Lucy was absolutely right. After Rhode shared his idea, the President waved his hand decisively, saying, "Let's do it that way, it's up to you!"
These troublesome things are far less enjoyable than carrying bricks. The old man tirelessly sweats away, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Makarov discovered that playing the idle boss was much more enjoyable. Look, just look, the kids can already plan for the future on their own.
The President's job is to foster the children's growth.
Rhode had no choice but to find the foreman, Erza, asking her to first assign a team of workers to help.
Upon hearing it was for everyone's livelihood, Erza immediately took the lead in the work. Kana served as the vanguard, with Elfman, Natsu, and Gray as the main force, driving rapid progress on the project.
As for Rhode himself, of course, he went to the basement to rummage through the task documents, some were leftovers from before, some accumulated over the past week or so.
He picked out the most urgent ones, filled out each task form, then selected some relatively easy tasks with higher pay for emergencies.
The rest can gradually be done.
Mira was very busy, so Rhode had to handle these tasks alone.
When he returned with a pile of task forms, the open space had already been cleared, the bulletin board was up, and the counter was under construction.
Erza seemed to plan to set up a temporary tavern too, so she made a canopy behind the counter.
Rhode strongly suspected it was Kana's suggestion, as she was the most enthusiastic when it came to moving tables and chairs.
But this is good too; the monotonous construction site life indeed needed a spot for everyone to relax.
By the time these things were done, the sun had already set, and it seemed the opening would have to wait until tomorrow.
However, the tavern immediately began operating. Many people, like Kana, had been repressed in the Advisory Council camp for too long and were eager to let loose.
The booze was ready-made, the kitchen was in the basement, and Mr. Cook had put in extra hours so everyone could have a good meal.
Although the conditions were simple, the Guild regained some of its usual lively atmosphere.
...
Early the next morning, Mira officially announced to everyone that the temporary counter was now accepting work applications.
A crowd swarmed in, eager and competitive.
"Rhode has already filtered out the urgent tasks and those with high but balanced rewards based on difficulty. Please let those who urgently need living expenses go first!"
"Great news!"
Mira took full charge of the counter, while Rhode... went to carry bricks.
Once a bunch of people with no saving habits left, there was a manpower shortage, so Rhode had to fill in, treating it as exercise.
The counter area bustled for a good while before quieting down. Lucy stood with Nabu in front of the bulletin board for quite some time.
She saw several tasks she wanted to take on, but each time she reached out her hand, she retracted it, feeling uneasy.
After hesitating for quite a while, Lucy seemed to make a decision and left quietly.
She realized that if she didn't resolve that matter, she wouldn't be able to work in peace.
Her solitary departure didn't draw much attention; everyone was either busy or assumed she had picked a task and went solo.
Makarov arrived a bit late today and called Rhode and Erza over as soon as he got there.
"I need to go to the Advisory Council for a bit, so the Guild is in your hands."
Rhode asked, "I thought we were waiting for a few days?"
"Xiaoya told me that because the matter dragged on too long, the public opinion has brewed quite a storm, and the Advisory Council wants to quickly extinguish the negative impact or else their work competence would be questioned."
'Xiaoya' referred to Mr. Yajima, one of the council evaluators, and his nickname for Makarov was 'Xiaoma.'
The nicknames between the two old men were surprisingly cute.
Erza patted her chest, "Rest assured and leave it to us."
Rhode cautioned, "This time, please don't fall asleep, especially when it comes to discussing money."
"How, How~ could I, ha, hahaha..." Makarov laughed guiltily.
Mira gently comforted him, "It's alright, President. If we don't get the funding we deserve this time, we'll just send you off on an S-Class task, and confiscate the payment."
"!" Makarov straightened up, "I definitely won't fall asleep this time!"
Everyone laughed.
"By the way, Laxus might return in the next couple of days regarding the matter from a while ago..."
Before leaving, Makarov gave a few reminders, and the three nodded one by one.
Despite the irritation, what's done is done, and debating whether he fought or not was pointless; considering the President, let's consider him merely late.
Hopefully, Laxus will turn over a new leaf in the future.
Otherwise, they can't keep teaming up like they did against Joseph someday to deal with him.
Rhode shook his head, "Alright, I'm off to work, Xiaomi."
Mira paused before realizing where the nickname "Xiaomi" came from, and she waved cheerfully, "Keep it up, Xiao De."
Erza pondered, touching her chin. Then what should I be called? Xiao Ai? Xiao Sha?
Amidst the busyness, it was already noon.
Everyone took a short break, getting ready to eat lunch.
It's summer now, and a bunch of people who had worked all morning were huddled together, sweating profusely.
Everyone clamored, "Gray! Hurry up and make some ice, it's so hot!"
"Such a bother," Gray grumbled, "Ice-Make: Sunshade!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, every table was suddenly shaded by an ice crystal umbrella with poor light transmission, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop significantly.
Jubia, hiding behind a pile of wood watching secretly, had hearts in her eyes, thinking how beautiful the magic was. Water Magic and Ice Magic were indeed a match made in heaven.
Additionally, ever since she met him, Jubia noticed it no longer rained uncontrollably around her.
The first day she met Gray was also the first day Jubia felt the warmth of the sun.
Gray felt a piercing gaze, and turned his head sharply, but still saw nothing. He rubbed his stomach, "Darn it, using magic makes me hungrier."
Just as he finished speaking, a blue shape darted past, leaving a bento box in Gray's arms.
"What's this?"
Rhode was grabbing a meal with Mira and Elfman. Mira didn't mind the sweat on these two; they looked like this every day after training anyway.
"Did you guys see that?" Rhode asked. "What speed! No wonder they were among the top Four Elements."
Mira chuckled, "I feel like when she fought me before, she wasn't this fast."
Elfman was puzzled, "Why is she here? For revenge on Ghost?"
"Who avenges by delivering bento, especially a love bento," Rhode remarked to Mira, "A love bento, you know."
Mira fed Rhode a piece of meat, "What are you looking at, I've made you one before too."
She pondered, smiling mischievously, "Do you want to eat that kind of bento? I'll have Elfman make it for you tomorrow."
Rhode nearly choked.
Elfman wore a similarly aghast expression, "Sister..."
Truly demon-esque, a single sentence KO'd two guys.