Unlucky Master

"Welcome!"

The girl greeting customers at the dessert shop entrance was quite pretty.

Rhode's verdict was: not as pretty as Mira.

"Would it be all right for you two to sit here?"

The one guiding them to their seats was another cute waitress.

Rhode's verdict was: not as cute as Mira.

As they passed the register, the cashier gave them a gentle smile.

Rhode's verdict was: not as gentle as Mi...

Sigh~ He was getting carried away. Calm down, calm down.

Perhaps because it had only just opened, the dessert shop was doing very good business.

After Rhode and Mira sat down, there were no empty seats left in the shop.

Most of the customers were girls who had come in groups, while a small portion were male-female pairs. Soft music played in the shop, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant.

"Iced coffee, hazelnut cookies, blueberry mousse cake..." Mira ordered two desserts, then looked troubled.

Rhode asked at the right moment, "What's wrong?"

"I also want to try the Paris-Brest." Mira pinched the slim waist beneath the table. "But I feel like I'll gain weight."

"Wizards have worries like that too?" Rhode thought for a moment. "Then I'll order one. We can trade and share."

"Good idea!" Mira's eyes lit up. "That way I won't take up the portion of what you wanted to eat..."

"You know I like tasting all kinds of delicious food, and I'm not worried about my figure. It's fine to order a few more things."

Dessert was dessert. What difference did it make what he ate?

With how much he exercised every day, Rhode was not worried about calories at all.

The waitress taking their order gave Mira an envious look and quickly wrote down what she had ordered. "Please wait a moment."

"The atmosphere here is really nice. No wonder it's so popular."

Mira took off her sunhat and set it aside. She gathered the bangs over her forehead with one hand, then slipped the hair tie around her wrist into her hair, returning to her usual hairstyle.

Her bangs looked lovely down too.

"Yeah, it's much quieter than the guild." Rhode did not keep staring at her. His gaze swept over the couples and close friends whispering to one another around the shop.

"It feels like a place that's perfect for afternoon tea, dates, and things like that."

Mira's gossiping instincts were triggered. "Oh my, does Rhode often bring girls to places like this for dates?"

"I'm not Loki." Rhode felt that he needed to answer that question firmly and decisively.

"I never had any female friends I was particularly close with before. I wouldn't have entered places like dessert shops or cafés at all."

Before university, he had not dared to date early. After university, he spent every day playing around with his buddies.

Café? ×

Internet café! √

Mira blinked. "Why do I suddenly feel a little sorry for you?"

"Hey..."

Mira laughed. "No wonder you couldn't even look Kana in the eye at first."

"Please forget about that." Rhode had gotten used to it by now. Forget looking at her directly—he could even fight her now.

Though he could not beat her.

"Your desserts. Please enjoy." The waitress brought over two cups of iced coffee and several exquisite desserts.

"Ah, the Paris-Brest is even more delicate than I imagined. Let's try this one first."

Mira reached out with her knife and fork, but Rhode pulled the plate away. "No."

"Huh? Why?"

"You made fun of me. I'm unhappy."

Mira laughed, clasped her hands together, and gave a light wink with her left eye. "How about I apologize?"

"Mm, I forgive you." Rhode nodded calmly, pushed the plate over to her, and looked out the window.

That was way too unfair. He needed to look somewhere else to calm himself down.

Then...

Rhode saw something familiar. "A statue? A small mountain?"

"What?" Mira had speared a small piece of dessert with her fork but had not yet put it in her mouth.

She followed Rhode's gaze and saw a mountain of suitcases, along with an Erza who looked as though she had been petrified.

Mira put down her fork. "Erza?"

Rhode nodded. "Looks like she was stopped outside by the staff because there were no seats."

Mira thought for a moment. "Should we call her in? We can squeeze together."

Of course he did not want to.

But she looked rather pitiful. One look at her luggage cart showed that she had just finished a mission and come straight here without even going home.

They were companions.

Rhode sighed inwardly. "Then I'll go call her."

"Wait." Mira stopped him.

"What is it?"

Mira covered her mouth and smiled. "I want to watch a little longer. Erza is very cute like this."

Black-hearted.

So Rhode watched for a little longer too. The sight of the imposing Erza looking utterly dejected over such a small matter was indeed adorable. The contrast made it charming.

The demon inside the dessert shop eventually invited the Fairy Queen from outside in.

Rhode reminded her that there were no spare chairs inside, but Erza immediately pulled one from among the mountain of suitcases and took out a folding chair.

It was not the sort meant for everyday use. Judging from the pictures and words printed on it, it seemed more like a souvenir from somewhere.

It was clear that she really wanted to eat dessert.

Rhode and Mira remained seated across from each other while Erza sat at the side and called a waitress over to order.

Strawberry cake, strawberry pudding, strawberry milkshake... She ordered more than ten items in all, every single one strawberry-flavored.

Her preferences could not have been more obvious.

The waitress quickly wrote down the order and left, but before she went, she shot Rhode a look as though he were scum.

That woman thought far too highly of him. Who would dare mistreat Erza?

Mira was already chatting with Erza. "Did the mission go smoothly? You came back earlier than expected."

"Mm!" Erza raised a clenched fist, her eyes filled with anticipation. "Because I've been looking forward to this shop for a long time."

Mira said, "That's so like Erza... But since it involved work for the Council, was it really okay to come back early on your own?"

"Th-that..." Erza looked a little guilty too. "I just hope Master doesn't get scolded because of me."

Rhode asked curiously, "What kind of mission involved the Council...? Was it supposed to be confidential?"

Erza looked at Mira. In principle, it needed to be kept secret until completion, even from companions.

But only the cleanup work remained now, so it was up to Mira.

"If Erza's work is already finished, then it's fine. It'll be in the papers in a few days anyway," Mira said.

"It was a mission to assist the Council in arresting every member of the Dark Guild Scorpion's Tail."

"Doesn't the Council have its own enforcement squads?" Rhode's common knowledge study plan was proving remarkably effective.

"That's right, but the Council is an organization that covers the entire continent, and there's only one branch within Fiore.

Scorpion's Tail was hiding in a rather remote place, so they could not mobilize forces there quickly.

When something like that happens, the Council usually issues assistance requests to local guild alliances, which then assign them to specific guilds."

"I see. So the local guild alliance gave this mission to our guild."

Rhode guessed, "Was it because our guild has a high reputation within the alliance?"

Erza denied it. "No, it was because Master has terrible luck."

"Huh?"

"The rewards for these kinds of requests are usually lower than missions of the same difficulty, so as long as they are not especially dangerous, the guild Masters decide who gets them by drawing lots."

As she spoke, Erza sighed. "And our Master..."

Mira smiled and continued, "...often draws the very worst lot."

Rhode: "..."

Perhaps Master had used up all his luck picking up children and bringing them home. Every one he picked up became S-Class.