Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 284: The Water Monster Returns Home

Rhodes and Mira kept their word, staying an extra day in Ravendel Village.

On one hand, it was to make sure there were no unexpected problems. On the other, they managed to catch a few more straggling rats.

They barely caught twenty rats the entire day, and none of them were anywhere near the size of the ones they'd fought before, which proved the infestation had truly been dealt with.

As long as the villagers took a few basic precautions, they wouldn't have to worry about another outbreak.

The two had left the guild on the 1st, and by the morning of the 4th, they were finally ready to set off again.

Village Chief Jasper came personally to see them off, carrying their payment, while many villagers paused their work to gather and wave goodbye.

But when Rhodes took the bag, he noticed something was off. "Why does it feel heavier?"

"We added a little more," Jasper admitted. "You both saved the entire village. And after learning about the Rat King and Queen, we realized the original reward didn't match the difficulty of the job. We collected an additional 500,000 Jewels. It's not much compared to what you deserve, but..."

"No, Village Chief," Mira interrupted firmly, her tone polite but unyielding. "The reward was agreed upon before we accepted the mission. We can't take anything extra."

"But I'm the client! I have the right to increase the reward afterward, right? This is our village's gratitude!"

"That's different," Mira said with a gentle but firm smile. "Changing the payment afterward would hurt our guild's reputation. Fairy Tail is strict about mission agreements."

Rhodes pulled out exactly Jewels and pressed the rest back into Jasper's hands. "This is enough. Thank you for your kindness. Until we meet again."

The two waved goodbye and rode away atop the crab.

"Village Chief, what should we do with the extra money?" a villager asked quietly.

"We'll return it to everyone," Jasper said after a moment of thought. "But we'll find another way to show our gratitude."

On the road, Mira quickly noticed their direction: "This isn't the way back to the guild."

Rhodes grinned. "Nope. It's toward Lake Mint."

"That's the lake where the rats originally came from, right?"

"Exactly. I want to see it for myself. And... it feels like a waste to head straight home after coming all this way, don't you think?"

Mira smiled brightly. "That's true."

Originally, the two had planned a small getaway together, time off from the guild. But between rushing to the village and battling rats, it had felt more like work than vacation.

Spending a few more days sightseeing together sounded perfect.

Anyway, the guild was in good hands with the Master and Erza around. Nothing major would happen.

...

A few peaceful days flew by.

They traveled to a town famous for its textiles, where Mira happily browsed for new summer clothes for Elfman.

Meanwhile, Rhodes casually bought a magazine at a newsstand, and after flipping through a few pages, realized their trip might have to end earlier than expected.

Rhodes sighed. "Is Reedus really that good at causing trouble?"

"Reedus?" Mira blinked in surprise. "What happened?"

He passed her the magazine. "Apparently, because there haven't been any new models of magic light pens released lately, Reedus organized a protest with some artist friends."

"And?" Mira asked, her tone already laced with amusement.

"Well, he was worried they wouldn't get enough attention... so he used magic to summon a crowd. Which caused a traffic jam." Rhodes pointed to a photo showing Reedus with his head bowed apologetically.

"Ahahaha..." Mira couldn't hold back her laughter. "So? Did it work? Did the manufacturer agree to release new models?"

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about whether he's okay first?" Rhodes said, deadpan.

Mira twirled a lock of hair around her finger and tilted her head playfully. "I think Reedus would probably care more about the pens."

"Okay."

Rhodes ruffled her hair, smiling. "You're too cute, you have the final say."

"The manufacturer only gave them a perfunctory response," Rhodes added.

Mira chuckled. "I figured as much. Maybe next time, we should call everyone in the guild to go protest with Reedus too?"

Rhodes lightly tapped her head. "Don't joke like that. If you really did that, Master Makarov would cry."

Mira didn't bat away his hand this time. Instead, she pointed to another photo in the magazine. "Is that Warren's back?"

"Yeah. Looks like Warren caused a little stir during a mission. Some kind of magic mishap."

Mira tilted her head thoughtfully. "He must've climbed somewhere high again, right?"

"Exactly," Rhodes sighed. "The higher the better, apparently."

He flipped the page and muttered bitterly, "And here's the really interesting part."

"The Demon Mirajane Returns? A Water Monster Defeated at Lake Mint!"

Because there was no photo attached to the article, Mira didn't catch on immediately. "Water monster?"

Rhodes covered his face. "That's me."

A few days ago, when they were training by Lake Mint, someone must have spotted them from afar. Later, when a reporter interviewed the Blue Pegasus trio, they casually mentioned Mira had been there too, giving the rumor all the confirmation it needed.

Mira burst into laughter, clinging to her stomach. "Hahaha...!"

The last time the two had been in the news together, Rhodes had only been rumored to be Mira's boyfriend. But this time, he had been officially mistaken for a lake monster.

Rhodes bared his teeth and growled playfully. "Laugh again, and the terrible Water Monster will take you away!"

Mira simply extended her hand with a bright smile. "Please do, Mr. Water Monster."

Rhodes grinned and pulled her close. "Then I'll take you somewhere truly terrifying... Fairy Tail!"

"How frightening!" Mira played along, feigning fear. "But, Mr. Water Monster, could you maybe let me finish shopping first?"

"Fine, fine," Rhodes relented.

What followed was a private fashion show just for him. Mira made him sit and patiently watch as she tried on outfit after outfit, more than a dozen sets in total.

After selecting a few of their favorites, the two finally packed up their purchases and hurried back toward Magnolia.

Although they had wanted to spend a few more days together traveling, they couldn't help but worry about the guild.

...

By evening, Fairy Tail was usually at its liveliest.

But today, the guild felt strangely... subdued.

Part of it was due to the stern knight currently manning the front desk. The other part was because, frankly, there had been way too many problems recently.

Not just the ones that had made it into Sorcerer Weekly — no, there were plenty more incidents that had been "quietly" swept under the rug.

Loke had gotten tangled up with a few troublesome women again.

Natsu had, naturally, caused havoc yesterday. And even Alzack and Bisca had racked up some complaints during a mission gone sideways.

All these "problem children" had been personally dealt with by Erza that very afternoon. After facing her wrath, none of them dared to make a scene tonight.

Without those usual noisy suspects around, the guild naturally felt much quieter.

Still, Erza filling in for Mira at the front counter had its own... benefits.

For one, when working behind the bar, she was dressed in her usual armor. But when serving food and drinks to the tables, she would actually change into a waitress uniform, the same one she had earned while part-timing at a dessert shop last year.

Granted, it was a bit tighter this year, but still perfectly wearable.

To match the uniform, she'd even styled her hair into twin ponytails.

Whatever criticisms people might have had about the service quality, there was no denying, Erza was an absolute feast for the eyes.

Even seasoned veterans like Macao and Wakaba couldn't help sneaking glances, hearts pounding like teenagers'.

Mira had a boyfriend now, so openly teasing her was off-limits. But Erza was still single. Not that anyone dared flirt with her, they valued their lives too much, but at least they could indulge in wishful thinking.

The door to the guild swung open with a creak.

Erza immediately perked up and greeted warmly, "Welcome!"

Two figures, dressed in matching casual outfits, stepped inside.

Seeing Erza's appearance, they nearly stumbled in surprise.

"Erza?"

"Mira? Rhodes?"

Recognizing them, Erza smiled brightly. "Welcome back!"

Mira and Rhodes exchanged a chuckle. "We're back."

For a moment, Mira felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her.

For more than a year now, she had always been the one welcoming people home at the guild. Today, because of someone special, she was the one being welcomed back.

It felt... nice.

The entire guild fell into a brief stunned silence.

And then, like a dam breaking, a loud and joyous cheer erupted:

"Mira! Rhodes! Welcome back!"