Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 142: Rhodes, When Are You Going Out Again?

On the way back, Rhodes and his team boarded a train

This time, Rhodes didn't need to struggle for a seat. Alzack mustered up the courage to sit in the same row as Bisca.

However, there was still a gap between them—one staring out the window at the passing scenery, the other looking down awkwardly at the aisle.

Rhodes pulled out a deck of cards to break the tension. From now on, he decided to let Alzack handle his love life on his own.

It felt as if the relationship between these two could burst into passionate love at any moment, perhaps progressing even faster than his own.

He felt a pang of envy.

When he got back, Rhodes planned to train for a few more days before choosing a suitable mission to tackle alongside Elfman.

The journey was peaceful, though the weather grew gloomy as they neared Magnolia.

Bisca glanced outside and murmured curiously, "Who's that?"

Rhodes and Alzack quickly turned their heads. Standing alone on a small hill just outside town was a cloaked figure, several staffs secured on his back.

"That must be Mystogan, right?" Rhodes guessed. "I caught a glimpse of him a few days ago, but unfortunately didn't get to see his face."

"So that's Mystogan...?" Alzack murmured. "He really covers himself up a lot, doesn't he?"

This was the first time he and Bisca had clearly seen Mystogan, despite being hypnotized by him several times before. If they hadn't noticed him now, they probably wouldn't recognize him even if he walked past them in the street.

Rhodes leaned in mischievously. "Hey, want to take this chance to shoot him a few times?"

Bisca blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Just annoyed, that's all. Don't you remember hitting your head after being hypnotized?" Rhodes recalled his own embarrassing fall from Mystogan's spell.

Wait a second, hadn't he fallen alongside Mira back then?

At the time, he'd been too panicked to notice.

Could it be Mystogan wasn't actually a bad guy?

No, no, that wasn't right—rude behavior was still rude!

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Alzack considered, tempted. "Wouldn't it be fair to hit him with an anesthetic bullet or something and leave him sleeping out there as revenge?"

"But not now," Bisca objected gently. "He seems to be doing something important. Is that some kind of special training?"

At that moment, Mystogan drove five staffs deep into the ground. A swirling vortex was forming in the clouds above, as if preparing to tear open the sky itself.

Mystogan's cloak whipped in the gusting wind as he firmly grasped the central staff with both hands.

Layer after layer of glowing magic circles rose up around him, surging skyward into the clouds.

Suddenly, the hole in the sky rapidly shrank, and the swirling vortex reversed direction, spinning smaller and smaller until it vanished completely—as if nothing had ever happened.

Mystogan visibly relaxed, slowly retrieving each staff. As he walked away, his back seemed weary and somewhat strained.

Rhodes stared in amazement. "What kind of magic could possibly affect the clouds and weather like that?"

"Maybe the Jupiter Cannon could disperse a small cloud," Bisca mused. "Is this what one of our guild's strongest wizards can do? Just how powerful is he?"

"I'm not sure," Alzack admitted thoughtfully, "but that didn't look like training."

"We should ask Master about it," Rhodes suggested. He remembered Mira mentioning that Mystogan had been spotted around Magnolia lately.

Maybe he'd been carrying out a secret mission, which explained why he'd been hanging around nearby.

Rhodes glanced thoughtfully at the gloomy sky overhead.

'Could Mystogan's secret mission really have been... to create artificial rain?'

...

"Mystogan has his own mission; don't worry about him," Makarov quickly changed the subject, clearly unwilling to elaborate further.

Hearing this, the trio understood it must be a highly confidential mission.

Rhodes reported the details of their mission to Master Makarov and Mira, praising Alzack and Bisca's outstanding marksmanship and battle prowess.

In turn, Alzack and Bisca complimented Rhodes' meticulous preparations and strategic coordination during the mission.

Rhodes' presence had significantly saved them time, prevented many potential complications, and resolved numerous minor issues along the way.

Silently, Alzack also acknowledged that Rhodes had helped resolve one particularly big problem.

Mira scribbled a few notes into the guild logbook and smiled warmly, "All done! Congratulations."

She glanced at Rhodes, eyes sparkling with curiosity, eager for some interesting stories from their journey.

Master Makarov nodded with approval, "You all did very well."

While it hadn't been an especially difficult mission, they'd successfully captured the bandits swiftly and efficiently, without causing extra trouble or property damage.

Such smooth execution certainly deserved the old master's praise.

"Oh, by the way," Rhodes suddenly suggested, "We haven't eaten lunch yet. How about we have a celebratory meal together? We can eat here in the guild."

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Alzack stole a quick glance at Bisca, stammering slightly, "I-I'm fine with that."

Bisca also quickly peeked at Alzack and replied shyly, "Yeah, sure!"

Although they'd eaten together yesterday, that was during their mission. Eating together in the guild had a totally different feel to it!

Rhodes sighed internally. He had initially planned not to get involved any further.

But Mira clearly wanted some juicy gossip.

Thus, Rhodes shamelessly betrayed Alzack—though from his perspective, he was being incredibly supportive.

"Mira, have you eaten yet?" Rhodes asked cheerfully. "Want to join us?"

Mira blinked with surprise, smiling gently, "Is that okay?"

"Absolutely!" Alzack quickly jumped in, thinking he had deciphered Rhodes' intentions and wanting to repay the favor.

Bisca seemed to agree silently—one more person would ease their awkwardness.

And so, the four friends sat together at a table inside the lively guild hall. The atmosphere wasn't exactly awkward, but it was certainly amusingly peculiar.

Rhodes and Mira eagerly awaited any romantic developments between Alzack and Bisca. Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca thought they were watching the budding relationship between Rhodes and Mira.

While eating, the group shared amusing stories from their mission the day before. The guild's notorious gossip-lovers eagerly listened in, enjoying every juicy detail.

By lunchtime, everyone in the guild had happily consumed enough gossip to fill them up, leaving some feeling humorously overstuffed.

"This might've been a bad idea," Rhodes lamented afterward. "I thought bringing you to enjoy the show up close would be fun, but it ended up so awkward."

Mira giggled softly, "Don't you think awkward situations can be entertaining, too?"

Rhodes playfully groaned at Mira's strange sense of humor, "Your definition of 'entertaining' is really something else..."

Suddenly, Master Makarov interjected, "Rhodes, when do you plan to head out again? Have you considered forming another team?"

"Master, why are you bringing this up already?" Rhodes smiled good-naturedly. "I've just returned. Did someone pressure you into writing another apology letter or something?"

"That's not it," Makarov replied seriously. "It's November now, and the S-Class Wizard Promotion Trials will take place next month. With your skill level, if you put in a bit more effort, you'd stand a good chance of qualifying. However... do you remember how many missions you've actually completed?"

"Uh... Four," Rhodes counted carefully. "Although, one of those was mostly Mira guiding me, so it really should count as three."

Makarov sighed heavily, "Four months, three missions. Granted, each mission was challenging, and you completed them exceptionally well, but the sheer number of missions completed is just too low."

The S-Class Trials were set for mid-December, but candidates were typically selected at the beginning of the month. If Rhodes wanted to be eligible, he needed to significantly boost his record this month alone.

Only three completed missions certainly wouldn't suffice.