The so-called "strongest team" departed the morning of the second day of the guild masters' eting.
As expected, Makarov had spent the entire eting sound asleep.
But that was fine, anything important, Rhodes had written down. Later, he would summarize it and report to the Master in full.
If a situation arose where soone needed to speak on behalf of Fairy Tail, Rhodes would smoothly step in and claim it was Makarov's idea all along.
Bringing Rhodes along had been the best decision Makarov ever made, and he would probably keep praising himself for it even in his dreams.
The morning passed without incident, and soon Makarov was eagerly anticipating his favorite part of the day: lunch.
He was looking forward to good food, a bit of wine, and bragging to the other guild masters, just like always.
But today... sothing changed.
Right at the peak of the lunchti bustle, a small bird with a pointy wizard's hat flew into the banquet hall, clutching a letter in its claws.
"Chi~ President! A letter from Miss Mirajane for you," the magical bird chirped.
"Huh?" Makarov blinked drowsily. His brain wasn't fully awake yet.
Rhodes smiled and waved the bird over. "Hey, Little Bee. Co have sothing to eat."
The bird, Little Bee, was one of Mickey's magical companions. It often transford into a microphone when she sang, so it had a strong bond with her.
Rhodes, of course, was very familiar with it.
"I want nuts!~" chirped Little Bee without hesitation.
"There aren't any whole ones, but this cake has so peanut crumbs on top. You can have that." Rhodes slid over a slice of his dessert.
Little Bee happily started pecking at the crumbs. Magical birds like it could eat both human food and typical bird feed, but like happy who loved fish, Little Bee had a clear preference for nuts.
"Thank you!~" it chirped and handed the envelope to Rhodes.
Makarov's brain finally ca back online. "Wait a minute. Wasn't that letter ant for ?"
Between mouthfuls of cake, Little Bee responded, "Miss Mirajane said if the President is drunk or asleep, just give it to Mr. Rhodes.~"
"..."
Makarov had no retort. Honestly... that seed fair.
He began to wonder whether Mira had sent this ssage for sothing truly serious... or if it was just a love letter.
Rhodes opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, and instead of handwritten text, what appeared was a miniature magical projection of Mirajane, hovering like a tiny figurine.
Just seeing her instantly swept away the boredom and irritation Rhodes had been carrying for the last two days.
But it also made him miss her even more.
Little Mira began to speak in her usual gentle tone, "Master, and Rhodes, thank you for your hard work attending the routine eting."
Makarov bead and imdiately began showing her off to the nearby guild masters. "Feast your eyes, gentlen! This is the pride and beauty of Fairy Tail, isn't she stunning?"
A few less well-mannered attendees wore openly lecherous expressions.
Rhodes gently adjusted the letter's angle and declared flatly, "Please show so respect. She's my girlfriend."
He held the enchanted letter in both hands, as if carefully cradling Mira herself in his palms.
Of course, the projection was just a magical recording. Mira couldn't hear them or respond. But her presence still lit up the room, and Rhodes's heart.
The tiny projection of Mira kept speaking, animatedly acting out each line as she continued reading the ssage she had recorded:
"Actually, sothing very exciting happened while the Master was away—Erza, Natsu, and Gray have ford a team and gone out on a mission together!"
Beads of cold sweat imdiately ford on Makarov's forehead.
'What did she just say...?'
It was as if his brain refused to process those words. Surely he was hearing them in a different language.
"Because," Mira's projection continued sweetly, "I think this might be the strongest team in the guild, so I wanted to share the good news with you!"
'Good news?!' Makarov began to tremble.
The color drained from his face. 'This wasn't good news—this was a warning sign from the heavens.'
"Everything's going well at the guild, so please keep working hard! That's all!"
She paused, then her cheeks flushed a little as she added in a bashful tone:
"Oh... and one more thing for Rhodes, I miss you a little... just a tiny bit!"
Each word was delivered with dramatic gestures and the cutest expressions possible. Her miniature figure twirled, puffed her cheeks, and made a tiny heart with her fingers.
The mont Rhodes heard that last line, his heart lted into a puddle.
As Mira's projection slowly faded away, he stared wistfully at the letter, not quite ready to let go.
He clutched the enchanted paper gently, as if holding her in his hands. He decided then and there, he would treasure this letter, and take it out whenever he missed her.
"Bee," Rhodes said softly, "can I ask you to take a reply back for later?"
"No problem~" chirped Bee, his beak deep in the cake that was nearly as big as he was.
He had to fly ho anyway, so carrying a letter wouldn't be a burden.
Rhodes wanted to reply with a projection letter too... but realized he had no idea how to make one.
"Master, could you teach how to write this kind of letter? Master? ...Master?"
He waved a hand in front of Makarov's face.
The old man was frozen solid, unmoving like a statue.
A few seconds later, Makarov tipped backward and collapsed dramatically, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
"How... how could this happen...?!" he gasped in disbelief. "Those three together? They might really destroy an entire city...!"
"Master, are you alright?!"
"There's still hope!" Makarov suddenly sprang to life. "Rhodes, you're our only hope! You have to stop them!"
"Stop them from what?" Rhodes asked, exasperated. "We don't even know what they're doing out there! How are we supposed to stop them?"
And just like that... the last glimr of hope shattered.
Makarov clutched his head in despair.
He was right, nobody even knew what the trio's mission was. They could be anywhere. The Kingdom of Fiore was massive.
"We can't just sweep the whole country searching for them..." Rhodes sighed.
Seeing the despair written all over Makarov's face, Rhodes tried to offer so comfort.
"It's just a team-up. You don't have to be that pessimistic. I an... Erza's actually pretty reliable, most of the ti."
"You don't understand!" Makarov paced restlessly, his face pale. "Those three together? They cause chain reactions! Catastrophic ones! We won't be back in Magnolia until tomorrow at the earliest. I just hope nothing goes wrong."
But no matter how much he tried to convince himself, Makarov couldn't shake the unease gnawing at him for the rest of the afternoon. He barely heard a word during the follow-up eting and couldn't even nap properly.
And then, it happened.
Late that evening, while the guild masters were gathering for dinner in the banquet hall, the doors opened quietly, and Mirajane walked in as if nothing was wrong.
"Master. Rhodes."
"Mira?! You actually ca?" Rhodes's eyes lit up. He rushed over and instinctively took both of her hands in his.
The truth was, they both wanted to hug each other. But with so many guild masters and wizards around, neither dared.
"Mira?" Makarov blinked in disbelief. "Why are you here?! Did sothing happen to the guild? Did it explode?!"
Mira smiled. "Relax, Master. I ca after work. And, well... I read Rhodes' reply and..."
Her cheeks turned pink. She didn't want to repeat the exact wording of his letter, it was too direct, too sweet. She had acted on impulse and rushed over.
Rhodes reached up and gently brushed her cheek. "You must've had a long journey. Thanks for coming."
Their eyes t, and in that silent mont, Mira clearly read the ssage shining behind his gaze:
"It's so good to see you."
"Mirajane! You really ca all this way—"
"Oh, Jenny. You're here too?" Mira turned casually and gave Jenny a bright smile, her fingers still interlocked with Rhodes's. "Say... Rhodes didn't bring any Exploding Magic Crystals this ti, did he?"
"Y-you...!" Jenny puffed up her cheeks in frustration.
"Kidding~" Mira giggled.
"Alright, alright, save the flirting and teasing for later!" Makarov waved his arms frantically. "Tell straight, what's going on with Erza, Natsu, and Gray? Did they cause trouble again?!"
Mira's response was simple, and devastating:
"Yes."
"Wha—what?!"
"I originally took the train from Magnolia, but when I got to Oshibana Station, everything was shut down. And I heard the railway bridge over the Clover Grand Canyon was slightly damaged, too."
She gave a helpless smile. "I didn't get the full story, but I'd bet anything that it's their doing. Sounds like they stirred up quite the ss again."
Makarov froze like he'd been hit by a bolt of lightning.
'They did it again...'
"Wait... then how did you get here?" he asked desperately. "And where are they now?"
Mira shot Rhodes a teasing glare. "I flew the last stretch, of course. Didn't see them though, unfortunately."
"No, I saw them," Rhodes interrupted, his tone turning serious. "They're nearby."
He glanced out toward the open window, his expression sharpening.
"And there's an uninvited guest with them."
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