Rhodes' evaluation of the two Phantom Lord mages was:
Their combat awareness was slightly better than Jenny's. At least after being bitten by the Ancient Stone Beetles, they immediately responded with attacks, attempting to escape.
Furthermore, relying solely on magic items proved to be unreliable. Once their tools failed, they were utterly powerless.
Rhodes thought to himself that he needed to make two preparations when he returned:
First, he needed to find a stronger chain—maybe even wear a necklace that he wouldn't take off, not even while sleeping.
Second, he should quickly find a magic ability suitable for his own use. As a summoner, he should at least have the strength to tear apart a dragon with his bare hands.
"What's wrong, Rhodes?" Mira noticed Rhodes' changing expression and asked, "You don't look too good. Did the plan go awry?"
"No, it went too smoothly, almost unbelievably so."
"Isn't that a good thing? It shows you're already very strong, Rhodes."
Mira hadn't forgotten that the Guild Master had sent Rhodes on this mission to help build his confidence.
In a way, they should perhaps thank those two unlucky mages.
Question: How does one maintain a cool demeanor while suppressing a smile after being complimented by a girl?
In any case, Rhodes failed to suppress his smile.
Fortunately, he only celebrated briefly without losing focus on the task at hand:
"Ambushes don't really count. Those two had some issues… Should we take them back to the guild and have Laki interrogate them?"
"Laki only enjoys collecting torture devices; she doesn't actually use them." Mira tried to correct Rhodes' misconception, "Don't get the wrong impression of her."
"Oh." Since Mira had emphasized it, Rhodes decided to believe it—about 98%, anyway.
"In that case, we'll interrogate them ourselves. But I'm worried they won't tell the truth. Should we hand them over to Warren?"
"Warren can only read strong thoughts, not fully read someone's mind," Mira explained. "Besides, you know about Warren's situation lately."
"True," Rhodes acknowledged. The previous incident involving Warren hadn't completely blown over yet.
"Actually, there's a simpler way," Mira thought for a moment before using her transformation magic. "We can just ask them like this."
Rhodes looked at the man Mira had transformed into. "Is this… Gajeel, one of Phantom Lord's elite mages?"
Mira nodded, "I saw his picture in a magazine. As long as we don't take too long, they won't notice."
Rhodes was impressed by Mira's cleverness and adaptability, but he had one concern:
"But having you face dangerous people directly like this doesn't seem very safe…"
Mira's expression showed a hint of resignation:
"This concerns the conflict between two guilds, and it affects whether our future missions will go smoothly. It's better to figure this out quickly."
When it involved her guildmates, Mira felt compelled to act.
Rhodes nodded reluctantly, "Alright… let me get things ready first."
…
Ten minutes later, "Gajeel" and his masked lackey appeared before Stad and Fal.
At this point, Stad and Fal were buried up to their necks in the ground, only their heads above the surface. The summoned creatures that had been guarding them fled in apparent terror upon seeing "Gajeel."
"Gajeel" gave a look to his sidekick, as if to ask, This is your version of "getting things ready"?
The masked sidekick, whose grin was hidden beneath his mask, shrugged slightly—Safety first, right?
"Ga… Gajeel, sir!"
Stad could hardly believe it. At the moment when his life had nearly ended, he had been saved by none other than his idol!
The sidekick stepped forward and arrogantly asked, "You know Mr. Gajeel? Are you from Phantom Lord?"
Given that Phantom Lord was a large guild with branches, it wasn't unusual for members not to recognize one another.
Stad quickly replied, "We're from the Cactus Branch! Gajeel, sir, please save us!"
The sidekick continued questioning on Gajeel's behalf, "Why are members of the Cactus Branch in a place like this?"
Stad didn't doubt the masked sidekick's identity at all—in fact, he was envious that he could speak on behalf of Gajeel.
"We had a request to handle in Crocus. Then, yesterday, we saw some people from Fairy Tail flaunting themselves in the shopping district…
"A guild like that, playing childish games, standing on equal footing with our Phantom Lord?
"So… we decided to wait here today to teach them a lesson, to make them look foolish!"
Stad ranted about Fairy Tail's nonsense and praised the might and professionalism of Phantom Lord.
"Gajeel" exchanged a glance with the sidekick. These two had been present during yesterday's competition with Jenny?
And after going through all this trouble, risking creating tension and facing retaliation from the Magic Council, their motive was this simple?
The sidekick frowned, "All that effort just to teach them a lesson over something so trivial?"
Stad froze. How could teaching Fairy Tail a lesson be trivial? Opposing Fairy Tail was something Phantom Lord was always ready to do whenever they got the chance!
After all, in his pre-join research about Phantom Lord, Stad had learned that one of the guild's founding purposes was to rival Fairy Tail.
How could anyone from Phantom Lord call this "trivial"? This masked man didn't seem right.
He…
He doesn't deserve to stand by Gajeel's side!
That position should be mine!
The sidekick thought he'd said something wrong and that Stad had become suspicious. He was about to make an excuse, but suddenly, Stad shouted in anger:
"How did someone like you even get into the main guild?! Gajeel, sir, he doesn't deserve to be by your side—let me follow you instead!"
Well, that confirmed it—their motive really was that simple.
"Gajeel" finally spoke, "If he doesn't deserve it, do you think you do, after this embarrassing ambush on Fairy Tail?"
"I… Gajeel, sir…" Stad stammered, unable to argue. He hadn't even laid eyes on the Fairy Tail members.
"Gajeel" delivered the final blow with precision:
"By that look on your face… were you not even attacked by Fairy Tail? Did you just get beaten up by a bunch of ordinary beasts?"
Stad's face flushed bright red. How could they have been ordinary beasts? Surely they weren't!
But as soon as Gajeel showed up, the beasts had fled in terror. Could it really have been because he and Fal were just too weak?
"Stop embarrassing yourself!"
Stad was so ashamed he wanted to disappear.
"Gajeel" squatted down beside him, pointed a finger near his temple, and Stad instantly fell asleep.
It was a sleep spell, one of the minor magics Mira had mastered. Nowhere near as powerful as Mystogan's, but decent enough for self-defense.
The already unconscious Fal was also put to sleep with the same spell—just to be extra cautious, thanks to a certain someone's influence.
"Gajeel" stood up, light shimmering around him as he returned to Mira's form. She rubbed her throat, "Talking in a deep voice is exhausting."
When Mira looked up, she saw Rhodes staring at her. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, I'm just cleansing my eyes, trying to get Gajeel's face out of my head."
Mira mischievously smirked, and her face transformed back into Gajeel's. "Is this the face?"
"Pfft…"