That day, after speaking with Raizel, Mirajane went to discuss matters with Makarov.
Once her injuries had fully healed, she officially began her work as the Fairy Tail Guild's "poster girl" and waitress.
Makarov fully supported Mirajane's decision.
His thoughts aligned with Raizel's: as long as it was Mirajane's own choice, that was enough.
While the Guild members found it a bit strange that the "Demon" Mirajane had suddenly stopped taking on missions to serve drinks, they didn't press for details.
Instead, they were quite pleased—after all, no one wanted to deal with the rowdier members like Max and the others, and Mirajane handled them with grace.
Mirajane had already been all smiles even before she stopped using Satan Soul, so everyone was quite accustomed to her cheerful demeanor.
They just noticed that she dressed up more beautifully now and seemed even gentler, perhaps because she had changed her style.
She used to prefer gothic black dresses, but now she styled her silver bangs over her forehead and switched to a maroon dress with a pink bow tied at the chest.
Her eyes often curved into crescents, and a faint serene smile always graced her lips.
As for Elfman and Lisanna, Mirajane had spoken with them the previous night.
She told them she wouldn't be taking on missions anymore, but she wouldn't influence their decisions either.
Whether they chose to continue with missions or make other choices, as their older sister, she would support them.
Elfman immediately declared that he would continue taking on missions.
He vowed that one day he would fully control the Beast King himself, fulfill his duties as a man, and protect his sisters.
He had another thought he didn't voice: he believed that only when he could control the Beast King would his sister truly be able to relax completely.
However, if Elfman had said it aloud, Mirajane would have told him he was overthinking it.
Before her conversation with Raizel, that might have been the case, but now she had let go of such heavy burdens.
She realized she shouldn't be overly protective or doting on Lisanna and Elfman. She also reflected that she bore some responsibility for Elfman's lack of firm resolve in the past.
Lisanna hadn't made up her mind yet.
She found missions fun, but being a poster girl also seemed nice.
Since she was still young, Mirajane told her there was no rush to decide; she could wait until she was older.
When Erza returned from a mission and heard the news, she didn't have any strong opinions, though she felt a bit regretful.
After all, Mirajane was one of the few in their age group who could rival her.
If Mirajane stopped taking missions, it would feel awkward to challenge her to spar too often.
Ultear was an option, but these days she had a rather detached, peaceful demeanor.
If you asked her for a spar, she wouldn't even look up from her book, simply telling you she'd rather read a bit more.
'Forget it, I'll just spar with Raizel more often...' Erza thought to herself.
...
Time passed day by day, and the year X782 quietly came to an end.
Nothing particularly notable happened this year, except for the year-end S-Class Mage Exam.
Mystogan emerged as a dark horse, successively defeating several Mages, including Kagura and Freed, to successfully advance to the rank of S-Class Mage.
Mystogan was quite an oddity—before the fights, no one paid him much attention, but after the battles, he became famous overnight.
It was the Ishgar version of "Today you ignore me, tomorrow you won't be able to reach me."
It was a pity Kagura didn't pass this year, but she was still young after all.
Having participated in the S-Class exam twice at her age was already quite impressive.
Just look at Gray and Natsu, who were two years older than her—they still hadn't taken it even once.
Of course, those two mainly caused too much destruction, with complaint forms piling up one after another at the guild.
In terms of raw ability, they could probably handle the S-Class exam without much issue, but their conduct held them back.
Kagura hadn't participated last year simply because she chose not to, originally planning to accumulate experience for a year.
Unexpectedly, she encountered the overpowered Mystogan this year.
He wielded five magic staves, casting various high-level spells while using Illusion Magic to interfere with her senses.
Having never encountered Illusion Magic before, Kagura was completely unprepared.
Under Mystogan's dazzling display of skills, she struck down an illusionary double with her sword and ultimately lost to him in the final round.
Fortunately, she wasn't discouraged and didn't really mind.
Raizel always said that true strength is more important than reputation or rank, and she agreed with that.
Raizel also comforted her by saying that with her abilities, she would have long been the ace and an S-Class Mage in any ordinary guild.
Makarov was beginning to think he should slightly control the number of S-Class Mages, as the guild currently had a bit of an overflow.
While other Guild Masters lamented that their top-tier strength wasn't powerful enough, Makarov wanted to say, "Could you all not be so strong?" This wasn't vanity; he genuinely worried there wouldn't be enough S-Class quests to go around.
Especially Cana—she was currently the craziest about taking quests.
As she put it, "I'm still buried in debt and need to complete quests quickly to repay it," even though Erza and Ultear never actually pressured her for the money.
Other guilds considered two S-Class Mages a luxury, but Fairy Tail? Besides Gildarts, who was on the Century Quest, and excluding Raizel (who only took quests involving demons) and Mirajane (who had transitioned to being a receptionist), there were still Laxus, Mystogan, Ultear, Erza, and Cana.
That was already too many, not to mention others like Kagura, Natsu, and Gray, who would all be considered elite in any other guild.
...
Time gradually approached the end of X783.
First came the S-Class assessment, which no one passed this year.
Makarov had increased the difficulty this time, instructing Laxus and Mystogan not to go easy on anyone during the trials.
If he had to pick someone who could have passed, he thought Kagura might have made it if she had participated.
Unfortunately, Kagura didn't take part.
He didn't know what madness had taken Raizel, who suddenly accepted a Ten-Year Quest after the Harvest Festival, taking Ultear, Erza, and Kagura along with him.
If it were just Raizel alone, Makarov definitely wouldn't have agreed.
But with such an impressive lineup, he had no reason to refuse.
He approved Raizel's request without hesitation, only advising them to be careful.
After all, there were still Laxus and Mystogan to handle the regular S-Class quests at the guild.
Actually, Raizel wasn't suddenly being reckless.
He had previously promised Ultear and the others that they would go on quests together after they became S-Class Mages.
No matter what, he had to fulfill this promise.
The Ten-Year Quest they accepted wasn't particularly mentally demanding—it was just a high-level Extermination Quest, though the location was quite remote, near the northern border.
After discussing it with Erza and the others, Raizel decided against teleporting or flying there directly.
Instead, they planned to travel slowly by conventional transportation.
The reason was simple: Raizel and the others had never been to these places before.
On their previous journey back to Magnolia from the northern border years ago, they had rushed without proper rest or sightseeing.
This trip would allow them to appreciate different landscapes and treat it as a journey.
Following their departure came the meteoric rise of individuals like Natsu, accompanied by a flood of complaint forms.
Makarov had acquired a new task over the past two years—writing letters of apology and self-criticism to the Council—which he did so frequently it nearly made him go bald!
However, adhering to his fine principle of "I admit my mistakes in writing, but I won't change my ways," Makarov would verbally scold Natsu and Gray for always causing him trouble, yet inwardly he was pleased.
He never stopped Natsu, since, in the end, it wasn't his personal money being used for compensation, but the guild's collective pool—or Natsu's own reward money.