Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master

Rhodes's hand drifted over Mira's belly, then slipped under her clothes to circle around her navel.

Mira swatted his hand away, wrinkling her nose. "What are you doing? That tickles."

"Just curious," Rhodes said, pressing his ear to her stomach. "What if you're pregnant? If one becomes two, maybe that's why your magic power shot up."

"Where is your mind going?!" Mira's face flamed scarlet. "It's only been… it hasn't been long since our first time. How could it be that fast? And I even had my period in between."

Too embarrassed to keep talking, Mira smacked him on the back.

That smack, boosted by her newly surging magic, really stung. Anyone else would probably be on the floor.

"Guess so." Rhodes reached back with some effort to rub the sore spot.

He did the math. For him, six years and one month had passed, but for Mira, it had only been a single month. Considering her cycle in between, even if he had been diligent, any results would more likely show up next month, or the one after that.

"I'm done. You almost cracked my shoulder blade. Come on, help me rub it."

"You deserve it." Mira left him to wash up and start breakfast.

Rhodes stopped dwelling on it; there was something important to do today.

Before them rose a barren hill. Grassy mounds stretched into the distance. Some had stone tablets before them, others only wooden markers.

Mira led Rhodes to two small mounds that touched side by side.

The wooden markers were so weathered the dates were nearly gone, but the names could still just be made out: one read "Richard," the other "Bonnie."

"Is this the place?" Rhodes asked.

"Yes." Mira nodded softly and knelt, brushing her fingers over the worn wood. "Father, Mother, I'm sorry it's been so long. Elfman and Lisanna are both doing well, and I… I got married."

Rhodes knelt beside her and set down camellias and daffodils he had hunted for that morning. They were all he could find in season, but thankfully Mira said her mother would like them.

Mira spoke for a long while about Elfman and Lisanna, then looped her arm through Rhodes's and introduced him to her parents.

As their son-in-law, Rhodes spoke with deep respect, singing Mira's praises from head to toe and thanking them for raising such a wonderful daughter.

"I promise to..." He nearly slipped into reciting wedding vows, nerves getting the better of him.

He cleared his throat and went on, "Of course, Elfman and Lisanna will help her take care of everything too."

Mira watched him the whole time with gentle eyes. When he finished, they bowed together. She added that they would bring Elfman and Lisanna to visit in the future.

They rose. Mira looked over the graves and the markers in silence. Rhodes asked, "Do you want to move them to Magnolia?"

He had heard Lucy's mother's grave had been moved, so he thought the suggestion wouldn't be out of place.

But Mira shook her head. "Father liked it here, and Mother liked being with Father."

Rhodes thought for a moment. "Then should we gather some stones to repair the site and carve a new tablet?"

This time, Mira nodded.

They cleared the weeds first, then walked a little way off to find stones. They carried them up the hill and stacked them neatly.

They found a large, sound slab of bluestone. Without proper tools, they used magic to smooth it, and then Mira carved the characters herself.

The two of them worked almost the entire day. At last they set the new tablet, bowed several times, and went down the mountain together.

At the foot of the hill, Mira took the lead. "Let's go to the church next."

Rhodes nodded. "Alright, which way?"

Mira pointed ahead. Rhodes had only taken a few steps before she suddenly wrapped her arms around him from behind.

He covered her hands with his own and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Mira held him tightly and whispered, "Thank you for coming back here with me."

Rhodes chuckled. "If doing my duty as your husband earns thanks, then you'll be thanking me for the rest of your life."

"Then I'll thank you for a lifetime," Mira said with quiet conviction.

Rhodes turned in her arms, pulled her close, and lowered his head to kiss her lips.

If the "First Magic" and the "Root of Demonic Arts" that the Second Generation so desperately sought truly existed, then its true form would be Love.

All magic begins with love. It can be faint and fragile, yet also powerful enough to overcome anything. It may sound simple, but in truth, it's one of the hardest things to attain.

Lucy once said something like this, repeating a teaching from her mother.

Rhodes felt that, perhaps, he finally understood why Mira's magic had grown so much stronger.

But compared to the beauty of this moment, such thoughts could wait.

Charred ruins surrounded them. The wooden beams had long since burned away, reduced to scattered ash. Broken planks lay buried under dust and debris.

A shattered bell rested on its side, so blackened it was impossible to tell what metal it had once been.

Its presence alone was enough to confirm that Mira hadn't mistaken the place.

This was the church where a demon had once appeared.

The couple hurried to investigate before nightfall, the air turning colder as they drew near.

At first, they thought the chill came from the falling temperature, but soon it felt far too sharp, too sudden.

Mira guided Rhodes across the cracked steps and fallen pillars, towards where the altar once stood in her memory.

That was when they saw the ice.

The entire chamber was filled with silver frost, every surface glinting like crystal.

"It's freezing in here." Rhodes summoned Warm, placing the creature in Mira's arms to keep her warm and ready to defend herself. He narrowed his eyes, surveying the silver-coated ruin.

From outside, it had looked as though part of the roof was missing. But inside, the gap was sealed over by thick ice. The remaining ceiling and walls were encased in shining frost, every original marking erased.

The rubble, the ashes, everything scattered across the floor was frozen solid beneath a seamless sheet of silver ice.

And at the altar stood something half-emerged: the frozen upper body of a monstrous creature, fused with the altar as though it had grown out of it, or been trapped mid-birth, sealed away before it could fully emerge.

The ice had taken its shape perfectly, turning the demon's torso into a gleaming sculpture.

Mira stepped on a stone at her feet. It was buried under solid ice and didn't move. She pressed harder, and only then did faint cracks spread across the surface.

"It's incredibly dense. This isn't ordinary ice," Mira said. "Normal Ice-Make magic could never reach this level of hardness or cold."

Rhodes knelt and unleashed a wave of fire magic, heating the floor for several seconds. But the ice didn't melt, not even a drop.

"Grandma mentioned a very strong man came to the village, didn't she?" he asked.

"That was last year," Mira confirmed firmly. "If this is his work, then his magic is terrifyingly powerful."