CHAPTER 743: CAN I TRICK HIM BACK?

Rather than finding Ulfheim’s behavior rude, Rhodes and Mira actually thought his "solve problems with a fight" attitude was perfectly in line with Fairy Tail’s style.

Honestly, it was probably a good thing that he didn’t get along with the old man. Both of them were the kind of people who could turn a sparring match into an earthquake.

If Ulfheim ever joined Fairy Tail, though, daily fights might do wonders for his health, but not so much for the guild hall or the town surrounding it.

Pushing that thought aside, Rhodes asked, "Any news about Serena?"

Hyberion’s usual calm expression tightened slightly. "It’s been more or less confirmed that he’s joined the Alvarez Empire. The reasons haven’t been uncovered yet."

"I see," Rhodes said quietly.

He’d already heard from the First Guild Master that the Alvarez Empire had been founded by Zeref and had already unified the entire Western Continent.

So Serena had gone there?

Was he chasing power, or Zeref himself?

In Rhodes’s imagination, the Alvarez Empire was nothing short of a massive, continent-spanning Black Magic cult devoted to Zeref.

Who knew when that empire would start acting up again?

Rhodes thought for a moment and sighed inwardly. ’If I had to face an entire continent of enemies, even if they all just stood still and let me punch them, I’d probably die of exhaustion.’

He still wasn’t strong enough.

While he was lost in thought, Hyberion continued, "This matter is still classified. To prevent unnecessary panic, please keep it confidential."

Rhodes nodded. "Understood."

"Considering the possibility that we may face them someday," he added, "what kind of magic does Serena use?"

Hyberion’s tone turned grave. "I’ve never seen him go all out, but I do know he’s a Dragon Slayer. His power has already surpassed what we’d consider human limits."

"Dragon Slayer magic," Rhodes murmured. "Could that Serena end up being Natsu’s destined opponent?"

Mira looked at Hyberion and asked, "I’ve heard that the top four Ten Wizard Saints are all like that, so powerful they’re called the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar, right?"

Rhodes silently added in his mind, ’Though now, there are only three left.’

Hyberion shook his head slightly. "That’s merely a label given by those who don’t know the truth. This continent has always been full of talent. Even within Fairy Tail, there are many young mages with boundless potential."

"Haha, I’ll take that as praise for my guild," Rhodes said cheerfully. It was always satisfying to hear a Saint-level mage compliment Fairy Tail.

The three of them continued chatting, drifting from the topic of Serena to the recent movements in the Magic World. Naturally, the discussion turned to Dark Guilds.

Then, almost inevitably, Hyberion brought up one of the more controversial independent groups.

"What do you think of Crime Sorcière?" he asked.

Rhodes thought for a moment before answering. "Honestly? They’ve been taking down more Dark Guilds in a month than I manage in an entire year. So instead of the Council wasting time trying to capture them, they should just focus on cleaning up after them."

Hyberion raised an eyebrow. "You seem rather fond of them, Mr. Rhodes. Don’t forget, two of their members are former Grimoire Heart mages, and six are escaped convicts."

"How should I put it?" Rhodes said with a grin. "Because I know some of them personally. And from what I understand of their Guild Master, she didn’t form that group to cause trouble."

He shrugged. "Take their recent prison break, for example. How many people did they kill? How many facilities did they destroy?"

The answer was simple.

Zero deaths. Zero damage.

Not a single life lost, and the worst injuries were just a few guards knocked unconscious with lumps on their heads.

Not a single facility was damaged, because every wall and door that had been dismantled was perfectly restored.

If anything, they only took six pairs of Magic Sealing Stone handcuffs with them when they escaped with the prisoners.

Even those were later recovered during follow-up searches.

Hyberion fell into deep thought.

Rhodes continued, "Instead of letting these capable people rot away in prison, wouldn’t it be better to let them come out and actually do something useful?

"If you ask me, the Council’s system for treating prisoners needs reform. Different prisoners should be handled differently. Those with good intentions should be given opportunities for labor reform or to reduce their sentences through service."

He paused and rubbed his chin. He knew full well he was just talking big.

The principle sounded nice, but the actual implementation would be a nightmare.

Still, since this was just casual political talk between colleagues, it wasn’t like a few opinions would break any laws.

Hyberion, however, seemed to be genuinely considering it.

If they could use mental-type magic to judge the sincerity of prisoners’ remorse, then categorize and treat them accordingly, the idea wasn’t entirely impossible.

After all, mind-reading magic did exist.

This could even turn out to be an effective way for the Council to strengthen its forces.

Of course, there would also be risks.

Rhodes hadn’t expected that his obviously biased remarks would actually make Hyberion think seriously about it.

It even looked like he was planning to bring the proposal to the Council.

When they parted ways, Hyberion said, "I’ll arrange another gathering soon, to meet the newly promoted Ten Wizard Saints."

"No problem," Rhodes replied with a smile. "I should be quite free for a while."

He mused that there wasn’t much left to do after the honeymoon anyway.

Unless the Guild Master really planned to make him write that reflection report.

Speaking of which, so much time had passed, surely the Guild Master had given up on that by now?

Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail...

"So much time has passed. Surely Rhodes has accepted it by now?" Makarov muttered gloomily. "Or is he really planning to stay in Joya Kingdom as a Earl?"

When he’d first heard the news a few days ago, he’d nearly fallen out of his chair.

A Magician, someone who risked his life on missions every day, sometimes couldn’t even afford food when luck was bad.

How could such a person suddenly become nobility?

Which Magician just wakes up one day and becomes a Earl? And not just a Earl...a Earl with his own fiefdom!

The most infuriating thing was the letter that had arrived not long ago. The wording was painfully formal, referring to him as "Guild Master Makarov" over and over again, not even a single casual "Master" anymore!

What was that kid trying to pull?

How did his most reliable, worry-free child suddenly turn into his biggest headache?!

"Master! There’s news about Brother-in-law!" Lisanna burst in excitedly, waving a newspaper.

"The paper says Brother-in-law single-handedly wiped out all the banditry in Joya Kingdom and was promoted to Duke by the King!"

"Pfft—!" Makarov spat out a mouthful of white wine, his eyes bulging. "Duke?"

"Yes! And it says he has a huge fiefdom," Lisanna went on, her eyes sparkling. "The ducal mansion is almost finished, it’s even bigger than our guild! I really want to go see it!"

Makarov stared at her blankly, lost in thought.

’Would it work if I pretended to be terminally ill to lure him back?’

Just then, Max burst through the guild’s back door, panicked. "Guild Master! It’s bad! Natsu’s training caused a huge portion of the lake to evaporate! The water level dropped, and now all the fishing boats are stuck! Some propellers broke, and others have holes in the hull!"

Makarov clutched his chest dramatically. "That’s it! I’m pretending to be sick right now!"