CHAPTER 760: I WANT TO RETIRE

With so much to ask, Makarov decided not to waste time scolding them for being gone so long. Instead, the first thing he said was, "What exactly happened with Sabertooth?"

He had already heard that Sabertooth’s guildhall was destroyed during a routine meeting.

At first, he hadn’t taken it seriously, guild brawls were nothing new. He’d even sighed, thinking, those Sabertooth mages sure are lively; no wonder they’re ranked first.

Then someone added, quite casually, "Oh, it was Rhodes who did it."

Makarov nearly spat out his drink on the spot and immediately tried to contact the guild.

His first goal was to calm everyone down: he made it clear that Rhodes wasn’t the type to act without reason, and there was likely some misunderstanding.

He warned everyone not to be impulsive, under no circumstances were they to form "support squads" or rush to Sabertooth before Rhodes himself made contact.

Because if those kids misunderstood, they really would charge in headfirst, no hesitation.

Rhodes and Mira, caught up in the moment at the time, hadn’t even thought about this potential chain reaction.

Lisanna had told Mira the previous night that when the news first spread, everyone really had started gearing up for battle.

But after Warren did some investigating and confirmed Rhodes wasn’t at fault, everyone just went back to business as usual.

Only a few complained that Rhodes hadn’t called them to help in such a "fun-sounding fight."

They were immediately silenced by Erza.

Makarov had spent the next day waiting nervously, expecting either the Council or Sabertooth to come demanding explanations.

But the Council stayed quiet.

And Sabertooth? Not a peep.

So that night, he’d had a few too many drinks... and, well, after a long meeting, he’d simply forgotten about it.

Now Rhodes calmly explained the whole story, emphasizing that he bore no responsibility and didn’t even need to write a self-criticism report.

Makarov’s emotions were... complicated.

How to describe that strange parental feeling when your kid causes trouble outside, but somehow cleans up the mess themselves, so the parents don’t even get called in by the school?

Relieved, yes... but also oddly disappointed.

Rhodes, noticing the mix of emotions on the old man’s face, felt a little bad. So he solemnly placed the gift he’d brought back from the Council in front of him, a specialty bottle of liquor.

Makarov’s expression instantly brightened; his face even started to turn red with excitement.

Before the misunderstanding deepened, Rhodes quickly added, "Don’t worry, the Speaker said they won’t pursue it further this time. They just need to reflect properly."

The red drained from Makarov’s face, and he nodded, patting the document. "I’ll make them ’reflect’ properly. But..."

He sighed heavily. "You should be the Guild Master."

"Huh?" Rhodes blinked. ’That escalated quickly.’

Makarov continued matter-of-factly, "You manage guild affairs neatly, you’ve got strength and prestige, and when you cause trouble, you clean it up yourself. You even dodge writing self-criticisms. If you’re not the Guild Master, then who should be?"

Rhodes thought for three seconds, then said seriously, "Since the guild doesn’t need you to manage it, and you don’t have to write self-criticisms anymore, why retire?"

Makarov froze. ’That... actually sounded reasonable.’

He quickly tried to recover. "N-No, that’s just this one time! It’s a coincidence. If something happens again in the future, I’ll still have to write one."

Rhodes shrugged. "You see? You just admitted it’s a coincidence, not that I’m especially capable of handling things. Which means my ability still isn’t enough."

"That..." Makarov frowned. "That actually makes sense too, Wait a minute! I almost let this brat trick me again!"

He slammed the table. "I can’t solve that kind of trouble either! Anyway, I’ve already decided, it’s you. I’m retiring!"

Rhodes asked calmly, "And after you retire, what exactly do you plan to do?"

"I’ll go visit some old friends, and most of the time I’ll just drink in the guild."

"Isn’t that exactly what you do now? What’s the difference between retiring and not retiring?"

"..."

Makarov nearly fell off his chair.

Now that he thought about it, his current life was basically his ideal retired life already.

He barely needed to manage the guild’s day-to-day affairs.If he disappeared for a few days, the place still ran smoothly.The so-called "regular meetings" were just old friends gathering to complain and drink.

As for the Magic Council, well, Fairy Tail had two Saint-Ten medallions guarding it now. Unless someone caused monumental trouble, they were untouchable.

The only thing that ever really bothered him was the growing pressure from the Western Continent. But the guild’s biggest secret had already been entrusted to Rhodes, and Makarov knew the boy would take it seriously.

Meaning... he didn’t really have to worry about that either.

So, technically, he’d already retired without realizing it.

Usually, people called that "being sidelined."

Makarov fell into deep thought for a long moment, then decided to be shameless about it.

"I don’t care," he declared. "I’ve already decided!"

Rhodes sighed inwardly.

"Even if you want me to be Guild Master, can’t we wait a few months?"

"Why?" Makarov asked suspiciously.

"I’m planning to compete in the Grand Magic Games in three and a half months," Rhodes said seriously. "I heard Jura’s participating this year."

"The Grand Magic Games?" Makarov snorted. "That kind of showy tournament doesn’t matter. If you want to fight Jura, just go challenge him directly."

Rhode added smoothly, "The champion’s prize is thirty million J. Half goes to the guild, half to the participant."

"This..."

That one hit home.

The guild’s commission fees had been modest lately, and the tavern’s revenue wasn’t exactly booming either.

Fifteen million J would take a very long time to earn.

Fairy Tail’s finances weren’t exactly dire, but compared to other major guilds, they were hardly flourishing.

With that kind of prize money, they could fix up the guild, fund more missions, maybe even rebuild the hot spring.

Rhodes could see Makarov wavering, so he pressed the advantage.

"The competition’s broadcast nationwide," he said. "If we win, it’ll raise Fairy Tail’s reputation far more effectively than a dozen newspaper features. We’d start getting higher-tier requests again, bring the guild right back to its peak."

Makarov’s brows furrowed so tightly they could’ve drawn blood.After a long internal struggle, he sighed and finally surrendered.

"Fine! I’ll stay on as Guild Master for another four months!"

Rhodes flashed Mira a secret thumbs-up, silently mouthing, ’Am I good?’

Mira grinned and returned the gesture.

Before Makarov could think too deeply about the idea of stepping down right after the tournament, Rhodes quickly steered the conversation away.

"So, what was that troublesome mission you mentioned earlier, Master?"

"Oh, it’s nothing too complicated." Makarov’s mood instantly softened. "Just a standard subjugation request. The target’s a Hellhound."

Rhode’s interest perked immediately. "A demon?"

Makarov shook his head. "No, it’s more like a special kind of magical beast. The request originally came from that cooking guild,’Chef God’s Carving Knife.’ You remember them?"

"Yeah, their Guild Master’s a great cook," Rhodes said with a nod. That was the eccentric guild where you couldn’t even join unless you could cook. All their members specialized in life-magic skills.

Makarov continued, "They planned to hunt the Hellhound as a rare ingredient and complete the request at the same time. But that thing turned out to be a lot stronger than they expected. Even their Guild Master got injured. So they had to hand it over to the Local Guild Alliance."

Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "So you mean... you drew the short straw again?"