Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 281: Kind Rhodes

'Does she know exactly what I'm thinking?'

In that instant, all of Rhodes' irritation vanished like smoke.

Who cared about handsome guys? Who cared about Blue Pegasus? His Mira wasn't the type to get flustered by a few pretty faces.

"WHAT?!" ×3

The trio of Blue Pegasus mages practically screamed in shock.

Mirajane, the top model of Sorcerer Weekly, the newly crowned No. 1 on the "Mage You Most Want as Your Girlfriend" list, had a boyfriend?!

Among them, Hibiki managed his expression the best, quickly smoothing out the disbelief from his face.

"I did hear some rumors a while back..." Hibiki said with a charming smile. "But I figured they were just tabloid gossip. Seems I was wrong. My apologies."

He could understand it well. After all, being ranked No. 1 on the "Mage You Most Want as Your Boyfriend" list himself, Hibiki knew the headaches that came with fame.

Rumors about him dating eighteen girls at once were still floating around, after all.

But now, looking at Mira, she didn't seem troubled at all. In fact, she looked downright happy to show off her relationship.

Hibiki couldn't help but wonder: 'Would Jenny, who just lost the top spot to Mira, be thrilled when she found out about this?'

Meanwhile, Ren remained his usual cold self, refusing to meet their eyes.

"So you already have a boyfriend. Tch, what a shame," he muttered.

"But... if you ever have relationship troubles, you can still come to me. Not that I'm expecting it or anything."

As for Eve, the smallest and most dramatic of the three, he simply clasped his hands together and pleaded:

"It's fine! I just want to call you 'Big Sister'! You're too charming!"

Rhodes clenched his fists, staring at them.

"I really, really want to beat them up."

Mira gave him a sweet smile and said, "You've worked so hard already. Let me handle this one for you."

Her tone was gentle, but the moment she turned to face the Pegasus trio, her entire aura shifted.

An overwhelming surge of magic erupted from Mira.

Her silver hair whipped around her like a storm. The hem of her clothes fluttered wildly. The pressure she released was enough to make the ground seem to tremble.

"T-this pressure..."

"It feels just like when Master gets serious..."

"D-demon... It's Demon Mirajane!"

The three Pegasus mages instinctively backed up several steps, their faces pale.

They remembered it now, Mirajane Strauss hadn't always been the gentle model in magazines.

She had once been known across Fiore as a terrifying powerhouse, the Demon of Fairy Tail.

There were even rumors that she had lost her magic power after an accident, but seeing her now, that clearly wasn't the case.

Model or not, she was still the real deal.

"Wait, wait!" Hibiki stammered, waving his arms frantically. "We're not here to pick a fight! We just came to check on the Rat King! We realized it had already been taken care of!"

Rhodes wrapped an arm around Mira's shoulders and gently pressed his forehead against hers.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. Your hair's getting messy."

He smiled warmly and turned toward the Blue Pegasus trio.

In truth, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus had a pretty good relationship.

Their Guild Masters, Makarov and Bob, were old friends.

But still... Erza tended to flee from a certain someone at Pegasus, Loke hid from everyone at Pegasus, and now, Rhodes was a little disgusted with the trio of Pegasus.

There was definitely something off about the relationship between the younger generation of Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus.

If this kind of awkward tension kept up, without any genuine exchange or friendship building, Rhodes thought grimly, there might not be much of a bond left between the two guilds in the future.

Mira gave a polite nod, her expression smoothing back to its usual warmth.

She asked directly, "So, about the mission?"

Rhodes, meanwhile, was still lightly combing her hair with his fingers, and suddenly paused.

Something about the flow of events felt... strange.

Wasn't he the one who got wronged earlier? And then Mira stepped forward, fiercely protecting him and scaring the troublemakers off. And somehow, everything got settled peacefully because he had been "kind enough" to forgive them?

Something about this order felt off!

Before Rhodes could dwell on it, Hibiki began explaining:

"In truth," Hibiki said smoothly, "the commission we received was to hunt down a Rat King and Rat Queen causing trouble near Lake Mient. The goal was to prevent the infestation from spreading any further."

"But when we arrived at Lake Mient..." Eve continued, looking embarrassed,

"We found that both the Rat King and Queen were already gone. Not just that, the rats around the lake had vanished too."

Ren folded his arms and finished: "Turns out there had been a flood recently. The lake's water level rose sharply, drowning the rats' nest.

All the rats, along with nearby wildlife, had been forced to migrate elsewhere."

The three took turns explaining everything clearly.

They had tracked the fleeing rats here, only to arrive and find the Rat King already defeated. Or rather, beaten into the dirt by a large stone golem, who had not been told to stop smashing it.

As they spoke, Rhodes and Mira exchanged a glance.

So that was the truth behind the rat plague in Ravendel Village.

Lake Mient was about 20 kilometers south of here. The rats had simply migrated to the village after losing their original home.

And it also explained why two different guilds, Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus, were dispatched to deal with the same infestation from two ends, without knowing about each other.

Mira leaned closer and whispered to Rhodes:

"Situations like this happen sometimes."

In fact, it wasn't uncommon.

Sometimes, different clients would post different requests for the same underlying problem. Other times, different clients would unknowingly assign the same job to separate guilds.

When that happened, it often led to... competition.

Rhodes recalled something.

He and Erza had once gotten into a fight with a mage from the "Quatro Cerberus" over a bounty mission.

Competing for a job between guilds was technically allowed.

It didn't break the long-standing treaty that prohibited open warfare between guilds.

It was perfectly reasonable, and completely legal, for Rhodes and Mira to have beaten the trio up, as long as the three hadn't formally surrendered the mission yet.

But unfortunately, Hibiki spoke up decisively:

"Since you've already completed the job, we'll have to consider our mission a failure."

Rhodes quickly raised his hand to stop them. "Wait, don't be so hasty."

He leaned closer to Mira and whispered a few words.

Mira nodded, agreeing to his idea with a gentle smile.

Rhodes straightened up and said warmly:

"Since Mr. Hibiki once helped me out, I'd like to offer a suggestion."

"Suggestion?" Hibiki asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Why don't we work out an exchange?"

"Exchange?" Hibiki raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Rhodes explained, "our real mission isn't just about defeating the Rat King. It's to eliminate the entire rat infestation in Ravendel Village."

"In other words..."

Hibiki caught on immediately: "You want us to help clear out the remaining rats?"

"Exactly," Rhodes confirmed with a nod.

"We don't need you to defeat them outright, just locating them, herding them together, or anything that helps.

As long as you contribute, we can say the Rat King and Queen were taken down through joint efforts."

The truth was, neither Rhodes nor Mira had any magic suited for wide-area searches or mass control. Their carpet search strategy was exhausting and inefficient.

If Blue Pegasus had magic that could speed up the process, it would be a huge help.

And from the way the trio smiled confidently...

They clearly had something in mind.

The three men struck exaggerated, sparkling poses as they announced dramatically:

"I am Hibiki; The Hundred Night!"

"I am Ren; The Silent Night!"

"I am Eve; The Holy Night!"

They formed a neat triangle, each gesturing gallantly to the heavens:

"Trimens, moving out! We never let a lady down!"

Rhodes blinked at the sight.

He honestly couldn't appreciate it. He really couldn't.