Why Are You Protecting Me?

Kana's fighting style differed from Natsu and the others'. She relied more heavily on grappling and throwing techniques.

Who knew whether her absurd strength came from lifting wine barrels every day?

During the fight, Rhode also noticed that Kana had raised her hand twice as if to gouge his eyes and lifted her leg once as if to kick him in the groin. Fortunately, she had stopped herself each time.

Even so, Rhode broke out in a cold sweat. He needed to think carefully about how to deal with moves like those in the future. A boy had to protect himself when he was out in the world.

Taking advantage of the downtime, Rhode reviewed the fight and silently raised Kana's danger rating by another level.

Kana shook her empty wine barrel. "Rhode, a beer!"

"Sure!" Rhode went to the corner and picked up a barrel, then froze. "Kana? Did you say a cup or a barrel?"

"A cup, just one cup! Why are you so naggy too?" Kana glanced at Macao, who was arguing with Wakaba about parenting experience.

Completely baffled, Rhode poured Kana a drink, then noticed that even her drinking had slowed down.

It was as though she only took a sip when she truly could not endure the craving any longer.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Want to fight again?"

"We can keep fighting if you want." Rhode did not mind gaining more experience. "I just think there's something off about you."

"I think so too." Mira suddenly popped up, having caught the scent of gossip. "Could it be that Kana has a boyfriend?"

"How could that be?" Kana immediately denied it, raising her glass. "Alcohol is my boyfriend!"

"Then there's someone you like, but you don't have the courage to confess. The boys Kana has been in contact with lately... let me guess..."

Mira was especially enthusiastic about such things, and immediately set her sights on someone nearby. "It's Rhode!

Kana, you must have been moved by Rhode's unyielding spirit, then captivated by his manly charm during today's fight!"

Kana let out a breath of relief. Seeing that Mira was still randomly pairing people up as usual put her at ease.

Last month, Mira had even said that Wakaba had feelings for Laki... Nonsense. That guy clearly liked every pretty and gentle girl equally.

The mature guild members all knew that any gossip coming from Mira had to be ignored first and questioned afterward.

Rhode was not mature enough. The moment she said it, he immediately denied it.

"Though I'm happy that you praised me like that, Mira, Kana's over-the-shoulder throw already slammed all my manly charm into the ground today."

He looked at Kana's crossed legs as she sat sideways at the bar—her high-heeled sandals had nearly kicked it away for good too.

"If it's not Rhode, then who could it be?" Mira pondered. "Did Loki make a move on you?"

"Does he have the guts?" Kana snorted. "Besides, he's not the type I like... Why are we even talking about something this boring?"

Kana picked up her glass and strode away. She paused midway, then slowed her steps somewhat before finally sitting at the table with her drinking buddies, Macao and Wakaba.

Mira pinched her chin and guessed, "Hmm... could it be Macao?"

"Your guesses are getting more and more ridiculous, Miss Mira." Rhode admired her imagination. "Macao is nearly twenty years older than him, isn't he?"

"You never know." Mira smiled and finally ended the topic. "By the way, come shopping with me this afternoon?"

"Sure." Rhode did not hesitate, though he was puzzled. "Isn't Mr. Cook in charge of shopping? He seems to like picking ingredients himself."

"Mr. Cook promised his grandson that they'd go boating and fishing this afternoon, so he could only ask me to do it."

Mira said, "He's already made a list. We just need to choose carefully."

Mr. Cook, who was incredibly serious about cooking, was willing to relax his standards for choosing ingredients for his grandson.

He was probably a pretty good grandfather.

"No problem. Leave the bag-carrying to me." Rhode had a clear understanding of his role. Something as difficult as choosing ingredients definitely was not his responsibility.

"Miss Mira, are you heading out?"

"Mm, I need to buy a few things."

"Good afternoon, Miss Mira!"

"Good afternoon."

"Miss Mira, will you be appearing in the next issue of Mage Weekly?"

"Sorry, I haven't accepted any work from magazines lately."

After leaving the guild and passing through the residential area, Rhode immediately understood just how popular Mira was.

Almost everyone who recognized her greeted her with a smile. Some simply offered a greeting, while others took the chance to ask a question or two.

"You're really popular."

"Everyone is too enthusiastic." Mira sighed with a soft laugh. "It can be troubling sometimes."

"Yes, yes, the great celebrity Mirajane Strauss. Next time you go out, perhaps you should bring sunglasses and a mask to... stand out like a crane among chickens?"

As they grew more familiar with each other, Rhode became increasingly casual when speaking to her.

"Good idea." Mira lightly clapped her hands. "But if I wanted to stand out like a crane among chickens, I could try transforming into you—just the head."

"Please spare me. I don't want to appear in Sosara as 'Fairy Tail's cross-dressing mage.'"

Rhode conceded defeat. He had noticed that Mira no longer directly corrected his mistakes in wording.

Mira smiled and walked alongside Rhode onto the stone arch bridge, crossing to the other side of the river. She pointed ahead.

"After one more intersection, we'll reach the shopping street. Have you been there before, Rhode?"

Rhode shook his head. "Not yet. My usual range of activity has basically been on the other side of the river. When I need to buy things, I just go to the shops near the guild."

"Huh? You've been here for almost a month already, right? Haven't you looked around the city?" Mira asked. "Then what do you do after work?"

"Physical training, magic practice, meditation, reading, magazines..."

Rhode thought about it and realized that everything he had done these past few days had been for survival and for surviving better.

The only thing that could be called leisure was playing music on the phonograph while doing laundry.

Even reading magazines was for understanding the world and gathering information.

"Don't you find that exhausting?" Mira asked.

"It's not too bad. Learning magic is pretty interesting in itself," Rhode said.

"Besides, only diligent training can put my mind at ease... and give me the ability to repay that huge debt."

"Ahh, debt really can be a headache." Mira said, "But don't put too much pressure on yourself. Master is rarely short on money."

"That only makes me want to repay him faster. Master has taken care of me too much." Rhode sounded helpless. Much of the time, pressure came from one's own conscience.

That probably counted as internal friction.

Mira smiled without saying anything. Master viewed Rhode as his child, just like all the other guild members.

But Rhode did not seem to have realized that yet, or perhaps he had not gotten used to it.

"Move! Don't block the way!"

The two entered the shopping street while chatting, but after only a few steps, someone rushed toward them.

"Get out of the way! Don't meddle in my business!"

The man clutched a woman's handbag in one hand and brandished a short knife in the other, threatening people to clear a path.

Someone behind him was shouting things like "Catch him!" and "bag snatcher!"

As the man drew closer and closer, Mira's lovely brows furrowed slightly. She raised an arm and shielded Rhode behind her.

Rhode: ???

Girl, didn't you say you weren't good at fighting? Why were you protecting me?