"This is too much, Ultear. You've already done enough," Meredy said anxiously.
"I'm fine. Finishing early will help restore order to the capital sooner," Ultear replied. She looked exhausted, yet still forced herself to finish repairing a sky bridge in front of her before slowly walking toward the next building.
"But don't you remember? If Lost Magic is overused…"
Ultear paused to catch her breath, then insisted, "It's fine. I know my limits."
Rhodes stepped forward with a casual smile. "Yo. Busy, huh?"
"I'm only using Arc of Time where it truly matters," Ultear said. "Moments like this are the only times I feel that learning this magic had any meaning."
"Mr. Rhodes, please help persuade her," Meredy said urgently. "If this continues, her body won't be able to take it."
Rhodes thought for a moment, then smiled. "Since Ultear is so determined, I'll at least help her recover some magic power."
Blue light flowed around Ultear's body. She felt her magic rapidly replenish and smiled faintly. "Thank you."
Meredy frowned. "Why are you helping her too? This isn't just about magic power…"
"Meredy!" Ultear snapped, glaring at her. Due to her exhaustion, however, there was no real force behind it.
Rhodes winked at Meredy and asked, "How are the others doing?"
Meredy failed to understand the signal and only pouted, remaining silent.
Ultear answered instead. "Angel went to see her sister. Hoteye is helping everywhere with Earth Magic. Racer, Midnight, and Jellal are secretly assisting with transport. Cobra…"
"What about him?" Rhodes asked.
Ultear glanced at him. "He seems very interested in someone from your guild. He's always listening nearby."
"Oh," Rhodes said knowingly. "So that perverted stalker is him."
At dinner earlier, Mira had casually mentioned that Kinana felt like someone was watching her during the Grand Magic Games. Some of the girls thought she was overthinking it, others suspected a stalker, and they were even considering setting a trap.
It seemed that the culprit was Cobra.
That plan would probably fail. His hearing was far too sharp.
Meredy was finally distracted. "A perverted stalker?"
Rhodes nodded. "Yes. Tell him later that if he wants to meet her, he should just go directly. We won't stop him."
Ultear nodded, though she suspected Cobra would struggle to overcome his own mental barriers.
"Alright. My magic has recovered a lot. I should hurry," Ultear said.
"I won't stop you," Rhodes replied. "But rest when you need to. Rebuilding the capital isn't that urgent."
"I know. Thank you," Ultear said casually, though her body had already begun gathering magic again.
Meredy stomped her foot in frustration.
As Rhodes passed by Ultear, he suddenly punched her in the stomach.
"Ah!" Ultear gasped, eyes wide with disbelief, clutching her abdomen as she collapsed.
Rhodes caught her immediately.
Meredy was stunned. "What are you doing?!"
"Didn't you want her to rest?" Rhodes said calmly. "She wouldn't listen, so this was the only way." He gently pushed Ultear toward Meredy. "Here. Take her away."
Meredy caught Ultear automatically. "Then why did you restore her magic power first?"
"Do you think it's easy to ambush Ultear?" Rhodes replied seriously. "Her vigilance is extremely high. I had to make her relax first. Also, her physical condition was already terrible. I didn't want to hurt her seriously."
Meredy opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Th… thank you?"
"You're welcome. Contact us if you need anything. Bye," Rhodes said, finally leaving for real.
Meredy stared blankly at his retreating back. He punched her favorite Ultear, and she still had to thank him for it.
...
"Seven years later, Black Dragon Acnologia will dominate the world. No one will be able to oppose him, and my Dragon Control Magic will be useless against him."
"The holy power on me was taken from Sting. I killed him with my own hands."
"I wanted to become the Dragon King, but you already stopped me. I hope you have a way to deal with Acnologia."
"Frosch also died, probably about a year later."
"No, not because of dragons. He was killed by Gray from your guild. If possible, please stop Gray."
"I don't know the exact details. I only heard that he was corrupted by evil in pursuit of power and joined a Black Wizard cult. Frosch and I took on an investigation mission together, and I failed to protect him."
"During that time, Tartaros seemed to be plotting something. I heard their slogan was to 'return to Zeref's side,' but their plan was disrupted by the Dragons and never succeeded."
"Lady Minerva left the capital and later joined a Dark Guild. After that, there was no further news of her."
Future Rogue was extremely cooperative during the interrogation.
Perhaps it was because his dream had already been shattered and nothing seemed to matter anymore. Or perhaps he had finally woken up and hoped that history could still be changed.
It was also possible that Rhodes's warning played a role. Gemini's Celestial Spirit could easily extract information directly from his mind, and Cobra could hear his thoughts clearly. In that situation, he would have no privacy at all.
In any case, Future Rogue revealed everything he considered important without holding anything back.
Unfortunately, Tartaros had been dealt with by dragons in his timeline, and news of it only spread much later. As a result, he did not know their exact location.
Feeling that he had already explained everything of value, Rhodes did not trouble him further. After all, the histories of the two timelines were different, and there was no need to rely entirely on his information.
On the other side, Future Lucy had already said goodbye to Jude and then to everyone in the guild, one by one. Finally, she came to find Rhodes.
"I'm ready."
She had memorized all the necessary magic knowledge, recorded every important piece of information, and even had the First Master help her plan her actions after returning. Future Lucy felt fully prepared.
Rhodes looked her up and down for a moment, then said, "Wait here. I'm going back to the guild."
He traveled back and forth through the Hex Gate and returned in less than ten minutes, carrying a large backpack, which he handed to her.
"So heavy!" Future Lucy nearly dropped it. "What's inside?"
Those who knew Rhodes well immediately showed knowing expressions.
Makarov looked up at the sky. He had thought Rhodes had finally changed this bad habit.
And yet, strangely enough, he even missed it a little.
Mira smiled and explained to Future Lucy the uses of the Exploding Magic Crystals and the magic book inside the bag.
Future Lucy listened in a daze. Just looking at the contents, it felt like there was enough firepower to blow up the Royal Palace several times over.
She asked hesitantly, "This isn't a bit excessive, is it? I'm not planning to carry out a terrorist attack."
"You don't have a key, you don't specialize in combat magic, and you're missing an arm," Rhodes replied calmly. "How are you supposed to manage without something to defend yourself?"
As he spoke, Rhodes took out a standard Kingdom Knight armguard and personally helped Future Lucy put it on.
"This can activate a magic shield, and it won't interfere with the movement of this hand. Even with only one arm, you can maintain the shield while activating the magic book."