After some simple treatment, Gajeel said he was going back, awkwardly saying thanks before leaving, both to Wendy and to Rhode.
Even if he didn't want to admit it outwardly, he felt happy to be accepted by these people.
Rhode asked if he needed a special ride to go back, but Gajeel refused because he had a partner who could fly.
Li Li said he would take care of Gajeel.
Rhode was very reassured. These Dragon Slayer Mages, even their cats could take care of people.
Only his Poro was getting fatter and just acted cute.
After Gajeel and Li Li left, the remaining few officially started their training.
First was basic meditation and physical training, followed by hand-to-hand combat.
The main participants were Wendy, Rhode, and Mira, but Lisana and Carla also joined in the practice.
Of course, Carla was mainly improving her Magic Power and researching Divination Magic based on the experience passed on by her mom.
Divination isn't just to bluff people; sometimes, it can assist in combat.
According to Carla, if mastered properly, it can foretell the opponent's moves in advance, predict enemy traps, and it's very useful.
According to Rhode's understanding, isn't this the Observation Haki from the One Piece scene next door, which can foresee the future?
Anyway, Rhode was quite envious and somewhat wanted to learn, but this kind of magical inheritance, even Carla didn't know how to teach him.
Unable to learn new Magic, Rhode could only go fight his wife.
And he did it together with other girls.
The sister-in-law was watching from the side throughout, cheering him on instead of helping her sister beat up the scumbag.
But later, Lisana also got a good thrashing.
It was after a break, when Rhode summoned the Cloud Sub-Dragon to give Wendy extra lessons, that Mira intentionally gave her dear sister additional training.
Anyway, they could find Wendy for Healing Magic after the beating; it was all for the sister's own good.
...
After a pleasant night, Rhode went to Mira's house in the morning as usual to mooch a meal.
Mira was humming a tune while cooking in the kitchen, with Elfman helping her, so it was Lisana who answered the door.
Regarding the brother-in-law's behavior of joining the family without having married yet, Lisana only wanted to ask, "Brother-in-law, when are you moving in?"
Rhode considered it with a serious air and said, "No time like the present, how about today?"
Lisana blinked, "Really?"
"Just saying." Rhode sighed, "It's just that I haven't found a suitable house yet."
He was thinking of building one outside the city himself, as big as he wanted, and it would save a lot of money.
While it would be a bit far to commute every day, since the couple could both fly, it seemed like the only downside was attracting attention.
Lisana didn't think much of it, only feeling that living together as a family would be nice.
Even if her sister and brother-in-law had a baby in the future, she could help take care of it or even use Receiving Magic to turn into a cute little animal to play with the child.
Seeing Lisana in a daze, Rhode instinctively rubbed his shoulder and asked, "Still hurts?"
"Yeah," Lisana grimaced, "Sister Mira hit too hard."
Wendy's Healing Magic couldn't instantly make all the pain disappear; it just reduced a wound that might have taken three days of pain to only one day.
Mira came over with a plate, placed it on the table, and apologized, "Sorry, I mistook you for Elfman yesterday."
Lisana chuckled awkwardly, "I suddenly feel a bit sorry for Brother Elf."
Elfman also put down the utensils, "A man (in a small voice)."
Rhode asked, "When did Elfman come back?"
"Last night, I didn't have time to hand in yesterday's task list." Speaking of this, Elfman ate a little faster, thinking he had to keep working hard today.
"Don't eat so fast." Mira still worried about her brother, "Rhode and I didn't go to work, so taking the task list over won't let you get a new task."
"Well, that's true." Elfman nearly forgot that these matters were managed by his family.
Unfortunately, even so, he didn't get any special treatment.
Suddenly, Lisana said, "Oh~, if Brother Elf is selected this year, he'll have to compete with Brother-in-law?"
"That's… that's right." Elfman admitted this rather painfully.
The most important selection criteria for the S-Class exam were strength, and then the growth achieved over the year.
No one knew how the President measured this 'growth' standard, so everyone thought as long as they did more tasks, either more than last year or of higher difficulty, they could be selected.
But as for Rhode…
Even without looking at tasks, no one could ignore his 'growth'.
This guy was a monster, achieving in one year what others might take over ten years.
So for anyone planning to take the S-Class exam, they had all tacitly agreed that Rhode would be the strongest competitor this year.
Just thinking of competing with Rhode made them uneasy, but they were unwilling to just give up, so they had to work hard.
It was also fortunate that the contents of the S-Class exam weren't just about combat; as long as they weren't eliminated by Rhode at the start, there would still be opportunities in the later stages.
Despite the difficult situation, Elfman still looked Rhode in the eyes and said:
"The S-Class exam is the Guild's most important event, and also the goal for a man to pursue. So, so… absolutely no holding back!"
Rhode appreciated his resolve, "Alright, let's hope we don't meet in the exam room."
The man Elfman wasn't finished yet, and after reminding Rhode, he looked intently at his sister: "Sister too, if you're a man, then absolutely don't…"
Bang!
Elfman, with a big bump on his head, fell to the ground, and Mira casually withdrew her fist: "Who's a man?"
Elfman, eyes unfocused, stared at the ceiling, his mind blank: "Sister… man, man!"
"..." Lisana covered her face.
What to do when both sister and brother have issues? As the weaker sister, she felt so helpless.
...
Eventually, Elfman wasn't cut off from the family; after selecting a new task at the Guild, he quickly fled.
Rhode and Mira dealt with a bunch of people who, like Elfman, returned late at night and didn't have time to submit their tasks and helped them register new tasks.
Most of these people didn't even have time for breakfast, holding a piece of bread in their mouths as they ran out.
The Guild was bustling from the morning.
Laki and Lisana had already finished their daily cleaning, and the tavern began operating.
After handling the breakfast rush, the crowd finally had a brief period of leisure.
However, Rhode couldn't rest just yet, as he planned to go out with Lisana for shopping today.
Apart from drinks and ingredients, heating equipment for the winter needed early preparation. If necessary, they could also buy some decorations to use for the New Year celebration.
Additionally, Rhode also needed to look out for any talents familiar with magic machinery, so he could invite them over to help modify the Fairy Battleship.