Chapter 384: The Heavenly Blue

"A guild?"

Flare and Sorano stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

"Flare aside, is it really okay for me to be part of the guild team?" Sorano asked, furrowing her brow. "I’m a wanted criminal, in case you forgot."

There was no need for her to hide her identity here; Flare was completely loyal to Finn and would never rat her out. But Finn himself was the Chief of the Magic Council’s Fiore Branch. If anyone discovered he was harboring a former Oración Seis member and secretly inserting her into a tournament, the political fallout would be disastrous.

"Are you sure you want to risk your entire career over this?" Sorano pressed, genuine worry bleeding into her voice.

She had complicated feelings about Finn. He was ruthless, often manipulating her and her former comrades to violently dismantle other dark factions. But the scum they eliminated were truly vile, and Finn funneled the confiscated wealth straight into public infrastructure—creating jobs, funding orphanages, and stabilizing the economy. He operated purely in the shadows, yet he accomplished hundreds of times more good than the self-righteous politicians who only knew how to preach. Finn may not have been a saint, but to those living under his wing, he felt like an unshakable pillar of strength, who somehow also gave meaning to those former members of the Reborn Orecion Seis that they had a job that they could be truly proud of, and that was why, she didn’t want to be a trouble for him.

To answer her grave concerns, Finn calmly reached into his desk, pulled out a cheap blonde wig, and plopped it directly onto Sorano’s head.

"There you go. Flawless disguise."

"....."

Sorano stared at him deadpan. Was he serious? Was this cheap mop of hair supposed to fool an entire continent?!

"Don’t worry," Finn chuckled. "If that isn’t enough, I can transfer the knowledge of basic transformation magic into your mind. You can still use your Angel Magic, or even your Celestial Spirit magic. You haven’t operated publicly in seven years. No one is going to connect the dots." Finn paused, eyeing her standard attire. "More importantly, stop wearing nothing but a bikini in public. If you put on real clothes, absolutely no one is going to recognize ’Angel’ the criminal."

"...."

Sorano’s eye twitched. Was her lack of clothing really her only defining feature? But as infuriating as it was, he was right. Outside of her eccentric wardrobe, she was relatively unrecognizable to the general public.

"So, are the other Oración Seis members joining us too?" she sighed, giving up on arguing. Over the last seven years, her former comrades had learned new magics and kept incredibly low profiles. With proper disguises, they could probably pass as a legitimate team.

"No. Just you," Finn replied. "Flare will be the guild master. Is that alright with you, Flare?"

"Eh?" Flare blinked.

"Don’t worry. You’ll just be a figurehead. I’ll handle everything from the shadows."

"Then that’s fine!" Flare nodded enthusiastically, relieved she wouldn’t have to do any actual thinking and could just focus on taking care of Finn’s needs.

"....."

Sorano stared at the crimson-haired woman in absolute silence. Had Finn’s prowess in bed literally rotted Flare’s brain? Then again, a small part of Sorano couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy at how easily Flare got to lie back and enjoy Finn’s undivided physical attention.

"Are we the only two joining?" Sorano asked, steering her mind back to business. "The Grand Magic Games require a five-person roster, right?"

Even living off the grid, she was well aware of Fiore’s most famous annual festival. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little thrilled at the prospect of stepping into the arena and testing her strength, even if she had to do it in disguise. But she also knew that as long as Finn gave an order, she would obey it. She absolutely refused to be discarded by him.

"The other two will join us shortly. I’ll be having a chat with them soon," Finn said. He already had two very specific women in mind, and he knew exactly how to secure their compliance.

Meanwhile, miles away...

Achooooo!

Achooooo!

Ultear and Meredy sneezed in unison. They rubbed their noses, struck by the sudden, ominous premonition that something wildly entertaining—and deeply troublesome—was hurtling their way.

"Meredy, help me come up with an excuse to ditch Jellal so we can sneak off," Ultear whispered.

"On it~!" Meredy whispered back.

But before they could even formulate a lie, Jellal walked over to them, looking incredibly awkward.

"You two... I need to step out for a bit," Jellal announced, avoiding their gaze.

"Huh?"

"Where are you going?" Ultear asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I’m going to... help someone," Jellal stammered, his face flushing slightly. He knew breaking off on his own was risky and might cause trouble for Crime Sorciere, but he couldn’t stop himself. He desperately needed to be near the woman who constantly occupied his thoughts. "Just wait for me here."

"..."

Ultear and Meredy shared a deadpan look as he hurried off. They both rolled their eyes. It was painfully obvious what this idiot was doing; he was running off to simp for Erza. Still, they weren’t complaining. Jellal’s pathetic lovesickness gave them the perfect window to secretly pay Finn a visit.

Back in Hargeon, Sorano was trying to do the math.

"Okay, so there’s me, Flare, and these two mystery recruits," Sorano counted on her fingers. "That’s only four. Who’s the fifth member?"

"I am," Finn stated simply.

"....What?"

"I’m joining the roster. That makes a complete five-man team."

"...."

Sorano and Flare exchanged a look. They didn’t know the full extent of Finn’s master plan, but the second he decided to enter the arena himself, the Grand Magic Games were as good as won.

Finn’s true objective was multifaceted. Crime Sorciere had already tipped off Fairy Tail about the massive, anomalous dark energy gathering beneath the Crocus arena. Investigating this anomaly presented the perfect opportunity for Finn to manipulate and gain total control over the Kingdom of Fiore.

Honestly, with his immense wealth, political leverage, and the sheer processing power of his Manager, conquering the continent through traditional warfare would be a trivial task. But Finn despised the spotlight. He much preferred operating as the Shadow Ruler, pulling the strings of the world’s most powerful figures like a master puppeteer.

And, of course, stepping into the arena would give him the perfect excuse to test the overwhelming limits of his newly awakened Second Origin against the absolute strongest mages on the continent

But it was totally just for testing, and also for his plan to take control of the kingdom. Definitely not because he was a battle-junkie eager to flex his new strength. Definitely not.

"By the way, what exactly is the name of this new guild, Finn-sama?" Flare asked, tilting her head.

"Heavenly Blue," Finn answered, his eyes gleaming with calculated ambition. "That will be the name of our guild."