Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 165: Group Voice Chat

When Rhodes and Cana landed at their destination, the notice board at the foot of the mountain already had the names of Mest and Wan written on it.

"Space magic is seriously convenient," Rhodes muttered as he picked up a pen and added their names alongside Cana's.

For a moment, he even considered erasing Mest's name, but in the end, decided against it. They were all part of Fairy Tail, there was no need to be that underhanded.

"Alright, time to get moving!" Cana declared as she pulled out a deck of cards and began her divination right there on the spot.

Rhodes summoned a group of Murk Wolves to fan out and scout ahead. He also sent the two Raptors flying above to search for the key from the sky.

In addition, he summoned two Scuttle Crabs and had them hide somewhere near the starting point.

This, in game terms, was like "placing wards for vision."

His main search force was the Murk Wolves. He instructed them to track the scent of the president and Erza, since they were likely involved in hiding the keys.

It was a shame he didn't have a scent sample for Laxus or Mystogan. Otherwise, his tracking network would've been far more effective.

Cana pulled a card with some kind of special effect Rhodes couldn't quite make out. Then she drew another and held it up: "Northwest. That's the direction that'll bring us good luck."

Rhodes nodded. "Got it. Let's go."

The two of them oriented themselves and chose a northwest path deeper into the canyon.

Rhodes didn't summon any more monsters along the way to conserve magic power. He didn't want to risk running out in the middle of a real battle.

The canyon terrain was filled with towering, jagged stone spires. Many areas were shadowed year-round, making them cold and damp.

There wasn't much plant life, aside from patches of moss and ferns clinging to the cliff faces. Everything looked slick and treacherous underfoot.

It wasn't a pleasant place to walk, and the chill sank into their bones.

Rhodes stole a glance at Cana. If Mira were here, maybe the mood would be warmer.

Cana noticed his glance. "What is it? Did you sense something?"

Rhodes shook his head. "Not yet. The area's huge. It'll take a while."

The maze itself wasn't the problem. The real challenge was finding the keys. In this massive canyon, searching for a few wooden plaques was like looking for needles in a haystack.

Suddenly, a figure flickered overhead. Cana glanced up. "Was that Mest just now?"

"Yeah. He's probably scouting from above," Rhodes replied, then frowned. "But can his magic really hold up if he keeps using space magic like that?"

"If it doesn't, that just works out better for us," Cana said with a shrug. "Everyone's desperate to find the key. They're probably not managing their magic as carefully as you."

They moved carefully through the stone maze. At every fork in the road, they let Cana's divination decide which way to go.

It wasn't about superstition. Her divination had proven reliable too many times to ignore.

"Looks like Mickey and Joey just signed in," Rhodes said as a message came in from one of the crabs he left near the entrance.

One crab quietly began tailing the duo as they disappeared from view, keeping just out of sight.

This was one of Rhodes' tactics, he had sent two Scuttle Crabs to tail the two groups. If he and Cana couldn't find a key themselves, they could intercept the others at any time.

"I have a bad feeling your tracking plan might hit a snag," Cana remarked. "She might just head straight north and bulldoze her way through."

Rhodes was silent for a moment, then nodded. "That's possible. She and Joey have started climbing the mountain."

"Haha!" Cana burst out laughing. "That's just like her!"

Rhodes was starting to feel exhausted by the sheer recklessness of everyone in the guild. Male or female, it didn't matter, they were all hot-blooded and wild.

Thankfully, Mickey didn't seem to be planning to scale the entire mountain. She just climbed high enough to get a good vantage point and released Little Bi to scout for an optimal route.

Her strategy was simple: locate the exit first. If she found a key along the way, great—if not, she'd wait near the exit and challenge anyone who got there.

Rhodes and Cana discussed it and easily deduced Mickey's plan. They couldn't help but look down on the idea.

"If she's not planning to look for the key herself, who are we supposed to steal it from?" Rhodes muttered with exaggerated disappointment.

Not long after, Warren and Max finally signed their names at the board and dashed into the maze.

Another scuttle Crab followed behind to keep tabs on them. Rhodes watched as Warren pressed his index and middle fingers together against his forehead, then instantly took off running, dragging Max along behind him.

"They're heading in Mickey's direction," Rhodes observed. "So they don't plan to search for the keys themselves either?"

Cana shrugged. "Warren's magic can track everyone's positions. For all we know, we might be under surveillance right now."

Rhodes sighed. He had only managed to monitor two groups—and both of them had chosen the lazy route.

As for Mest, his constant teleportation made tracking impossible. They'd have to rely on themselves for that one.

After a while, Warren suddenly changed course.

He pulled Max aside and darted down a new path at a fork in the canyon.

The Scuttle Crab tried to tail them, but just as it rounded the bend, a sudden mound of sand surged up from the ground like a whip, slamming into it and knocking it over.

"Sand Trap!" Max shouted in surprise. Then he took a closer look.

"Wait a second, isn't that one of Rhodes' Scuttle Crabs? His summons are from this canyon?"

Warren shook his head. "Nah, I'm more inclined to believe that Rhodes sent that crab to tail us."

As expected, the crab, having been struck, vanished on its own, retreating back to the summoning realm. Rhodes had given it that instruction in advance to conserve magic and summon energy for more critical moments.

"Just as I thought. That really was his." Max watched the Scuttle Crab disappear and nodded. "Hey, Warren..."

...

"Hey, Rhodes! Sorry about that!"

A slightly cocky voice echoed in Rhodes' mind, sounded like Max.

"Huh? Max?" Rhodes paused. "Warren, is that you using telepathy?"

Cana also stopped in her tracks. "Is Warren talking to you?"

Rhodes nodded, then heard Warren's voice come through clearly:

"Yeah, it's me. I can hear you if you speak like you just did. How's your progress?"

Rhodes replied, "If we'd made any real progress, I wouldn't be tracking you, now would I? I had the crab stay hidden, but I guess you sniffed it out anyway."

"Tracking won't work on me," Warren said calmly.

Warren was a seasoned wizard from the same generation as Laxus. With his specialty in telepathic and detection magic, trying to tail him without getting noticed was nearly impossible.

Rhodes sighed internally. 'There really are a lot of monsters hiding in this guild.'

Cana looked confused. "What are you two even talking about?"

"He's asking how we're doing," Rhodes explained. "Hang on—Warren, can you add Cana to the link too? I'm getting tired of relaying everything."

"No problem. Cana, can you hear me?"

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Cana grinned. "Loud and clear! Honestly, I'm more curious about how you two managed to get down from the cliff."

"Haha, well, you see, Warren..."

Funny how back on the train no one had much to say, but now that they couldn't see each other, the group was suddenly chatty.

Rhodes was reminded of the good old days, when he and his friends would play team games from different places, shouting through voice chat and laughing through the chaos.

Unfortunately, just when Max got to the good part, the conversation was cut off abruptly, likely because Warren, who had total control over the link, decided to shut it down.

That psychic pooch pulls the plug like he's got admin rights to reality!

But one thing was certain: Warren definitely didn't descend the cliff the normal way.

Now Rhodes was even more curious.