Where Is the Person Attacked by a Dragon?

Elfman arrived pushing a wheelchair.

Under Mirajane's direction, he helped Rhode into the wheelchair and pushed him around the guild.

Rhode actually felt that he should have been able to walk. His left leg just hurt a little.

But since it was a kind gesture, he accepted it.

The first place Elfman took him was—the restroom.

Rhode felt a little embarrassed, but he had to thank him for being so thoughtful. He really did need to take care of a small problem.

The restroom, bathhouse, infirmary, library, and kitchen—every necessary facility was available in the guild. If needed, he could absolutely treat this place as home.

Heading out along the corridor, Elfman pushed Rhode to the guild members' main gathering place—the quest hall, which also served as a tavern.

More than twenty long tables stood in the center of the hall, with round tables around the edges. There were also more than a dozen stools at the counter, enough to accommodate a hundred people drinking together.

Since it was already late, the tavern, lively during the day, had quieted down. Only a bespectacled girl with purple hair and a huge red bow was rearranging the tables and chairs.

Mirajane waved to her. "Thanks for your hard work, Laki. Has everyone gone home?"

"They all went home. Today was super busy, but fortunately there wasn't much fighting."

Without stopping her work, Laki pushed a chair beneath a table. "I'll be heading home soon too, to use water for cooling and dust removal."

Elfman said, "She means she's going home to take a bath, right?"

Mirajane was already used to Laki's way of speaking. "Sorry. Master asked me to handle something today, so I left the tavern work to all of you."

"It's fine... Is that the thing Master asked you to take care of? He seems pretty handsome. Who is he, exactly?"

"I don't know either." Mirajane glanced at Rhode and smiled apologetically. "He's still at the stage of learning our common language."

"Ehh~~ That sounds like a lot of trouble." Laki did not ask further. After putting away the last chair, she said, "Well, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

The guild normally did not keep anyone overnight, but Rhode obviously could only stay here.

But it would not have been appropriate to leave him here alone, so Mirajane decided that she and Elfman would stay as well tonight.

After taking a simple tour of the guild, Rhode followed Mirajane for another evening lesson.

Rhode discovered that there did not seem to be any electrical appliances here. The things on the tables and hanging from the walls were all oil lamps or candles.

But he seemed to have seen a ceiling fan in the tavern earlier. He wondered what powered it.

During the lesson, Elfman went back once, probably to get the things he needed for staying overnight.

That night, Rhode slept alone in the infirmary, while Mirajane and Elfman found another room to rest in.

"Good night. I'll be right next door, so call my name if you need anything." Mirajane barely managed to make Rhode understand through a combination of words and gestures.

"Thank you." It was one of the few phrases Rhode had learned, and he had said it an unknown number of times today.

The lights had gone out, and the glow of a crescent moon streamed through the window.

Rhode leaned against the headboard and turned to look outside. There were no sudden car headlights shining in, no roar of engines, and no irritating hum from outdoor air-conditioning units.

Many things he had once hated were gone, yet he could not feel happy.

Outside... was a completely unfamiliar world.

When people had nothing to do, they tended to let their thoughts run wild. Curiosity and fear toward an unfamiliar world, expectation and unease toward an unfamiliar environment...

When Mirajane, Laxus, Elfman, and the others had been around during the day, he had not felt much of anything.

But at night, with the lights out and himself alone in the darkness, all kinds of thoughts surged up uncontrollably.

Could he go back, or would he remain here forever?

What would his life become from now on?—

"Good morning! Did you sleep well last night?"

"Good... morning."

Naturally, Rhode had not slept well. But faced with someone who had come to check on him so early in the morning, he could only force himself to seem alert.

Still, his answer did not matter, because the truth was written all over his face.

"Still having trouble adjusting?" Mirajane saw the exhaustion on his face and encouraged him.

"You should be able to get out of bed and move around today. Elfman, could you take Rhode to wash up?"

Elfman flexed his muscles. "If you're a man, perk up already!"

Rhode shrank back. Does he want to arm wrestle? I'm not fully healed yet.

"Elfman~"

"I understand, Sis."

Today's schedule was about the same as yesterday: eating, drinking, studying, and trying to communicate.

Only today, Rhode could walk around. Though his left leg was still a little stiff, he could already make his own way to the tavern out front and sit beside the counter, watching the servers bustle about.

The sun gradually rose, and the guild slowly became livelier.

Some people ordered breakfast and chatted with familiar friends, while others went to the notice board to look at the papers posted there.

Every now and then, someone tore down a sheet and went to Mirajane to register it, then hurried off.

Others simply stood there reading.

Laxus, whom Rhode had seen yesterday, also came to the guild early. He set up an easel, mixed his colors, and began to paint.

With a sunny smile, Mirajane carried trays, wiped tables, and registered quests. Sometimes, she would also chat with people for a few moments.

Whenever she had time, she came over to teach Rhode a few words.

Rhode curiously observed each person entering the guild and strained to listen to everyone's conversations, hoping to find someone he knew or catch a word he could understand.

But most of the time, it felt like watching a foreign movie without subtitles. Though he was growing more accustomed to the language, it was still hard to pick out anything he understood.

And although many of the people coming in had distinctive traits, Rhode could not recognize a single one of them.

Until a pink-haired boy kicked open the door and shouted, "Old man! Where's the dragon? Where's the person attacked by a dragon?"

"Natsu, don't be so loud first thing in the morning!"

"Shut it, Macao!" Natsu said to the middle-aged man with short purple hair. "Hurry up and tell me—where's the old man? Where's the person attacked by a dragon?"

A little blue cat followed Natsu inside, jumped onto a table, and explained to a middle-aged man with a pompadour and a pipe in his mouth.

"Aye! Natsu heard outside that Master brought back someone who was attacked by a dragon, so he rushed over here."

"A dragon? Did something like that happen?" Wakaba blew out a ring of smoke. "I did hear that wild beasts went berserk in the eastern forest and destroyed a huge stretch of trees."

"That's it!" Natsu braced both hands on the table and leaned forward, asking urgently, "Then what? Did a dragon appear? Did the old man fight the dragon?"

"How would I know?" Wakaba spread his hands. "Master went to a routine meeting yesterday. He didn't look like he'd been in a fight."

"But Master really did bring someone back," Macao continued, pointing his thumb at Rhode by the counter. "That's him. He seemed pretty badly injured yesterday... Hey..."

Natsu had already dashed to the counter in a blur.

Rhode was staring at Natsu. Pink hair, a checkered scarf, a black coat—this had to be Natsu.

Once again, Rhode had confirmed where he was. He did not know whether to be happy or unhappy.

The happy part was that he remembered Tatsuya mentioning once that Fairy Tail had a happy ending, along with that joke about no one being able to beat someone when their BGM played.

So as long as he stayed here, he probably would not need to worry too much about safety.

The unhappy part was that he had now completely confirmed that he was in another world. There were a few people here whose names he knew, but in truth... there was not a single familiar person.

By then, Natsu had rushed over and stared into his eyes. "@#%*..."

Rhode could tell how anxious Natsu was, but he truly could not understand what he was shouting. He could only look to Mirajane for help.

Mirajane stood beside Rhode. "Natsu, calm down. Rhode still has a hard time understanding our language."

Natsu froze. "Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Mirajane said, "Perhaps the language and writing in his hometown are completely different from ours. He's working hard to learn now."

"..." Natsu clenched his fists, deeply unwilling to accept it. "I finally got information about a dragon. What kind of joke is this?"

"Natsu, you look too fierce." Mirajane gestured for Natsu to be gentler so he would not scare Rhode.

"Try asking Laxus for help. Otherwise, we can only wait for Master to return, or wait for Levy to come back and give it a try."