"As expected of Natsu," Laki muttered, shaking his head. It had been a while since Natsu caused a proper mess.
"So miserable," Rhodes said casually, tracing a few lines in the air. "Want to eat fire?"
"Ooh," Natsu opened his mouth and swallowed the flame Rhodes conjured up. "Thanks for the meal."
Rhodes's flames did not taste particularly good, plain and simple, but they were enough to fill the stomach in a pinch. If Natsu wanted anything resembling a proper meal, though, he would have to buy real flame-cooked food.
"Rhodes, can you draw a fish for me too?" Happy asked eagerly.
"Sure," Rhodes said, waving his fingers. A glowing word, "FISH," appeared in the air, complete with shimmering scales and fins.
Happy grabbed it and bit down fiercely, but his expression instantly soured. "It's too hard. And it doesn't even taste good. It just smells a little like fish."
"Maybe the structure is too complicated," Rhodes shrugged. "Even Levy can only create decorative words, not ones you can actually eat."
"I suggest you go find Warm," Rhodes added with a smile. "I think he still has some real fish left."
Sure enough, Happy scurried off and managed to coax a small fish out of Warm's stash. "Hey, Rhodes, you wanna join our team?" he asked hopefully.
Rhodes laughed. "No thanks. I just got back yesterday. This month alone I have already done two long-range missions with Erza and went to a regular council meeting with Master. I have not even had time to rest properly."
Natsu clapped him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Man, you've had it rough."
In Natsu's mind, teaming up with Erza or attending a council meeting was the ultimate kind of suffering.
"Aye," Happy nodded. "Looks like it's just us again, Natsu."
"What's with that tone, Happy?" Natsu protested. "Are you getting tired of teaming up with me?"
"But we took three missions this week and only made 10,000 Jewels," Happy whined. "The rest all went to repairs. If Rhodes came with us, we would have gotten full pay."
"Grr. I'll show you," Natsu shouted, stomping over to the mission board. "I'll pick a job and we'll get full payment this time."
Lately, he had been thinking a lot about what Master Makarov said before the S-Class Promotion Trial.
If he could complete a few more jobs properly, no damages, full rewards, maybe he would be eligible to take the trial this year.
Watching Natsu's enthusiasm, Rhodes decided to help out a little.
He rummaged through the available mission forms. The best mission for Natsu would probably be one where he could destroy things without worrying about consequences. Ideally, somewhere far from towns and people.
Rhodes flipped through and found an interesting commission titled "Mine Demolition."
The foreman responsible for controlled demolitions was out sick, and the mining company needed a temporary replacement.
It sounded perfect, until Rhodes saw that it was a coal mine.
He silently put the form away.
Nope. If Natsu set a coal mine on fire, not even selling the entire guild would be enough to pay for the damage.
Rhodes kept searching until he found another card and grinned. "Hey, Natsu, I found a good one for you. Interested?"
"What is it?" Natsu came bounding over.
"Forest Ranger," Rhodes said, holding up the commission sheet.
During the dry winter season, wildfires were a huge risk. They needed a water wizard, or at least someone who could help prevent fires, to patrol the forest.
Happy peered over Rhodes's arm and almost fell over laughing. "Are you crazy, Rhodes? You want Natsu to be a forest ranger?"
Rhodes only smiled and shrugged.
"Of course it's fire prevention," Rhodes said matter-of-factly.
"Wherever there's a fire, Natsu just has to eat it, right? As long as someone supervises him and stops him from randomly breathing fire, it's perfect. Happy, you'll be in charge. Plus, you can fly around and patrol. Sounds ideal for you."
Natsu was not an ordinary Fire Dragon Slayer. As long as he did not start the fire himself, he could consume it without any problem.
Natsu touched his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds pretty good. Free wildfires to eat."
The ideal outcome would be that there were no wildfires at all.
Rhodes wanted to complain about Natsu's way of thinking, but Happy raised a concern. "But the replacement rangers won't arrive for another half a month."
"The job period is a little long," Rhodes admitted, "but they provide food and lodging. Plus, there's a river at the foot of the mountain. If you get bored, you can dig an ice hole and go fishing."
Rhodes realized he was starting to sound suspiciously like a shady recruiter trying to trick kids into hard labor.
Still, this mission really was perfect. The pay was generous, the work was manageable, and it would not interfere with Natsu's daily training. If anything, it would help him. Running long distances through the forest with a load on his back sounded just like the kind of rough training Natsu loved.
Rhodes had seen Natsu's training methods before: leaping with a boulder on his back, getting chased by giant rolling stones, punching solid rocks bare-handed. All very, very rough.
Natsu was easily tempted. "Alright, I'll take it!"
"Aye!" Happy chimed in excitedly. Being able to fish during work hours sounded like a dream.
"Let me take a look," Mira said, finishing her lunch quickly and walking over.
"Here it is," Rhodes said, handing her the commission slip.
Mira scanned through the details carefully.
"Is there any problem?" Rhodes asked.
"Everything looks fine," Mira said, "but there are some rare trees growing in that forest. And at night, there might be wolves roaming nearby. You need to be careful."
Natsu grinned confidently. "Just a wolf pack? If they show up, I'll beat them all away!"
"I think it's not the wolves we need to worry about," Rhodes said dryly. "It's the rare trees."
"Aye..." Happy agreed weakly, clearly unsure if he could actually keep Natsu in check.
If Natsu ended up fighting the wolf pack, it was anyone's guess what kind of chaos he might cause.
Mira, after checking the mission details again, confirmed that the task wasn't dangerous for Natsu. She gave the form a quick stamp and handed it back with a smile. "Good luck."
"Just watch me!" Natsu said, full of energy. "Let's go, Happy!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy cheered.
The two set off again, brimming with enthusiasm, as if they had completely forgotten about all their past mission failures.
Everyone had their own way of living.
Watching them leave, Rhodes sighed like an old man and went back to flipping through the mission board.
Mira tilted her head and asked, "What are you still looking for?"
"Same as before," Rhodes replied.
"But didn't you say you were going to take a few days off?"
"I am," Rhodes said. "But even during a break, it's good to keep an eye on opportunities. It would be a shame to miss the perfect job just because I wasn't paying attention."
Mira didn't say anything more. Strictly speaking, Rhodes's behavior of pre-selecting missions even during his rest days wasn't entirely in line with the rules.
But since Master Makarov had turned a blind eye to it, and she herself didn't see a problem with it, it was fine.
Still, Mira thought to herself, Rhodes has taken on a lot of work for the guild these past few months. Maybe… he deserves a raise?
Was that considered abusing her position for personal gain?
No, Mira quickly corrected herself. Nothing had happened between them. They were clean, and innocent. If anything, rewarding Rhodes for his hard work was only fair. It wasn't favoritism at all.
"By the way," Rhodes said, pulling something out of his bag. "This is for you."
"A notebook?" Mira asked curiously as she accepted it.
Opening the cover, she saw Rhodes's name written neatly on the first page. Inside, the notebook was filled with records of missions—dates, locations, objectives—and little sketches in the margins.
Mira blinked. Giving a girl a used notebook? Was there something special hidden at the end?
She flipped through until she reached a blank section in the middle—and two delicate, pressed flowers slipped into view.
One was a soft wintersweet bloom. The other, a butterfly flower. Both were hardy blossoms that thrived in cold conditions, but they were rare near Magnolia.
The petals were still a little vibrant, and the paper had absorbed some of the flowers' moisture, leaving faint wrinkles and smudges of color.
Mira's hand flew to her mouth in surprise, her eyes lighting up.
She had already guessed a little, but still asked softly, "Where did you find these?"