Chapter 107: Welcome to Fairy Tail

The Magical Parade ended smoothly.

As soon as everyone returned to the guild, they immediately began the celebration banquet.

Everyone gathered together to celebrate the success of the parade.

Some people, still not having had enough fun, put on mascot costumes and started dancing in strange ways.

Others continued to wear their parade costumes, grabbed instruments, and sang songs.

The scene was both lively and chaotic.

Makarov sat cross-legged on the counter, drinking with the sight of the children laughing, getting drunk without even realizing it.

Rhodes, who was serving drinks, would be pulled aside by his companions every few steps for a toast under various excuses.

This wasn't the kind of "give me face" drinking culture; it was simply an expression of everyone's joy, so Rhodes also enjoyed it.

Although at first, he worried he might get drunk, seeing everyone else in their state, he figured it wouldn't hurt if he joined the drunken bunch.

As the glasses were exchanged, Rhodes gradually let go of himself.

He pulled Gray along and stuffed a beer bottle filled with ice into Natsu's mouth, watching him jump up from his sickly state, gagging.

He also dragged Natsu to shove a piece of roast meat drenched in spicy sauce into Gray's mouth, watching the ice wizard almost breathe fire from the spiciness.

Of course, he couldn't escape being chased all over the guild by Natsu and Gray, armed with ice and charred roast meat.

Somewhere in a daze, Rhodes seemed to have clinked his cup with someone's keg, even trying to grab it to drink from it.

He seemed to have bumped into someone, and a metallic "clang" rang in his ears, making his already dazed head feel even more muddled.

He also seemed to have teamed up with a plume of purple flames to snatch someone's smoking pipe, only to be thrown away by the smoke.

Rhodes, usually cautious and steady, did many things he would never do on normal days. The accumulated pressure was recklessly released in his drunkenness.

The small gap and distance between him and everyone gradually disappeared amidst the laughter and chaos.

After enough commotion, an exhausted Rhodes slumped onto the counter, smiling foolishly at the noisy scene.

In the end, it was Mira's smiling face that appeared before him. She poured herself a glass of wine, but handed Rhodes a cup of warm water instead.

Rhodes looked at her, still smiling foolishly.

Mira held Rhodes' hand with the water cup and clinked it with her own wine glass.

She downed her wine in one gulp, then wrapped one arm around Rhodes, letting his head rest in her arm, while she fed him the warm water with the other hand.

Before closing his eyes, Rhodes saw her bright smile and heard her pleasant voice:

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

...

"The heck! I actually got drunk!"

Early the next morning, Rhodes woke up groggily and then shot up like a spring.

He looked around and saw tables and chairs overturned, with people lying sprawled all over the guild.

Some lay slumped over tables, others were on the ground, and some were half on the ground, with their legs resting on tables. There were all kinds of awkward sleeping positions.

"Hiss~~" Rhodes felt a headache coming on—seemed like a hangover.

"Rhodes, you're awake?" Mira's voice called out, "Hold on, drink a cup of warm milk. It'll help."

"Thanks." Rhodes took the milk, feeling conflicted. "Um... Mira, did I do anything weird last night?"

"Weird?" Mira thought for a moment, then smirked mischievously. "Does running around naked count?"

"What?" Rhodes felt like his brain exploded and looked down at himself in disbelief. "But, I'm still dressed!"

"I was talking about Gray." Mira chuckled. "Your expression just now was priceless."

"...She's definitely doing this on purpose." Rhodes sulked as he drank the warm milk.

"If you want to talk about weird things, everyone did something like that. We messed around until nearly five in the morning before finally going to sleep."

"Five in the morning? It must have been daylight already."

"Yeah, haah~" Mira yawned, "Today's going to be a busy day."

Rhodes mumbled under his breath, "Even yawning looks so pretty."

Mira didn't catch it, "What?"

"Nothing, I said you should rest a little longer. I'll watch over things here."

Mira thought for a moment and said, "Just for a little while then. Call me if anyone wakes up."

"Got it. By the way, where's the guild master?"

"He went out early, probably to see off Mr. Ajima and Guild Master Goodman."

Mira yawned again, and instead of going to the lounge, she simply rested her head on her arms, leaning against the counter. "Goodnight, remember to wake me up."

"Goodnight."

Rhodes tiptoed around, seeing Natsu and Gray pulling on each other's cheeks even in their sleep. Happy was holding onto the end of Natsu's scarf, smacking his lips, probably dreaming of eating fish.

Cana slept hugging her barrel, Levy rested her head on Laki's lap, and even Erza lay slumped over a table, sleeping soundly.

The guild was peaceful, with only the sound of light snores—rarely seen.

Rhodes sat down, watching Mira's sleeping figure. Her delicate little face exposed to the side, her eyelashes slightly fluttering, made him want to...

Want to draw a small turtle on her face.

What nonsense. Rhodes stood up, went to the lounge, and brought back a blanket, gently covering Mira.

It was already a little chilly in the October morning.

Thinking for a moment, Rhodes sneaked over to Reedus's side, stealing his paints and brush.

Might as well play a little prank on Natsu while he was idle.

With his masterpiece completed, Natsu continued to sleep soundly, so Rhodes decided to extend his care to Gray, and he couldn't forget Happy either.

Turns out, playing pranks was quite exhilarating!

Rhodes glanced at Erza, who was slumped over at the next table. He couldn't resist the urge to do something dangerous.

The brush slowly approached Erza's cheek, and Rhodes's hand started trembling.

"Who?" Suddenly, Rhodes's wrist was grabbed, and Erza opened her eyes, staring at him with sharp eyes.

"Hiss~" Rhodes took a sharp breath—Erza's grip was strong.

"Oh, it's you, Rhodes. Sorry." Erza's gaze softened as she let go of his wrist and stood up.

"Looks like everyone got drunk." Erza glanced around, her eyes swept over Natsu and Gray's faces before finally landing on the brush in Rhodes's hand. She looked confused, "What were you just..."

"Ahem... I felt like they were being too careless, so I wanted to leave a mark as a reminder. I was actually planning to ask you to join me..."

A terrible lie, full of holes—no sane person would beli—

"I see!"

"What?"

"Using pranks as a reminder—if this were outside, even if drunk, they can't let their guard down."

Erza stroked her chin, her eyes sparkling with understanding. "Rhodes, you're so thoughtful, always looking out for everyone!"

Uh oh, Erza seemed to take things a bit too seriously sometimes—couldn't always be considered a regular person.

Rhodes forced a laugh, "Hahaha, you're right."