A new day arrived. Rhode woke to the patter of rain, and the moment he got out of bed, his legs were hit by a wave of soreness.
Maybe he had been provoked yesterday, or maybe he had quietly made up his mind about something, but Rhode had gritted his teeth and kept running until he collapsed and could not get back up.
He had even deliberately summoned the Rift Scuttler to carry him home, letting it wrap him in its antennae and haul him onto its back.
Before going to sleep, Rhode had deliberately applied a cold compress with a wet towel and dug out some anti-swelling medicine from the huge box of supplies Erza had given him.
Looking at it now, it was lucky he had been so prepared.
Rhode dragged his weak, aching legs to the bathroom to take care of personal matters and wash up, then decided to apply a little more medicine after coming out.
"Damn it, I forgot to bring in the clothes!"
Rhode went to check the balcony. Sure enough, it had rained rather heavily last night, and all the clothes had been soaked through.
He had no choice but to bring them in and soak them in a basin together with the sweat-drenched clothes he had taken off yesterday.
After staring at the basin for a while in indecision, Rhode reluctantly sat down to do laundry.
There was no helping it. Other than these two sets of clothes and his pajamas, he only had one more set in the wardrobe. Every time he opened it, it felt practically empty.
If anything unexpected happened again, Rhode would immediately face the embarrassing predicament of having nothing to wear.
"I'll stock up on a few more outfits once I have some money."
Rhode scrubbed the clothes clean, wrung them out, and temporarily hung them up in the laundry room.
He considered for one second whether he could bring them to the guild and have Natsu dry them, then decisively gave up—there was too much risk. He could not gamble on it.
After a flurry of activity, Rhode got himself ready and headed downstairs to go to the guild.
However, not only was the rain showing no signs of letting up, it seemed to be getting heavier. Even Goodman had not come out to set up his stall today.
As soon as he opened the front door, Rhode realized a new problem—he had not bought an umbrella.
"This is too hard..." Rhode let out the cry of the poor.
"Grrrulu~"
At the critical moment, Worm carried an umbrella out from a corner of the first floor.
"Nicely done!" Rhode praised it, summoned the River Crab, opened the umbrella, and jumped onto its back to head for the guild.
Before leaving, he did not forget to leave Goodman a note explaining that he had borrowed the umbrella without permission.
Following Rhode's instructions, the Rift Scuttler ambled slowly down the street. Not only did it not dislike getting rained on, it actually found this environment more comfortable.
Rhode sat cross-legged atop the highest point of the Swift Crab's shell, angling the umbrella toward the incoming rain.
Magnolia's streets were much quieter in the rain. The morning cries of vendors were almost entirely gone, and only a few pedestrians passed by now and then.
Some held umbrellas, while others wore raincoats and rain boots, hurrying through the water.
Rhode had seen scenes like this plenty of times before he transmigrated, but... he looked down at himself and felt utterly out of place here.
Yes, he had always been an outsider who did not belong in this world.
But that tiny bit of melancholy vanished completely when he reached the guild entrance.
Because at that moment, Laki came walking slowly from the northwestern intersection, holding a wooden umbrella and wearing wooden boots, with a wooden box in her other hand.
Her long purple hair swayed gently, looking especially warm and familiar through the curtain of rain.
On the other side, Gray approached from the opposite direction beneath an exquisitely crafted, gorgeous crystal ice umbrella.
Rainwater streamed down the canopy. It neither froze nor melted the ice umbrella, merely adding decorations like strings of pearl curtains to it.
Noticing Rhode and Laki, Gray casually raised a hand. "Yo!"
Laki replied energetically, "Morning!"
"Morning!" The Swift Crab vanished, and Rhode's feet touched solid ground. Looking at the two companions who were just as "strange" as himself, he could not help but smile.
Maybe this was what the guild was for.
The three entered through the guild doors. Laki looked at the floor by the entrance. "Feels like we'll have to keep wiping the floor all day."
Thinking of what cafeterias and supermarkets did on rainy days, Rhode suggested, "How about laying down a few sheets of cardboard at the entrance?"
"Good idea. Let's do that, but..." Laki chose to use magic. "Wood Shape: Pure Love, Spotless and Unstained!"
Swish, swish, swish... Thin wooden boards appeared both inside and outside the guild entrance, with their upward-facing surfaces deliberately made quite rough.
"Shape Magic is so convenient." Rhode sighed again, while also wanting to complain about what kind of ridiculous name that was.
Calling it Clean Soles, Spotless and Unstained would make more sense.
There was not much to do in the morning. After being busy for a little while, Rhode went to find Gray.
"Natsu's weakness?" Gray blurted out. "He's hot-tempered, easily angered, and an impulsive fire idiot."
"But..." Gray thought about it. "That's true normally, but it's another matter in battle.
A lot of the time, his instincts are as sharp as a beast's. If you seriously fight him, he's a real pain."
Although Gray called Natsu an idiot all the time, and their personalities and magic did not get along, if Gray were seriously asked to evaluate Natsu, he would definitely give him high praise.
Unless Natsu was standing right there.
"Then I'm done for. I'm definitely getting beaten up again today." Rhode frowned. "Isn't there any practical, obvious weakness with immediate results?"
"Right, Natsu challenged you to a duel today!" Gray slammed a fist into his palm. He was interested in helping someone beat up Natsu!
"If you mean an obvious weakness, there is one!" Gray said. "That guy can't handle transportation. As long as you make a vehicle under his feet, you'll definitely win!"
"Good idea, but I don't know Shape Magic!"
"I'll teach you right now!"
"Right now?"
"That's right, right now!" Gray excitedly threw up a hand, and his shirt disappeared. "Do as I do..."
Rhode glanced at Gray's bare upper body. "Sorry to bother you, but I might not be suited to learning Ice Shape."
Becoming a pervert just to beat Natsu... Rhode did not think it was worth it.
"..." Gray had just struck the pose of pressing his right fist against his left palm. He looked at Rhode, who was fleeing in panic, with confusion. "Huh? I haven't even started teaching yet."
Before Natsu arrived, Rhode decided to find somewhere quiet and meditate for a while.
"Rhode." Laki called out to him and handed him the wooden box she had brought with her. "The magazines you wanted are inside."
Rhode's hands sank. More than fifty magazines were no light load. "Thanks... Why doesn't this box have an opening?"
"Since it's raining, I was worried they would get wet, so I didn't make an opening," Laki said. "Once you return somewhere you can relax, just give the box a heavy blow."
"...I see. You really thought this through."
She meant he should smash it open once he got home, right? Rhode, whose command of the common language was not quite good enough, had to think for a moment before understanding what she meant.
Also, it turned out she had made this box on the spot before leaving home. Wood Shape Magic really was perfect for everyday life.
After putting the box away, Rhode ran to the entrance of the library, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes to meditate.
Feeling his magic power grow bit by bit, Rhode felt the joy of gaining something.
He wondered when his next summon would arrive. It would have at least some offensive power then, right?
Before you continue