The guild masters present at the meeting spoke freely, each voicing their opinions. Some believed the matter should be taken seriously, while others felt it was just a casual remark by the king and wasn't worth the fuss.
As for Master Makarov, whom Rhodes admired greatly, he was nodding off like a chick pecking at rice.
Rhodes tried nudging him awake twice, but it was no use. Left with no choice, he quietly pulled out a small notebook and started jotting down the key points for him.
After the discussion about the upcoming wizard event wrapped up, Master Goldmine summarized the main points, reminding everyone to stay alert for any news related to it once they returned to their guilds.
It could very well become an opportunity to boost the standing of wizards even further. But if handled poorly, it might harm the reputation of their own guilds instead.
"Now, let's move on to the next topic, about the minor revisions to tax regulations made at the end of last year."
Rhodes listened closely. He realized that, ever since he joined Fairy Tail, he had never once worried about paying taxes, or even thought about them, until earlier this month.
He first became aware of it while helping Mira with the guild's annual reconciliation paperwork.
Fiore's tax policy for regular wizards was surprisingly lenient, with most taxes paid directly by the guild itself.
The tax rate was so low that it didn't even come out of a wizard's mission reward. Instead, it was taken from the "deposit" submitted by the client when posting a job request. Rhodes guessed that deposit covered taxes, service fees, and probably even a bit for advertising.
For most jobs, the tax rate was about 1%, barely noticeable compared to the rewards.
Fairy Tail also had its own rule: if a reward exceeded one million jewels, it would still be taxed as if it were just one million. No additional taxes piled on top.
Basically, the guild took care of everything. Wizards like Rhodes didn't need to bother about taxes at all.
Currently, Mira and Rhodes handled most of the administrative work, while Master Makarov only had to sign the documents and pay when necessary.
Out of curiosity, Rhodes had even looked into the tax rates for merchants, workers, and farmers.
After some comparison, he could only conclude: being a wizard wasn't half bad at all.
"The next topic concerns the kingdom's new decree promoting the development of magical tools, and the potential impacts on wizards who own them."
Topic after topic followed. The guild masters debated each new decree the Kingdom of Fiore had issued, analyzing how they might affect the wizarding community and whether the local guild alliance should take collective action.
The discussion, which had started at two o'clock, finally wound down close to six in the evening.
Just as things were wrapping up, someone turned to Fairy Tail's master and asked, "Master Makarov, what's your view on all this?"
Rhodes quietly nudged his unreliable president awake.
Makarov jerked upright, slammed his palm on the table, and bellowed, "Charge them head-on!"
Rhodes silently suspected that the old man had probably been dreaming about fighting someone. Still... he had to admit, that line sounded pretty impressive.
Makarov's sudden outburst left the guild masters looking at one another, all a little bewildered.
Bob, who was well-acquainted with Makarov's antics, was already holding his face, shaking with laughter. Goldmine was struggling to hold back his chuckles but, as the one presiding over the meeting, had to maintain a straight face.
Realizing something was wrong, Makarov subtly stretched his arm behind his back and tugged at the hem of Rhodes' clothes.
It was just like a student dozing off in class, getting called on by the teacher, and frantically signaling their deskmate for help.
Rhodes quickly cleared his throat and said, "What our Master means is that regardless of whether the kingdom's policies benefit us directly or not, we must all stand united, face challenges together, and strive to create a better environment for the magical world.
At Fairy Tail, we are committed to that goal and we sincerely hope that all of you will work with us toward it. In short, let's move forward together."
Makarov nodded solemnly. "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I meant."
"Well said, Master Makarov!" praised one of the presidents.
"A perfect way to wrap up today's meeting!" added another.
Goldmine, who had been holding back laughter the whole time, finally relaxed a little. "Looks like Master Makarov has taken over my closing speech, but since it's already been said, we'll adjourn here. Meeting dismissed!"
At the dinner gathering afterward, Goldmine wasted no time teasing Makarov, joking, "You almost embarrassed yourself again!"
Makarov turned red, though it was hard to tell whether it was from anger or drinking, and snapped back, leading to a lively round of bickering between the two old friends.
"No wonder you brought Rhodes here," President Bob said in a softer, almost gentle voice. "He really is a wonderful boy."
Rhodes found himself surprisingly used to Bob's way of speaking by now.
Still, just to be safe, he made a mental note to look through a few more pictures of Mira later. Maybe it would help calm his nerves.
"That's right!" Makarov suddenly clapped his hands, clearly inspired by Bob's words. "Rhodes is like my own child. There's no difference between what he says and what I say."
"Shameless," Goldmine scoffed. "Porlyusica must be so disgusted with you that she refuses to come to the guild anymore."
"What does this have to do with her?!" Makarov snapped back, but he quickly put on a smug grin. "Admit it, you're just jealous because our guild has such an outstanding young wizard."
Hearing that, Goldmine couldn't back down. "The kids from our guild aren't half-bad either!"
"Is that so? Well, this kid's about to become an S-Class wizard before long."
"What's so special about S-Class? Our guild has S-Class wizards around the same age!"
"Then what are you afraid of? Dare to compete?"
"Of course! Bring it on!"
The two old men refused to yield an inch. Watching them argue, Rhodes turned to Bob and asked, "President Bob, if they end up drunk and fighting, is there anything you can do to stop them?"
Bob smiled warmly. "Oh, they've always been ."
Instead of answering Rhodes' question, he asked in return, "When you fight in the guild, who usually stops you?"
Rhodes paused. "Well, most of the time, nobody. Everyone just watches and cheers. Only Erza would step in when things get really out of hand."
"If it escalated to the point of damaging the building, then Master Makarov would intervene himself."
Bob chuckled. "No worries. We're all getting older. We prefer settling things without throwing punches these days."
"Without fighting? How?" Rhodes was a bit curious, but also a little wary. "Wait, you're telling me they still have to settle it somehow even after arguing?"
"Probably," Bob said cheerfully. "They'll likely have the younger generation settle it for them."
He smiled at Rhodes and added, "Maybe you'll represent Fairy Tail and challenge the young talents from the Quatro Cerberus~"
Rhodes thought about the S-Class wizard Goldmine had just boasted about and felt his scalp tingle. "Forgive me, but I really can't take on an S-Class wizard right now."
Bob encouraged him brightly, "Young people should be a little more confident. You're from Fairy Tail, after all~"
Rhodes could only offer a bitter smile. "Why do I feel like you understand Fairy Tail even better than I do?" Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥
After all, just last month, he had been flattened by an S-Class wizard. Facing another one was really not something he was eager to experience again.
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