Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 295: Letter

"Natsu, Happy, your wallets."

"Yay! I thought I lost it!" Happy squealed, hugging his little wallet and nuzzling it like a treasure. "All our reward money from the last job is still in here!"

"I've got money!" Natsu grinned with sparkles in his eyes. "I'm gonna order the Fire Feast Combo! Lucky, I'll treat you too!"

"My name's Lucy! And what even is a 'Fire Feast Combo'? That sounds sketchy!"

Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "How did you two even take the bus with no money? And what about dinner?"

"Natsu had just enough change to get us through the bus fare," Happy whispered dramatically. "But I snuck some fish with me for dinner, don't tell Natsu."

"I heard that!" Natsu growled, grabbing Happy and shaking him like a rattle. "You ungrateful cat! No more fish for you next time I catch one!"

"Aye~~" Happy whimpered as he was spun like a top.

Lucy sighed deeply. "You guys... the only time you're quiet is on a moving vehicle."

"Lucy, over here~!" Mira waved from behind the bar. "The Master said you can join the guild~!"

"Yes!" Lucy ran over, eyes sparkling with joy.

Even after all the chaos and the weirdos she'd met so far, she still liked this guild. Actually, she liked it even more because of all the weirdos. There was something comforting about Fairy Tail being so... unfiltered.

Plus, Master Makarov's speech earlier had completely won her over. Her heart was already halfway in Fairy Tail. Now it was fully there.

Rhodes followed at a distance.

The memory of that poster was already fading in his mind. Though he often tried to recall it so he wouldn't forget, the faces on it had long since been replaced by the people he saw with his own eyes, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Wendy...

Only Lucy's face had remained blurry, until now.

Now that he'd met her in person, the last piece of that memory had clicked into place.

Would their reunion as protagonists change the course of the future?

Rhodes didn't know. But he did know that he wanted to understand Lucy better. That way, maybe he'd feel more grounded.

Usually, when a new member joins the guild, a more experienced mage is assigned to show them the ropes.

Rhodes had been a member for just over a year. He was no rookie anymore. His experience on missions and in combat made him a reliable senior, at least in technical terms.

But since Natsu had been the one to bring Lucy to the guild, chances were, he'd naturally assume responsibility for her.

Unless, Rhodes wanted to step in and fight for that right.

Though he wasn't sure how Mira would react if he tried something like that. She was usually reasonable, but that didn't mean he wanted to test her patience on purpose.

"Can I get my guild mark here?" Lucy asked, stretching out her right hand.

"Sure! What color do you want?"

"Pink, please!"

"Okay~" Mira adjusted the color and size on the magical stamp, then gently pressed it to the back of Lucy's hand.

"There you go. You're officially a member of Fairy Tail."

Lucy beamed as she stared at the fresh guild mark on her skin.

I'd really done it, I joined the guild of my dreams!

She wanted to run out and tell the world.

Actually, she'd go tell Natsu first!

Of course, Rhodes, who had joined Fairy Tail in a blur of half-coincidence, couldn't quite understand how Lucy was feeling in that moment.

Rhodes decided to speak to the Master first.

"Master, you know... we didn't back up the documents you burned."

"Huh? Why would we need to back up that kind of stuff?" Makarov asked.

"It would've helped you write your self-reflection," Rhodes replied matter-of-factly. "You might forget what exactly you're supposed to reflect on. Although, I have to say, you did look pretty cool setting it all on fire. Still, I suspect you were just grumpy when you woke up."

"You really think of everything, don't you?"

"Not bad, right?"

"I wasn't complimenting you!"

Mira giggled as she poured a cup of tea for Makarov.

"The compensation notice, please tell me that wasn't part of what you torched?"

"Of course not, I'm not that impulsive," Makarov said, reaching into his robes and pulling out a few crumpled sheets and a flat envelope.

"Here's the damage report, and a letter addressed to the both of you."

"A letter for us?" Rhodes and Mira leaned in, curious. They opened the envelope together.

But instead of a typical letter, the first thing they saw was a list of names, each written in a different style of handwriting:

Jasper, Bill, Butch...

The names sounded familiar. Then it hit them, these were all from Ravendel Village.

Mira blinked in surprise. "Is this... a joint letter?"

"It's from the village where you handled that rat infestation. The villagers sent this thank-you letter directly to the Magic Council, hoping they'd formally commend Fairy Tail."

"Ah, wow..." Mira breathed. She'd been on countless high-risk jobs before, but never had a village taken the time to send something like this.

Was it because the mission's reward didn't match the difficulty?

Or maybe because they saw Rhodes nearly collapse from exhaustion, chasing rats across rooftops?

Makarov sipped his tea, his expression softening.

"Yajima told me some of the council members were looking for a reason to give us trouble again. But he whipped out this letter and just like that, the whole thing got dropped."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Unfortunately, that means the commendation paperwork for you two got swept under the rug."

Mira smiled and held up the letter.

"This is better than any medal."

Rhodes nodded with a grin.

"I don't do missions for recognition. I just give it my all so moments like this can happen. If this letter helped the guild, then that's already a win."

Rhodes was genuinely happy to help take some pressure off the Guild Master. But given the Fairy Tail guild's remarkable talent for getting into trouble, it was only a matter of time before they landed in hot water again.

Just then, Happy flew over holding a wallet in his tiny paws.

"Rhodes! We want grilled fish! Two—no, four!"

Rhodes grabbed the wallet, which he had only just returned to Happy earlier, and firmly pressed a payment notice into his paws.

"I don't think you can eat grilled fish for the time being."

Happy stared at the bill, blinking rapidly. He started counting the zeros with increasing horror until sweat trickled down his little feline face.

"Natsu! We're broke again!"

"What!?" Natsu, who had just polished off a hearty meal, jumped up in alarm. His jaw dropped as he realized their hard-earned mini-treasure chest was now on the chopping block.

Even after taking down a criminal gang, the partial compensation they had to pay out left them in the red again.

Both of them slumped, utterly deflated.

Lucy watched them guiltily from across the table. Even if Natsu had been the one who caused most of the damage to the port, she was still technically part of the mission... and the explosion. Definitely the explosion.

Rhodes silently brought over a plate of grilled fish and placed it in front of Happy.

Happy's eyes sparkled, but then dulled with sorrow. "We don't have any money..."

"Warm said he wanted to treat you," Rhodes replied casually, though it was obviously his own money.

Happy brightened instantly. "Thank you, Warm!"

With new resolve, Natsu jumped up and dashed to the guild's job board.

"Well, no helping it! We gotta go earn it back!"

Just then, Romeo burst into the guild in tears.

"Dad hasn't come back since he left for his mission!"

The guild grew quiet.

Makarov responded gently, "Stay home and wait for him, Romeo. He'll return once he's finished the job."

"But... he said he'd be back in three days. And now it's almost the fourth!"

Makarov's eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice remained steady. "He may have just been delayed. Don't worry."

Rhodes, already feeling something was off, walked over to the mission log and flipped through the records.

It was a standard monster subjugation request—target: Vulcan, location: Mount Hakobe.

Hakobe Mountain wasn't far. You could walk there and back in a day, even at a leisurely pace.

But Macao still hadn't returned.

That... wasn't right.

It was possible the target monster hadn't been located yet. Sometimes, even experienced mages had to spend time tracking down elusive prey.

Macao didn't have the aerial vision, scent tracking, or wide-area search magic. It wouldn't be unusual if the mission dragged out a little longer than expected.

...

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