Fairy Tail: I Absolutely Refuse to Be the Guild Master

"Other places, I can handle myself."

After taking care of the spots he couldn't reach, Rhodes felt too embarrassed to keep asking Mira for help.

"Then I'll head out first." Mira put down the medicine bottle and tweezers. "Feel free to rest a bit longer."

"Alright, thank you."

Watching Mira leave, Rhodes took off his T-shirt and carefully applied ointment to the bruises on his chest.

Meanwhile, he reviewed his battle with Natsu.

After today's fight, besides leaving him with a bunch of aches and pains, he also gained quite a bit.

First, he had become someone who had seriously been in a fight, which was important. At least he wouldn't feel intimidated before a fight even started.

Then, he learned a bit about using magic power for defense.

Although with his current magic power, defending against Natsu's punches was a bit strenuous, if he were fighting ordinary people, he could basically take their punches and kicks head-on.

During the fight with Natsu, Rhodes had been mimicking Natsu's moves with every punch and kick.

When Natsu punched his face, he also punched Natsu's face.

When Natsu sidestepped and elbowed his abdomen, he did the same.

Of course, aside from the two hits on the crab, Natsu didn't use any magic at all.

Thinking carefully, during the hand-to-hand combat, it seemed that Natsu had deliberately left openings for him to attack and didn't do much dodging or defensive moves.

As a result, if you counted the number of hits landed and taken, they were probably about the same.

It's just that in the end, Rhodes was lying on the ground in pain, almost unable to get up.

While Natsu seemed fine, dusted himself off, and carried Rhodes to the infirmary.

"Now that I think about it, it feels like Natsu was deliberately acting as my sparring partner..."

Looking at the bruises on his body, Rhodes smiled helplessly. "Got beaten up and still have to thank him; what kind of situation is this?"

But when he was attacking the crab, he was probably just curious and itching to try.

Oh right, that strange feeling when the crab disappeared also needs to be carefully studied.

After resting in the infirmary for a while, Rhodes got up to help out in the front.

In the tavern, besides Mira and Laki, there was another girl helping out.

She had short black hair that made her look like a tomboy from the front, but she actually had a long braid tied at the back.

She wore a short red cheongsam, black over-the-knee socks, and the guild emblem was printed above the socks.

Rhodes recognized her as Sally, who used Requip Magic, but not as proficient as Erza—she only changed weapons during combat.

It's said that she's best at using a pair of steel claws worn on her wrists... Obviously, she's a close-combat type, and a rather fierce one at that.

Sally's shifts were much less frequent than Rhodes's; being a waitress was really just a part-time job for her. Her main source of income was teaming up with three other friends to take on missions.

Besides Sally, there was another girl named Izzy, whose situation was similar to hers. But Rhodes had only seen her once when he couldn't speak, so he wasn't too familiar.

"Rhodes? I heard from everyone that you had a fight with Natsu today."

Sally was carrying a tray in one hand, and with a flash of light in the other, steel claws appeared. She eagerly asked, "So, want to have a match with me?"

Clearly, she was another battle enthusiast.

Rhodes decisively refused, "Spare me, my whole body is hurting right now."

"Sally, my drink!"

Someone saw Sally stopping to chat and couldn't help but urge her.

"So annoying, isn't this on its way?"

Hmm, she has a bad temper; better not provoke her if possible.

Although her strength might not be extremely high, beating Rhodes in his current state shouldn't be a problem.

Rhodes looked around and finally went to stand by the counter.

At this moment, Gray was leaning against the counter, a job request on the table, waiting for Mira to register it. "Yo, Natsu's punches are heavy, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Rhodes smiled bitterly, touching his swollen face. "Why haven't I seen him around?"

"He just took a job and went out to work with Happy." Gray picked up the commission letter that Mira handed back to him and waved it at Rhodes. "I'm heading out to work too; see you."

Rhodes nodded, "Alright, take care on the road."

Gray had just taken a few steps when Mira called out to him, "Gray, your clothes!"

Gray looked down and found he was only wearing his boxers again. "When did this happen!"

Watching Gray retrieve his shirt and pants with a smile, Mira poured Rhodes a glass of water. "Are you thinking a lot about Natsu?"

"Yeah, after all, he 'took care' of me, so I feel a bit..."

Rhodes held the glass but didn't drink, just staring at the gently rippling water inside. "A bit awkward."

Getting beaten naturally didn't feel good, but since the other party held back everywhere, intentionally or unintentionally teaching him combat skills, he should be grateful.

And judging by Natsu's appearance, he might even be younger than himself, which made it feel a bit awkward.

Rhodes found that he tended to overthink, liked to dwell on things, and found it hard to be as straightforward as everyone else.

This led him to worry whether he might not fit in and be ostracized.

Then he'd despise himself for being an adult and still worrying about such trivial things.

Moreover, others were so sincere, and he was thinking about all this messy stuff, which felt like he was letting them down...

Mira watched Rhodes's expressions change and could only guess that he was unwilling to accept his loss:

"You've only been learning magic for a few days, and being at this level is already amazing. If you keep at it, maybe next month you'll be able to take on some ordinary jobs."

"True, better focus on training for now." Who can say what will happen in the future? Maybe it's just that he's not used to fighting for the first time.

Rhodes looked at the people laughing and chatting in the tavern. "Who should I find next time?"

A spiky-haired boy—Marcus, the talkative one from the morning—caught his eye.

Maybe I'll try asking him.

Work, training, enjoying the exquisite cooking of the guild's chef—it was another fulfilling day.

After returning home, Rhodes indeed had to, as Laki suggested, break open the wooden box without an opening to take out the magazines inside.

"Sorcerer Weekly" was a weekly magazine, and what Laki gave Rhodes was a year's worth, plus some special editions and extra issues, totaling about sixty copies.

Sixty magazines stacked neatly on the table, making quite a thick pile.

"What a pity for such a seamless box... Do you want to use it as a nest?"

Rhodes showed the wooden box with one side broken open to Worm.

The box wasn't big, but more than enough to house a Poro.

However, Worm didn't like such a nest, shaking his head and retreating under the bed.

"Fine then, I haven't thoroughly cleaned under the bed yet; don't get all dusty."

Rhodes tossed the broken wooden box by the fireplace to use as firewood, once again envying the convenience of Maker Magic.

He took out the Wind Whisper glasses and quickly browsed through the magazine's contents.

"Phantom Lord..."

This is one of the most famous wizard guilds in the Kingdom of Fiore; the other, of course, is Fairy Tail.

However, Fairy Tail had been dormant for quite a long time, and only in recent years had its reputation grown.

Rhodes read about this in an issue that focused on introducing Phantom Lord.

In terms of scale and numbers alone, Phantom Lord surpassed Fairy Tail by a lot, because besides the main branch, they had more than twenty sub-branches and numerous members.

"It's just that the name 'Phantom Lord' sounds so much like a dark guild..."

After seeing some of Phantom Lord's signature wizards and some incidents they caused, Rhodes slightly dispelled his doubts.

In terms of causing trouble, this guild was no less than Fairy Tail.