When Rhodes finished his training and returned to the tavern to work, he imdiately felt nurous eyes on him.
It reminded him of those two 'big goose' who had glared at him yesterday.
Coincidentally, Croft and Nicky were among those people too.
Flirting with the guild's belle really does stir up public anger.
Rhodes clenched his fists, saying sowhat provocatively, "Anyone wanna fight?"
Swish, swish, swish!
More than a dozen people in the tavern stood up, their expressions unfriendly. Even Macao and Wakaba, who usually treated him well, were among them.
Knowing when to yield, Rhodes decisively said, "Well, go ahead and start fighting amongst yourselves, I don't feel like fighting today."
Are you kidding ? In guild fights, it's an unwritten rule to start with fists before magic.
Fighting against over a dozen guys without using magic?
He'd definitely get beaten up, and without gaining anything from it, too.
Not to ntion the embarrassnt in front of Mira. Unless he'd lost his mind, there was no way he'd do that.
"Rhodes, you coward, show so backbone!"
"Yeah? If you have guts, let's duel in the backyard, using any magic we like!"
This ti, the others hesitated.
Duel with Rhodes using magic?
If they couldn't knock him out instantly, the duel would quickly turn into a brawl.
If this guy gets anxious, his wolves, giant birds, and stone beetles would trample all over them in no ti.
Which summoner can casually summon more than twenty creatures at once?!
These days, whether it was Rhodes issuing a challenge or soone else challenging Rhodes, they'd generally need to set so rules.
Only people like Natsu, Gray, or Cana could manage better.
Because when Rhodes brought out all the wild creatures, he couldn't hold on for too long.
This little challenge ended inconclusively, as both sides were wary of each other. So decided they'd definitely drag Rhodes into the next guild brawl.
Rhodes also decided to be extra cautious when walking alone at night from now on.
Mira seed rather busy today; there were quite a few people lining up to take on missions.
Maybe it's because it's the start of the month, and they're short on cash, or they want to work hard early in the month so they can slack off during the middle and end of it.
Out of over a hundred mbers in Fairy Tail, about half of them lived this way.
They were young, without families to support, and mostly just had to worry about rent and living expenses.
With little financial pressure, they spent most of their ti hanging out at the guild, eating, drinking, and having fun. Many of them weren't too concerned about improving their skills.
So had quirky personalities, making it difficult for them to make friends outside of the guild, so staying at the guild was the most comfortable option.
The guild's troublemakers weren't limited to Natsu and Gray.
People like Rhodes, who were motivated and ambitious, were fundantally different from the slackers.
Although he didn't go on many missions either, he was always working hard.
And at the beginning of the month, he wasn't short on money because he got his salary.
Last month, Rhodes had a few days of absence while doing a mission, so he only got 100,000 J in salary.
Mira seed to have cut him so slack while calculating his salary; by his own estimates, it should have been only 80,000 J.
To thank her for her kindness, Rhodes decided he'd invite her out for so desserts in the coming days.
"Rhodes, two orders of pan-fried cod here!"
Rhodes conveyed the order to Cook at the kitchen counter, then shouted to the custor who ordered,
"Croft? You still dare to call on ? Want to add a bucket of chili sauce to your dish?!"
Croft wasn't fazed at all, "Go ahead, Cook will kill you for it."
That was indeed an issue.
Wasting chili sauce and ruining one of Cook's masterpieces would definitely get him chased around with a knife.
A mont later, besides sending out the plates, the kitchen counter also sent out a little poro.
"Why are you here too, got kicked out?" Rhodes picked up Warm, feeling the little creature had grown even heavier.
"Snuffle!" Warm seed very happy, its tiny horns bobbing up and down.
It jumped out of Rhodes' arms and ran back to the kitchen counter, where it hooked a basketball-sized bag with its paw.
Warm opened the bag and showed its contents to Rhodes.
"Is this... Poro Delicacy?" Rhodes looked at the biscuit-like food inside, pleasantly surprised, "It's a success?"
"Woo~" Warm nodded, then shook its head.
This round, fluffy little creature seed to have a hard ti making such complex gestures.
"So, it's a partial success?" Rhodes thought for a mont, "Poro Delicacy version 1.0, then."
"Snuffle!" Warm took out a biscuit the size of a plate and handed it to Rhodes, signaling for him to try it.
Rhodes hesitated a bit; he rembered Cook ntioning he wanted this to beco a guild specialty snack.
Alright, I'll give it a try.
He broke off a small piece and gave it to Warm first, saying righteously, "Poro Delicacy, poro tries first!"
Oh, filthy human, exploiting the adorable poro just because he's afraid it might not taste good.
Rhodes observed Warm's expression closely. Good, it didn't seem bitter, spicy, or weird.
Seeing Warm so happy, Rhodes felt a twinge of guilt—just about 0.01 milligrams—and decided not to make Warm help clean under his bed next ti.
Poro Delicacy tasted soft, sticky, and sweet like a chiffon cake, making it a great snack.
Not sure about the effects, but given Warm's recent growth spurt, it seed to help its developnt.
At least, the research funding hadn't gone to waste.
But seriously, is Warm growing because of eating Poro Delicacy, or has it just been hanging around the kitchen too long and put on weight?
...
Mid-September, Magnolia gradually entered autumn.
After two light rains early this month, the sumr heat was nearly washed away.
Taking Warm out in the morning, Rhodes felt the chill in the air, which made him glad about his decision to prepare for autumn and winter clothes early.
Recently, the Sorcerer's Weekly had advertised a lot of new fall clothing, and prices in town seed to be rising too.
Rhodes decided he'd go shopping after work today, looking for so "outdated" clothes.
For n's clothing, how outdated can it get?
Picking sothing simple and classic, avoiding odd colors and patterns, generally ant it wouldn't go wrong.
The downside was that clothes had a higher chance of being identical to others.
But this wasn't a big deal; once bought, he could always get the guild emblem stamped on them.
Changing the color, position, and size of the emblem would make identical clothes look different.
Besides, Mira was in charge of the stamps, so he could consult her while designing them.
Rhodes' simple logic—why bother putting effort into coordinating outfits if it's ultimately to impress a particular person?
Might as well have her design them herself, and save the trouble.
Aside from dealing with life's little issues, he hadn't slacked on his training either.
He'd reached a good level of proficiency in the Scuttle Crab Form of Take Over Magic, and was ready to receive the next creature.
Plus, there was a new developnt in summoning magic—the newly lit area in the rift, which he planned to summon today to see what would co out.
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