Temporary Home

"Without a doubt, that was a very high-quality Magic Item."

Magic power did not lie. Makarov could tell at a glance whether that pendant was a Magic Item.

Maybe Rhode had survived that beast horde by relying on this pendant—though he himself did not even know how to use it.

Rhode took off the necklace. The thin metal chain coiled into a heap, while the pendant rested quietly in his palm, its golden letters and blue circular base reflecting specks of natural light.

He turned it over several times. Other than looking rather nice, he could not figure out what was special about it.

"That bastard Tatsuya didn't even give me an instruction manual!" Rhode blurted out in his native language.

Makarov and Mirajane looked at him in confusion.

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

"Using a Magic Item does not necessarily require knowing magic, but once you can use it, that counts as knowing magic."

Makarov accepted the necklace and said something that sounded like a tongue twister.

Rhode thought through the logic of it, then saw that the unremarkable necklace in his own hand began to glow in Makarov's.

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

"Celestial Spirit Key?" Rhode did not understand. What was that supposed to be?

Mirajane thoughtfully explained, even drawing a diagram for Rhode with a Light Pen:

"Celestial Spirit Magic is magic that forms contracts with Celestial Spirits and summons them from the Spirit World to help. Those who use Celestial Spirit Magic need to possess special keys. It is a type of Possession Type magic."

Mirajane's drawing skills were somewhat terrible. Compared to Laxus, they could only be called abstract.

As a result, Rhode could not tell what a Celestial Spirit was supposed to look like, but he roughly understood what kind of magic it was.

He used a term he could understand. "A summoner?"

"That is more or less what it means." Makarov returned the necklace to Rhode.

"I will teach you the basics of magic power, and I will also tell you the tricks of Celestial Spirit Magic that I know.

"Besides that, the guild library has materials about Celestial Spirit Magic as well... So, do you want to learn this kind of magic?"

"I do." Rhode nodded.

A summoner... Rhode could already roughly guess what this pendant, shaped like the League of Legends game icon, could summon.

Out of those hundred-odd champions, if he could summon a few powerful ones, would that not make him invincible?

"Then it is settled. I will teach you magic later. For now, let us talk about something practical."

"Something practical?"

Rhode got kicked out.

His injuries had mostly healed, so he needed to move out and could not keep occupying the infirmary.

The thought of finding a place to live by himself in an unfamiliar city—or rather, an unfamiliar world—made Rhode somewhat uneasy.

Fortunately, the Master introduced him to a house less than a kilometer from the guild in a straight line.

Rhode had already gone to see it. It was probably a storefront building facing the street, with the first floor used as a shop and the second floor available for living.

The landlord was named Goodman Riel, a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.

He had lived there until a few years ago, but moved out after getting married. Now, he only came by during the day to open the shop.

The house had a kitchen, toilet, and bathroom, all fully equipped. The bathroom even had a bathtub. The bedroom was not large, but it was more than enough for one person.

The rent was 80,000 J per month. Rhode was not yet sensitive to the local currency, but according to Mirajane, that price was very cheap in Magnolia.

As for the low price, the landlord's explanation was that the second floor was sitting empty anyway, and having a wizard move in would make the place feel safer.

Rhode suspected the man was doing it for the Master's sake. Apparently, he occasionally went to drink at the guild tavern.

However, even the not-so-high rent was something Rhode could not afford.

The money for rent had been lent to him by the Master: 150,000 J in total. The remaining 70,000 J was for food and daily necessities.

150,000 J sounded like a lot just from the number, but Rhode felt much more at ease after seeing the denominations of the banknotes.

These thousand-J bills and ten-thousand-J notes... Their actual value was definitely much lower than RMB.

But borrowing money made Rhode realize that he had not paid for the meals he had eaten or the medicine he had used over the past few days.

Especially the medicine. It worked so well that it certainly could not have been cheap.

There was also the payment for Mr. Hibiki, who had helped him learn the language. Logically, Rhode should have paid that too.

But he had not understood anything at the time, and his mind had been a mess, so he forgot to ask how much it cost.

"Who ends up buried in debt the moment they transmigrate..."

With complicated feelings, Rhode went to nearby shops to buy toiletries such as towels, along with several changes of clothes.

Then he discovered that the money did not seem to go very far.

A slightly thicker towel cost 500 J. A toothbrush, toothpaste, and cup set cost 1,000 J. Soap cost 100 J, shampoo cost 500 J...

Adding necessities like toilet paper, bedsheets, pillows, and blankets, he casually spent nearly 20,000 J.

"Will the remaining 50,000 J be enough for a month's food?"

Rhode recalled that Natsu's Flame Set Meal seemed to cost over 1,000 J. Ordinary food was probably not that expensive, and if worse came to worst, he could cook for himself.

Spending another 20,000 J or so on clothes should be about right... No, better cut that in half. He should save another 10,000 J in case of emergencies.

"Good thing it's summer." Rhode felt relieved for one second, then suddenly realized he might need to buy a mosquito net too.

His funds shrank once more.

After staying busy for most of the day, Rhode finally bought everything he needed and brought it home.

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

There were not as many people in the guild as there had been during the day.

Of those remaining, more than half, like Rhode, intended to have dinner there.

The smaller half had drunk too much. Some were snoring away, while others argued red-faced with people around them, looking like they might start fighting at any moment.

Natsu, who had earlier chased after Rhode to ask questions, was gone too. He had probably already gotten his answer from the Master.

Mirajane set the plates and cups from her tray onto a customer's table, then looked at Rhode. "Rhode, you're back. Did you get everything sorted out with the move?"

"More or less. I was planning to have dinner here. Is that okay?"

"Of course. What would you like?"

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

"Okay, one Super Devil Spicy Curry Rice." Mirajane gave him a look reserved for warriors and even clenched her fist to cheer him on. "Make sure you finish what you ordered."

"Wait, wait, wait a second!" Rhode hurriedly stopped her. "You know my command of the common language isn't very good. I think I just heard some terrifying words. What kind of rice was that?"

Mirajane blinked innocently. "Curry rice."

"What about the modifiers before that?"

"It's only 'Super Devil Spicy.'"

Rhode raised one hand. "I don't think 'only' works like that."

Mirajane pointed at the person who had ordered before him. "It's fine. Look, isn't he eating it happily?"

Rhode broke down. "He's breathing fire!"

"Ehh~~ I thought Rhode would like this sort of thing."

"I sincerely, absolutely, definitely ask you to change it to something normal."

"What a shame. I thought I'd get to see an interesting expression. Also, for that last sentence, just saying 'definitely' would have been enough."

Mirajane left with a soft laugh, not even forgetting to correct Rhode's language habits.

Rhode could not tell whether this girl genuinely had a nasty personality or simply enjoyed watching a spectacle.

She had not been like this yesterday...

Could it be because he no longer needed looking after?

Rhode felt conflicted. Please give him back that gentle, considerate Mirajane...