When Rhodes and Wendy rushed into Magnolia, the bells of the cathedral were still ringing urgently in the distance.
The tempo made it sound like an emergency.
Yet, oddly enough, while the townspeople looked surprised, there was no panic. Children looked around curiously, but adults calmly guided them to safe spots or leaned against walls as if they'd been through this before.
Carla narrowed her eyes. "What's going on? A disaster drill?"
Rhodes stopped by a middle-aged man leaning against a tree and asked, "Excuse me, what does the bell mean?"
"Ah, that 'Man' is coming", he glanced at Rhodes' guild mark and looked surprised. "You're from Fairy Tail and you don't know?"
Rhodes blinked. "Someone from our guild?"
His first thought was that Natsu had messed with the church bell for fun again. But the person had said that man… and he said it with weight.
Before Rhodes could ask more, a flying loudspeaker, one of the city's winged trumpet devices, drifted overhead and crackled to life:
"Attention citizens! Magnolia is about to enter Gildarts Mode. Please move to a safe location immediately. I repeat, Magnolia is switching to Gildarts Mode!"
The man pointed upward. "There you go. That's your answer. Stand back somewhere safe."
Rhodes furrowed his brows. "Gildarts… Mode?"
He'd heard the name Gildarts before, supposedly the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail. But what kind of person got their own city-wide protocol?
"Wait, is the whole city seriously preparing for just one man's return?" he muttered.
Just then, BOOM. The ground trembled violently.
"Earthquake?" Rhodes reacted quickly, grabbing the tree trunk with one hand and Wendy's arm with the other to keep her steady.
"Thanks!" said Carla, who had nearly toppled from Wendy's shoulder. "If I'd fallen, I'd have been turned into a pancake."
The same man from before grinned and nodded toward the street. "It's not an earthquake. Look."
Rhodes followed his gaze, and his eyes widened.
The city was… shifting.
Buildings near the main road were lifting off their foundations. Roads were collapsing downward. Pavement cracked and rose like puzzle pieces being rearranged by invisible hands.
In the sky, it would look like a giant hand had sliced Magnolia into sections and rearranged the streets like a map, all to form a perfect straight path, from the city gates directly to Fairy Tail.
The buildings on both sides were raised two or three meters above the new roadbed, like the banks of a massive trench.
As the man neared, Rhodes finally got a good look at him.
His reddish-brown hair was tousled by the wind, and though he wore a tattered black cloak and carried a worn bedroll, there was something unmistakable about him. His stride was firm, but his expression carried a strange mix of weariness and detachment—like someone who'd walked through too many battles to count.
There was something familiar in that slouching, slightly disheveled look. Rhodes muttered, "He kind of reminds me of Macao…"
Wendy leaned forward with wide eyes. "Is that him?"
He didn't look as polished or heroic as the old photos pinned to the guild's wall. In fact, he looked even older, a bit rough around the edges. But the sheer pressure rolling off of him, the weight of his magic, was undeniable.
Rhodes said, "I always knew he was powerful, but I didn't expect Magnolia to go through a full city transformation just for him. Is he really that respected?"
The passerby, likely guessing they were new guild members, gave a bitter smile and replied, "Well… yes, he's respected. But it's not exactly that simple." He scratched his head and continued, "The truth is, that guy spaces out a lot while walking and tends to crash into whatever's in his way. And with his magic being so overwhelming, it doesn't matter whether it's a wall, a tree, or a building—if he touches it, it just gets obliterated."
"So to minimize the damage, the entire city agreed to renovate itself. Now, no matter which direction he comes from, there's a direct road leading straight to the Fairy Tail guild."
"..." Rhodes was silent for a moment.
Only someone like the strongest mage in Fairy Tail could earn this kind of, uh… accommodation.
"This guy's... kind of an amazing idiot, isn't he?" Carla said.
"Think about how much damage he must've caused in the past to force the whole city into rebuilding like this..." Rhodes muttered.
At this point, Rhodes no longer thought of Natsu as a troublemaker.
Wendy and Carla, after hearing Rhodes' comment, started to feel genuinely sorry for the city's residents.
"Sorry for all the trouble our guild's caused," Rhodes apologized sincerely to the passerby. Then he gently tugged Wendy by the arm. "Let's head back."
He was definitely curious now, just what kind of person was this ridiculously overpowered old man?
Bang!
A figure suddenly blasted through the guild wall, arcing high into the air before crashing down, right toward Rhodes.
Seeing the flash of pink hair, Rhodes instinctively calculated the trajectory and took a step back, pulling Wendy with him.
Boom!
Natsu landed face-first on the ground, arms and legs sprawled in all directions.
"Natsu-san?!" Wendy gasped, quickly kneeling down. "Are you okay? What happened? Why did you go flying?"
Just as she was about to check on him, Natsu suddenly bounced up, completely unharmed, and jabbed a finger at Rhodes.
"Why'd you dodge me?!"
Rhodes crossed his arms, calm as ever. "Because I didn't want to get hit."
"Then you should've caught me!"
"Sorry. I'm not great at catching airborne objects."
"You think anyone's gonna believe that?!" Natsu barked, clearly offended.
"You're fine, aren't you?" Rhodes didn't bother asking why Natsu had gone flying, he could already guess. "Shouldn't you be heading back to continue the challenge?"
"Oh, right! Gildarts!!" Natsu suddenly remembered and bolted excitedly toward the guild.
As expected… he'd been sent flying for trying to pick a fight with Gildarts.
"We're back!" Rhodes called out as they stepped inside.
"Hey, Rhodes is back!"
"Wendy! Still as adorable as ever!"
"Did Rhodes bully you?"
"Someone here's been missing you~"
"Guess what just happened—!"
Voices erupted across the guild as the members noticed their returning companions. Each person greeted them in their own unique way, full of warmth and cheer.
Naturally, Wendy and Carla received more affection. Rhodes, after all, was no longer the fresh-faced recruit from last year, he had grown into a capable mage who could guide others.
Wendy and Carla were delighted by the attention, though they responded a little shyly to the overwhelming enthusiasm.
Rhodes, by contrast, kept it cool. He simply waved and made his way toward the request counter.
As he walked through the guildhall, he couldn't help but notice the enormous hole in the wall. Through it, he could see the broad back of a man in a battered cloak.
Some guild members were already complaining half-heartedly: "Gildarts just got back and already blew a hole in the wall..."
As Happy flew over to greet Carla, Natsu suddenly grabbed him and dragged him off again, probably charging into another rematch with Gildarts.
Rhodes reached the counter, but before he could even say hello, he noticed Mira looking distracted, her brows lightly furrowed in thought.
"Back to the land of the living~" he teased, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Ah!" Mira startled and blinked. The moment she recognized Rhodes, her whole face lit up. "You're back!"
"You were really zoned out. What were you thinking about?" he asked.
"It was Ca—" Mira caught herself mid-sentence, then shook her head. "Nothing. Just... Gildarts. Did you see him already?"
"Yeah. You told me he used to look after you, right?"
"Mhm." Mira smiled warmly. "But he didn't recognize me just now."
"That's not surprising," Rhodes said thoughtfully. "You've changed a lot."
Then it clicked. "He probably doesn't know about Lisanna yet."
"Yeah." Mira nodded, her smile fading for a moment. Seeing the concern on Rhodes' face, she added quickly, "It's okay. That's not what's bothering me."
"Then—"
"Don't ask," Mira said, cutting him off. She placed her hands on her hips and returned to her usual energetic tone. "Now come on, Miss Mira needs to check your mission report. Where's the rest of your team? Don't tell me they got lost on the way!"
...
Bonus@2400
Read 40 chapters ahead @patreon.com/Keepsmiling818