The President didn't show up after going upstairs, not even coming down for lunch.
Mira quietly went up to check, only to find the old man had fallen asleep again while writing a self-reflection.
She asked Mr. Cook to make an extra lunch and put it in a thermos box, so the President could eat when he woke up.
The tavern was bustling with chatter about recent events, and the topic of Natsu wrecking half the port was a hot discussion.
Many were curious about how the President would punish him.
"There should be a compensation bill in that packet of documents, right?" Rhode was a bit worried too, "Can the Guild's finances handle it?"
In this situation, the Guild might have to cover the payment first, and then Natsu could repay slowly; his and Hapi's little savings were probably doomed.
"It depends on the extent of the damage. The news was quite vague but at least it's half a port, not half a port city."
Mira thought for a moment and added, "However, Natsu did take down a criminal gang this time, which should offset a large part of the fine."
"Let's hope so, Natsu really did a good thing this time," Rhode said, "I remember that guy named Bola; he used to be a thief, now he's become a human trafficker."
He borrowed some old magazines from Laki last year and saw Bola's information back then.
"Mira, three beers over here!"
"I need a roast chicken here!"
"Coming right up—" Mira and Rhode got busy too, the tavern was at its liveliest at noon.
At this moment, the Guild door slammed open, Rhode didn't need to turn around to know who arrived.
Sure enough, Natsu's loud voice rang out: "I'm back!!!"
Hapi chimed in: "Back!!"
"Welcome back, Natsu, Hapi." Mira greeted them.
She noticed a blonde girl with luggage standing at the entrance, looking around in excitement.
And Rhode was staring at the girl.
Mira puffed her cheeks but seeing Rhode's expression, it seemed it wasn't because she was pretty.
She knew what Rhode's gaze looked like when attracted by beauties.
In this area, Mira was quite confident.
Better to ask him later.
First, go greet the girl.
"Natsu! The Fire Dragon issue..." Nicky said rationally, having chosen to explain rather than fight like he did a few days ago.
However, before he could finish his sentence, Natsu kicked him in the face: "Bastard! Giving me false information!"
"Ah, there it is," Mira smiled watching the commotion, forgetting the blonde girl she wanted to greet.
"Natsu!" Gray stood up, "We haven't settled the sneak attack from last time yet!"
The two rivals instantly got into a scuffle, and Nicky, who had just been kicked, wasn't ready to let it go either, chaos ensued.
"Be a man! Big sister is watching ya!" Elfman, caught in the brawl, joined the fray without a second thought.
Followed by Kana, Loki...
The hopeful blonde girl was now sprawled on the ground orz, her fantasy shattered.
She thought Fairy Tail was filled with super powerful mages, but instead, she met naked men, beasts, drunkards, playboys...
And a whole group of destroyers.
"Hello?" Mira finally remembered there was a stranger here.
"Miss Mirajane! It's really Miss Mirajane!" The blonde girl stood up excitedly,
"Hello, my name is Lucy! I heard you recently... Ah, let's not talk about that now, shouldn't we stop them?"
"It's fine, they do this all the time." Mira smiled, "Isn't it fun?"
"I don't see what's fun about it at all!" Lucy habitually retorted, "Ah—watch out!"
A bottle flew by, Rhode appeared in front of Mira, catching it with one hand and casually tossing it away.
He turned to Mira and smiled: "Cool, huh?"
Mira clapped lightly: "Very cool."
Though she had the ability to do it herself, she was used to Rhode showing up at such moments.
Isn't it nice to be protected by him?
Besides, it allowed her to focus on watching the fun more closely.
"Wow! The Fairy Tail Strategist!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at Rhode, "Miss Mirajane's rumored boyfriend!"
"First, let's clear up, the rumored boyfriend thing is false."
"So it's a rumor, there's no way Miss Mirajane..."
Then she saw Rhode wrap his arm around Mira's waist, and Mira leaned against him.
Mira smiled and said, "Not a rumored boyfriend, he's my official boyfriend~"
Lucy's face flushed, her mind went into overdrive: "Eh? Eh~~~~~"
In her surprise, Lucy suddenly got scooped up.
Loki said passionately, "Lovely lady, there's no need to envy them, I'll stay by your side from now on."
Mira exclaimed in surprise, "Loki actually dares to approach Rhode now."
"Blinded by charm, huh?" Rhode pointed at the keys hanging on Lucy's waist, "Loki, she might be the Star Spirit Mage you've been dreaming of."
Not only a Star Spirit Mage, but her keychain had three shining keys.
She possessed three keys from the Zodiac alone!
Generally speaking, such a mage could be the signature figure of an entire Guild just with these three Star Spirits.
But for Loki, it was clearly bad news; he released her, springing ten meters away: "Sorry, miss, it's not meant to be!"
"Ouch!" Lucy thudded onto the wooden floor, "What's up with this guy?"
Supposedly he ranked high in the 'Mages most wanted as a boyfriend' poll, but apart from being handsome, he's useless?
"Sorry, Loki is helpless against Star Spirit Mages." Mira helped Lucy up, "You came with Natsu, right? Interested in joining the Guild?"
"Can I?" Lucy was a bit surprised; she thought the number one Guild would have strict entry requirements.
"You just need to meet the President later, for now…" Mira looked at the increasingly rowdy tavern, "He should be waking up soon."
Lucy hadn't figured out what was happening, when a giant appeared: "Everyone, stop!"
Everyone stopped except Natsu who was laughing with arms akimbo, but the President stomped him into the floor.
"You all have done a bunch of good deeds!" Makarov pointed out the troublemakers.
Those who had just participated in the brawl were almost all mentioned in the pile of complaints sent by the Council.
He seemed to be trembling with anger, finally raising fire from his palm and burning the documents, throwing them into Natsu's mouth.
"Tell the Evaluators to eat shit! If we care about the eyes spying from above, the Demon Path can't progress… Go forward on the path you believe in! That's Fairy Tail!"
The Guild erupted in laughter and cheers, the atmosphere infecting Lucy, this was the Fairy Tail she was looking for!