After carefully checking Rhode's injuries and confirming that, as he said, there was really nothing serious, Mira finally felt at ease.
Once the medicine was reapplied and bandages were redone, Rhode had a lot fewer bandages on him, finally appearing less alarming.
"What kind of opponent could make you fight alongside Erza and Natsu and still end up this hurt?"
"It was that Cannibal Demon, you know, the one I mentioned earlier today."
"That's too vague; it's hard to imagine the battle process."
"Alright, let me give you the details." Rhode thought for a moment and said, "I forgot."
"How is that possible?"
Rhode looked at her, "It takes a hug to remember."
"No way," Mira refused. "I smell like alcohol."
Rhode laughed, "How convenient, I smell like medicine."
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Mira hesitated for a moment, then sat down directly next to Rhode, leaning against him.
Rhode nervously put an arm around her, and both their heartbeats sped up.
Alone in the infirmary with the girl he liked in his arms, Rhode had a bold idea.
Too bad it was just an idea.
The two of them were silent for a while, as if feeling each other's heartbeat, or perhaps their own.
Mira couldn't hold out any longer, "You should have remembered by now, right?"
Rhode shamelessly replied, "I've remembered a bit, don't move."
Mira raised her hand, but recalling he was injured and couldn't hit him, she could only pinch a spot on his uninjured arm.
But other than that, she really didn't move.
Rhode held her, with the mixed smells of alcohol, medicine, and her hair all rushing into his nose, a strange sensation.
"The story starts from when we split up..."
How they discovered the anomaly, how they fought, even what moves they used, Rhode narrated it like a story.
Although he intentionally glossed over the injuries he received, every time he reached those parts, he could feel Mira's hand tighten on his shirt.
"In the future..." Nervously listening to the whole story, Mira hesitated.
She wanted to say not to take on such dangerous tasks in the future, but considering it, Rhode didn't need her reminder.
This task itself was an accident.
Moreover, Liss's plight was also regrettable.
"I know," Rhode could roughly guess what she wanted to say.
Feeling the topic was getting a bit heavy, he suggested that Mira talk about what happened in the guild while he was away.
Mira suspected he just didn't want to let go, but she didn't struggle, leaning against him while recounting recent events.
Like how Alzack and Bisca's pretend-couple mission didn't go smoothly, because they were both too shy. But luckily, even when discovered, they still managed to catch the troublemakers.
Like how Mickey punched someone who wanted to pursue her, saying she didn't like weak men. Now Mira wanted to encourage Elfman to fight her.
Like how Joy, as usual, was always losing teeth, and Bigda accidentally stepped on one while dancing and fell down, leading to a fight with Joy.
Big and small, all sorts of things, causing the two to laugh continuously from late night until dawn while discussing them.
Mira yawned, finally feeling a bit sleepy. She looked at the clock on the wall:
"It's already this time, let's rest a bit."
"Yeah."
The two of them took a nap on the infirmary bed, then it was time to go to work again in the morning.
—Rhode wanted to protest, why are there two beds in the infirmary?
…
Early the next day, a group of painted faces woke up from their sleep.
After having a fight as part of the routine, they complained about who always did such boring things while busy restoring the guild to order.
This time, Rhode really planned to rest a bit longer, to fully heal his injuries before considering work again.
Natsu and Hapi, having made quite a bit of money, didn't have to worry about food for a while and weren't planning to go out either.
Unless there was news about dragons somewhere.
Even when Natsu was around, there was no need to worry about the guild being demolished, because Erza wouldn't be going out either lately.
Several suits of armor had been damaged, and repairs would take a long time.
Besides, Mira mysteriously told Rhode that most of Erza's armors needed readjustment.
The reason seemed to be Erza's growing age, slight body changes, making the old armor feel tight.
Rhode said he didn't understand what she was talking about.
But according to the information he had, Mira and Erza had been equally matched since childhood, in every aspect.
Rhode was also a bit curious about how much it would cost to readjust all those armors.
The two were chatting at the counter, one calculating yesterday's income and expenses, the other organizing the new tasks received.
Mira yawned: "Not getting enough sleep is really not good; I feel a bit sleepy again."
"If you want to sleep, my shoulder's always available for you to lean on." Saying this, Rhode yawned too, suspecting he was influenced by her.
"Huh? No, this feeling is..."
Genuine drowsiness mixed with Hypnosis Magic, hard to distinguish.
Rhode just noticed something was off when Mira already tipped over. Picking her up, he adjusted to a comfortable position himself, slowly giving in amid a feigned struggle to resist.
This time, before he closed his eyes, he successfully saw the figure entering the door.
Mystogan, as usual, wordlessly selected a task from the bulletin board, showing it to the President on the second floor.
Then he efficiently turned around to leave.
Makarov spoke up, "Wait a minute, there's something I need to tell you."
Mystogan stopped, waiting for the President to speak.
"Do you remember a child named Wendy?" Makarov knew the answer just by watching his reaction.
"If you get a chance, go for a walk at the Cat Transformation Inn. That child has been looking for 'Jellal.' If you don't show up, she might get used by dangerous people."
Makarov found that young evaluator named Zikrein a bit odd, but he couldn't start an investigation based on a mere suspicion.
Erza seemed to know something, but since she was unwilling to talk about it, it meant it probably wasn't something that would harm the guild.
"I understand," Mystogan recalled the little girl he met upon first arriving in this world.
With the same blue hair as him, upon first meeting, she made him think it would be nice to have such a little sister.
At that time, his name was still 'Jellal.'
But he had to do something long-term, important, and dangerous, unable to always keep Wendy with him.
She had already joined the guild... It would be good to visit her.
Mystogan walked out of the guild door, snapping his fingers lightly, Sleep Magic lifting, and his figure disappearing.
Everyone woke up, leading to another round of complaints.
Natsu even ran out to search around, finally returning with a sulk, "That sneaky guy, why can't I catch his scent?"