Chapter 543: Saint Ten? Who?
After the King’s Army had left for a short while, yet another group arrived, this time from the Magic Council.
Inside the guild, the banquet was in full swing.
Makarov, several drinks in, had leapt onto a table and was now twisting his hips like a lunatic, prompting uproarious laughter from the guild. Cheers and whistles echoed off the walls as he struck exaggerated poses.
"Watch this, brats! The ancient dance of wisdom and victory!" he declared, wiggling his backside while waving his arms like a windmill.
"Guild Master..." Mira approached him cautiously. "The Council’s here."
Makarov, eyes glazed with liquor and glee, waved her off dismissively.
"Busy right now. Important diplomatic work, watch this move! Vijeeter, dance battle! Come on!"
"Ehhh?!" Vijeeter blinked, then shrugged and hopped onto the table. "Alright, bring it on, old man!"
Mira sighed, hands on her hips. She thought about dragging him off the table, but considering the situation, decided it was better to leave him be.
"Rhodes," she turned to him, "let’s go deal with them ourselves."
Fortunately, the Council envoys didn’t ask for Makarov, didn’t give any speeches, and didn’t make a scene. They simply handed Mira a sleek black briefcase and presented Rhodes with a sealed envelope.
The briefcase, stuffed with 20 million J, was the guild’s official reward. Equivalent to the payout of three full S-Class Exams or a high-difficulty SS-Class job, it was an impressive sum. With the waived airship reconstruction cost included, this entire incident had turned out to be unexpectedly profitable.
Rhodes, however, was staring at the invitation in his hands with furrowed brows.
"For me?" he murmured.
He opened it, and the boldest line read:
"Please report to the Fiore Branch of the Magic Council for a magic power assessment."
Rhodes blinked.
"A test? What, are they scouting me to be a Councilor or something?"
He vaguely remembered Jellal being recruited to the Council due to his overwhelming magic power. But that outdated recruitment method was supposed to have been retired long ago.
Before he could ask more, the Council envoys bowed lightly.
"Please consult Guild Master Makarov for further details. We have other duties. Farewell."
And with that, they departed just as quickly as they’d come.
Mira tucked the briefcase away for safekeeping. Rhodes, still holding the letter, headed back to Makarov with a puzzled look.
He found the old man chugging another glass of wine, red-faced and completely unbothered.
"Master," Rhodes said, "what’s this about a magic test?"
Makarov slammed the empty glass down and hiccupped. "Oh, that? Yeah, nothing major. Jura from Lamia Scale nominated you to become one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
Rhodes blinked. "Oh."
The guild went dead silent for two whole seconds.
Then,
"WHAT?!"
"THE SAINT TEN?!"
"RHODES?!?"
The entire guild exploded like a powder keg.
People stumbled over chairs, mugs flew, and plates clattered as every mage in the hall leapt up and surrounded Rhodes.
"Saint Ten?! What’s going on?!"
"Wait, wait...he hasn’t even taken the S-Class Exam yet!"
"Rhodes, when did you get so terrifying?!"
"Is this a prank? Lucy, tell me this is a prank!"
Lucy, still frozen in place, covered her mouth and muttered in disbelief, "Mr. Rhodes... wasn’t he just a newcomer last year?"
Gajeel stood rooted in place, genuinely stunned.
’Saint Ten?’
That was the same rank held by Guild Master Jose... and Makarov.
Wendy’s hands were clasped tightly to her chest, eyes sparkling with pure admiration.
"Brothers Rhodes, that’s amazing!" she said softly.
Erza, standing calmly at the side, simply nodded. "For Rhodes, reaching this level is only natural."
If Natsu and Gray had been around, things would’ve turned chaotic by now. One of them would’ve definitely tried to challenge him on the spot.
Mira had been momentarily caught off guard by the announcement, but thinking back to Jura’s respectful attitude during their last meeting, it wasn’t all that surprising.
Still... it was incredible.
Her gaze drifted to Rhodes, now surrounded by an excited crowd asking questions and patting his shoulders, and her heart swelled with adoration and pride.
Her fiancé... was about to become one of the most powerful wizards in Fiore.
"Aight, aight, quit makin’ a fuss. It’s just a Saint Ten nomination! Keep drinkin’!" Makarov bellowed drunkenly, waving a bottle over his head.
The party resumed in full force.
And then, without warning, Makarov leapt onto the second-floor railing.
Slip.
CRASH!
He dropped onto the floor with a thud... only to spring right back up to the railing an instant later, striking a dramatic pose with one hand on his hip and the other lifting an empty wine glass high.
"Hahahahaha!! You know what?! We made bank today! Absolute bank!" he declared.
"Not only did we land two shiny medals, each one is worth at least a hundred letters of apology!"
The guild burst into laughter.
Lucy muttered under her breath, "Who even measures medals in apology letters..."
Makarov bellowed on, "And look at that! One of our brats is gonna be a Saint Ten! Hahahahaha!"
"Didn’t he just say it was no big deal?" Lucy whispered to herself, now having to complain to herself without Happy around to banter with.
Still, watching the reporters snap photos earlier, Lucy couldn’t help but feel a little giddy.
This time, Fairy Tail was going to be front-page news across the whole continent.
Rhodes even said her Celestial Spirits had played a huge role in this mission.
Surely this year’s Best Newcomer award was hers for the taking, right?
She began to picture her face on the cover of Sorcerer Weekly, her blonde hair sparkling, her spirits striking poses beside her, the title blaring: "Rising Star: Lucy Heartfilia!"
Her smile started twisting in strange ways.
Meanwhile, Makarov, after downing what he thought was a drink, only to realize the glass was empty due to his earlier fall, still roared with laughter and jumped back into the crowd, dancing like a man possessed.
If an 80-year-old man could throw himself around like this, the rest of the guild clearly had no excuse to hold back.
The hall erupted again with cheers, drinks, and off-key singing.
And, naturally... brawling.
Crash!
There went a table.
Thunk!
Someone landed face-first into a barrel.
By the afternoon, the Shadow Gear Team returned to the guild.
"It’s just as I expected..." Levy sighed as she stepped through the door. While out in town, she’d already heard the news that the King’s Army had come to award medals.
And if Fairy Tail was involved, she didn’t even need to guess, of course, there’d be a full-blown party.
Jet grinned. "Then let’s join in first!"
Droy hesitated. "Uh... which side should we join?"
The guild was a chaotic mix of several groups brawling and several groups drinking, cheering each other on as if it were a spectator sport.
Jet was originally leaning toward, "We worked hard today, let’s just drink and relax," but his decision changed the moment a half-eaten slice of cake smacked him right in the face.
"Who threw that?! You bastard, prepare to die!"
Jet charged into the fray, and Droy naturally followed.
Levy didn’t even try to stop them. They got into fights every other day anyway, why bother?
She turned to look for Lucy instead.
Across the room, Erza stared down at her empty plate with wide eyes. "I... I hadn’t even eaten the strawberry on top yet..."
When guild fights broke out, Erza rarely took any real damage, but somehow, she always ended up getting involved and always ended up with a personal casualty.
And when that happened... it was everyone else who got hurt.
Crash!
Jet and Droy, who had just jumped into the chaos, were immediately knocked out, Jet dangled from the upper railing, while Droy was embedded headfirst into a support pillar.
As for the true culprit who knocked Erza’s cake away? Erza launched them flying without a second thought.
Lucy, who had just turned with a polite smile to greet Levy, was unfortunately standing in the exact path of Erza’s flying kick target.
Smack!
Lucy crashed into Levy, pinning her to the floor with a soft yet suffocating impact.
Being "collateral damage" in Fairy Tail usually meant bumps and bruises, but Levy, face squished awkwardly between Lucy’s chest, was now suffering on both a physical and emotional level.
The Shadow Gear Team had been completely wiped out.
Amid the chaos of flying bottles, chairs, and trays, Rhodes, like always, stepped protectively in front of Mira. He batted aside two incoming stools with a lazy swing of his hand and caught a wine bottle out of the air with the other.
He poured two glasses, handed one to Mira, and smiled. "Cheers?"
But instead of clinking glasses, Mira leaned forward and kissed him.
Then their glasses touched.
"Cheers!" she replied, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling.
The wine was sweet, but what truly made Mira’s heart flutter... were the eyes of the man she loved.