Temporary Settlement

"Without a doubt, that's a high-quality Magic Item."

Magic doesn't lie. Makarov could tell at a glance whether the pendant was a Magic Item or not.

Perhaps Rhode survived the beast tide precisely because of this pendant—even if he himself didn't know how to use it.

Rhode took off the necklace. The fine metal chain piled up in a tangle, and the pendant lay quietly in his palm. The golden letters and the blue base reflected specks of natural light.

After examining it several times, besides it looking quite good, he had no idea what was special about it.

"That bastard Tatsu didn't give me a manual back then!" Rhode blurted out in his native tongue.

Makarov and Mirajane looked at him, confused.

Rhode handed the necklace to Makarov and asked, "Guild Master, do you know how to make the best use of this item?"

"You don't necessarily need to understand magic to use a Magic Item, but once you can use it, it counts as knowing magic," Makarov said, taking the necklace and uttering a string of words that sounded like a tongue twister.

Rhode pondered the logic behind it, and then saw the seemingly ordinary necklace in his hand begin to glow in Makarov's.

"I see. It's a tool similar to a Celestial Spirit Key. Only you can use this pendant."

"Celestial Spirit Key?" Rhode didn't understand. What was that?

Mirajane kindly offered an explanation, even using a light pen to draw a diagram for Rhode:

"Celestial Spirit Magic is magic that involves signing a contract with a Celestial Spirit and summoning them from the Spirit World to help. Those who use Celestial Spirit Magic need to possess special keys; it's a type of possession-based magic."

Mirajane's drawing skills were rather poor, almost abstract compared to Lidas.

This made it difficult for Rhode to understand what kind of creature a Celestial Spirit was, but he could grasp the general idea of the magic.

He used a term he understood: "Summoner?"

"That's pretty much the idea," Makarov returned the necklace to Rhode.

"I'll teach you the basics of magic power, and I'll share the tricks I know about Celestial Spirit Magic. Also, the guild's library has information on Celestial Spirit Magic... So, do you want to learn this magic?"

"I want to learn," Rhode nodded.

A summoner, huh? Rhode could already imagine what this pendant, shaped like a League of Legends game icon, could summon. If even a few of those over a hundred heroes were powerful, he'd be invincible, right?

"Then it's decided. I'll teach you magic later. For now, let's discuss some practical matters."

"Practical matters?"

Rhode was kicked out. His injuries had mostly healed, so he needed to move out and couldn't keep occupying the infirmary.

Rhode felt a bit uneasy about finding a place to live in a strange city, or rather, a strange world, all by himself.

Fortunately, the Guild Master helped him find a place not far from the guild, less than a kilometer away in a straight line.

Rhode had already checked it out. It seemed to be a shop facing the street, with the first floor used as a store and the second floor for living.

The landlord was named Goodman Riel, a young man in his late twenties. He had lived there himself until a few years ago, but after getting married, he moved out and only came by during the day when the shop was open.

The house was fully equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and shower. The bathroom even had a bathtub. The bedroom wasn't large, but it was more than enough for one person.

The rent was 80,000 J per month. Rhode wasn't very familiar with the local currency yet, but according to Mirajane, this price was quite cheap in Magnolia.

The landlord's reason for this price was that the second floor was vacant anyway, and having a mage living there would provide a sense of security. Rhode thought the landlord might be doing it as a favor to the Guild Master, who apparently frequented the guild's bar.

However, even with the not-so-high rent, Rhode couldn't afford it. The money for the rent was lent to him by the Guild Master – 150,000 J in total, with the remaining 70,000 J for food and daily necessities.

150,000 J sounded like a large sum, but Rhode felt a lot more at ease after seeing the denominations of the bills. These thousand and ten-thousand-yen bills... the actual value was probably much lower than RMB.

But after borrowing the money, Rhode realized he hadn't paid for the meals and medicine he'd consumed these past few days. Especially the medicine, which was so effective, it must have been expensive. And then there was the remuneration for Mr. Hibiki, who had helped him learn the language; he should have paid for that too. He just hadn't known anything back then, and his mind was a mess, so he forgot to ask how much it would cost.

"Who goes and racks up a pile of debt right after transmigrating..."

With mixed feelings, Rhode went to a nearby shop to buy toiletries like towels and a few changes of clothes. Then he realized the money didn't seem to last long. A slightly thicker towel cost 500 J, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and cup set was 1,000 J, soap was 100 J, and shampoo was 500 J...

Adding in necessities like toilet paper, bedsheets, pillows, and blankets, he casually spent nearly twenty thousand.

"Will the remaining fifty thousand J be enough for a month's worth of food?"

Rhode recalled that the flame-grilled meal Natsu ate seemed to cost over a thousand J. Regular food was probably not that expensive, and he could always cook for himself if worst came to worst.

Spending about twenty thousand J on a few new clothes should be enough... or maybe cut that in half and keep an extra ten thousand just in case.

"Good thing it's summer," Rhode thought with a second of relief, then suddenly realized he might also need to buy a mosquito net.

His wealth had shrunk again.

After a busy half-day, Rhode finally bought all the things he needed and brought them back.

Before it got dark, Rhode decided to go to the guild to eat dinner.

There weren't as many people in the guild as there were during the day.

Of the remaining people, the majority, like Rhode, wanted to have dinner there.

A small portion were drunk; some were sleeping soundly, while others were arguing heatedly with flushed faces, looking like they could start a fight at any moment.

Natsu, who had been chasing Rhode to ask questions earlier, was also gone. He had probably already gotten his answers from the Guild Master.

Mirajane placed the plates and cups from the tray onto a customer's table, then looked at Rhode, "Rhode, you're back. Are the moving arrangements all settled?"

"Mostly. I plan to eat dinner here, is that okay?"

"Of course. What would you like to eat?"

Rhode thought for a moment, "I'll have the same as that person just now. It looked really delicious."

"Alright, one Super Devil Spicy Curry Rice." Mirajane looked at him with the gaze one reserves for a hero, even clenching her fist to cheer him on. "Make sure you finish whatever you order, okay?"

"Wait, wait, hold on!" Rhode quickly stopped her. "You know my Common isn't very good. I think I heard some alarming words just now. What kind of dish is that?"

Mirajane blinked innocently, "Curry rice."

"What about the modifiers before that?"

"Just 'Super Devil Spicy'."

Rhode raised a hand. "I don't think the words 'just' and 'only' are used like that."

Mirajane pointed at the person who had just ordered. "It's fine, see? He's eating it with gusto."

Rhode was exasperated. "He's breathing fire!"

"Aww~~ I thought Rhode would like something like this."

"I implore you, please, absolutely, definitely, change it to a normal one for me."

"What a shame. I was hoping to see an interesting expression. Also, you only needed to say 'definitely' for that last sentence."

Mirajane chuckled and left, not even forgetting to correct Rhode's language habits.

Rhode couldn't figure it out. Was this girl genuinely malicious, or did she just enjoy stirring up trouble?

She wasn't like this yesterday...

Could it be because he no longer needed to be taken care of?

Rhode's mood was complicated. Please bring back the kind and considerate Mirajane...