Chapter 161: Kana Will Cry

Memory magic, like many other mind-influencing spells, can be easily dispelled as long as one becomes aware of it, or if someone else points it out.

Just like what happened with Mira and Erza — once they realized they might be under the influence of memory magic, their blurry memories became clear.

Makarov, of course, knew this, but he couldn't let them speak about it here.

He led the three of them to a quiet room to explain everything clearly:

"What I'm about to say is a guild secret. If it leaks, there will be a lot of trouble, and Mest's safety won't be guaranteed."

Mira and Erza exchanged glances. "We will keep anything that could harm the guild a secret."

Rhodes nodded as well. In fact, he wanted to ask, "Is our guild even a legitimate one?"

But on second thought, even if they told him right now that it was a dark guild, he would still think it was all the Council's fault.

Makarov began to explain about Mest: "It was a few years ago..."

Mest was a rather excellent wizard, skilled in memory magic and space-type magic that allowed instant teleportation.

At that time, Makarov knew there were people eyeing Fairy Tail's secrets, and others intent on dismantling the guild. He hoped Mest could infiltrate the Council and help gather important information.

Mest, eager to prove himself, immediately agreed and even made a more "thorough" plan.

Although Makarov disapproved, Mest altered the memories of himself and the guild members, assuming the alias "Doranbalt" and infiltrated the Council.

Because of his eagerness to prove himself, Mest ended up gathering dirt on Fairy Tail, hoping to assist the Council in dealing with the guild that was always causing trouble.

Each time Makarov met with him, he had to find an excuse to take him somewhere secluded and restore his memory.

And during this process, he would inevitably hear Mest sneer and say something like, "Evil Fairy Tail guild master, I'll catch you all eventually."

Ironically, it was this "thorough" approach and his diligent efforts that kept him undercover, and he rose quickly through the ranks, obtaining a lot of useful information.

This time, during the S-Class trials, "Doranbalt" wanted to participate as "Mest" to explore Fairy Tail's secrets further.

Makarov felt that Mest was qualified, and if he could reach the end, he would genuinely make him an S-Class wizard, leaving the undercover work aside for a while.

But Makarov never imagined that a perfectly hidden undercover agent — unnoticed by other members, unnoticed by the Council, and even unaware of being undercover himself — would be discovered by Rhodes, accidentally, while helping Kana prepare for the exam...

"Is this even how you prepare for an exam?!"

"Haha, ha..." Rhodes chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, Guild Master, I didn't mean to... but with his memory altered, how can he even gather information?"

Mira, standing beside him, covered her mouth and chuckled. This was just too amusing.

Makarov replied, "There's no need to gather information deliberately; just being in the Council, he'll come across things. Any more questions, ask now."

Rhodes asked, "Guild Master, are you going to erase our memories of this later?"

Makarov shook his head gently. "I've already said this much, of course, I won't do that. Just keep this to yourselves."

Erza asked seriously, "What is this 'secret' that people covet? And who are our enemies?"

"That secret is something only the guild master can know. As for our enemies, it's not something you need to worry about for now."

In truth, if that secret were ever revealed, the entire world could become Fairy Tail's enemy.

The magic of eternity, infinite magic power — it's a huge temptation for anyone with ambition, enough to turn the whole world against Fairy Tail.

But he couldn't tell the children that yet.

To Rhodes, the guild master's words simply meant that their enemies were too strong, and that the old man was bearing the pressure for them while they just needed to grow.

Any recent pride in his small improvements was suddenly washed away. Even Erza didn't qualify to understand the enemies they were facing...

The pressure hit him hard.

Mira patted Rhodes on the back and laughed, "I don't know what you're thinking, but I think that's not what the guild master meant."

Makarov also noticed Rhodes's troubled expression: "Don't overthink it. As long as we keep our secrets, the problem isn't as serious as it seems."

But really, how can you keep a secret forever... Rhodes shook his head. Right now, he wasn't capable of handling issues of this magnitude; he simply lacked the knowledge and understanding.

"Anyway, about Mest — aren't you worried that one day our guild might be destroyed from within?"

Rhodes still felt that the talents in the guild were too unpredictable.

Who knows, maybe one day Mest might become the Council Chairman as "Doranbalt" and personally order Fairy Tail's dissolution.

"If that day really comes, I'll stop him," Makarov said, realizing this kid always worried about strange things, like the recent exam preparations.

Who prepares for an S-Class exam by flipping through the guild's photo albums and member lists to see if any candidates are undercover?

Speaking of the exam, Makarov asked, "Rhodes, are you really not interested in this exam? I've noticed you've been doing a lot of missions lately, barely enough to qualify."

Rhodes smiled wryly. "No, thanks. I've already dug up everything about Kana, and if I suddenly leave her to take the exam... she'd cry."

"It's only been a day..." Makarov sighed. It seemed that when it was Rhodes's turn, they couldn't include anything too confrontational between the candidates.

But then again, that wouldn't be fair to Rhodes either.

Never mind, they'd deal with it when the time came.

This kid was just trouble, wasn't he?

...

The three of them returned to the tavern.

Rhodes sighed. "Sigh, I feel like I've boarded a pirate ship."

Mira smiled sweetly and asked, "Are you saying we're all pirates then?"

Rhodes nodded. "It's not impossible... The scary thing is, I'm enjoying being on this ship and have no intention of leaving."

Erza laughed. "That's what a guild is."

That sentence was like a cure-all.

Seeing that Erza was about to leave, Rhodes quickly called out, "Wait a minute, Erza. I have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"It's about you," Rhodes said. "I'd like to know how many sets of armor you have, which ones you prefer in combat, and if you were to fight against Kana and me, which ones would you use? Oh, and their abilities too."

Since they were here, he might as well gather some information.

With Erza's personality, this sort of thing was best asked directly, and it was perfectly fine to tell her why he was asking.

"Oh? Preparing for the S-Class exam?" Erza smiled.

"It's fine, I'll tell you. I have over a hundred sets of armor. In battle, I usually use Heaven's Wheel Armor, Purgatory Armor, Flight Armor, Flame Emperor Armor..."

Like rattling off a menu, she listed about twenty or thirty sets of armor and openly explained her tactics:

"Kana is a tricky opponent since she can use different types of magic to counter various armors.

But my armors aren't fixed either. For example, I could use the Flame Emperor Armor alongside the Thunder King's Lance or the Sea King's Sword..."

Listening to Erza was overwhelming. It seemed finding a weakness in an S-Class wizard wasn't going to be easy.