Fairy Queen

The tavern was even more boisterous than yesterday at noon.

The main reason was Natsu's return from a mission, and Gray hadn't left yet.

The two were initially ten meters apart, but when their eyes met, they inexplicably started arguing.

Natsu yelled things like "droopy eyes" and "ice block idiot."

Gray shouted back, "Upturned eyes!" and "Flame retardant!"

In less than ten seconds, their foreheads were pressed together, and then they were brawling.

When these two fought, they didn't have the same sense of proportion as Macao and Wakaba. Soon, a stool leg flew out and hit Elfman in the back.

Elfman yelled "Manly!" and joined the fray, swinging his fists, but Natsu and Gray quickly knocked him away with one punch each.

The flying Elfman knocked over Kana's drinks table, and a bottle thrown by Kana hit a handsome man on the head.

The handsome man, who had been chatting with two beautiful women, didn't show any anger. Instead, he gracefully released the two women:

"Please wait a moment, I'm going to join in."

Before leaving, he winked, and the two women were electrified by his gaze, screaming their encouragement.

The tavern became even more chaotic, with members getting drawn into the fight one after another. Even Laxus, who was drawing, Nab, who was looking at the mission board, and Levy's team couldn't escape.

Mira, as always, watched the commotion with a smile from behind the counter.

Laki... was already fighting. This girl was no pushover.

Rhode decisively placed the food he was about to serve on the counter and stayed by the side of the drunken guild master.

It felt safe.

He was intently watching the various 'battlefields' in the tavern, not to spectate, but to dodge any unexpected projectiles that might fly his way.

Rhode was already a two-day veteran of Fairy Tail. Working in the guild, you had to learn to protect yourself.

Seeing the situation escalate and the hand-to-hand combat about to turn into magic battles, Rhode felt it was time to wake the guild master to stop them.

This step seemed to be routine.

However, before he could act, the guild doors burst open with a bang. The bright midday sun streamed in through the entrance, outlining a slender figure.

By the time Rhode's eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the figure had already walked in steadily.

She had long, crimson hair, and her delicate face showed no emotion. Her black knee-high boots and blue miniskirt perfectly accentuated her beautiful legs, but...

She was wearing metal armor on her upper body, complete with pauldrons, vambraces, and gauntlets.

If her skirt also had armor plates and she held a sword, she would have looked exactly like a female knight.

It was just that at this moment, she was holding a three-meter-long rope, which, as she walked through the door, revealed it was pulling a flatbed cart.

And on the cart was a mountain of luggage, taller than herself.

She must be a tough one, Rhode judged in his mind.

Then Rhode noticed her crimson hair and remembered what Mira had mentioned yesterday—Erza!

As Erza pulled her luggage in, the noisy guild fell silent.

Everyone who had been arguing moments ago froze as if the pause button had been pressed, even if some were still grabbing others by the collar or hair.

Mira smiled happily, "Welcome back, Erza!"

"Ah, I'm back," Erza replied politely, then looked at the others, her expression immediately turning serious.

Everyone fell silent. Only a few daring individuals tried to speak, "Miss Erza, was the mission successful?"

He had even added a respectful term.

"Don't think you can get away with it. I heard you've caused a lot of trouble again!"

"Putting that aside, Bigida, stop dancing on the table! Nab, don't just loiter in front of the notice board, take on a commission! Wakaba, watch your ash! Kana..."

Erza immediately singled out a group of problem children and problematic uncles for criticism, and severely reprimanded those who had broken tables and chairs.

None of those she named dared to talk back.

Especially Natsu and Gray, the two who had been fighting the fiercest were now with their arms around each other's shoulders, looking like good friends.

Erza nodded with satisfaction, "It's good that you're getting along, but Gray, your clothes."

"Huh? When?" Gray fumbled to find his pants and put them on.

However, Erza wasn't finished, "Guild Master, you're drunk again in broad daylight. Shouldn't you at least try to control them a little?"

"It doesn't matter..." Makarov seemed not entirely sober, even hiccuping.

Rhode suddenly realized that the tavern had returned to its normal state. The crowd that had been brawling earlier was now drinking and chatting normally.

Natsu and Gray sat opposite each other, still glaring at each other when their eyes met, but as soon as Erza's gaze swept over them, they would immediately clink glasses and laugh in tacit understanding.

She was practically the dean of students.

At this moment, Erza's gaze fell on Rhode. Fortunately, it was relatively kind, "A new face. Are you a new member, or a resident of Magnolia?"

Rhode greeted her respectfully, "Hello, I'm Rhode. I just joined the guild two days ago."

"I've heard all about your notorious past from Mira. It's quite the reputation," Rhode said.

"No-notorious past..." Erza looked at Mira in shock, as if she had been struck.

She only knew Mira liked gossip, but she didn't know Mira would badmouth people behind their backs.

"It's not like that, Rhode's Common Tongue has some issues..." Mira said, rubbing her temples. A misunderstanding had finally occurred.

She explained how Rhode learned the language and added, "In any case, Rhode's magic and Common Tongue are still in the learning phase, so he's temporarily working as a waiter at the pub."

"I see. I'm Erza," Erza said, her attitude towards the new member quite friendly.

"Since you've joined the guild, you're family. If you have any difficulties, you can always come to me. I'll help you with all my might!"

As she said 'all my might,' Erza clenched her fist, her tone and expression very serious.

"Ah... Thank you." Rhode wasn't sure whether to be happy or not.

Good news: he had become 'family' with Erza, one of the protagonists.

Bad news: Erza had just dealt with a large group of 'family' members, and judging by how skilled she was, it definitely wasn't her first time.

Erza sat in the guild for a while, had a drink, and then dragged her luggage cart away, saying she had been away too long and needed to go back to clean her room and sort out her spoils.

Rhode curiously asked Mira what Erza's mission was.

Mira replied that the client had requested confidentiality regarding the specifics, but it was generally about helping a remote border town deal with a troublesome criminal organization.

"Erza took care of dozens of criminals in one go~" Mira chuckled. "What do you think? Isn't our 'Fairy Queen' really cool?"

Rhode nodded. "Yeah... she's very cool."

Frankly, Erza was powerful, and her personality... as far as he could tell, she was a rare sensible person in the guild.

Moreover, her appearance wasn't inferior to Mira's. Rhode estimated she was definitely someone many people would be attracted to.

But... he didn't dare to have any inappropriate thoughts.

Mira had already educated him on Erza's glorious achievements:

Like how she beat Natsu so badly that even Happy couldn't recognize him, how she beat up Gray, who was wandering around naked, to the point of near-death, and how she beat up Loki, who was pursuing her, until he was barely breathing...

Rhode suddenly felt that the phrase 'notorious past' he had used earlier didn't seem wrong after all.

"Laki? What's that?"

Mira noticed Laki carrying a gift box taller than a person back after seeing Erza off.

"It's a local specialty Erza brought back for me."

Laki happily put down the red gift box, which landed with a thud, sounding quite heavy.