"Mystogan…"
As soon as Rhodes returned, he saw Erza questioning Master Makarov about Mystogan.
Mira was also quietly listening nearby. After all, after seeing a man with a face identical to Jellal's, it was impossible not to be curious.
Rhodes leaned in and whispered, "Could Jellal really have a twin brother or something?"
Makarov stroked his beard thoughtfully. After a moment, he decided not to keep it from the three of them. "It's not that. But to avoid unnecessary trouble, don't go spreading this around."
He cast a stern glance toward Mira in particular.
This time, he was serious, no gossiping allowed.
Mira pouted. She knew when to spread rumors and when to keep her mouth shut.
Makarov turned to Rhodes. "You've heard Porlyusica mention Edolas before, haven't you?"
Rhodes nodded. "Yeah… she talked about parallel worlds. Like, how there are people over there with the same names and faces as people from here."
Erza pieced it together. "So Mystogan is…"
Makarov nodded. "That's right. He's Jellal's counterpart from Edolas. They look almost exactly the same, which is why you couldn't tell the difference. But aside from his name and face, Mystogan has nothing to do with Jellal."
"He arrived in our world about seven years ago. That's when he first met Wendy, if you remember."
"As for what kind of person he used to be before that… well, he's never told me, and I've never asked."
"I see," Erza said softly, then quietly left the counter.
"Erza, we—huh?"
Lucy had rushed over holding a job request, hoping to form a team. But Erza brushed past her like she didn't even see her.
"What's with Erza?" Lucy asked, blinking.
"She's just in a bad mood," Mira replied calmly.
"Oh." Lucy's enthusiasm deflated a little. She figured it must be because of Laxus, and decided not to pry further.
Mira asked, "Thinking of taking on a job already?"
"Yeah, I need to start earning rent. But… maybe I'll wait a bit," Lucy admitted. "Natsu and Gray are still sulking. Even Happy looks gloomy."
She couldn't deny the atmosphere had affected her, too. Though she had only seen Laxus a few times, she could tell how much he meant to the others.
Mira nodded understandingly. "Taking a break is good. The festival's still going, so enjoy it while it lasts. The results of the Miss Fairy Tail contest should be coming in soon. You might even win the prize money."
Lucy looked like she was about to cry. "No way. I didn't even get a chance to perform…"
It really felt like nothing had gone her way lately.
She'd missed the chance to show off in the pageant, her teammates kept getting caught up in fights, and every time she lined up to buy something, it was sold out by the time it was her turn.
It was like the universe had put her on the "bad luck" list.
"Oh, right!" Rhodes suddenly remembered. "Max is counting the votes now. I'll go check it out."
At the guild's entrance, a voting box had been set up. Max was pulling out ballots one by one, reading the names aloud, and tossing them into a separate box.
"Erza, Mirajane, Mirajane, Erza, Lucy, Juvia…"
Reedus sat beside him, scribbling vote tallies onto a large sketchpad.
Rhodes stood and listened for a while. Every contestant's name came up now and then, though Levy didn't seem to be doing so well.
Compared to her, Lucy was faring much better, her name appeared more often than Bisca's.
Rhodes glanced at Reedus's sketchpad. The tally behind Mirajane and Erza's names was far ahead of the others.
Unless something unexpected happened, the title would come down to one of the two.
Lucy, who had insisted she had no hope, downed a cup of tea and quickly ran over to check the results herself.
"How's it looking?"
"Congratulations," Rhodes said with a smirk. "You're in the running with Juvia… for third place."
Lucy's face lit up with hope, only to fall flat a moment later. "Third place? What's there to celebrate..."
"There might not be prize money," Rhodes said, "but it's still a sign that the guild recognizes you. And hey, getting third place before even performing is impressive. If you really push next year, you might win the whole thing."
"But I need money now… for rent…"
"Then go complain to Evergreen. She's the one who interrupted your performance."
"Forget it," Lucy muttered. The idea of confronting Evergreen made her a little nervous. "Guess I'll just go home and rest."
"Alright, see you. And hey, remember to check if Natsu's in your bed before you fall asleep."
"Wha—Why do I have to check for that specifically?!"
Even though Rhodes had a point, the more Lucy thought about it, the crazier it seemed.
Who just climbs into a girl's bed without asking?
Still, it had become part of her routine to cautiously inspect her room every time she got home.
After watching Lucy leave, Rhodes stayed a while longer to watch Max and the others tally the last votes. When the count ended with Mirajane winning by three votes, and Reedus started sketching up a promotional poster, Rhodes finally turned to leave.
Before heading out, he rubbed his face, cleared his grin, and returned to the front counter with a dramatic sigh.
"Mira, take a wild guess who won."
Without even looking up, Mira continued sorting documents. "Obviously, I did."
"You can tell that just from my voice?" Rhodes pulled her compact mirror from her bag and checked his expression. "Was my acting really that bad?"
"My acting is already good enough to recognize yours," Mira said with a smile. "That's why I know I won."
"What tipped you off?"
"Because when I win, you tease me. If I lost, you'd be smiling and trying to cheer me up… or maybe even try to sweet-talk me."
"You're too clever…" Rhodes leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "But I don't need an excuse to sweet-talk you. Being shameless works just fine."
"It's not that I'm clever," Mira said, gently pushing his face away. "Now get to work. We're heading out on a job in a few days."
"Got it." Just the mention of it was enough to get him motivated.
With a job reward of 500,000 J, they were getting closer to saving for their future home. Although… it was starting to feel like he was freeloading off his fiancée.
"Ahh…" Rhodes sighed dramatically. "My little rich lady, may I wash your feet tonight in gratitude?"
Mira gave him a sharp look. "Say one more weird thing, and I'm locking you out."
...
Early the next morning, Rhodes arrived at Mira's house right on time for breakfast.
It was a rare sight to see the Strauss siblings working together in the kitchen. Rhodes tried to help, but was promptly kicked out.
"Go read the paper or go play with Warm."
"My cooking's improved, you know."
"Exactly why I don't need your help," Mira replied, nudging him out. "Elfman's big enough to handle things. Don't crowd the kitchen."
"Oh, wait a sec—" Rhodes leaned in slightly before she shut the door, lowering his voice. "Don't I get a reward for getting up early?"
"You're such a baby." Mira smiled and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Now go."
Satisfied, Rhodes let himself get ushered out.
Elfman, too focused on chopping vegetables, didn't notice a thing.
Rhodes flopped onto the couch and picked up yesterday's newspaper. The headline featured Fairy Tail's magical parade, and the article below it had a large photo of the three Thunder God Tribe members.
At first glance, Rhodes thought it was a report about their civil war in Magnolia. But reading more carefully, he realized it was actually praising them. The three of them had taken down the dark guild "Corpse Soul" all on their own.
Apparently, they'd done it just before returning to town.
Wiping out an entire dark guild without a scratch? Pretty impressive.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Evergreen's petrifying gaze and Freed's rune magic were no joke. It wasn't surprising they could pull something like that off.
But Rhodes still hadn't seen what Bickslow's magic could really do.
From what he'd heard, Bickslow's soul magic allowed him to control five floating puppets, sort of like his own blue floating gun, capable of mid- to long-range magical bombardment, or just plain smashing into enemies.
There was also his "Eyes" magic, which could manipulate someone's body just by making eye contact. No one knew the exact effect, but it was dangerous enough that Erza only survived it thanks to the artificial eye in her right socket.
(Artificial eyes are immune to ocular-based magic. So technically, Erza has 50% resistance to eye magic.)
Rhodes thought maybe it was time he bought himself a pair of plain glasses to wear when traveling, just in case he didn't have time to grab his enchanted glasses during a fight.
He also figured Mira would look great in glasses. Practical and stylish.
Suddenly, Mira waved a hand in front of his face. "Come on, it's breakfast. What are you zoning out about?"
"You," Rhodes said plainly.
Mira's face flushed a light pink. Even though they were practically engaged, those little surprises still made her heart flutter.
"You sure know how to sweet-talk people first thing in the morning." She snatched the newspaper from him and folded it up. Rhodes had no filter, he'd flirt even with Elfman in the room.
Elfman quietly set out the bowls, pretending he didn't hear anything.
Rhodes blinked at the table. "Why's breakfast so extravagant today?"
It was easily double the usual spread. And it clearly wasn't for Warm.
"Oh, that's for the Thunder God Tribe," Elfman said. "I cooked for them yesterday, and they seemed to really like it. Plus… they're probably short on money right now, so…"
"Huh… That's thoughtful."
If they were willing to change, then they were still comrades worth standing by.
Rhodes considered placing red buff on the Thunder God Tribe again that day. If it helped them recover faster, they could start working sooner and pay off their debts.
Mira went to fetch the lunch boxes. "Let's pack everything up and send it to them. Elfman can eat with them."
"Alright," Rhodes agreed, though Elfman suspected his sister was just trying to get him out of the house.
Mira smiled as she watched her brother walk off with the food. She swore to the heavens she didn't mean it like that. She just had a bold new idea.
"Do you know? Elfman has been looking after Evergreen these past few days."
The moment Elfman was out the door, Mira clung to Rhodes's arm, her voice bubbling with excitement as she shared the gossip.
Rhodes, surprisingly, played along. "Of course I know. I was the one who knocked Evergreen out and asked Elfman to take her back. He actually carried her."
Mira was so pleased she wanted to thank him with a kiss. What kind of perfect brother-in-law was this? He flattened a beauty and had his brother-in-law carry her home. Even if Rhodes and Elfman didn't have ulterior motives at the time, taking care of someone injured like that... well, it could definitely lead to something.
Mira smacked Rhodes playfully, then started eating.
Out of nowhere, she hit him.
Rhodes grabbed his chopsticks and snatched the food before she could reach for it. The first time might've been coincidence. The second time? Still believable. But by the third...
Just before Mira could explode, Rhodes pushed the bite of food toward her mouth. "Say ah—"
She glared at him but still took the bite.
Rhodes quickly steered the topic back to what Mira liked most: "So, are you saying Elfman and Evergreen might..."
"That's right!" Mira instantly forgot her annoyance and clasped her cheeks with joy. "I think they're a perfect match. Elfman is so outstanding..."
Outstanding... Elfman? Well, it wasn't exactly wrong.
He might act a little silly sometimes, but Elfman was actually very considerate. Strong on the outside and soft on the inside, dependable, and capable of doing all sorts of housework.
In some ways, Elfman might actually make a better husband than Rhodes. At the very least, he was a better cook.
"Let's tease Evergreen later," Rhodes suggested.
"Why?"
"So that Elfman will step up and defend her."
"Great idea!" Mira clapped, then paused, narrowing her eyes. "Wait... have you used a sneaky trick like that on me before?"
"..."
Just a moment ago, she said it was a good idea. Now it was a dirty trick.
Rhodes quickly denied it. "Absolutely not. Besides, who in the guild would even dare to bully you?"
"Hard to say. I used to be so weak. Back then, I needed your protection when others picked on me."
Rhodes said nothing more. Instead, he cupped Mira's face, kissed her deeply, and whispered with unwavering sincerity, "No matter if you're strong or weak, I'll protect you. Back then, now, and forever."
Foul.
Mira's eyes sparkled with emotion. She tried to turn her head but couldn't hide her flustered expression. "You're so gross... saying that right after eating."
"Even more disgusting, huh?"
Mira laughed, ducking away. "No, go away!"
"I'm not going!"
The two of them bickered sweetly for a while before heading out to work.
The weather was gloomy that day, but the mood wasn't dampened.
By the time they reached the guild, a gentle rain had started falling. It wasn't heavy or violent, just enough that the wind made the air feel a bit chilly.
The Harvest Festival was, after all, an autumn celebration. It was only now, walking in the rain, that Rhodes truly realized, autumn had returned.
...
Bonus