Could It Be

Rhode, who had retreated to the corner to watch the drama unfold, no longer found it entertaining. Levy looked like she was having a hard time.

It was obvious she was worried this would affect her friendship with Jet. After all, the three members of the Chariot Engine Squad had grown up together.

"Hey, Rhode," Levy asked softly. "Was I too harsh just now?"

How would I know?! Rhode had never had a childhood sweetheart, much less been confessed to by one.

All he could do was choose his words carefully. "When it comes to feelings, if you don't like someone, isn't it better to make things clear like you did?"

"That's true, but..."

Levy understood that principle, which was why she had rejected him so decisively. She had not even touched the bouquet, unwilling to leave room for the slightest misunderstanding.

She sighed. "I'm just worried that the Chariot Engine Squad will fall apart because of this. We've always been good friends. Maybe I should have put it more gently."

"No matter how gently you put it, the meaning would be the same. The longer you dragged it out, the more deeply he would be hurt."

What was done was done. No matter what the best choice might have been, Rhode did not want to say things like, "You did the wrong thing," or, "You really didn't think it through."

Saying that would only make Levy feel more guilty. It would not help at all.

The best choice was the one you just made. Levy needed to believe that before she could feel better.

Once she calmed down a little, he could help her figure out what to do next, if she needed it.

However, something Rhode had never expected happened.

Levy had only just regained a little of her spirits when Troy appeared with a bouquet in his hands.

Troy was a little stiffer than Jet, but after taking two deep breaths, he still worked up the courage to say the same thing Jet had said.

This time, Levy rejected Troy in just one second.

Troy looked even more devastated than Jet. The bouquet fell to the floor, and he walked away in a daze.

Rhode had to take part of the blame for this. He had just reinforced Levy's belief that a decisive rejection was best for them.

After a long while, Levy finally turned around and tried to control her emotions. "Let's keep practicing!"

Rhode did want to master magic as soon as possible, but making Levy continue teaching under these circumstances seemed a little...

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Um, I used up quite a bit of magic power today, so let's rest for now.

How about I buy you a drink? To thank you for helping me."

A few minutes later, Rhode and Levy sat at the counter.

They lightly clinked glasses. Rhode had only taken a sip when Levy gulped down an entire glass, drinking as boldly as if Kana had possessed her.

Fortunately, it was only ordinary beer.

Mira noticed Levy's reddened eyes and deliberately put her hands on her hips with an angry expression. "Rhode, did you bully Levy?"

"Absolutely not." Rhode raised his hand in oath. "This... situation is a little complicated. I can't really explain it."

"It has nothing to do with Rhode. I just don't know what to do right now." Levy had a slightly poor tolerance for alcohol. After one glass of beer, her face had already turned red.

She poured out all her troubles to Mira like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, her words carrying an obvious drunken slur.

"Don't worry, Levy," Mira said gently. "The three of you are childhood friends, and you're guildmates too.

No matter what happens, that bond cannot be severed. Jet and Troy will both get their spirits back before long."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Then... another glass!"

After finishing her second glass, Levy fell asleep on the counter. Every now and then, she mumbled in her dreams, moved her arms, or kicked her legs.

If her alcohol tolerance ever improved in the future, her drunken behavior might not be very good.

Levy wore an off-the-shoulder outfit, and the guild mark on the back of her left shoulder was especially noticeable.

Though it was summer, the ceiling fan was spinning overhead. Rhode wondered whether he should cover Levy with something, but he had nothing on hand.

Mira, however, found a thin blanket and gently draped it over Levy.

"Rhode, you've been very concerned about Levy since earlier. Could it be that you also..." Mira started again.

"No. Levy is cute, but she's not my type."

"Then what is your type?"

Mira's eyes gleamed, as though gossip flames were blazing within them.

Rhode really wanted her to experience what it felt like when the gossip hit close to home, but patience was essential for great plans.

"Classified. Secrets make a man more masculine." Rhode altered a line from a detective anime.

Using a confession as a battle horn was not a good idea. Jet and Troy had just provided him with examples.

"Oh~ That sounds like something only Loki would say." Mira said. "Have the two of you gotten closer?"

"Not at all. If I get within five meters of him, he runs away.

Now, whenever he or anyone near him wants to order something, they have to ask Laki to come to me."

Rhode was helpless too. His interactions with Loki had been limited to that failed sparring match. Even when he tried to ease the tension afterward, Loki never gave him the chance.

Mira only knew that it involved a female Celestial Spirit Mage. Given Loki's nature, she assumed it was some kind of romantic entanglement.

She just did not know what kind of heartbreaking experience had made him avoid anything related to Celestial Spirit Mages as if it were poison.

Rhode's way of dealing with it was simple: if it could not be solved, then do not solve it.

Even blood brothers could fail to get along. In a guild this large, it was perfectly normal for there to be a few people who could not stand each other.

Out of camaraderie, when Loki needed help, Rhode would still step up.

"Chariot Engine, assemble!" Levy suddenly raised her fist and shouted.

Rhode helped drape the fallen blanket back over her. "She must be dreaming about the old days. When did the three of them start forming a team?"

"I'm not sure either." Mira thought for a moment. "I remember that when I first joined the guild five years ago, they were already often together."

"Five years ago... You were only twelve or thirteen then, weren't you?"

Joining the guild could more or less be understood as becoming independent, and she had even brought along a younger brother... Rhode could not help feeling sorry for her.

"Thirteen. That wasn't especially early. Natsu joined the guild a year before I did, Erza joined another year before that, and Gray, Kana, and Levy joined even earlier."

Mira wore a nostalgic expression. "We were all children with nowhere to go. It was only after joining the guild that we truly settled down.

Come to think of it, I've never asked. What did you do before this, Rhode?"

"I... was a student," Rhode said. "From the age of five until a little over a month ago, I had always been in school."

"For more than ten years, all you did was go to school?" Mira looked surprised. When Rhode nodded, she asked,

"Could it be that you used to be some important person, like a noble or a prince?"

Fairy Tail trivia: Jet once confessed to Levy and was rejected in just two seconds, setting the guild record for the fastest rejection. As expected of the fastest runner in the guild.

However, Troy broke Jet's record not long afterward, getting rejected in only one second.