Magician jobs varied in length, some could be finished in a single day, while others might stretch on for months or even years.
Being out of contact for two or three days wasn't unusual, but that was only after a job had formally begun. Even Gildarts, vanishing for years at a time, would always confirm a mission with the client before disappearing into the wilderness.
Today's situation was far rarer. For the client to directly contact the Guild, saying the appointed meeting time had passed and no one had arrived, that was unthinkable. At the very least, Erza would never make such a mistake.
"Since the client has already contacted us, we'll need to send someone else to finish this commission," Mira said firmly. "As for Erza and the others, they'll find a way to report back once they can."
Her words carried the weight of long-standing Guild rules. When a team failed to appear, the Guild had two responsibilities: honoring its promise to the client and safeguarding its members. Both had to be done properly.
She glanced at Laki. "Has this rule changed in the past few years?"
Laki shook her head. "No changes. But… since even Erza's team is in trouble, if we send anyone, it has to be you."
She was right. Laxus had gone on a long journey that morning, and Gildarts was happily teaming up with Cana, the two vanishing off on their own adventure. Makarov, accompanied by Macao, was busy with the headache of resuming the Guild Master's duties, reporting to the Mayor, informing allied Guilds, and sending word to both the Alliance and the Council.
That left only Rhodes and Mira. And considering that Erza's team had gone silent, sending Mira alone would be too risky.
If Juvia had been here, it would've been different, if Gray were missing, nothing could've stopped her from rushing out immediately.
"Then we'll go," Rhodes decided. "Give us the mission details. I remember the town's name being particularly hard to pronounce."
Laki quickly dug out the file and stammered, "The town where the client lives is called Tanara Trionafliya… and the bandit group's hideout is in Parsen Flower Mountain."
Rhodes studied the sheet, then handed it to Mira. "Let's leave right away. I'll check with the Magic Four-Wheeler rental for information. Could you pack some food for me?"
"Okay. No other luggage?"
"No." Rhodes pointed upstairs. "We'll only need a few seconds to come back."
He planned to use the Hextech Gate like a Flying Thunder God spell, a teleportation anchor. With that, they could leave for long-distance missions, then return home in moments for food or rest, so long as the circle on the other side remained intact and undisturbed.
The two split up. Rhodes headed for the Four-Wheeler rental shop.
With the rise of new transportation, Magic-Powered Four-Wheelers had become rarer. Their only advantage now was their cheap rental price, probably why Erza and her team had chosen them.
Still, with newer technology spreading and other methods becoming affordable, the Four-Wheelers had nearly vanished from everyday use. Soon, they might survive only as "retro" curiosities, rented out for the novelty.
But scarcity worked in Rhode's favor. After a short search and a few questions, he easily found the driver who had taken Erza's team to that awkwardly named town.
"Are you talking about a red-haired female knight, a young man who gets horribly carsick, and a naked..."
"Yes, yes, yes, that's them!" Rhodes quickly cut him off before he could finish the last description, desperate to protect what little dignity Fairy Tail still had.
He pressed on, "So, when exactly did you arrive at the destination?"
The driver scratched his head. "I dropped them off in that ridiculously long-named town the afternoon before yesterday."
So they had made it safely at least that far. Rhodes nodded. "Do you know where they went afterward?"
"Hard to say. One of them mentioned heading to the hot springs, another said something about the hotel, someone else said they'd meet the client, and another muttered about going to a mountain. Honestly, they were all talking over each other, and I didn't stick around."
It was a complete mess. Rhodes could already guess it, if hot springs were brought up, that had to be Erza. If she was going, the others wouldn't have dared argue.
"So, did anything unusual happen along the way?"
"Well… there was that one guy who kept yelling for me to stop because he was sick. But the moment we stopped, he'd shout that the carriage was comfy and to speed up again. Does that count?" The driver looked uneasy, as if wondering if that boy had some kind of mental issue.
"That's… normal." Rhodes muttered, realizing Natsu's resistance to Troia must be improving if he was alternating like that.
He asked a few more questions about the route, anything unusual on the road, and thanked the man before hurrying back to the Guild.
Mira had already packed food and water. Rhodes summoned Scuttle Crab, now massive and deep purple, to carry them swiftly toward Tanara Trionafliya.
The color shift left Mira a little unsettled, but she quickly realized it meant growth. The last crab must've just been a juvenile, this one was stronger and faster.
"Erza and the others definitely made it to that 'T-town,' but where they went next is unknown. We'll have to ask around once we get there," Rhodes said while chewing on the food Mira had packed.
Mira's brows furrowed. "Laki told me only Erza's Heaven's Wheel Armor has been repaired so far. We need to hurry."
Everyone was still adjusting to the new era, and Erza wasn't at her full strength. If they ran into some dangerous new Magic, it could be serious.
Rhodes freed one hand, patted the crab's shell, and ordered, "Faster."
The beast surged forward, its speed surpassing even the best Magic Four-Wheelers, tearing across the highway like thunder. They shot past villages, forests, and rolling hills, the world a blur of green and stone.
By the time Rhodes finished eating, he scooped Mira into his arms and leapt from the crab's back.
Blue-and-white Cloud Dragon wings unfurled from Rhode's back, propelling him through the sky with blistering speed. For a moment, the only sound was the sharp whistle of the wind cutting past his ears.
Below, the massive crab vanished into the ether, its duty complete. From the roadside thicket, two figures stepped out of the shadows. One was a short, stout man with purple skin and a double chin, shaped almost like a giant sweet potato. The other was tall and wiry, his body sheathed in a tight black suit that gave him the look of a snake.
The purple-skinned man squinted at the place where the crab had disappeared. "That guy just now… he's from Fairy Tail, isn't he?"
The man in black flicked open a folded newspaper, his eyes narrowing as he compared the distant silhouette in the sky with the picture on the page. His thin lips curled into a sinister smile. "It's him. Rushing like that… something's happened. Should we tail him and find out?"
"Don't be stupid," the Purple Sweet Potato grunted, immediately rejecting the idea. "At that speed? You think we could catch up? And didn't that paper say he wiped out five Dark Guilds in one strike?"
The man in the black let the newspaper roll shut between his fingers, his gaze still fixed on the fading figure overhead. His voice was low, edged with malice. "Maybe so. But the Guild Master said… other than Makarov, he's the only one who might know the secret."