Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 282: Calling it a Day

"I heard Blue Pegasus runs a side business too," Rhodes whispered to Mira, fishing for a little more information. "Kind of like how Fairy Tail runs a tavern?"

Mira nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, but theirs is more like a bar or a nightclub, right?" She tried to explain it tactfully, not wanting Rhodes to misunderstand too harshly.

"In addition to the usual kind of service staff," she continued gently, "they also have beautiful people like Jenny. They serve drinks, but they also... provide some emotional companionship. You know, talking, keeping customers company, making them feel at home."

Rhodes processed this slowly, and his expression shifted from curious to a little horrified."Isn't that basically..." He trailed off, wisely choosing not to finish the sentence.

The way Blue Pegasus operated felt a little too close to something skirting the edge of decency. But no one could deny they made a lot of money.

Their guild had strength, fame, good public relations, and unlike Fairy Tail, they didn't cause property damage every other week. It made sense they were loaded with funds.

Otherwise, how could they afford those luxurious flying airships and flashy magic equipment?

Even though the trio in front of him seemed a bit... eccentric... Rhodes had no doubts about their actual skills.

After accepting Rhode's proposal, the Trimens immediately shifted into work mode.

Hibiki took the lead. With a flourish of his hand, a glowing golden keyboard and screen appeared midair.

His fingers flew across the keys at an incredible speed, summoning up several overlapping maps. After a few quick adjustments, he zoomed in and marked several spots glowing with small red dots.

"These are the densest rat clusters I've detected," Hibiki said, cool and professional. "I'll upload the location data to you two. Ren, take the odd-numbered ones. Eve, the even numbers."

Above Ren and Eve's heads, little progress bars appeared, and once they filled, the two saluted smartly and answered together:

"Understood!"

Without wasting a second, they dashed off like human GPS units.

When Ren reached his first point, he pressed his hand to the ground. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

More than a dozen rats stumbled out of a burrow, gasping, but collapsed just a few steps away.

Meanwhile, over on Eve's side, rats scurried from the hole only to be instantly frozen into snowy statues.

Neither lingered, they immediately rushed to the next location, operating with seamless precision.

Rhodes watched this with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Hibiki, who was now free, strolled over to explain with a relaxed smile:

"My magic is called Archive, —you've seen it before. It lets me gather, compress, and send large amounts of information instantly to my teammates."

"Ren uses air magic," he continued. "He extracts oxygen from a small area, causing the rats to suffocate when they surface."

"And Eve uses snow magic. He lowers the temperature inside the burrows, forcing the rats out, then freezes them solid."

Mira clasped her hands together and praised, "What incredible teamwork."

Hibiki beamed. "Of course! We're the top team in Blue Pegasus!" He puffed out his chest proudly. "If Ichiya were here too, it would be truly perfect."

Rhodes, meanwhile, couldn't help but be a little suspicious. The way these guys received data from Hibiki looked so easy, but when he had gotten a 'language pack' jammed into his brain back during their last encounter, it had been agony.

Maybe it was because the amount of data Hibiki sent to him was way too much?

'Come to think of it... could Hibiki's magic theoretically stuff so much useless information into a mouse's brain that it would swell up and explode?'

Rhodes suddenly felt that this kind of magic was terrifying.

Maybe it only worked if the recipient consented first? Otherwise, it would be way too broken.

Beyond Hibiki's Archive magic, the one that made Rhodes feel most uneasy was Ren's air magic.

"It's too unfair," Rhodes grumbled. "He just drains the oxygen? If we ever fought him, we'd suffocate without even knowing it."

"There must be some restrictions," Mira reasoned calmly. "Like casting range, the time it takes to take effect... something like that."

She added with a smile, "And even if there aren't, just defeat him before you run out of breath."

Rhodes gestured dramatically with two fingers: "Or make your own air."

Watching them, Hibiki broke into a cold sweat.

'Why are they discussing how to counter us so seriously...?!'

And scarily enough... they were right.

Meanwhile, Ren and Eve were clearing out the last of the rats with frightening efficiency. Their teamwork and skill were impeccable.

When Rhodes had rested enough, thanks to the Blue Sentinel's buff restoring his mana, he asked Hibiki for a copy of the rat map and jumped back into the fight to speed things up.

Together, the group worked through the entire day.

By sunset, the fields were littered with rat corpses. It was an exhausting, dirty job, but not one of them complained.

Despite how flashy and eccentric the Trimens looked at first glance, Rhodes had to admit: they had real skill, and real work ethic.

He might not know what they were like off the clock, but today, they had earned his respect as true wizards.

As evening fell and the sky turned orange, Rhodes summoned Brambleback with a snap of his fingers. The hulking tree beast wove several thick vines into makeshift chairs, letting everyone sit and rest.

The group collapsed into the seats, wiping sweat from their brows and letting out long, satisfied sighs.

"You seem to know a lot of convenient magic," Hibiki remarked, fanning himself with a small spell circle.

Rhodes lazily laid his head across Mira's lap and replied without thinking, "Magic should serve life... and change life."

'Where had he even heard that before?' Mira giggled and took the chance to gently ruffle his hair, smoothing down the parts that had gotten messy during the day's battle.

"That mana-restoring magic of yours is amazing," Eve chimed in admiringly. "If you were a girl, I'd totally fall for you."

Rhodes raised an eyebrow but didn't bother responding.

Instead, he pointed at Eve and said with a smirk, "Make sure you visit our guild someday. I'll introduce you to Mira's brother."

He was already picturing Elfman's iron grip crushing this flirt's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Ren, still keeping up his tsundere persona, crossed his arms and muttered:

"I also think your magic is impressive. Not that I'm actually complimenting you or anything."

"Thanks."

Rhodes realized that, once you got used to him, the dark-skinned guy, Ren was actually the easiest of the three to get along with.

The group chatted for a while longer, and the atmosphere stayed relaxed and friendly, at least as long as the Trimens didn't start flirting with Mira again.

At one point, Hibiki summoned his shimmering "electronic map" once more. He spun a screen toward Rhodes and Mira and said:

"While we haven't wiped them all out, the large rats are basically eradicated. The few left scattered around won't affect the villagers' lives anymore. So, shall we call the mission complete?"

Rhodes reached out his hand. "Happy to work together."

Hibiki smiled and shook his hand firmly. "Happy to work together."

Then, with a glint of nostalgia in his eyes, Hibiki added:

"I still can't believe it. Just a year ago, you couldn't even speak the common language properly, and now, you're already such a capable wizard."

Rhodes grinned. "Good thing you remember me. I thought you were completely disinterested in guys."

Hibiki placed a hand dramatically over his nose and replied coolly,

"Maybe it's just part of my charming personality."

After that, the trio from Blue Pegasus waved goodbye and set off, leaving Rhodes and Mira alone again as they began making their way back to the village.

Rhodes stretched lazily and sighed.

"Even though they're ridiculously handsome... they're actually good guys."

Mira glanced over at him, a playful smile tugging at her lips. "Did Mr. Hibiki mess up your grammar again somehow? That transition sounded weird."

Rhodes blinked. "What? How should I have said it, then?"

Mira leaned in slightly, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"You should say... 'Although they're not as handsome as me, they're still good people.'"

She gave him an exaggerated, innocent blink.

Rhodes stared at her for a moment, then chuckled lowly. "Do you realize there are consequences for sweet-talking someone like that?"

...

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