Cancer took great pride in his haircare magic and explained it to Mira in detail while he worked.
Rhodes listened in as well. After all, if his wife needed haircare in the future, it was good to be prepared.
While he spoke, Cancer waved his twin scissors through the air, and Mira's slightly dried and damaged hair began to shimmer and flow smoothly again.
After the treatment, he styled her hair into a simple half-up look. The result was elegant, soft, and gently relaxed, perfectly balancing intelligence and warmth with a touch of natural charm.
Cancer pulled out a small mirror and held it up to her. "Today's recommended style~"
Mira ran her fingers across the tied section at the back of her head, then tilted her head from side to side to admire it. Finally, she turned to Rhodes with bright eyes. "What do you think? Does it look good?"
"It looks amazing!" Rhodes replied without hesitation. "Thanks, Cancer. And thank you too, Lucy."
Lucy smiled, hands clasped. "I think Miss Mira looks beautiful like this."
"As long as you're happy with it~" Cancer gave a stylish pose and vanished with flair.
Mira beamed. "Maybe I should wear my hair like this more often?"
"Yes, yes, yes! I've already memorized it! Next time I'll—"
Rhodes suddenly vanished mid-sentence, reappearing behind Mira and Lucy in a flash.
Bang! He raised his hand just in time to block a table flying toward them at high speed.
"Wha—?!" Lucy flinched, nearly getting struck.
Rhodes narrowed his eyes. That impact had been heavy. Someone was fighting again.
Happy hovered in with a warning. "It was Erza. She and Laxus seem to be arguing!"
"S-Class Laxus?" Lucy gasped.
Mira and Rhodes immediately walked over together. Lucy and Happy followed quickly behind.
Laxus was slouched casually on a bench, arms crossed. Erza stood across from him, eyes blazing with fury. Judging from the tension in the air, Laxus must've said something that pushed her over the edge and made her flip the table.
Guild members had gathered all around, their work momentarily forgotten.
"What's going on?" Rhodes asked.
Gray looked annoyed. "That guy came back and immediately started running his mouth, criticizing everything. He didn't even fight in the war, and he dares to talk like this?"
Laxus smirked arrogantly. "Since everyone's here, perfect. Let me make myself clear."
This couldn't be good.
Rhodes recalled what Master Makarov had told them and quickly tried to intervene. "Laxus, we're honestly glad you came back, especially after what happened with Phantom Lord. Even though—"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Laxus cut him off without pretense. This time, he didn't even pretend not to recognize him.
"I came back to see how pathetic you all looked! You let a bunch of Phantom scum do this to you? I'm embarrassed to even walk the streets with Fairy Tail's name on my back!"
A wave of anger rippled through the crowd.
"You didn't even fight! Who are you to talk?!"
"You weren't there for the battle. What do you know?!"
"We defeated Jose. We protected the guild!"
Laxus laughed mockingly. "That farce of a war had nothing to do with me. The old man just charged into it out of nowhere. And why?"
He extended a finger and pointed at Jet, Droy, and Levy.
"Because nobodies like you got taken out like chumps. I don't even know your names. Who the hell are you?"
Jet and Droy lowered their heads in shame. Levy bit her lip, saying nothing.
They had all grown up in this guild. Laxus was six years older than them and had always been a powerful and reliable big brother figure. To suddenly hear him say something so cruel, it hurt deeply.
Levy's heart sank. She didn't understand how things had ended up like this.
Rhodes stepped in front of Laxus's pointing finger. Erza and Mira stood beside him without hesitation.
If anything, they were even angrier than Rhodes was.
Master Makarov had told them not to take Laxus's words too seriously, but none of them had expected this. Not words so sharp and bitter that they could cut through years of guild trust like a blade.
Laxus gave a mocking smile. "What's with those looks? Don't tell me—"
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes widened just slightly, and his grin faded.
Because he finally noticed what was happening around him.
One by one, more and more people had stopped working. Almost everyone on the construction site was standing behind Rhodes, Erza, and Mira. Silent, but resolute.
In that moment, Laxus, seated on the bench across from them looked as if he were standing alone against the entire guild.
He remembered the newspaper articles. The reports. The rumors whispered in town.
After a long pause, Laxus scoffed quietly and muttered something only a few could hear. "I get it. I get it now… the one who inherited the old man's soft-hearted ideals…"
The atmosphere froze, like air right before a storm. It felt like everything could snap in an instant. Lines were being drawn. Like the guild could split apart at any moment.
But just as the tension reached its peak, someone completely ignored it.
"Laxus! Fight me!"
Natsu charged forward, throwing a punch without hesitation.
It missed.
In a flash of golden lightning, Laxus vanished from the spot and reappeared at the edge of the construction site, already halfway gone.
"Laxus! Don't run! Come fight me!" Natsu roared, fists blazing.
Laxus stood with his back to the guild and let out a short, mocking laugh. "You can't even touch me. What makes you think you can fight me?"
Then he turned his head just enough for his voice to carry back to them.
"Just wait. One day, I'll get rid of every weakling in this guild… and I'll kick out anyone who stands against me."
"I'll turn Fairy Tail into the strongest guild there's ever been. A guild so powerful that no one will ever look down on it again."
Laxus left without looking back, and the entire scene fell into a heavy silence.
Could he really be thinking something dangerous?
Rhodes frowned, deep in thought for a few moments, then clapped his hands sharply. "Alright. The Master said not to let Laxus's words get to us, so let's focus on what we should be doing."
The tension slowly broke. The guild members returned to their tasks, though their hearts still lingered on what had just happened.
Natsu stomped in frustration. "Damn it! I can't believe he said all that! I'm definitely gonna beat him up one of these days!"
Back at the counter, Lucy leaned on her elbow, watching Natsu pace back and forth as steam practically came off his head.
"Honestly… Natsu has zero sense of timing, doesn't he?"
Rhodes shook his head. "No. This time, I think all of us fell short compared to Natsu."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"At that moment just now, I think all of us, even just a little, had the thought that 'someone like him doesn't belong in the guild,' didn't we?"
"Ah… yeah." Lucy looked down, a little embarrassed. As a newcomer, it felt rude to admit it, but she couldn't deny it.
Mira nodded too. "I know it's wrong, but… I definitely felt that."
"Exactly. We all did. But Natsu…" Rhodes looked over at him, still fuming and muttering about Laxus.
"Natsu has always seen Laxus as an important guildmate. Maybe one who needs a good punch, sure, but still a comrade."
Watching him, Rhodes sighed with a half-smile. "That's why I say we all lost to Natsu. That idiot might be the one who understands Fairy Tail best."
Lucy blinked, taking that in. Then she shook her head furiously. "No way. He probably just didn't notice the mood shift! He's slow like that!"
Rhodes chuckled quietly and turned to Mira. "Go check on Levy. She looked really upset just now."
"Alright." Mira nodded, then added teasingly, "You sure care a lot about the girls."
Rhodes instantly backtracked. "Then check on Jet and Droy first. Just… look after Levy too, while you're at it."
Mira left with a smile, and Lucy quickly followed, wanting to support her best friend. "I'm coming too!"
Rhodes stayed behind and leaned against the counter, thinking over what he had felt during that confrontation with Laxus.
For just a moment, it was like he had heard the voices of everyone around him, felt their emotions, their anger, their sadness, their unity.
It reminded him of Warren's magic, but this was something else.
"Was it an illusion? A hallucination?" he muttered, frowning.
No. It didn't feel unreal. It didn't feel false.
He hadn't imagined it.
He had genuinely heard everyone's voices.
Could it be… that he had awakened some kind of special magic?
...
Bonus @2400
40 chapters 👉patreon.com/Keepsmiling818