"That's Natsu for you." Laki felt that it had been a while since Natsu last caused a big commotion.
"What a pity." Rhode waved his fingers in the air a few times, "Can I treat you to some fire?"
"Oh~~" Natsu opened his mouth and devoured the flames created by Rhode, bite by bite, "Thanks for the treat!"
Rhode's flames tasted pretty ordinary. Occasionally, they were okay to satisfy hunger, but for delicious flame dishes or food, you still had to spend money to get them.
"Rhode, could you write me a fish?"
"Sure, but you can't eat it." Rhode waved his fingers, and a 'FISH' with scales and fins appeared floating in mid-air.
Happy skeptically hugged it and took a bite, "So hard! The taste is awful, even though it smells like fish!"
"Maybe the structure is too complex, not even Reby could pull it off."
Rhode had seen Reby use text to create a butterfly, which had the colors and patterns of a butterfly, but was only suitable for decoration.
"Why don't you go ask Warm, it seems to still have some fish left."
The two cuties had a good relationship, and Happy actually got a little fish from Warm: "Hey, Rhode, how about teaming up with us?"
Rhode declined graciously: "Spare me, I only got back yesterday. This month I've already gone on two long-distance missions with Erza and accompanied the President to a meeting. I haven't had a proper rest."
Natsu patted Rhode on the shoulder sympathetically and said, "That's rough."
In his view, whether teaming up with Erza or accompanying the President to meetings, both were very tough tasks.
Happy seemed to feel the same way: "Aye~ I guess it's just me and Natsu again."
Natsu complained, "What's that tone, Happy? Are you dissing me?"
"But we took on three missions this week and only earned 10,000 J. The rest went to compensations." Happy lamented, "If Rhode were there, we could've gotten the full amount."
"Damn, I'll make sure we get the full payment next time just to show you!" Natsu said angrily and went to check the bulletin board, determined to choose the right mission this time.
Natsu often thought about what the President said to him before the S-Class exam.
He suddenly felt that if he could earn full payment a few more times and not cause any trouble, maybe he could participate in the S-Class exam this year.
Successfully protecting Mira's right to have a peaceful lunch, Rhode decided to help Natsu filter through the tasks as well.
The ideal task would be one where he could easily earn full payment, preferably away from crowds, or even from human habitats, with room for Natsu to cause some destruction.
Rhode flipped through the documents behind the counter and found an interesting commission—mine blasting.
The blasting expert had taken sick leave, and the mine urgently needed a blasting expert for targeted explosions, which seemed quite fitting.
After taking a closer look at the type of mine—coal mine—Rhode quietly put it at the very bottom, never mind.
It was too expensive. If Natsu were to ignite the coal mine, even selling the entire Guild might not cover the cost.
Rhode looked through again and pulled out a sheet: "Natsu, here's a good job; are you interested?"
"What is it?" Natsu came over to take a look.
"Forester"
During the dry winter, mountain fires are frequent, requiring a Water Mage (or a mage with other fire-extinguishing methods) to serve as a forester to prevent mountain fires.
Happy also leaned over to check: "Has Rhode gone mad? If Natsu takes on this job, is he preventing fires or starting them?"
Having a Fire Mage as a forester, only he would think of that.
"Of course, it's to prevent fires. If there's any sign of a fire, just have Natsu eat it," Rhode stated matter-of-factly,
"As long as someone supervises him to prevent him from recklessly spewing fire... Happy, that could be your job, and you can also fly around to patrol, seems like it suits you two."
Natsu wasn't an ordinary Fire Mage; as long as the fire wasn't his own, he could eat it.
Natsu stroked his chin: "Sounds pretty good, mountain fires can be eaten."
No, the ideal situation is to have no mountain fires.
Rhode wanted to comment on his logic, only to hear Happy say: "But we have to be there for more than half a month until the next shift takes over."
"The work period is a bit long, but meals and accommodation are provided, plus there's a river at the foot of the mountain, you can break the ice to fish when you're bored."
Rhode felt like his pitch was like a shady recruiter luring underage workers...
But this task was indeed quite good, with high pay standards.
And it wouldn't interrupt Natsu's regular training; he could definitely do his weighted running training in the forest.
—Rhode had seen Natsu's training scenes: frog jumps with rocks on his back, running from boulders, bare-fisted fights with rocks, quite brutal.
Natsu was easily tempted: "Alright, that's decided then!"
"Aye!" Happy was also drawn in by the attractive conditions of being able to fish during working hours.
"Let me take a look." Mira might still be worried, quickly finishing her lunch.
"Ah, it's here."
Rhode asked, "Any problems?"
"Everything's fine, it's just that the forest has some precious trees growing, and wolves tend to appear nearby at night, so be careful."
Natsu confidently said, "Just a pack of wolves, if they dare show up, I'll send them flying!"
"I'd say it's not the wolves you need to be careful of, but those precious trees," Rhode cautioned, "Happy, make sure to keep an eye on him."
"Aye..." Happy wasn't too confident in this matter.
If Natsu went wild battling with the wolves, he wasn't sure what he could do.
With Mira confirming there was no danger for Natsu, she quickly stamped and handed the task slip to him, "Good luck."
"Watch me! Let's go, Happy!"
"Aye!"
The two, full of spirit, set off as if never having experienced mission failure.
Everyone has their own life, after all.
Rhode, like an old man, sighed a little and continued going through the task files.
Mira asked, "Still looking for something?"
"Same as before."
"But weren't you going to rest for a few days?"
"Yeah, but you have to keep an eye out even while resting; it would be a shame to miss out because of a break."
Mira didn't say anything further; technically Rhode was skirting the rules.
But since the President tacitly approved, she had no objections, so it wasn't against the rules.
However, Mira thought about how much work Rhode helped her with these past few months, should she consider giving him a raise?
Does that count as abuse of power for personal gain... No, nothing happened between us, pure and innocent, it's just Rhode earning his due, no misconduct here.
"By the way, this is for you." Rhode took a notebook out of his bag.
"A notebook?" Mira took it and opened it, seeing Rhode's name on the title page, with lots of task details inside, some areas even had simple drawings.
Giving a girl a used notebook, what does that mean, maybe something's written at the back...
Mira flipped all the way to the unused middle part of the notebook, and two pressed flowers appeared before her eyes.
The petals were already flattened, some areas overlapping, not completely dried yet.
The pages near the petals were slightly wrinkled from absorbing moisture, even stained with a bit of color.
Mira recognized them, one was a wintersweet, the other a butterfly flower—both cold-resistant flowers, rarely seen around Magnolia.
She gently covered her mouth, her eyes flashing with surprise.
Though she had a hunch, she still asked, "Where did you pick them?"