Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 323: Open! Gate of the Scorpion

Mira certainly wasn't on her own.

Rhodes had already transformed into a Murk Wolf, hidden deep in the alley shadows some distance away, silently keeping watch.

He didn't think a few low-level traffickers could pose any real danger to Mira, but what worried him were tricky, unexpected types of magic. For that, he had prepared thoroughly, both physically and magically.

Was this what they called being unwilling to "sacrifice your wife to lure out the wolf"?

Well, in this case, his wife-wolf would probably just scare the wolf off before it even approached.

"Achoo~" The adorable little blue-haired girl sneezed, looking more pitiful than ever.

With Mira's top-tier acting skills, someone finally took the bait.

Three men appeared. One brushed past her and stopped at the alley's edge, eyes sweeping their surroundings but never approaching her directly.

The other two came in from opposite sides of the street, spaced just far enough apart to look like they didn't know each other.

One of them walked right past Mira, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it casually. The smoke swirled unnaturally, winding its way toward her.

Rhodes, watching from the shadows, narrowed his eyes.

Mira instantly realized what kind of smoke it was. She held her breath, staggered forward a few steps, then feigning drowsiness, collapsed limply to the ground.

Right on cue, the third man whipped out a burlap sack and threw it over her head, expertly tying it off with practiced hands.

Then, like a stage magician pulling off a trick, he took out a long carrying pole and two large baskets, tossed the sack into one, balanced the load, and walked off like a traveling merchant.

The three never acknowledged each other. They split off and left in separate directions, blending into the town as if nothing had happened.

Their tactics were shockingly well-rehearsed. It was no wonder they hadn't been caught before.

Rhodes, crouched in the shadows, couldn't help but think of something ironic.

Just a few days ago, he and Mira had been joking about putting a sack over Laxus's head and roughing him up.

Now Mira was the one in the sack.

The universe has a twisted sense of humor.

Rhodes made sure to memorize the scent of the two unarmed men but didn't summon any wild monsters to follow them, he didn't want to spook the operation just yet. freёwebnoѵel.com

Instead, he followed behind the "merchant" carrying Mira, slinking through the darkness in his wolf form.

At one point, they crossed paths with the town's patrol squad. Rhodes tensed, until the merchant casually stopped to chat with the patrol captain like an old friend.

Rhodes's expression darkened.

So the trafficker was well-acquainted with the local authorities?

This was bad. If he and Mira had gone to meet with the mayor right away, they might have tipped off the whole network.

Luckily, Mira's current appearance was disguised well. Her little face was smudged with soot, and blue hair wasn't exactly rare in Fiore. Even if someone thought she looked familiar, they probably wouldn't make the connection.

The trafficker took a winding route out of town. When asked by locals where he was headed, he casually replied that he was taking goods to a nearby village.

But instead, he slipped into a narrow forest trail.

After circling deeper into the woods, he eventually arrived at a desolate mountainside path.

Rhodes followed him until the environment became too open for him to remain unseen.

With no better choice, he quickly shifted into his Krug form. He burrowed just beneath the soil's surface, leaving only his horned head poking up like a rock.

The head of Rhodes blended perfectly with the rocky terrain, completely indistinguishable from the surrounding stones.

Down in the hollow of the rugged mountain, a weathered thatched cabin stood out against the otherwise barren valley. Two men emerged, one rotund, the other wiry and sharp-faced.

"You're late," grumbled the fat one. "What took you so long today?"

"Don't talk like you've got it easy," the peddler shot back, setting down the wooden pole with its twin baskets. "The patrols are everywhere lately. It's not like before, no kid dares wander off alone anymore."

He knelt and untied the sack in one of the baskets, revealing a frail, dust-covered child inside.

The fat man squinted down at the "cargo" and licked his lips. "Bit dirty, but looks like a real gem. No wonder they say girls from your town are something else."

"Yeah, well... it won't be 'my town' for much longer." The peddler rolled his shoulders, clearly done with it all. "This'll be the last one. Judging from how quiet it's been lately, we'd have to break into homes next time just to find anyone."

Transformation magic had once again done its job well. Despite being one of the strongest women in Fairy Tail, Mira in her child form weighed no more than a small girl. It was one of the quirks of Transformation Magic, physical mass seemed to scale down as the body shrank.

The scrawny thug grabbed the sack and slung it over his shoulder as if carrying a pillow. "With Misty's smoke magic? Who cares if we do break into homes?"

"The plan's set," said the fat one. "That makes nine. When Black Bear gets back from Laila Village with number ten, we'll wait for Misty and the others, then ship them all out."

The name "Laila Village" made Rhode's eyes narrow. That was the fake destination the peddler had used as a cover.

"We're really trusting Black Bear with this?" the peddler asked, clearly uneasy. "He's way too hotheaded."

"It's the last one," said the fat man, waving off his concern. "Even if he roughs someone up, what are a bunch of farmers gonna do?"

Inside the musty shack, Mira, still playing the unconscious child, was itching to break her cover and knock every last one of them flat. But after hearing that a tenth child might still be in danger, she suppressed the urge.

Rhodes, from his hidden vantage point, had the same thought. But instead of charging in, he quietly slipped away from the hillside and summoned a pack of wolves, dispatching them toward Laila Village. If Black Bear tried anything reckless, they would intercept him before real harm could be done.

Only once his scouts were on the move did Rhodes return to his position and resume watching.

He clicked his tongue quietly. If only he had telepathy magic, he could have passed updates to Mira without blowing his cover. Or at the very least, chatted while they waited, it would've made surveillance less dull and tactical coordination smoother.

Not long after, two more men arrived, more of the peddler's accomplices, by the look of it. They were likely the ones responsible for lookout duty during the abduction.

From inside the cabin, the soft whimpers of frightened children drifted outward.

At the end of the winding dirt road, two figures finally appeared—one was carrying a sack slung over his shoulder, and the other followed a step behind. From a distance, they looked like ordinary travelers, but those watching from the shadows knew better.

"They're finally back!" Misty, who had been crouching at the door with a cigarette between his lips, stood up and stretched. "Alright, haul the kids in and get ready to move!"

That made seven in total now: the fat man, the thin man, the peddler trio, and the two from Black Bear's crew.

Rhodes watched from beneath the earth, perfectly camouflaged and undetectable. Mira, disguised and hidden within the shack, was ready to act. The moment they secured all the children, she would unleash her Take over: Lullaby form and knock them unconscious with her magic. They'd be able to escape without traumatizing the kids.

Rhodes, meanwhile, was holding back his wild monsters, knowing that summoning them might scare the children. Mira's lullaby magic was the perfect answer.

But then... something unexpected happened.

Just as the man carrying the sack, supposedly Black Bear, reached the front of the shack, he didn't drop the sack into the cart like he was supposed to. Instead, he turned toward Misty and spoke in a gravelly, deliberate voice.

"Black Bear's opinion of Misty: cautious, relies on smoke magic, a little too fussy... and annoying."

Rhodes, still hidden, blinked. That wasn't just weird, it was a clear cue. Something was off.

Misty squinted. "What are you talking about?"

The man turned toward the peddler next. "Black Bear's opinion of Padrell: pretends to be tough, uses Transformation Magic, calls himself a Magic Swordsman, but his combat skills are trash."

Padrell staggered back in confusion. "What the—?!"

"You're not Black Bear!" Misty shouted, raising his hand and pointing the cigarette like a wand at the man in the cloak. "And who the hell is that behind you?!"

"Take over: Black Bear!"

The man let out a beastly roar as his form shifted violently. Fur burst from his skin, his limbs bulked up, and his teeth lengthened into jagged fangs. In an instant, he had taken on the form of a towering black bear.

Before Misty could react, the transformed bear lunged forward and slammed a massive paw straight into his chest.

BOOM!

The smoke magic didn't even have time to trigger. Misty flew backward, crashing into a tree with a sickening crunch, falling limp and unconscious.

Padrell, now trembling, drew a long sword from his belt but didn't dare approach. "He's snapped—he's gone crazy! Somebody, help!"

The remaining four rushed over, the fat one, the thin one, and the two other scouts.

Just then, the cloaked figure stepped forward from the treeline.

The voice that rang out was crisp and cold.

"Well... since you're all here, this saves me the trouble of hunting you down."

The thugs turned their attention to the speaker, but all they saw was a slender silhouette cloaked in black.

"Who the hell are you?! What did you do to Black Bear?!"

The figure didn't answer directly. Instead, she reached out from beneath her cloak, revealing a gloved hand, and two gleaming golden keys between her fingers.

Rhodes' eyes widened beneath the soil.

'Celestial Spirit Keys, and not just any, those were gold.'

The keys of the Zodiac.

"Open! Gate of the Scorpion—Scorpio!"