Fairy Tail: I don't want to be the president

Chapter 196 President: At worst, you can speak for me
Since the venue is large enough, each president is allocated a suite.

After putting his luggage away, Rhodes didn't know what to do.

Makarov said, "Don't be shy. Although this is a conference venue, the atmosphere here is not that serious. Just relax a little and treat it as if you are staying in an ordinary hotel."

"Can I have a look around?"

"As long as you don't tear this place down, it's up to you."

"Okay, I'll be out for a while."

"Remember to go to the banquet hall for lunch later. The meeting won't start until the afternoon."

Rhodes waved and left the room: "Receive Canyon Swift Crab."

Makarov looked at Rhodes who turned into a green afterimage and gently twirled his beard:

"This form seems to enhance water combat ability and vision? Could this kid be going to check for safety hazards?"

He guessed correctly. Rhodes took the opportunity to visit the venue to see if there was anything suspicious. He also took a walk around and observed the nearby terrain.

Since he was going out with the president this time, Rhodes did not make too many preparations and just checked the surrounding situation briefly.

The presidents of other guilds arrived at the venue one after another. Many of them caught a glimpse of a green figure passing by, but most of them didn't pay much attention.

Rhodes found that the guild leaders were not very vigilant. No one stopped him to ask questions even though he looked so suspicious.

Near noon, Rod finished his 'visit'.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, there are so many guild leaders gathered here, and there are a lot of capable fighters. There shouldn't be anyone who would be so blind as to come here to attack, right?
By the time Rhodes found the banquet hall, more than 40 people had gathered inside, each sitting at a separate table.

Before he came, the president told him that usually there were only about thirty people attending the meetings, and occasionally there would be people who were too busy to attend.

As for the extra ones, they might have been brought out to see the world by their respective presidents just like him.

There are approximately 500 regular wizard guilds in the entire Ishgar continent, with nearly a hundred in Fiore alone.

A local guild alliance with more than 30 guilds is no longer a small organization.

Makarov waved at Rhodes: "Finally back, Rhodes, come here quickly."

"President." Rhodes came to the table and saw a familiar face. "Hello, President Goldman."

"Ah~ It's you, hello." Goodman had some impression of Rhodes.

"Hahahaha..." Makarov boasted.
"How about this? This is Rhodes who joined our guild half a year ago. He became an excellent magician after only learning magic for half a year. Isn't that great!"

"So you are Rod-chan~ You are so cute~"

The person who was speaking had a bald head, painted her blush, put on heart-shaped lipstick, wore a pink vest, had a pair of small wings on her back, and wore high heels.

But Rod knew his gender was male.

"You...you are President Bob of the Blue Pegasus? Hello, nice to meet you."

Bob rested his chin on one hand: "Oh~ So polite, so cute!"

"Well, for the previous matter, I would also like to thank Mr. Hibiki from your guild for his help."

Rhodes tried hard to maintain his smile. Everyone at this table should be the president's friends, so he couldn't be rude.

To some extent, Aoki Pegasus is really a scary guild. Not only is there Mr. One Night, whom Erza is not good at dealing with, but there is also President Bob, whom Rhodes is not good at dealing with.

Makarov was so happy that he drank several more glasses, bragging about how well Rod did in completing the task and even how he was able to earn him a praise.

After he said this, the presidents at the table could understand. This kid could actually do such a difficult thing. His future is limitless.

"Oh~ I seem to have heard some rumors about a versatile animal tamer or something..."

"I have an impression too."

Several guild presidents recalled some rumors about Rhodes.

"Haha!" Makarov was even happier, "I told you the kids in our guild are really good!"

Beast tamer... and he can change his ways... The more Rhodes listened, the more uncomfortable he felt. Now he understood the feelings of those children whose parents boasted about their dark histories.

When I get the little dragon, I’ll ride it around Fiore every day. Sooner or later, I’ll change my nickname to something as domineering as Dragon Rider or Dragon Tamer!

But being so arrogant might lead to being killed by a dragon... It's better to be cautious.

The tamer was pretty good, too. He tricked people into coming for a close-up fight, then raised his hand and gave them a big slap with a red buff. After finally getting through the president's show-off session, Rhode sat down and ate his meal quietly.

I have to say, the food here tastes good.

Listening to the conversations among the guild leaders, it seems that the meals here are personally taken care of by the guild leader of a small guild.

The name of their guild is The Chef’s Knife, and the requirement for joining is to know a little about cooking.

I don't understand why their founder didn't set up a chefs' guild, but instead set up a wizards' guild.

Anyway, thanks to them, Rhodes felt a little bit of the joy of the regular meeting.

But he soon became worried about the president's condition: "President, you drank so much, can you still have the meeting this afternoon?"

"It's just a little bit of alcohol, I woke up quickly, burp~"

"You're burping..."

"It's okay. At worst you can speak for me this afternoon, hiccup~"

"Don't be so willful. How can I be qualified to speak at a meeting like this?"

"I've already told you that this place isn't that serious. Stop talking nonsense. Why are you acting like Mira..."

Rhodes: "..."

Okay, write it down. At 1:15 noon on January , the president said Mira was nagging.

President Bob said sympathetically: "Oh my~ Rod-chan is also having a hard time~"

Rhodes laughed: "Haha, it's okay, it's okay."

The first meeting of the regular session was held at two o'clock in the afternoon, and the thirty presidents gathered in the conference room and took their seats.

Although Makarov always said it wasn't that serious, everyone still changed into different clothes than they wore for lunch.

It may not be the common formal attire, but it must have the logo of the guild.

Rhode looked around and recognized the symbols of familiar large guilds such as the Four Hounds and Blue Pegasus, as well as less famous guilds such as the Giant's Nose, the Headless Horseman's Head, and the Wheel of the Earth Elf.

Of course, there are some signs that really don't make much impression.

He took a special look and found that President Robinlu of the Cat Inn where Wendy and Xia Lulu were was not present.

I don't know if they don't have time to come, or if they belong to other local guild alliances.

The clothes Makarov wears are more special than those of other presidents.

Inside was clothing with the guild's logo painted on it, and outside was a coat with the logo of the Ten Holy Wizards.

In addition to Rhodes, there were ten wizards standing behind their president. It seemed that people other than the president were indeed not prohibited from listening in.

There is no particular requirement for the seating arrangement of the presidents; basically, acquaintances sit together.

However, this time, the leader of the Four Hounds, Goldman, was not next to Makarov, but sat in the main seat:

"Everyone is here, so the first regular meeting of X784 will begin now."

It looks like it's his turn to preside over this meeting.

"The first topic of this meeting is about the attitude of the Kingdom of Fiore towards wizards."

"As everyone knows, we wizards once went through a very dark era. Fortunately, the emergence of the 'Guild' brought us together and gradually changed this situation."

"Nowadays, most countries have a more friendly attitude towards magicians, and the royal family of our Fiore Kingdom is quite fond of magic."

"But even so, the kingdom's policy is still worthy of our attention. It concerns the future of us wizards."

"I heard that during the New Year celebration in the capital this year, His Majesty the King mentioned in his speech that he hopes to organize a magician's grand gathering next year or the year after."

"Although the specific form and rules have not yet been determined, it is necessary for us to discuss the impact of this matter on us. If necessary, we can even jointly make suggestions to the king or help formulate rules."

President Goodman started off with a very serious speech.

Rhode had never expected that President Goldman, who loved to bicker with his own old president and act childishly, would be so reliable in presiding over such a meeting.

(End of this chapter)