Rhodes didn't expect to see Loke again so soon, he thought the he would be resting for at least a few days. But the very next morning, there he was, standing at the guild's front desk.
Loke looked noticeably better than the day before and was asking the receptionist, "Is that mission still available?"
Rhodes stepped forward. "Yeah, it's still open. But are you really okay?"
"Porlyusica prescribed some medicine," Loke replied, smiling a bit sheepishly. "As long as I take it on time, I should be fine. It sounds like the treatment might take a while though, so I'd better work hard to pay for it."
Behind them, Master Makarov waved his hand toward Rhodes. "Let him go."
Rhodes nodded. "All right."
Mira approached with an apologetic look. "Loke… about what happened yesterday…"
"It's fine," Loke replied brightly. "I'm sorry for making you worry. From now on, I'll cooperate with the treatment."
Rhodes handed him the mission sheet but hesitated. "Want to team up for this one?"
Loke chuckled and raised the paper confidently. "Next time. Let me show off a little today."
He turned and walked away, his stride light.
Rhodes glanced toward the Master.
Makarov merely shook his head. "It's all right. He knows what he's doing."
He seemed calm… until Erza and her team walked up.
"Master," Erza said firmly, "we're taking this mission."
"No!" Makarov blurted out instinctively. Then, realizing he had no real reason to deny it, he muttered, "Er… what mission is it?"
Erza passed him the sheet. "A band of thieves has been troubling Impatiens Village."
Makarov frowned. A subjugation mission.
Mira glanced over and smiled. "Looks routine enough, Master."
With a sigh, Makarov relented and gave them the green light. After all, there hadn't been any complaints since that theater incident.
Rhodes remembered that too. "Didn't you guys just rake in a bunch of money from your last job?"
Erza answered matter-of-factly, "My rent's expensive. And I want to buy something."
Fair enough. She did rent five rooms on her own, and she was known for collecting rare, high-end weapons, armor, and even fancy clothes.
"Don't worry, Master," Rhodes added. "The thieves' hideout is far from the village. You don't need to worry about collateral damage."
Bad news: the strongest team was leaving town again.
Good news: at least they weren't blowing up anything nearby.
The village was actually a well-known tourist spot, especially famous for its hot spring resort. Rhodes made a mental note to visit someday.
"Oh, by the way," Rhodes added, "Loke's headed to a location close to yours. If you hurry, you might even catch the same train."
"Oh? Then let's get moving," said Gray. He'd been quietly concerned about Loke's condition lately.
"I don't want to ride the train!" Natsu groaned, suddenly remembering his motion sickness. "Rhodes, let me borrow a giant crab!"
"Quit whining." Gray grabbed Natsu's arm and dragged him along. Then, looking at Erza, he quickly added, "We're teammates, so we should move together. Carsickness is just something you deal with!"
Erza nodded in approval. "Don't worry, Natsu. If you can't endure it… I'll help."
"Nooo…"
Lucy and Happy followed behind, wearing the same tired but sympathetic smile.
...
Two days passed with no word from Fairy Tail's strongest team.
Makarov, clearly nervous, left to attend the regular Guild Masters' meeting, quietly praying that nothing had gone terribly wrong.
Ironically, it was just after he departed that the group finally returned.
Erza calmly submitted the mission report, stating that everything had gone smoothly. Lucy, looking downcast, ordered lunch and sat quietly at the bar, zoning out as if lost in thought.
Natsu and Gray, meanwhile, were in bad shape—bruised, bandaged, and covered in scratches. They looked like they'd barely survived a battlefield, not a simple subjugation job.
Rhodes blinked and pointed at the two battered boys. "Are you sure things went smoothly?"
"Huh? Oh, them?" Erza replied casually, brushing off the question with a wave. "They got like that during a pillow fight. Anyway, I'm off to do some shopping."
Rhodes paused. Injured during a pillow fight?
Then he remembered the time Mira had thrown a pillow at him.
Yeah, okay, maybe that actually was normal.
"You jerk, you still won't admit defeat?!"
"What are you talking about? You clearly lost!"
The two wounded warriors started bickering like toddlers until they suddenly turned in unison toward Lucy.
"Lucy! Tell him I won, right?!"
"Shut up."
Lucy's voice was cold, her eyes unusually sharp.
"Y-yes ma'am!" they both flinched, visibly shaken. The infamous daredevils were stunned into silence by Lucy's uncharacteristically terrifying glare.
She sighed deeply.
Her mind was clouded with worry about Loke.
During their mission, they'd run into him by chance, and he'd suddenly said something strange, something about "not having much time left."
He'd quickly laughed it off as a joke, but the uneasy feeling lingered.
There was something about Loke lately that felt… off.
"Rhodes, Mira," Lucy turned to the pair, "do you know what illness Loke has? I heard you took him to Porlyusica a few days ago."
"I'm not sure," Rhodes replied, shaking his head. "Granny wouldn't tell me. Just said it's not something that can be healed in a day or two."
Mira tilted her head. "Why do you ask? Did something happen?"
"I saw him yesterday…" Lucy's brows furrowed. "Maybe I'm just overthinking it."
Before they could discuss it further, the guild doors burst open.
A group of girls stormed inside, dozens of them, all types and all stunning in their own way.
The guild went silent as they loudly called out in unison:
"Where's Loke?!"
Some were strangers, others familiar, but they all had the same goal: find Fairy Tail's resident playboy.
The moment that crowd of beautiful girls entered the guild, nearly every man in the tavern turned their heads.
But when they heard who the girls were looking for, most of them silently cursed Loke in their hearts.
'So this is what they mean by "some die of thirst, others drown in excess."'
The girls shoved and pushed their way to the bar counter, shouting over each other:
"Is Loke here?!"
"Where is he?!"
"Has he been around lately?!"
"Why did he break up with me?!"
"He dumped me too! I'm not letting him off that easily!"
Rhodes tried to step in and speak, but the wall of high-pitched voices gave him a headache before he could even get a word out.
Some of the girls were already sobbing while talking, clutching handkerchiefs and glaring around like they were ready to start a riot.
With no other choice, Rhodes quickly stepped in front of Mira, shielding her with his body like a bodyguard in a celebrity scandal.
Not that it helped. These girls weren't trying to hurt Mira, they were just… overwhelmingly emotional.
Even Mira was helpless in the face of this many heartbroken women.
She recognized some of them as girls from nearby towns, ordinary civilians, not mages. From the sound of it, Loke had ended all his relationships in one go.
Mira didn't really understand the pain of heartbreak firsthand, but she could at least imagine how hard it must feel.
Still, she had no idea how to comfort them.
Should she just hand Loke over to be torn to pieces?
With no better ideas, Mira turned to the only person who might know more. "Lucy, do you know where Loke went?"
"Huh?!"
Lucy, caught off guard, suddenly found herself in the middle of a very aggressive circle of women.
"Who are you?!"
"Are you Loke's true love?!"
"Wait, did he dump all of us just for this girl?!"
"She's kind of cute when you look closely…"
"Well, I don't want to admit it, but she is cute…"
Mira just gave her a faint, unbothered smile, as if to say "You got this."
"Wait, wait, wait! Miss Mira, don't just toss this problem on me!!" Lucy shouted as she turned and ran for her life.
...
Bonus Chapter
Stones PLZzz