Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 300: Daybreak

Natsu had always dreamed of seeing a dragon.

His main goal was to learn more about Igneel.

His secondary goal? To challenge a dragon and test how strong his Dragon Slayer Magic really was.

And on this night... Natsu finally saw one.

Unfortunately, the Mountain Dragon didn't know Igneel, nor did it seem to know anything about the dragons in this world.

As for Natsu's second goal...

He got beaten.

Aside from a slight flicker of recognition in the dragon's eyes when Natsu unleashed a Dragon Slayer Magic, the Mountain Dragon treated the entire "battle" more like playtime with a child than a real fight.

A casual tail swipe here, a lazy wing flap there, none of it looked like it was taking Natsu seriously.

And oddly enough, Rhodes noticed something strange: the Mountain Dragon seemed to be a bit friendlier toward Natsu than toward him, its actual summoner.

Not that it had ever disobeyed him, of course.

Still, maybe that was why Natsu survived the encounter, completely unscathed and still bouncing with energy.

"Rhodes, summon it again! I wanna go another round!" Natsu shouted, fists clenched and eyes burning with determination.

"No way. It's exhausting," Rhodes replied flatly.

Also... he didn't want to get disliked by his own summon.

Honestly, if it weren't for their good friendship, Rhodes wouldn't even bother calling out the Mountain Dragon just to entertain Natsu.

"You should train for at least a month before challenging it again," Rhodes said, as he finished gathering his mana to summon the Sentinel instead. "Better yet, try beating me first. If you can do that, then maybe you're ready."

"It's settled, then!" Natsu grinned. "I'll take a job, earn some money, train like hell, and then I'm comin' back for round two! Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!"

...

The next morning, Natsu and Happy, fueled by mischief, paid Lucy an early visit.

It wasn't unusual for senior wizards to team up with newcomers, but those two had other motives, mostly pranks and antics while Lucy was still adjusting to guild life.

The amount of energy they spent plotting chaos was honestly on par with the effort Rhodes had spent wooing Mira.

They barged into Lucy's new home, flipped through her belongings, made a mess of her furniture.

Lucy yelled, chased them around, maybe smacked them once or twice, but ultimately, she didn't throw them out.

"Do you have a key that summons dragons?" Natsu asked with stars in his eyes. "I want one! Then I can call it out and fight it!"

"There's no such Celestial Spirit!" Lucy shot back, appalled. "And why would you summon one just to fight it?!"

Happy added helpfully, "Aye! Plus, didn't you just get whooped by a dragon?"

"I did not get whooped!" Natsu barked, face red. "I just... didn't win, that's all!"

"Aye."

"Even if you don't have a dragon," Natsu said, "can't you just summon all your spirits at once so we can see 'em?"

Lucy shook her head firmly. "Nope! You can only summon one at a time. That's a basic rule of Celestial Spirit Magic."

"But Rhodes can summon a whole bunch at once!" Natsu pointed out.

Lucy slammed her hands on the table, frustration bubbling over. "I was wondering about that yesterday! Don't you think it's weird?"

"Those giant crabs that carried us up the mountain, plus the three wolves that protected us, they stayed around for hours! And not even one of them vanished!"

"Huh?" Natsu tilted his head, genuinely confused. "Isn't that normal? Rhode's just really strong."

"It's not just a matter of strength!" Lucy flailed her arms in exasperation. "Even if the two crabs were twins and the three wolves were summoned separately, that still means he's maintaining at least two active gates at the same time!"

She leaned over the table, eyes wide. "And he kept them open for hours! That's unheard of!"

Natsu shrugged, utterly unfazed. "So? Rhode's strong."

"I'm telling you, that's not the point!" Lucy groaned and raked her fingers through her hair. "Ugh, why am I even explaining this to you?"

Explaining something like this to people unfamiliar with Celestial Spirit Magic was exhausting. Only a fellow summoner could understand how ridiculous Rhode's feat truly was.

"Even though he said his magic is different from Celestial Magic..." Lucy muttered, still thinking aloud. "Still, I should ask him when we get back. Maybe there's some kind of secret, something that lets newcomers rise to the top of the guild so fast!"

She started to daydream.

Natsu, ever the instigator, nodded as if confirming her hopes.

"Actually, there is a secret."

Lucy's head snapped around. "Really?!"

"I saw it. Rhodes handed it to Mira to keep safe."

"I should've asked the night before last!" Lucy kicked herself.

But Natsu grew oddly serious. "Don't get your hopes up. Something that important doesn't just get handed out to newbies."

"Unless...?" Lucy leaned in.

"Unless you can prove you're capable," Natsu grinned mischievously.

"Like, say... completing this mission."

He slapped the mission request onto the table and immediately turned away, cackling with Happy while Lucy was too distracted to notice.

"Unbelievable... Just retrieving a book nets us 200,000 J?!"

...

"The reward's been bumped up to 2 million J?" Rhodes looked at the updated request form with disbelief. "All that for a single book?"

Was it some ancient grimoire? A cursed tome? Or a one-of-a-kind family heirloom?

Makarov chuckled, stroking his beard. "The client just sent the updated details."

"But Natsu already accepted it yesterday..."

Rhode's first instinct was that he should tag along with Natsu.

His second instinct made him pause.

"A jump from 200,000 to 2 million? That's not a normal adjustment unless the job just got a lot more dangerous. And if that's the case, it's definitely not suitable for rookies like Lucy."

He looked up sharply. "Should we go retrieve them?"

Makarov looked at Rhodes like he had a few screws loose. "Why do you want to bring them back?"

Rhode's eyes gleamed. "Because Mira and I could take the job instead! A two-million-Jewel reward? That's right up our alley!"

To be fair, it was the perfect type of mission for the two of them.

But Makarov shook his head. "You'll be staying in the guild for now. I want you to sit in with me at the council's regular meeting in a few days."

Rhodes slumped with exaggerated grief. "Master... you've changed. Back then you were always trying to kick me out to go earn my keep. But now that I actually want to leave the guild for work, you won't let me go?"

Not to mention—he used to always drag Mira along too!

Makarov gave him a calm look. "This meeting is important. I want you there."

"Fine, fine." Rhodes sighed, resigning himself, and began flipping through the request form anyway, looking for any hidden dangers.

He wasn't too concerned about Natsu. A two-million Jewel bounty put this at about the level of a medium-to-high difficulty subjugation mission. If Natsu got serious, he could absolutely handle it.

And frankly, this kind of sudden reward increase could just be the client panicking and tossing around money without thinking it through.

Sure, Natsu could be reckless, but he wasn't new to this. He knew how to deal with sudden complications.

Plus, Lucy wasn't exactly a pushover either. She had three golden keys, that meant a solid lineup.

"Mira," Rhodes asked suddenly, "do you remember which Celestial Spirits Lucy has?"

Mira tilted her head, recalling. "Let's see...Aquarius, Taurus, and Cancer."

It seemed like a good number of Lucy's Keys summoned support-type spirits instead of fighters.

Rhodes nodded, a little disappointed. "Too bad she doesn't have Leo or Sagittarius."

Astrologically speaking, Mira was a Leo and Rhodes was a Sagittarius. Even though the Zodiac Spirits weren't literally tied to their personalities, he still thought it'd be fun to see their spirit counterparts.

Mira suddenly lit up. "Why don't we make two custom keys and mess with Lucy a little?"

Rhodes immediately mimicked Lucy's summoning pose from the other day. "Open the Gate of Leo—Mirajane!"

Mira gave him an amused blink. "Then what do I do? Pop out from behind the sofa going ta-dah?"

"No need," Rhodes said, tapping his chest with a smile. "The gate to you is already open right here."

Mira lifted the tray in her hands threateningly, but in the end, she didn't swing.

Just then, Levy's voice called from the doorway: "Hey, Sister Mira! Is the request about that book from Duke Everlue's estate already taken?"