The Council's encampnt had been set up just outside the western outskirts of Magnolia. From a distance, there were at least thirty large tents pitched in neat rows.
After all, with the sheer number of people involved, essentially two entire guilds' worth, it made sense. It seed they had co prepared for full-scale confrontation, though ironically, they'd arrived after the fighting had ended.
mbers from Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord were separated and "escorted" to distant tents.
Even the wounded were treated in separate areas.
The two prisoners, Juvia and Sol, had been moved to the dical station nearest Phantom Lord's camp.
Formal interrogations hadn't yet begun. Lahar, ever the thodical commander, was directing his subordinates to carry out various preparations. From the pace of things, it looked like this investigation would drag on for days.
Rhodes and Mira were assigned to the Fairy Tail dical Tent, Minor Injury Section.
Those with severe wounds were imdiately carried off to receive urgent care or even surgery. Jose had been hauled away like that, still unconscious, cuffed with a magic-sealing stone just in case.
As a result, the Council's interrogation order on the Phantom Lord side had ended up being completely reversed, those higher up in rank were all too injured to be questioned right away.
For those with lighter injuries, there was a choice: wait for a healer or help themselves.
Like many of their guildmates, Rhodes and Mira opted to treat each other. They didn't want to burden the already-overworked dics.
Inside a small partitioned area ant for simple treatnt, Rhodes sat on the edge of a small wooden stool, shirt off.
Mira, gentle and precise, dabbed the area around his shoulder wound with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball. She found a towel nearby and used it to clean off the lingering soot and dried blood before carefully applying dicine and wrapping him in fresh bandages.
She had tended to Rhodes like this once before. But this ti, she noticed sothing different. His body had changed, his fra had filled out, and his muscles were leaner, stronger.
Circling around, Mira pressed her fingertips lightly to his chest, then down across his abs. She caught herself and hastily made an excuse:
"Does it hurt here? This spot?" she asked innocently.
"No, not at all." Rhodes actually wanted to joke and say it might feel better if she rubbed it again, but with their guildmates just on the other side of the canvas wall, he wisely kept that to himself.
Once the upper-body injuries were taken care of, Mira held the dicine bottle and cotton in her hands, hesitating.
Her gaze drifted toward the lower part of Rhodes's waist, where the blast from the magic crystal had definitely done damage. She knew there were burns or bruises there. Her cheeks slowly flushed pink.
And then red.
Rhodes didn't move. He stayed completely still, watching her from the corner of his eye, trying his best not to grin. Pretending to be clueless was getting harder by the second.
But Mira, of course, knew him far too well.
She narrowed her eyes and huffed, "You can take care of the rest yourself!"
So much for that tiny glimr of hope. Rhodes stood up with a sigh. "Fine, then it's my turn to help you."
"Okay," Mira answered without hesitation.
She sat down and removed her torn shirt and ruined top, leaving only a small underlayer of clothing. Her cheeks were still a bit pink, but she kept her composure.
Rhodes knelt behind her and mimicked her movents from earlier, carefully cleaning her back, wiping away dirt and blood with a towel.
Mira's dress had gotten in the way while bandaging, so she asked Rhodes to undo the straps. Holding the front of the dress in place with both hands, she let him tend to her injured shoulder. Once it was wrapped, she pulled it back up and tied it again.
Rhodes remained calm and composed the entire ti, acting like it was all routine, doing everything himself, personally and properly... because he couldn't allow himself to take advantage of the mont.
After gently slipping his oversized shirt back onto her shoulders, he asked, "What about clothes? You gonna keep wearing mine? Yours is barely holding together."
Mira's suitcase had been left at Lucy's house, and Rhodes hadn't rembered to bring it.
Mira was about to say, "It's fine, I'll just keep wearing yours," but after a mont of thought, she smiled faintly and said, "Let's borrow one from Erza later. We're about the sa size, she's bound to have a spare."
"Huh? I could've sworn Erza's just a bit taller than you," Rhode muttered.
"Yeah? So?" Mira replied casually.
"Ah—no, it's nothing. Nothing at all," Rhode said, waving it off.
Mira narrowed her eyes and elbowed him gently. This guy always noticed the weirdest little things.
Rubbing his chest with a wince, Rhodes pulled up a nearby stool, sat next to Mira, and gently lifted her legs onto his lap to treat her wounds. He applied dicine with careful fingers and wrapped the bandages neatly.
Later, as they exited the tent together, they spotted Erza stepping out of a nearby treatnt cubicle... in a nurse's uniform.
Rhodes imdiately sensed sothing was off.
For the sake of his guildmates' safety, he asked, "Erza... who were you just treating?"
"Natsu and Gray," she replied matter-of-factly, pulling out a syringe from who-knows-where. "They've already been taken care of. Do you two need assistance?"
"Nope! We're good!" Rhodes answered quickly, giving Mira a look. "Actually, Mira's got sothing she wanted to ask you. You two should chat."
"Mmhmm. Erza, co with for a sec," Mira said, casually taking Erza by the wrist and dragging her back into the cubicle.
Rhodes, curious in the na of humanitarian concern, peeked into the tent Erza had co from.
Sure enough, Natsu and Gray were sitting back-to-back, completely mummified in layers of bandages. Even their mouths were taped shut like a pair of hostages.
They thrashed and whimpered, and when they spotted Rhodes, their eyes lit up like he was their savior.
Trying not to laugh, Rhodes stepped forward to help peel off the wrappings. "You know... you guys could have just torn through it. Or burned it off."
Gray grumbled, "Who knew Erza's bandages were tougher than armor? That woman doesn't know the first thing about dicine and still insists on playing nurse."
"I didn't dare burn it," Natsu added. "Feels like setting fire to Council property might be... frowned upon."
"Ayee..." ca a faint voice from between them.
Rhode blinked. "Happy?"
The little Exceed was sandwiched flat between Natsu and Gray like a furry pancake.
"Why am I even tied up too?! I'm not even hurt! Waaaaah!" Happy sobbed, tears streaming down his fuzzy cheeks in misery.
"Go ask Erza to treat you to a fish later," Rhodes said to Happy, offering so sympathy and summoning Warm to cheer him up.
But the mont Warm appeared, chewing on half an apple with a puzzled look, Rhodes rembered sothing, he had left the little guy with Granny Polyusica.
Crunch.
Warm finished the apple, turned around, and squatted down with his back to Rhodes. His mood was... complicated.
Rhodes gently patted his head. "The Council's providing dinner tonight. Eat as much as you want."
"Woo~~" Warm purred like a piglet in bliss.
Greedy little guy—no, just a typical Warm. The easiest one to coax.
The Council's inquiry began with individual interrogations, and naturally, the first to be questioned was the guild master.
Lahar sat across from Makarov, skimming over a detailed report listing both sides' participants and injuries.
"It's hard to believe," Lahar said, pushing up his glasses. "If we didn't already confirm what happened in Magnolia and Oak Town, I would've thought Phantom Lord was the victim."
Makarov laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Well, what can I say? Our kids are just that good! They had Jose flattened before I even showed up. Hahahaha—"
Lahar's brow twitched. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he cut in, "Master Makarov, I'd advise against... boasting about your guild's 'military prowess' during an official Council investigation."
"Right, right," Makarov waved a hand sheepishly. "Sorry, that was off the cuff. Let rephrase that."
He cleared his throat dramatically and paused for a few seconds as if digging deep into his mory.
"Ahem... Yes, well, as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, my personal mission has always been to safeguard the stability and prosperity of the magical world.
"And as everyone knows, Fairy Tail has long been a peace-loving guild. In fact, generations ago, our very first guild master played a pivotal role in upholding peace in Fiore, even helping to draft the original Treaty of Prohibition Against Interguild Warfare.
"That sa spirit has been passed down to us, unwavering to this day. We've never stopped advocating for peace."
Lahar: "..."
'Was that true?'
Sure, the historical bits were accurate, and technically Mavis Vermillion did help foster peace in her ti. But still calling Fairy Tail "peace-loving" felt like a bit of a stretch.
And was he... reciting from a morized script?
The delivery was suspiciously polished, clearly rehearsed.
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