Rhodes was a magnanimous man; even though his companions had grumbled about him earlier, he let it slide and simply cured their seasickness one by one.
Once Laxus and Gajeel could finally breathe again without wanting to die, they remembered the original question.
"So," Gajeel wiped cold sweat from his forehead, "what exactly is this urgent mission?"
Rhodes felt it was inconvenient to explain while they were half-hanging out a window vomiting, so after switching all of them, including Mira and Juvia, onto his Void Crab, and sending the boatman back with half-fare, he finally spoke:
"This 'urgent mission' was assigned by the Master. We're supposed to arrive one day early and investigate whether Dark Guilds or the Black Magic Cult have appeared near the Capital."
Gajeel blinked. "Someone wants to cause trouble in the Capital?"
"That sounds impossible," Juvia said sensibly, for once. "At a time like this, the Capital must be heavily guarded."
"Almost all the Magic Guilds in the country are gathering there," she continued. "Causing trouble now would basically mean declaring war on the entire Kingdom!"
"Logically, yes," Rhodes said with a shrug. Then he relayed everything Precht had told him.
The others nodded immediately. If Zeref's followers were involved, logic meant nothing.
Those lunatics never cared about consequence, only "impact."
In that case, sending a lineup like this ahead of time to scout made perfect sense.
Rhodes asked, "So? Everyone understands the mission now?"
Seeing them all nod, he smiled.
"Good. Because the truth is, we're only using that as an excuse to sneak out."
Gajeel stared.
Juvia froze mid-thought.
Even Laxus cracked an eye open.
Mira simply started giggling.
Rhodes continued calmly:
"Our real mission is to become Fairy Tail's secret second representative team, and make it into the finals without the others knowing, so we can surprise them."
Gajeel: "What kind of mission is that supposed to be?"
Juvia clutched her face. "Doing something behind Gray-sama's back makes Juvia feel… immoral."
Mira laughed sweetly, "Master probably thought it would be fun. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing their shocked faces when we suddenly walk out onto the stage."
Laxus sighed, thinking of his unreliable grandfather.
Yeah.
That absolutely sounded like something the old man would do.
"What about the team name?" Laxus asked. "If we're the 'second team,' then shouldn't they be the second team? Depending on who registers first?"
Rhodes explained:
"We can't register them as the second team or they'll get suspicious. So the Master will register them normally as 'Fairy Tail.' Once the main competition begins, every guild will naturally split into Team A and Team B."
He grinned. "If you hate the name 'second team,' we can also go with Team B, Team Beta..."
The others stared at him without enthusiasm.
Only Mira looked delighted.
Seeing the lack of motivation, Rhodes finally revealed the Master's secret trump card:
"The Master said whichever team wins gets to order the other team around for one full day. But, if we're exposed before the main competition, this privilege disappears."
Silence.
Then;
"Order them around," Laxus muttered.
"For one full day," Juvia whispered, eyes sparkling with immoral fantasies.
"Gray will obey my commands…" she murmured happily.
Gajeel grinned darkly. "Heh… that Iron Dragon likes the sound of this."
Even Mira's smile turned… dangerous.
Erza, on her knees? Tempting.
Rhodes shrugged. He already knew what he would do, probably bully Lucy a little.
As for losing?
With this lineup, if they still managed to lose…Rhodes might as well find two bricks and smash his head against them to die.
The two Void Crabs sped up quietly, carrying a boatful of scheming, darkly amused Magicians toward the Capital.
They had left around dusk. After several hours of waterway boosts and acceleration skills, they reached Crocus under the night sky.
"Ohhhh… so beautiful!"
It was Juvia's first time seeing the Capital at night, and the sight left her dazzled.
"It's nothing special," Gajeel grumbled, finally getting his dignity back. "Where are we staying tonight?"
"The rules say that once we register, the organizers will assign a designated hotel," Rhodes said. "But at this hour? The staff definitely went home already. We'll find a place ourselves."
And so, they grabbed rooms on their own for the night.
The next morning, Rhodes led his "secret team" to complete their official registration. Sure enough, once the paperwork was done, the organizers directly assigned them to the Ferris Wheel Hotel.
Yes, that Ferris Wheel Hotel.
The exact same hotel Rhodes had deliberately taken Mira to on their last trip to the Capital.
After settling in, and with plenty of time before the tournament began, everyone split up to "investigate the Capital", while secretly enjoying the tourism.
Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail…
Makarov gathered everyone and announced in a solemn tone:
"Rhodes and his team received an urgent mission. They may not return before the competition ends, so we've made adjustments to the participants."
The guild exploded instantly.
"WHAT?!"
"We suddenly lost THREE of our strongest members?!"
"How are we supposed to beat Jura now?!"
Jet and Droy were already mourning Fairy Tail's funeral.
But Natsu, because of course it was Natsu, got even more fired up.
"So what if Rhodes isn't here?! So what if Mira isn't here?! So what if Laxus isn't here?!
Fairy Tail won't surrender!"
He clenched his fists, eyes blazing with determination.
"The more things turn out like this, the more we have to win the Grand Magic Games, and surprise them when they come back!"
Makarov's forced smile slowly turned into a genuine one.
Yes, this was Fairy Tail at its best. His children were burning brighter than ever.
He clapped loudly to silence them.
"Now, I'll announce Fairy Tail's official team.
Captain: Erza."
Erza stepped forward confidently, as if it was only natural.
"Next: Natsu and Gray."
"Ohhhh yeah!!" Natsu yelled, punching upward.
Gray smirked casually. "Not bad."
"Then… Lucy."
"Eh? M–Me?!" Lucy pointed at herself, eyes wide.
She looked around and immediately spotted the Thunder God Tribe. There were at least five people who could crush her with one hand!
"Lucy-chan, you'll be fine," Levy said sweetly. "You can just summon Loke!"
Everyone paused, thought about Loke, and then thought about Aquarius.
Yeah. Actually that was pretty reassuring.
Makarov didn't give any explanation, simply continued:
"And finally… Cana!"
Silence.
Macao poked Cana, who was curled up hugging a whiskey barrel.
"Cana! Master picked you!"
"Huh?" Cana mumbled, half drunk. "Are you challenging me to a drinking contest?"
Macao massaged his forehead. "It's morning. Why are you drunk already?"
Cana waved her arm generously.
"It's fine! That barrel's yours, old man!"
Makarov stared at her for a few seconds.
He genuinely considered withdrawing her name.
...
STONES PLZZ 💎💎
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