Chapter 390: Invitation from the Royal Family
Princess Emerald opened her eyes wide, staring in disbelief at what was happening before her eyes.
Just in the last second, she was still thinking, "It's over. I'm going to be taken hostage. Then the two wizards, Kira and Jura, and the innocent people behind me might be implicated." She didn't expect that there would be such a turn of events in the next second.
After the Finance Minister was knocked away by a crystal ball of unknown origin, several more identical crystal balls flew by and accurately hit the orcs who were holding down the Emerald Princess, causing them to scream.
This time, Princess Emerald saw clearly that what saved her was a green crystal ball made of the same material as the orc, about half the size of a head. Judging from the muffled sound after it hit the orc, it must have been very heavy.
Before she could react, several more black shadows rushed into the crowd. The black shadows moved very quickly, shuttling back and forth. The orcs' shouts rose one after another. In just a dozen breaths, they all fell to the ground.
Who saved me?
Just as she was wondering, she suddenly heard several voices coming from behind her.
"Why did you suddenly attack, Urrutia? Do you know him? Or do you have a grudge against him?"
"I don't know him, but he doesn't look like a good person. Beat him up first!"
"Hey, hey... When did you become so impulsive? Could it be that you've caught the 'Fairy Tail' bug after spending a few days together?"
"I think what Urrutia did was right! I also don't think that person is a good person!"
"Well~ I want to say that you guys are judging people by appearance, but I think so too... Eric, what do you think?"
"Don't worry, you guessed it right, he is indeed not a good person, this is called appearance reflects the heart!"
"See, I told you..."
Princess Jade looked over and saw that the people who had helped her were five men and three women wearing the same vests, one of whom looked like a child. She suddenly felt that these eight people looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen them before. But there was no doubt that they were the ones who had helped her.
"Thank you for your help! Eh?! You are from last time..."
Jade stood up and took two steps forward, bowed and said thank you. When she stood up, she was suddenly stunned. She looked at the leader Jellal and was stunned for a moment. Obviously, she recognized Jellal who saved her in the Winter Hot Spring Hotel before; and the people opposite also recognized the princess, and her daze caused them to laugh at Jellal.
"Oh my, what a coincidence! How could there be such a coincidence in the world? Don't you think so?"
“That’s right… This is the second time, Jellal~”
"Is it because he was wearing clothes this time that I didn't recognize him for a moment?"
"Ah! Destiny! What a magical and romantic thing!"
Gerard became more and more annoyed as he listened, and angrily stopped everyone from doing that: "I say... that's enough! If you keep talking, you will have to pay for your living expenses!"
Kira has not distributed any money to this organization since its establishment, and the proceeds from their crackdown on the dark guilds are almost all managed by Jellal, the acting leader, which means that he has always held the financial power.
There was no other way, because the others had no experience in this area. If they were in charge, they would definitely spend money without hesitation - even Urrutia couldn't do that, because he was busy researching skin care products recently and spent even more money!
After Gerard said this, the others restrained themselves a little and stopped making fun of him in person - they chose to turn their heads away.
“…I’ll deal with you later!”
Jellal covered his head in silence, then walked up and asked, "I remember you are the princess of Fiore, right? Why are you here?"
After a brief exchange, both sides learned the reason why they were here.
Jellal and his companions took a bystander attitude towards the tense situation between the two countries and the political turmoil in the country under their feet. They only cared about the black magic in the hands of the other party. After learning that Kira judged that it was not Zeref's, they almost went back home;
Jade was surprised at the identities of the other people. She didn't expect that the person who saved her twice was the criminal wanted by the Council as rumored, as well as the remnants of several of the most famous dark guilds in the magic world. She was also surprised by their current changes, but what she didn't expect was that they were so familiar with Kira.
No wonder I've always heard that the Fairy Tail guild is a mess. It turns out it's really this messed up! Is it really okay to do this? Does the Council know about this?
At the end, Gerard requested, "If possible, I hope you can keep our affairs secret!"
"You have done me a favor twice, which means you have done a favor to the Kingdom of Fiore. And now you are still fighting against the dark forces. I will certainly not let you get into trouble because of me!"
Princess Emerald readily agreed, and after hesitating for a few seconds, she suggested, "Perhaps, I can give you another choice!"
"Huh?" Several people were puzzled.
"In fact, the Fiore royal family has been organizing magic forces for a long time. One of them is responsible for supervising the movements of all magic guilds in the kingdom. Its function is equivalent to the combination of the inspection team and the detention team of the Council. If you are interested, you can become a member of the kingdom and live openly in the future."
“Eh??!!!” After these words came out, Gerard and the others were stunned. They looked at each other and said cautiously, “But…but…we are the Dark Guild…we are wanted criminals by the Council!”
"Don't worry about that. I can pardon your crimes on behalf of the royal family!"
Several people were stunned again: "Forgive our sins? Is that really possible?"
Princess Emerald smiled brightly : "Weren't you forced to do this in the first place? Since you yearn for light in your heart and have decided to take responsibility for your past sins in the future, it should be more convenient to act in this identity, right?"
Of course, the pardon here is tied to joining the army! Although Feicui thanked them for saving her life, she still felt it necessary to carefully verify their experiences. Of course, if it is finally confirmed to be correct, a direct pardon is not a problem.
The olive branch from the other party was thrown so unexpectedly that even Gerard didn't react in time.
He looked at Eric, who understood what he meant and nodded to him, indicating that the princess was sincere and had no other thoughts.
But this made them even more entangled: if they accepted the offer, they would be officially appointed magicians of the kingdom and would have to eat government food. Originally, this was a good thing for all of them, but... they were worried that they would lose their hard-earned freedom.
Accept it, or not? Choose legal identity, or choose freedom in life? This is the question!
After some consideration, several people turned their eyes to the acting leader and diplomat Gerard, intending to let him make the initial decision that would affect future form of the organization.
As for Kira, that guy doesn't care about anything but making promises. What kind of boss is that? - Well, the fact is that they don't want Kira to be affected by them and others. Isn't it better to just be the "sage" of "Fairy Tail" and the "Holy Ten" of the magic world?
Jellal's answer was naturally up to everyone's expectations: "We are all people who have committed serious crimes. We were able to avoid the sanctions of the Council because Kira came forward to guarantee us and gave us the opportunity to make amends. We are very grateful that you gave us the opportunity to be exempted from guilt and serve in the royal troops, but we cannot betray Kira's trust!"
This was a clever answer: it expressed gratitude for the princess's kind invitation without making the other party feel dissatisfied; it suppressed the two life-saving graces and created another opportunity for future pardon; it stated that he could not let Kira down and perfectly created a positive image; it explicitly stated that the invitation was rejected because of Kira's trust, implying that he and others were eager to be pardoned; and most importantly, if he hadn't changed jobs, he would not have been beaten up by Kira.
It would be impossible to come up with such words within three seconds without some intelligence and EQ. Among these eight people, only Gerard has this ability.
His meaning was clear: I want both immunity and freedom!
"Really? That's a pity!" Princess Emerald didn't seem too surprised by Jellal's reply.
In fact, she had anticipated this kind of thing. Although she had sincerely invited him just now, she was also prepared to be rejected.
According to her understanding, the more powerful people are, the more they value freedom, so the powerful wizards in the kingdom prefer to work in the Magic Guild.
It is for this reason that Fiore's royal army has not been able to recruit any powerful wizards. For example, the strongest of the Hungry Wolf Knights, who are specialized in executions, cannot compare to the S-class wizards of those powerful magic guilds.
"This invitation is always valid. If you change your mind in the future, you can always come to the capital to find me!"
