The hotel room was warm and the bed was comfortable, but Rhodes's sleep quality was only average. He didn't fall asleep until the second half of the night and even woke up once.
By the time they set out the next morning, he was still yawning.
"Didn't you sleep well?" Erza asked. "Did I snore?"
Rhodes waved his hand. "No, maybe I was just tired and had a nightmare."
He had dreamed that he agreed to share a bed with Erza and even scrubbed each other's backs while bathing. Then, Erza suddenly turned into Mira, slapped him flying straight onto the Black Magic Cult's altar, where black-robed people began chanting spells to summon a demon.
Just as the demon was about to eat him, Mira fell from the sky, slapped the demon into demon paste, grabbed Rhodes by the collar, and declared it was the price for flirting with other women.
Then the black-robed men turned into the children Rhodes had saved, jumping and clapping while chanting, "Big sister, beat him up!"
Rhodes woke up furious.
'Dreams are the opposite of reality,' he thought. 'How could Mira be so cruel?'
He comforted himself with that thought and dozed off again in the carriage after Erza rented one.
The carriage stopped after a while, waking Rhodes with the smell of delicious food. Erza was no longer inside.
When he got out, he found she had already cooked a pot of rice, soup, and stew, and was warmly inviting the two drivers to eat with her.
Naturally, Rhodes wasn't shy and quickly jumped down to eat.
"Where did you get the rice and all these ingredients?" he asked.
"I bought them when I rented the carriage," Erza said seriously, pointing to her pile of suitcases. "I've reflected on it. From now on, I must always bring enough food when traveling so something like before doesn't happen again."
"..."
Rhodes didn't know how to respond. This should be considered a good thing, right? At least it was better to be prepared.
On the way back, they weren't rushing like before. They followed a route recommended by the two drivers, finding a hotel in every town they passed before nightfall. Because of that, the journey back took nearly two days.
Finally, as the sun set on the 8th, they returned to the guild.
Erza pushed open the guild doors with a smile, and a plate of warm noodles promptly smacked her in the face.
Rhodes was stunned. 'Who was crazy enough to pull that off?'
He didn't have time to think about it. He rushed to the counter, grabbed Mira's arm, and pulled her aside. "I'm back!"
Bang! Crash...
A stool flew through the air, knocking down several bottles of wine.
Amid the commotion, Mira smiled sweetly. "Welcome back."
It had only been a few days since he last saw her, but Rhodes felt like she had become even more beautiful.
He wanted to keep looking at her, but it was also nice just being around and having fun.
There was no need to interrogate who threw the noodles because the culprit confessed immediately:
"Ai... Ai..."
Rhodes understood instantly. It was an idiom for someone confessing everything at once.
"Natsu!" Erza's furious shout made the whole guild fall silent in an instant.
The smarter guild members quickly scurried back to their seats like good little students. Only Natsu stood frozen in place, like a rusty machine that hadn't been oiled in years.
Erza's face grew terrifying. "Natsu!"
Erza walked over step by step, punched Natsu squarely on the chin, and knocked him out cold. "Don't waste food so casually!"
Natsu cried out as he crashed through the second-floor wall and was sent flying straight into the lake behind the guild.
Tono, who had only joined the guild a few days ago, whispered, "Wait... the problem is wasting food?"
Mira smiled and gently reminded, "Erza, try not to destroy the guild."
Tono still felt something was off. "Isn't Miss Mirajane acting a little strange too?"
Levy chuckled awkwardly and said, "You'll get used to it. This is normal around here."
"Natsu~" Happy called out, flying after Natsu through the newly made hole.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't control my strength," Erza said seriously to Mira, before turning and starting to restore order to the guild.
Rhodes happily sat with Mira, watching the troublemakers get scolded, and even placed a little bet with her on whether it would take two or three days before someone caused chaos again.
Once Erza finished her "official business," she headed to the back to clean up. After freshening up, she returned to discuss the mission details with Mira.
Meanwhile, Rhodes was flipping through a sample magazine Mira had given him.
Since it was early January, the clothing brand was mostly promoting their new winter collection.
On the cover, Mira wore a cozy gray shearling coat layered over a white knitted vest, paired with an A-line skirt and stylish Martin boots. She was glancing back over her shoulder with a soft smile that made anyone's heart skip a beat.
Erza's eyes lit up. "Oh? That vest looks nice."
"Really? Erza, I think it would look even better as a short, midriff-baring version," Mira said with a mischievous smile, tossing out the idea without a care.
Rhodes thought about it for a second.
'Wasn't that the kind of outfit Mira used to wear when she was younger? Was she trying to stir up trouble again?'
The two girls continued chatting about clothes, with Mira subtly trying to persuade Erza to try something a little more daring.
Rhodes watched them and thought it was a hopeless effort. After all, Erza practically lived in armor.
He even started wondering if Erza was secretly wearing armor under her down jacket that day.
After a while, Erza finally remembered the real reason they were there. "Where's the Master?"
Mira replied, "He went home. Apparently, Laxus is coming back soon, and the Master wants to have a proper talk with him."
"Laxus..."
Erza also found Laxus's personality difficult to handle and could only hope that the Master would gradually talk some sense into him.
"The Master already knows about your mission. The Council branch sent word that you both did an excellent job," Mira said with a smile. "But the reward will take a few days to arrive."
Rhodes suddenly asked, "How much is the mission reward?"
"2.7 million Jewels."
"2... 2... Are you sure you didn't accidentally add an extra zero?"
Mira chuckled. "Nope. Didn't the Master mention the reward amount before you left?"
"Maybe he did," Rhodes said, scratching his head. "But I was too focused on the Black Magic Cult kidnapping children. I probably didn't pay attention."
Having never seen such a large sum before, Rhodes asked nervously, "Is this the normal pay for S-Class missions?"
Erza shook her head. "No. The minimum reward for an S-Class mission is usually over 5 million Jewels. While 2.7 million is rare for a regular mission, it's not unheard of, and it's still far below S-Class standards."
Even so, it was no small amount!
Rhodes quickly did the math. 2.7 million Jewels, split evenly between two people, would leave him with 1.35 million. He could finally pay off his debt to the Master all at once!
Rhodes had never felt this rich.
Even after paying off his debt, he would still have enough left to cover over a year's worth of rent.
Thinking about it that way, though, the happiness instantly dropped.
Paying rent month after month felt just like working to feed his landlord.
"Maybe I should think about buying a house of my own?" Rhodes thought to himself. Now that he had proven he could stand on his own in this world, maybe it was time to settle down properly.
Magnolia was a nice city. It would be great to have a home here.
Preferably somewhere close to the guild, so commuting would be easy.
But not too close, otherwise, he might risk his house getting wrecked whenever the guild members started brawling.
He sneaked a glance at Mira, who was chatting happily nearby, and made up his mind. He definitely needed to start saving to buy a house.
It would come in handy sooner or later.