Chapter 65: What Should I Do?

Rhodes chose to take this mission after careful consideration.

First was the reward—300,000 J split among three people meant 100,000 J each.

—Happy was an official Fairy Tail mage, marked with the guild emblem, and he contributed during missions, so he was entitled to a share of the money.

This amount would relieve Rhodes of the rent issue, and even let him live comfortably for the next month.

Next was safety. Based on the information Mira provided, the mission wasn't too dangerous.

Plus, teaming up with Natsu provided a good level of security. It was just dealing with some wild beasts, nothing too big of a problem.

Rhodes could already picture the 100,000 J waving at him—assuming Natsu didn't do something crazy again, like accidentally destroying the village.

This was something to keep an eye on!

With the formalities of accepting the mission complete, the trio split up.

Natsu went home to gather his things, Happy went to rent a carriage, and Rhodes also needed to get his gear and... do a little bit of preparation.

Even when in a team, one couldn't afford to be careless.

Mira watched as Rhodes walked towards the warehouse and said helplessly, "You're borrowing things again?"

Rhodes smiled sheepishly, "Better be safe than sorry, right?"

Mira corrected him, "It's called 'being prepared for a rainy day.'"

"Oh, right."

Mira wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but considering that this was Rhodes's first subjugation mission, she let him be.

A few minutes later, Rhodes returned empty-handed, with a somewhat dejected expression.

"What happened?" Mira asked.

"The master wouldn't open the warehouse door. He said with Natsu already being dangerous enough, taking any explosive magic crystals would make the village disappear."

Rhodes looked slightly hurt. "They're for self-defense, not for causing terror."

Mira couldn't help but laugh, "Please make sure to keep Natsu in check and don't let him cause trouble."

"Got it..." Rhodes waved his hand, "I'm off."

"Take care."

Once Rhodes stepped out of the guild hall, Mira turned her gaze back. Laki jumped onto Mira, mimicking Mira's tone:

"Take... care... on... the... road..."

Mira scolded, "Laki, what are you up to now?"

"It's not about what I'm up to, it's about what you're up to, Mira~"

Laki lowered her voice, "How's it going between you and Rhodes?"

"What?"

"Love! Romance!" Laki clasped her hands together, a dreamy expression on her face, saying,

"The talented new member of the guild and the guild's leading lady spending time together, falling in love during a protection mission...

"And then, he trains hard to protect her, works tirelessly to take care of her, their feelings for each other progressing rapidly until they finally walk down the aisle...

"Ah, such a romantic love story!"

Mira sighed, "Don't make stuff up, and your sequence of events and cause and effect are all messed up."

"Beautiful poetry always requires a little editing of life's rhythm," Laki reasoned.

"By the way, Mira, surely you've noticed, right? The way Rhodes looks at you is different from the way he looks at others."

Mira gently shook her head, "It's probably just gratitude for some help I gave him before."

Laki disagreed, "No way, when Levy and I lent Rhodes stuff and answered his questions, we saw the grateful look too. It wasn't like that... It wasn't sparkling."

"Don't say anymore; there are customers wanting drinks over there, hurry and go."

"Yes, yes~"

Laki left, and Mira lowered her gaze. Even Laki said so.

During the celebration the other day, Jenny had told Mira backstage:

"You should know how much dating affects us as gravure models, right? Popularity would drop drastically."

Popularity wasn't important to her; the real issue was herself. Mira wasn't a clueless young girl. She could sense Rhodes's feelings for her.

Part of it was gratitude, part of it was companionship, and another part...

That seemed impossible.

Rhodes was the best new recruit, not just this year but in recent years.

The master even called him a "summoning magic genius." In just a short time, he'd learned to maintain a large number of summoned creatures simultaneously.

He was meticulous and cautious, practiced diligently every day, and whenever he faced setbacks, he just kept pushing on.

But what about herself?

Impulsive, overconfident after passing the S-Class exam, she arrogantly led her siblings into an adventure.

And in the end, Elfman had to risk his life to take in the Beast King, and she couldn't even protect... Lisanna.

She ended up in this weakened state.

The smile she kept every day wasn't because she'd forgotten her sorrow; it was to ensure Elfman didn't blame himself, to help him move on from the shadow of guilt, and to avoid worrying her guildmates.

As long as Elfman could move on and live a good life, that was enough.

As long as her guildmates could think of good times when they saw her and not that tragic event, that was enough.

As for herself, pain, sadness, loss of power—it was all her own doing, her punishment for arrogance.

Love? Happiness? Even the hope of a new family?

These were things she felt someone like her couldn't have.

But Rhodes's feelings...

"Mira, two beers over here!"

Mira closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had her usual smile back on: "Coming right up!"

What should I do?

...

"What are you doing exactly?"

Rhodes sat in the carriage, looking at Natsu, who had kept them waiting for nearly ten minutes.

Happy complained too, "So slow, Natsu."

"Wait, wait, I'm almost ready, I can do this!"

Natsu took a deep breath, preparing himself to leap onto the carriage in one go.

However, just before he could jump, he stopped abruptly:

"Maybe I should just walk... Hey, Happy, what are you doing? Let me go!"

Happy spread his wings, grabbed Natsu by the shoulders, and tossed him into the carriage. He then shouted, "Mister, let's go!"

"Hyah!"

The driver, already impatient from the heat and waiting so long, cracked the reins, setting off at once.

"Let go... urgh..." Natsu stopped struggling, slumping in the carriage with a greenish face, speaking weakly, "Let... me... off..."

Rhodes carefully shifted away from Natsu's direction. "Being this carsick is a bit much, isn't it?"

Happy said, "Aye! Natsu has no resistance to any form of transportation."

"I heard Gray mention it once, but I didn't think it was this serious."

Rhodes, unable to resist, poked Natsu's puffed-up cheek. When he heard a muffled groan, he quickly pulled his hand back.

Suddenly, he felt uneasy again, "Doesn't this mean he's completely incapable of fighting?"

"Aye! You can do whatever you want to Natsu now. Like this, like this, and like this..."

Happy pulled on Natsu's cheeks, styled his hair into a pointy tuft, then rolled around on Natsu's back, thoroughly messing with him.

"Happy..." Natsu said weakly, "Stop the carriage... I'll never forgive you..."

"Aye! Mister, definitely don't stop!"