"Shape Magic is magic that uses magical power to give things 'shape.' It can also be magic that takes away 'shape.'"
Mira took the time to explain the relevant magical knowledge to Rhode.
"Shape Magic seems pretty convenient." Rhode was a little tempted. This was practical magic that meant he could have a stool to sit on or a house to live in anytime, anywhere.
Mira nodded. "That's right. Besides the Wood Shape that Laki uses, there's Ice Shape, Earth Shape, and so on. It's magic that can really showcase the caster's personality."
"Personality?" Rhode couldn't see it. Was Laki's personality reflected in how she named things?
"By the way, I haven't asked yet. Mira, what kind of magic do you use?"
Makarov glanced at the two of them through bleary, drunken eyes but said nothing.
"Me?" Mira's expression remained unchanged. "I'll show you now. Watch carefully."
"Transformation: Head is Warm!"
After a puff of smoke, Mira's body remained completely unchanged, but her head had turned into a poro's.
Rhode jumped in fright.
Warm the poro was even more frightened. He plopped down on the counter and scrambled backward, dragging his rear along the surface with his front paws.
"It's not over yet. Transformation: Head is Rhode!"
"!!!" Rhode watched helplessly as his own face appeared across from him, though below the neck was still Mira in that red dress.
Rhode covered his eyes. "Big sis, you're my real sister, so please spare me!"
Mira returned to normal and asked with a smile, "Oh my, didn't I look like you?"
"That's exactly because you looked too much like me that I felt so troubled for no reason."
Mira corrected him. "Troubled."
"Right, troubled... So you knew!" Rhode felt there was something rather devious hidden in Mira's smile.
Smack! Someone slapped several large bills onto the counter. "Mira, I want a barrel of liquor!"
"Kana, you're drinking this early today?"
"Hehe..." Kana sat leaning against the counter, perched on a stool, and winked her left eye at Mira.
"I was originally planning to go out for work after lunch, but thanks to Macao, I just won some money!"
"Congratulations." Mira smiled as she lightly picked up a barrel of liquor and set it on the counter, not even breathing hard.
Rhode was startled. He had carried that barrel before—it was ridiculously heavy. Yet Mira lifted it so easily. Her strength could pull up mountains and overwhelm the world.
Was this what a wizard was like?
The girl Mira called Kana was no slouch either. She directly pulled the cork from the barrel and raised it to her mouth, gulping down the liquor with startling boldness.
He really didn't know where their slender arms got such strength. Could magic power do that?
Rhode carefully glanced at Kana a few times before awkwardly looking away.
This beauty was dressed far too boldly!
She wore ordinary capri pants and leather sandals below the waist, but on top, she only had on a...
Rhode was too inexperienced to tell whether it was underwear or a swimsuit.
Anyway, one glance was enough for his eyes to be drawn involuntarily to her waist, cleavage, and breasts, leaving Rhode deeply embarrassed.
He had truly never seen anything like this in real life.
Warm the poro had no such worries. Seeing someone sit down, he immediately scampered over to beg for food.
"Huh? Do you want a drink too?" Kana noticed the little furball and asked Mira for a cup, intending to feed the poro some alcohol.
Mira wanted to make sure. "Rhode, can Warm drink alcohol?"
Rhode thought for a moment. "I don't know either. How about letting him have a taste?"
"You, can't you even turn your head when you talk? Huh?" Kana's voice carried a hint of drunkenness. Rhode's behavior was rather rude.
"You're the newcomer, right? Don't tell me you already can't stand me the moment you got here?"
"No, sorry." Rhode had no choice but to turn around with difficulty to face Kana, though he still had no idea where to look. His gaze drifted everywhere. "I just, um..."
"Oh?" Kana seemed to understand something and asked with great interest.
"Could it be that you're... the reserved type? Don't tell me you've never even had a girlfriend?"
Rhode felt like he might have encountered a bad woman and didn't know what to do. "..."
Kana didn't need to hear an answer. She had already read it from Rhode's embarrassed face, and she burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, that reaction is too funny! So, how about it? Want big sis to take good care of you?"
"N-No, that won't be necessary." Rhode's face turned red. Was this big sister drunk, or was this simply her nature?
He didn't know that Kana, who called herself big sister, was actually only seventeen, making her a little younger than him.
But Rhode had been intimidated. He had no idea how to deal with this type of girl.
"Rhode, Gray at table three wants fried pork cutlet and spaghetti."
Luckily, Mira came to the rescue at the critical moment. Rhode shot her a grateful look, took the tray, and fled in panic.
"You're such a killjoy, Mira." Kana complained unhappily, then lifted the barrel and took several fierce gulps.
"I'm sorry. I should have watched properly to see how big sister Kana would take care of Rhode."
Mira smiled. "Would you hug him first, or kiss him first, or perhaps go straight to..."
"Pfft... Enough, enough!" Kana sprayed out a mouthful of liquor. The woman who had seemed mature and dashing just moments ago was now blushing.
Clearly, her experience in certain matters might not have been any greater than Rhode's. Her bold clothing was just bold clothing.
She was purely a master of talking big.
Rhode knew the name Gray. He had seen his poster a few times as well.
But compared with Natsu, Gray's distinguishing features weren't obvious enough to Rhode. Before Mira introduced him, he hadn't dared to recognize him.
However, after seeing Gray face-to-face, Rhode immediately remembered him, because:
"Naked, naked, naked, naked... naked man!"
Rhode felt like his eyes were going blind. What was with this guy named Gray?
His chest and abdominal muscles looked pretty solid... but that wasn't the point.
The point was, why wasn't he wearing clothes in public?
Looking at the shirt, trousers, and underwear scattered on the floor, this guy had deliberately taken them off after arriving at the guild!
"Hm?" Gray froze for a moment and looked down at himself. "When did that happen!?"
So even he had no idea when he had taken off his clothes!
Rhode felt like he was going to get pinkeye.
Gray hurriedly got dressed while a bucktoothed man sitting across from him explained.
"Don't mind him. Gray isn't some kind of pervert. He just often takes off his clothes without realizing it."
"..." Rhode hesitated. "Um, my common language isn't very good. Doesn't taking off your clothes anytime, anywhere count as being a pervert?"
The bucktoothed man glanced at Gray and said uncertainly, "More or less... Actually, you should probably just think of him as a pervert."
"Who are you calling a pervert, bastard?!" Gray slammed the table and raised a hand. "Want to fight?"
Rhode felt like he was more or less getting used to the way people communicated here: their words showed no mercy, and if they didn't agree, they fought.
So when he had felt unable to handle Kana just now, should he have fought her instead?
No, no, that was different. It wouldn't be good to hit a girl either...
More importantly, as a half-baked wizard, he probably couldn't beat her anyway.
Wait, come to think of it, where had Gray's shirt gone after he had just put it back on?
Before you continue