Natsu had always wanted to meet a dragon.
The primary objective was to gather information about Igneru.
The secondary objective was to test his Dragon Slayer Magic against a dragon to see how it measured up.
And on this particular night, Natsu finally encountered a dragon.
Unfortunately, the Mountain Sub-Dragon naturally didn't know Igneru, nor did it understand anything about the dragons of this world.
As for the second objective... Natsu got beaten up.
Except for a slight change in the Mountain Sub-Dragon's eyes when Natsu used the Dragon Slayer's Secret Art, it seemed like the dragon was just playing with a child.
Its tail swatted and its wings flapped, looking nothing like genuine combat moves.
However, Rhode had a strange feeling that the Mountain Sub-Dragon seemed to treat Natsu more kindly than it did him, its summoner.
Though it had never disobeyed any of Rhode's commands.
Perhaps because of this, Natsu was still lively: "Rhode, call it out to fight me again!"
"No way, it's tiring."
And it would get annoyed with him.
If it weren't for their good relationship, Rhode wouldn't bother summoning the Mountain Sub-Dragon just for Natsu to get a look.
"You should at least train for a month before challenging it again," Rhode said, mustering his magic power to summon a golem and restoring himself vigorously.
"Otherwise, next time, you have to fight me first; win, and then challenge it."
"That's it, we're going to work tomorrow, earn our meal money, and train hard! Let's go, Hapi!"
"Aye!"
...
The next morning, Natsu and Hapi, having been up to no good all night, went to Lucy's house.
It's normal for a seasoned mage to team up with a newcomer, but these two intended to mess around while Lucy was still clueless, playing little tricks.
The effort they put into coming up with mischievous ideas almost rivaled what Rhode did back when he pursued Mira.
Even though Natsu and Hapi trespassed into her home, rummaged through her stuff, and made a mess of the place,
Lucy still accepted their overly familiar behavior with a mix of complaining, hitting, and resignation.
Furthermore, Lucy even showed them what should have been a rather private process of making a contract with her Star Spirit.
"Is there a key that can summon a dragon? I want one so I can call it over for a fight!"
"There's no such Star Spirit! And why would you summon a Star Spirit just to fight it?"
Hapi interjected, "Aye, and didn't Natsu just get beaten up?"
"I didn't get beaten up! I just didn't win!"
"Aye."
Natsu continued, "Even if there are no dragons... can you summon all your Star Spirits for us to see?"
Lucy shook her head, "That's impossible. I can only summon one at a time."
"But Rhode can summon a bunch at once, right?"
"Speaking of which, I wanted to ask this yesterday!" Lucy stood up, pressing her hands against the table, "Don't you think it's strange?
Two giant crabs to take us up the mountain, and three wolves to protect us for several hours!"
"Huh?" Natsu didn't understand her surprise, "Because Rhode is strong."
"This isn't about strength! Even if the two giant crabs are a twin entity, and the three wolves are a trio entity, he's still maintaining two doors at once!
And for such a long time, it's unbelievable!"
Natsu naturally responded, "That's why I said, Rhode is strong."
"I said it's not about strength!" Lucy scratched her head in frustration, "Ugh... seriously!"
It's hard to explain such things to outsiders.
Only those who understand Celestial Spirit Magic can grasp how incredible it is.
"Even though he said it's different from Celestial Spirit Magic... anyway, let's ask about it when we get back from work, maybe there's a secret to quickly becoming a guild's backbone…"
Lucy fell into a delightful daydream.
Natsu confirmed her thoughts, "There is a secret."
Lucy was surprised, "There really is?!"
"Aye, we saw it, Rhode entrusted it to Mira for safekeeping."
"I can't wait to ask! I should have asked the night before last." Lucy regretted.
Natsu said seriously, "Don't think about it. Such an important thing won't be given to a newcomer, unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless you can prove your ability, like completing this mission."
Natsu placed the task sheet on the table and, while Lucy's attention was elsewhere, snuck over to Hapi to giggle.
"No way? Just returning a book earns you 200,000J!"
...
"The reward increased to 2 million J?" Rhode didn't expect a book to make a client offer so much money.
Could it be some ancient book, a rare item?
Makarov laughed, "The client just sent this message."
"But it was taken by Natsu yesterday…"
Rhode's first reaction was, he should have teamed up with Natsu.
His second reaction:
"It doesn't make sense to raise the price this much unless something happened that made it a lot harder. But in that case, it's not suitable to take newbies... should we call them back?"
Makarov thought Rhode had an issue, "Why call them back?"
"Switch me and Mira in, a 2 million J mission is just right!"
Of course. Makarov said, "Just stay in the guild for a while, accompany me to the routine meeting in a few days."
Rhode looked at him with resentment, "President, you've changed. Before you tried every way to get me out to work, now that I want to work, you won't let me."
Before, you wouldn't take Mira away with you every time!
Makarov said, "This time there's something important I'd like you to listen in on."
"Alright, alright."
Rhode went through the mission details, looking for any clues.
He wasn't too worried about whether Natsu could complete it; a 2 million J mission was somewhat like a slightly tough subjugation task, a serious Natsu could handle it.
Besides, the price hike might also mean the client didn't know what they were pricing.
Although Natsu is a bit reckless, he's an experienced mage who knows how to handle unexpected situations.
And Lucy isn't an ordinary mage, with three Golden Keys…
"Mira, do you know which Star Spirits Lucy has?"
"I recall it's the Lyra Constellation, Crux Constellation, Horologium Constellation, and Canis Minor Constellation, as well as Aquarius Constellation, Taurus Constellation, and Cancer Constellation."
Mira had seen all of Lucy's keys and lamented, "Lucy also said the Canis Minor Constellation's Nikola is very cute; she planned to show me after the contract."
The Star Spirits representing the silver keys seemed largely functional rather than combat-oriented.
Rhode, too, felt a bit regretful, "Too bad there's no Leo Constellation or Sagittarius Constellation."
According to their birthdays, Mira is a Leo, and Rhode a Sagittarius. It wasn't the same, but he was quite curious about what the Star Spirits for their constellations would be like.
"Why don't we make two keys to scare Lucy?" Mira came up with a good idea.
"Like this?" Rhode imitated Lucy's gesture from yesterday when summoning Taurus, "Open, the door of Leo Constellation, Mirajane!"
Mira winked at him, "Then what should I do? Jump out with a 'woosh'?"
"No need." Rhode pointed to his heart, "The gate belonging to you has long been open here."
Mira raised a tray to hit him but didn't go through with it, "So cheesy~"
Reby's voice sounded, "Huh? Sister Mira, was the job for the book at the Ebar Mansion for 200,000 J taken?"