Battle and Progress

Mira smiled as she reminded him, "Mr. Rhode, if you want to 'prostrate yourself in admiration,' it's time to get to work."

Rhode nodded. "All right, I understand. I used the phrase 'prostrate yourself in admiration' wrong."

"Looks like it's not just your magic that has improved. Your common language has too," Mira said.

"Because you and Laki keep correcting me, and Levy and Marcus have helped a lot..."

Rhode paused, because aside from Mira, the other four people he had mentioned were currently lying sprawled out in the yard.

"Are they all right?"

"They're fine, they'll perk right back up soon." Mira headed toward the hall. "Let's go clean up inside first."

Rhode followed her, looking back every other step.

Just as Mira had said, the companions whom the Master had smacked into the yard soon got up and dusted themselves off.

Just as Laki was about to use magic to repair the wall, the Master stopped her.

"Have Macao, Natsu, and the others fix the walls and windows. No magic!"

Laki supplied them with a pile of lumber, gave Natsu and the others a helpless look, then only repaired the damaged tables and chairs inside the guild.

The Master's anger was only temporary. A few minutes later, he turned a blind eye when Macao and Wakaba, who were repairing the wall, started fighting again.

Everyone had something to do. Only Natsu, after hearing about the earlier battle, shouted that he wanted another match with Rhode.

Rhode happily agreed, wanting to see how well his current self could fare against Natsu.

After a busy morning, it was finally lunchtime, the time Rhode looked forward to most every day.

Today's spread seemed especially lavish. Besides the two vegetarian dishes Rhode brought out, Mira and Laki each brought over two more main dishes.

There were raw marinated prawns, each one arranged neatly around the edge of the plate with its head facing inward and body facing out, making for quite an eye-catching display.

There was raw marinated roe crab. Unlike crab roe that had simply been steamed, the marinated roe was bright red, as though it had solidified.

The roe and crab meat lay quietly within the opened crab shells, utterly mouthwatering.

There was a seafood omelet, a whole omelet spread across a large round platter. A neat ring of razor clam meat lined the edges, while other shellfish meat was piled in the middle, with green chives visible beneath.

The various ingredients were perfectly blended into the omelet, like a blooming sunflower.

Lastly, there was roe crab and prawn claypot congee. The moment the lid was lifted, its fresh fragrance wafted into the air, making everyone's mouths water.

Worm lay eagerly at the edge of the table. It was a polite poro and would not move unless someone gave it food.

At most, it stuck out its tongue and drooled pitifully.

Rhode was nearly unable to restrain the craving in his stomach. "Is today seafood-themed? Why is it so lavish?"

"Because Mira said she wanted to celebrate for you, so she specially asked Mr. Cook to make some of his signature dishes," Laki said.

Mr. Cook was the head chef of the guild kitchen. Rumor had it that he had worked here for over twenty years, and practically every delicious thing Rhode had eaten here had been made by him.

"This... I really don't deserve such hospitality." Rhode's eyes were already held captive by the delicacies on the table, unable to look away.

"You mean 'I'm embarrassed,' right?" Mira brought over three more glasses of deep blue liquor. After setting them down, she took her seat. "Three Blue Starry Skies. Kana's treating."

Rhode and Laki looked toward the nearby table. Kana was sitting on top of it, hugging a wine barrel as she turned sideways and raised the barrel to them in greeting.

The three of them raised their glasses to Kana together, then clinked them and each took a small sip.

"It's sweet?" Rhode savored it. Compared to food, he knew far less about alcohol. It tasted a little like RIO, but smoother, with a slightly stronger alcohol flavor.

"This liquor comes from the neighboring country of Bosco," Mira said. "It's a little expensive because of shipping and tariffs, but it tastes very good.

"The downside is that the alcohol content is too low, so it doesn't suit Kana's taste. As long as you like it, that's what matters."

"It's delicious. Thank you!"

Rhode set down his glass and began sampling the day's feast.

First were the raw marinated prawns. The prawn meat was soft and glutinous, even a little sticky to the teeth, completely different in texture from steamed prawns.

Their natural sweetness became even more pronounced against the marinade. The overall flavor was fresh without any fishiness, utterly delicious.

The other dishes each had their own distinctive qualities. With every bite, he could practically feel the passion the chef had poured into his work.

Rhode carefully savored every dish and praised them without reserve.

"I think Mr. Cook is definitely going to like you," Mira said with a smile. There were plenty of people in the guild who loved eating, but Rhode was the only one who could both appreciate food and talk about it so well.

"Haha..." Rhode said sheepishly. "Actually... I just think Mr. Cook is too serious. Looking at his face makes me hardly dare to speak."

"That's because Mr. Cook takes everything related to cooking very seriously. Besides..."

Mira recalled something from the past and said nostalgically,

"When Happy was still little, he once dragged Natsu into the kitchen to look for fish. They accidentally knocked over the seasoning jars and ruined a lot of ingredients.

"Mr. Cook ended up chasing them down three streets with a knife and giving Natsu a brutal beating.

"After that, Natsu and Happy never dared enter the kitchen again, and Mr. Cook developed the habit of sternly watching everyone who entered it."

"...So that was it." Rhode nodded heavily. As expected of Fairy Tail's chef.

I'll have to be extra careful whenever I go to the kitchen. Unless it's necessary, I should probably just communicate through the serving window.

Laki looked at Mira, feeling a little happy. Mira actually brought up what happened back then on her own. Maybe she's started to move on a little?

Back then, Natsu had not been the only one who went with Happy to find fish and got chased through several streets.

That afternoon, Rhode fought Natsu again.

—He should have gone to Kana instead, but she had drunk too much. She could not even stand steadily anymore and was hugging her wine barrel while talking in her sleep.

Natsu's destructive power was far greater than Jet's. A single Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon could break one of a Stone Beetle's legs.

A single Roar of the Fire Dragon could blast an Ancient Stone Beetle flying backward and even force it to split twice.

Only burrowing underground and then emerging separately for surprise attacks could cause Natsu a little trouble.

But unlike Jet, who found it difficult to exert strength after being clamped by the pincers, Natsu would erupt in flames and use intense heat to send the Stone Beetles away directly.

Such an obvious contrast made Rhode unsure, for a moment, just how strong the Stone Beetles' defenses really were.

Were they strong or not?

Natsu's breath attack should be pretty powerful magic, right?

This battle gave Rhode unprecedented results. Relying on his numerical advantage, he made Natsu lose his balance and nearly fall.

Unfortunately, before Rhode could follow up, Natsu reacted, braced himself against the ground, flipped over, and used Dragon Claw to successfully defuse the crisis.

In close combat, Rhode was no longer completely unable to fight back. He exchanged several proper rounds with Natsu before it turned into a "tough guy" brawl again, one punch after another.

Even Elfman was moved to tears by that thrilling, fist-to-flesh battle, and nearly jumped in himself.