Things will really start to move along after this chapter, time-wise.

Late afternoon saw Mystogan at his desk, still struggling with the reports. Having a past incident of Erza's to refer to was definitely helping him fill in the form's information, but the one question of "how guild member is to be penalized" was giving him a migraine. The guild masters were expected to decide on the punishments? What was the point of the Rune Knights and magical court system if it was self-regulated by the guilds? There was also the matter of what to do about the filing situation which was proving to be a hearty distraction all on its own. It was clear from what Cana had revealed that if he was going to have any chance of locating anything in the near future… he was going to have to completely empty the filing cabinets, sort the contents, and then refile everything. Cana had declined to help, herself. In fact, she was presently taking a nap in the infirmary, having skedaddled as soon as it seemed like he was going to ask her to assist him. Honestly he didn't blame her. Mystogan didn't want to do this himself. Even just the little amount he'd accomplished on it thus far really only amounted to making a mess of the office.

Just as he was contemplating just… getting up and leaving it all behind him with a note to not look for him, he heard a knock at the door.

"Guild Master? This is Erza Scarlet."

Oh. Oh no.

That was the last thing that he needed right now.

"Mirajane told me to come see you as soon as I arrived back at the guild."

She was back. Early? Mystogan felt like it was too early for her to be back. Wasn't she being questioned by the Rune Knights? He thought he remembered the report mentioning that. It was definitely too soon for her to return. In fact, he was struggling to believe that they would just… let her go. After destroying an entire ecosystem.

Mystogan opened his mouth to tell her to come back a little later, only to find the words stuck in his throat.

Wait. What if she recognized his voice?

It was something that he hadn't considered before, since he'd been preoccupied with doing all he could to avoid being recognized for his face. But his voice was a problem, too. The council member – Siegrain – didn't seem to have the exact same voice as him from what little he'd heard of it on a lacrima screen he'd passed by once, but Mystogan couldn't rule out the possibility that it just sounded different to him because he'd never had his own voice played back at him. That was a thing, right? Porlyusica had mentioned it once, back when his voice first broke and he'd thought something was wrong with him.

Erza knocked again when there was no answer. "Guild Master? Are you in there?"

…Maybe he could pretend he was out. Yeah. That seemed like a solid option.

"I'm unlocking the door, now."

Who the hell gave Erza a key to the guild master's office?!

Stupid question. It was clearly Makarov.

Scrambling to affix his head wrapping, he silently cursed the old man that had put him into this predicament in the first place, and his counterparts for making the whole disguise thing necessary in the first place. There was no way he was going to survive a week of this, let alone until the next Anima appeared!

And now his old friend nausea had returned as well. Fantastic. Just how many other people had keys to the office? Was he going to have to change the locks? Issue a key recall? He couldn't be having heart attacks every other day from people just letting themselves in when he wasn't ready for it.

Speaking of, she was entering and his face wrapping wasn't quite as airtight as usual but it was going to have to suffice for the moment because there was no time to make it better. Hopefully the tattoo wasn't showing. Should he get a mirror for his desk? To check in the future before letting people in? Though not that it mattered if people had keys to let themselves in all the time.

Erza opened the door, startling a little and freezing in surprise at seeing just who now sat behind the guild master's desk.

Yeah you and me both, Erza, Mystogan thought.

"Is that… Mystogan?" Erza inquired curiously. "This is… unexpected. I did not know that you had returned to the guild. It is good to see you."

He nodded shortly at her. How weird. She looked… almost happy to Mystogan. Then again, it had been a while. He did everything he could to avoid her, after all, and tended to put her (and the rest of the guild) to sleep whenever he did encounter her by accident.

She took a few steps into the room, leaving the door open behind her. "Have you seen Master Makarov? I was looking for him – " Her voice suddenly cut off, as she surveyed Mystogan's rather telling position behind the desk, the piles of paperwork surrounding him, the various half-open filing cabinets, and files scattered around the room.

Oh. Oh no. This was not… This did not look good for him. What if she thought he was up to something? Clearly no one had told her about the regime change just yet. And the door had been locked, and he'd said nothing when she'd knocked… Now here she found him, face covered up, going through the guild paperwork and (despite his best efforts to contain the mess) looking like he'd tossed the joint.

This is not what it looks like! I promise! I'm just trying to get it organized! He wanted to tell her that but the words were not coming out.

Understanding began to dawn on her face. "Oh, so that's what Mirajane meant when she said there had been a change in the office. Did Makarov retire? Are you the new guild master?"

Mystogan nodded again tersely, still unsure about his voice, and starting to sweat bullets. That had been a close call. He vaguely wondered if he should be concerned that Erza did come to the correct conclusion, but then she restarted her journey towards the desk. The tattoo really wasn't showing, was it? Because that was the one dead-giveaway. Why in Earthland and Edolas had he decided that would be good idea?! A similar face could be passed off, even a similar voice maybe, but not both those and an identical facial tattoo!

She stopped just in front of his desk and held her gauntleted hand out to him. "Congratulations, then."

Hesitant but relieved that she hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss just yet, he leaned forward and shook her proffered hand.

"So… what did you need to see me for, Guild Master?" she inquired, expectant.

He honestly had no idea what she was talking about. He hadn't sent for her, not that he could recall. And even so, he had been avoiding her for years, even dazed or drunk he wouldn't willingly arrange for them to be in the same room together. …Probably. No, most likely not. He had a healthy sense of self-preservation. So then why…

Mirajane. She probably thought that Erza would be helpful in resolving his little… issue with the incident paperwork. Relieved that he now had the thread, he picked up the incomplete report and handed it over to her.

Taking the report from him, Erza frowned at it for a moment, perplexed. With a glimmer, eyeglasses materialized on her face as she performed a swift requip. Properly geared up, she began to read over the document.

Erza was nearsighted?

The hapless new guild master didn't have time to dwell on the discovery long, as she soon paled. "Ah… I… I see…" she stuttered out, the glasses disappearing from whence they had come. Her entire body began to shake like a leaf in a windstorm. "I… um…" Erza swallowed thickly. "I will be… sure to handle this… appropriately…" Then, to Mystogan's great confusion, she bowed quickly. "I hope you have a good day, Guild Master."

Mystogan watched blankly as she swiftly turned on her heel and departed his office – incident report still in hand. The door shut in the frame with a snick as Mystogan tried to process what he'd just seen.

What had just happened? That had not been what he'd expected. All he'd done was give her the paperwork, and then she'd just… left? Why… what? What?

Did… did Erza think he was asking her to fill out the report herself?

That was an option?! That had been an option this whole time?!

Mystogan's head made a thunk as it hit the desk.

Maybe Cana had the right idea after all. It was time for a nap.