
Kagura, shrinking into the water, didn't dare reveal her own figure. Her confidence had completely evaporated.
But just then, as Kagura floated in the spring with only her head exposed, a gentle hand touched her shoulder.
"Hm?!"
She flinched and turned her head.
Before her appeared three small heads, Mavis, Levy, and Wendy.
At that moment, all three were mimicking Kagura, showing only their heads above water, keeping their bodies tightly hidden below.
"Heh… Guess I'm not alone."
Kagura smiled brightly at the sight.
"Let's all promise right now! No secretly growing up behind each other's backs! We'll be best sisters forever~!"
Mavis, the first Guild Master of Fairy Tail, looked at the others with a solemn gaze.
"Yeah!!!"
In unison, Kagura, Mavis, Levy, and Wendy raised their fists toward the sky, swearing an oath of eternal sisterhood.
They vowed to stay forever young, to never grow up… at least not secretly.
…Too bad none of them knew yet that even the closest sisters could betray each other.
After all, someone always grows up in secret.
Sisterhood? It only lasts until someone breaks the pact…