"Of course, we'll help the Council keep watch," Rhodes said easily. "This whole affair involves us too."
He leaned back in his chair. "But right now, we've got no leads. Without any clues or direction, it's like fishing blind in the open sea."
"Does the Council have any suspects?"
Lahar looked visibly uneasy. "This… I'm not sure yet. The Councilors are still in discussion."
"Then there's not much we can do for now," Rhodes concluded. "Let's wait for news from the Star Spirit Realm. They'll conduct their own round of questioning, but with their efficiency…" he gave a small shrug, "it might take a while."
The Celestial Spirit King had said he would return to handle minor issues first, and that he'd "express his gratitude later."
Given the ninety-to-one time difference between realms, "later" could mean months.
Lahar didn't seem too bothered by that. The Council's efficiency wasn't much better anyway.
After exchanging a few final words, Rhodes returned to his tent.
Despite boasting to Mira earlier about who would sleep where, the reality was that a dozen of them ended up sharing one big tent.They were all mages, they could handle a little crowding.
The investigation dragged on for several days, but rumors spread almost immediately, and as usual, they spiraled out of control.
On the first day, the headlines read:
"Ten Wizard Saints' Rhodes suspected of performing forbidden destructive magic in the Pegrande Kingdom, obliterates the entire Saint Topia Mountain Range!"
Naturally, that story didn't hold up for long once witnesses came forward saying Rhodes hadn't been alone, dozens of mages had gone to Saint Topia on a "puzzle-solving" mission.
So the next day's edition boldly announced:
"The Saint Topia Treasure Incident! Ten Wizard Saints' Rhodes single-handedly defeats 500 Magicians in a breathtaking battle, mountain range destroyed in the crossfire!"
The Council decided this made Rhodes sound too violent, so they quickly sent an official letter to the newspaper, clarifying:
Rhodes had gone to rescue people, not fight them, the enemy was "someone else entirely," and the paper should wait for the official investigation before publishing any further articles.
But of course, the press wasn't about to let the hottest story in Fiore go cold.
On the third day, the same paper came out with an even wilder version:
"Pegrande Kingdom's Secret Weapon Exposed! A weapon so powerful it threatened continental peace, heroic Ten Wizard Saints' Rhodes leads 500 Magicians to destroy it!"
By noon, the paper's owner, editor-in-chief, and managing editor had been "invited for a friendly joint interview" with representatives from both the Pegrande Kingdom and the Council.
They were presented with three options:
Publicly apologize and wait obediently for the official statement.
Privately apologize, suspend operations for "rectification," with the duration left to the authorities.
Refuse to apologize, defending "freedom of the press"…In which case they would likely "vanish for a few weeks."
Being professionals who greatly valued life, they immediately chose Option One.
After all, the Pegrande Kingdom was still a monarchy. Freedom of speech only went so far before you remembered who had soldiers.
On the fourth day, the newspaper printed a humble apology:
"Sorcerers Weekly sincerely regrets our earlier inaccurate reports concerning Ten Wizard Saints' Rhodes. We apologize for any misunderstanding caused."
The owner of Sorcerers Weekly regretted it deeply, but not for ethical reasons.
If his rival paper had been a little more stubborn, he could've turned his weekly into a daily next month.
As for Rhodes himself, he was simply enjoying the show.
Rhodes used to see people online flip their stance on all sorts of matters, big controversies, trivial gossip, whatever happened to trend.
Now that he was the center of the storm himself, he finally understood why they found it entertaining.
It really was interesting.
As long as no one threw vegetables or eggs at him on the street, his attitude probably wouldn't change in the slightest.
After five days of questioning and paperwork, the Fairy Tail members and the Magicians from the other guilds were finally cleared and allowed to go.
And when the official news report was released, Rhodes's reputation shot up yet again.
The incident, along with several strange accidents in recent months, was classified as:
"Terrorist attacks preceding a foreign enemy invasion."
The news avoided mentioning the exact number of casualties.Instead, it focused on: the heroic deeds of Ten Wizard Saints, Rhodes, who "turned the tide," the foresight of the Council, which had "wisely listened to prior warnings," and the crucial contributions of Lucy and Yukino, praised as "exceptional Celestial Spirit Mages."
As for Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Wendy, the report lumped them together as: "other outstanding Magicians."
Happy and Carla… may or may not have been included.
It was hard to tell.
The Council very cleverly avoided taking credit for anything, but also avoided taking blame.
A diplomatic masterpiece in spin-doctoring.
Meanwhile, Rhodes received a flood of thanks from the Magicians who had been present during the incident.
Many claimed that at the height of danger, mysterious magical beasts had appeared and protected them.
After describing these beasts, Lahar explained that they were Rhodes's summons.
Between the prior warnings, the rescue, and the summoned beasts protecting them, Rhodes unknowingly accumulated a mountain of goodwill.
But for Rhodes and Fairy Tail… those things weren't important.
The moment they were dismissed from the camp, they left for Viola, a famous tourist city.
They spent two days eating, sightseeing, and relaxing before returning to the guild.
The Pegrande Kingdom had originally been upset, of course.
A sacred astronomical mountain range had been almost completely flattened.
A new canyon had been carved into the landscape.
And their beloved Saint Topia… was now a glorified bowl of rubble.
But once they learned the truth, they couldn't really get angry at anyone.
They even ended up thanking Rhodes and company for: protecting national territory, thwarting an invasion, and saving many of their Earth Magicians.
They even named the enormous new canyon:
"Giant Serpent Canyon", to commemorate the "colossal serpent that towered between heaven and earth" that countless people had witnessed that day.
When they returned to the guild, Makarov was clutching his chest, staring at Erza with a trembling expression.
"And… then?" he asked weakly.
Erza blinked. "Then what?"
Makarov swallowed hard. "Compensation… self-criticism… punishment… just tell me straight. I can take it. Prepare my heart first."
Erza suddenly felt a little guilty. "Master, don't worry. There's nothing like that."
"How could there not be?!" Makarov looked like he was about to faint.
"That was a sacred astronomical site! A sacred site!"
Rhodes stepped in, calmly explaining:
"This incident was caused entirely by an external enemy. And the vast majority of the destruction came from the Star Spirits, not us.
So we aren't responsible for compensation."
"Also, the astronomer from the Pegrande Kingdom, who started the whole thing, has already shamed the entire kingdom.
They don't have the face to blame anyone else right now. Strictly speaking, we were victims too."
"When you say it like that, it does make sense," Makarov muttered, slowly nodding.
And then his expression transformed, worry melting into radiant joy.
"In that case..."
His eyes sparkled.
"Let's have a banquet to celebrate!!"
...
stones PLzz
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