Chapter 156: S-Class Exam Participants Announced

After they finished their coffee, Rhodes and Mira went shopping for the list of things she mentioned. It was an ordinary day of strolling and buying necessities—nothing special happened, and they didn't run into anyone noteworthy.

Rhodes felt like that was just perfect.

Mira turned to look at him. "Why are you smiling so much?"

"I was just thinking about how comfortable it'll be to have the new heater for winter."

Mira didn't buy it. "Liar."

"Uh-huh," Rhodes laughed. "So, care to guess why?"

Mira thought for a moment. "No, I won't guess."

Rhodes figured she had already guessed. He just kept smiling.

Mira felt the urge to kick him.

When Rhodes and Mira pushed open the guild doors with their arms full of bags, smiling and chatting, Macao couldn't help but feel like they were newlyweds out shopping for their new home.

He reminisced about the time he and his girlfriend—now ex-wife—used to do things like that.

Sadly, they ended up going their separate ways.

Sitting across from him, Wakaba blew out a puff of smoke. "Why the heck do you suddenly look like that? It's gross."

"Who are you calling gross, you jerk?!" Macao slapped the table as he stood up, but quickly lost his momentum and slumped back down.

Wakaba, who had been about to roll up his sleeves and get into a fight, almost twisted his back from the sudden shift. "Hey, what's your deal?"

Macao sighed. "Been divorced a long time now. Kind of lonely. Thinking about getting a girlfriend."

Wakaba tried to advise him. "Romeo's like five years old, isn't he? Don't go messing around."

Macao gave Wakaba a puzzled look. "What's my son's age got to do with me finding a girlfriend? I'm not finding someone for Romeo... Oh? Are you jealous because being single gives me more freedom?"

"Who would be jealous of you? You're just a booze-soaked drunk!"

"What did you say, old smoker?!"

Bang, bang, pop!

Rhodes and Mira leaned against the counter after putting their things away, watching the fight. "Even with most of the guild gone, this place still finds a way to be noisy."

…

Peaceful days always pass quickly, and before they knew it, November had come to an end.

Since that day, Rhodes had been busier than usual.

Besides doing his usual work at the tavern, he also took on some small side missions during his breaks.

These included, but weren't limited to, finding lost items, delivering goods, catching dangerous dogs, and dealing with rodent problems.

Most members found such tasks too trivial to demonstrate their abilities, leading to a backlog of them lately.

Normally, Rhodes disliked them due to the low pay and would rather spend his time training in the guild.

But now that he was short on cash, he had no choice but to treat them as side gigs.

Not that it was entirely without benefit.

Since these missions often required him to run around the streets, he became even more familiar with Magnolia's layout. If it ever came to street fighting, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Thanks to his efforts, many of Magnolia's residents now knew there was a reliable Fairy Tail mage who could "get rid of rats without knocking down the granary."

Most importantly, Mira's affection points went up by one due to his diligence.

"Economic crisis resolved!" Rhodes submitted the last planned mission and slumped onto the counter, his face squished and distorted on the surface as he looked relieved.

"You've worked hard." Mira collected the mission slip and poured him a glass of water.

Rhodes straightened up. "Not hard at all. It's almost payday, and life is getting better."

Laki reminded him, "But rent's due soon too."

"Couldn't you wait until after I've had a moment of joy before saying that?" Rhodes frowned at Laki's mischievous smile. "Besides, my rent went down—only 60,000 J now, half of what you guys pay."

Now it was Laki's turn to be annoyed. "Ugh! How come you get such a nice landlord?!"

"Oh, really? Laki thinks her landlord isn't great? I'll make sure to tell Chiko later."

(Chiko is the daughter of the girls' dormitory landlord.)

"I never said that! And tattling is shameful!" Laki huffed. "Mira, don't just smile—condemn him!"

Mira smiled and said, "I do think Rhodes is being a bit mean. It's only 40,000 J less than Laki, not quite half."

"That's not the point!" Laki suddenly remembered that these two were on the same side.

With their noisy back-and-forth continuing into the evening, Rhodes ended up training with the siblings as usual.

"Has Elfman gotten stronger lately?" Rhodes rubbed his forearm.

He felt like Elfman's punches were heavier—both in normal state and after using Take Over magic.

Even when he blocked, it still hurt.

He couldn't tell if it was a personal grudge or Elfman's actual growth in magic power.

Elfman flexed his muscles. "That's because... I'm a man!"

Asking him was pointless. Rhodes turned to Mira.

"His magic power has increased a bit." Mira thought for a moment and added, "But I think you've grown even more, Rhodes."

"I think I've only gotten a little stronger."

Just a little bit.

…

December 8, X783. A light snow began to fall over Magnolia.

On that day, Rhodes and Elfman went to the tailor to pick up their coats.

When Rhodes and Mira put on their matching coats—same color, same style—Elfman finally realized Rhodes's "scheme."

"You! You planned this, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm just a poor guy who couldn't afford a winter coat and had to go hunting and get a tailor's help."

"...Who are you kidding? That tailor shop's expensive; the labor costs alone weren't any cheaper than buying a regular coat."

"Don't be like that, Elfman. I really like the coat you gave me," Mira smiled. "Maybe I'll give you one in a few days?"

"No need, Sis. I've got plenty of clothes." He had a feeling that in order to buy him clothes, Mira would end up going shopping with Rhodes too.

Elfman felt like going back to the snowy mountain to hunt another Labon.

Mira tried the coat on for size, found it fit well, and then took it off to store. The guild's new heater kept the place warm enough.

Rhodes also took his coat off and suggested that they could have the guild emblem printed on the back, or maybe even on the chest.

The guild was getting more crowded; the members who had been busy rushing about lately were now gathered in full force—almost as many as during the Harvest Festival.

There were few people as relaxed as Rhodes, Mira, and Elfman. Most were too nervous to stand still.

After all, today was the day the S-Class Exam participants were announced.

Bang! A sound like a party popper echoed as a large banner with the guild emblem unfurled from the second-floor loft, colorful ribbons floating down.

All eyes turned to the banner. Master Makarov stepped out.

Behind him were the stern-looking Erza, the masked Mystogan, and the slightly smug Laxus.

A small commotion broke out among the crowd—it wasn't often they saw three S-Class mages standing with the Master.

Once the crowd quieted, Makarov spoke aloud. "According to Fairy Tail's longstanding tradition, I will now announce the participants for the S-Class Promotion Exam."

"There are four participants this year. First... Cana Alberona!"

"Yes!" Cana was delighted, though disappointed that she didn't see Gildarts.

"Second, Mest Gryder!"

"It's Mest, huh? I knew he'd make it."

"Third, Miki Chickentiger!"

The members of the Youth Million Dead Squad cheered for their captain. "That's awesome, Captain Miki!"

"Fourth, Warren Rocko!"

Warren was pleasantly surprised. "I got chosen?!"

(Note: The list wasn't randomly made up—there's an explanation at the end from the author.)

The lineup for this year was inferred based on clues from the story:

In the manga, after the S-Class Exam candidates were announced, Lucy said, "Who would've thought Natsu, Gray, and Elfman were all first-time challengers?"

So, this year, none of them were in.

Alzack also said, "I didn't make it again this year."

Meaning he was out as well.

Jet and Troy said, "Great, Levy finally got chosen."

So, Levy was a first-timer too—she wasn't in this year.

When Mest was selected, someone commented, "Mest really had bad luck last year."

Which implies he participated this year, and possibly everyone's memories were tampered with.

Personally, I think he did participate but got everyone (including himself) confused, and the Master didn't forget about him, so he brought him in again this year.

Gray also said, "The bar is pretty high this year."

Based on this, it's inferred that the requirements might have been slightly lower in 783. Warren is said to be capable of handling high-difficulty commissions on his own, and during the Civil War arc, Miki could fight four people simultaneously with just martial arts. It's stated that her squad is one of the guild's core forces.

So, having Warren and Miki participate makes sense.

As for Freed, during the Civil War arc, the Master commented, "Was Freed's enchantment always this strong?" This suggests he didn't know Freed well enough, so he probably wasn't eligible. The same goes for the other two Thunder God Tribe members, who were also somewhat reclusive.

Macao and Wakaba definitely had the qualifications, but they just weren't interested in participating anymore.

And the rest didn't quite measure up.