Money, Money

Fairy Tail's special beef curry rice smelled fragrant from a long way off.

When the plate was set on the table, the fresh aroma of rice immediately joined the curry in his nose. The rice had to be high quality.

Rhode picked up his spoon. On the left was reddish-brown curry sauce, with evenly diced beef, potatoes, and carrots.

On the right was white rice made even whiter by the contrast of the sauce. Both sides looked and smelled so tempting that Rhode did not know where to start.

That blissful dilemma lasted only a few seconds. Urged on by his growling stomach, Rhode chose to dig in from the middle.

The curry and rice entered his mouth together. Salty, savory, fragrant, and carrying a slight spiciness, they filled his mouth and made his teeth and tongue move on their own.

Rhode was not very good with spicy food. That faint heat alone brought a fine sheen of sweat to his forehead.

But once the spiciness faded, he could taste the rice's sweetness and the beef's savory flavor even more clearly.

Rhode became completely absorbed in the delicious plate of curry rice.

"Rhode always seems so focused whenever he eats. It's making me hungrier too." Mirajane's voice rang out. "Do you like good food that much, Rhode?"

"Of course I like tasty food. I never paid much attention to it before, but now I seem to be enjoying the process of tasting food more and more."

Rhode thought for a moment, then added, "Maybe I was scared by being hungry a few days ago. Or maybe I almost died, so I've started cherishing things I never used to."

Mirajane seemed to have returned to her gentle, considerate self. "Then you'll have to work hard. Our menu is very, very long."

"I'll work hard... haha." Rhode could not help laughing. Work hard to eat? Work for the sake of eating? Either way, it sounded a little strange.

One delicious serving of curry rice reduced Rhode's living expenses by 500J. In his opinion, it was well worth the price.

He also paid Mirajane back for the meals from the past few days, and his wallet shrank once again.

Mirajane was a little worried that Rhode would not make it to next month. "You don't need to rush to pay these back. Those meals can count as consolation."

"It's only right to pay for food. I can't do anything about the medical expenses for now, but I can't let the guild cover my meals too... even if the money was shamelessly extorted from the Master."

"It was temporarily borrowed."

"Oh, right, temporarily borrowed."

Rhode carefully looked over the menu. If he only ate one meal, the cheaper options would cost a few hundred J.

If he ate a larger portion but only ordered ordinary food, then a few thousand J would be enough.

Of course, if he ate with abandon and ordered whatever looked good, there would be no upper limit.

Rhode, who wanted to enjoy delicious food, suddenly felt the pressure. He asked, "Are there any jobs in the guild that can be done without magic?"

Mirajane tapped her chin with one finger and thought for a moment.

"If you're willing, you can work part-time as a waiter at the tavern. Since we need to leave you time to study magic... I can probably only pay you 120,000J a month. Would that be all right?"

Rhode answered without hesitation, "Of course it would. Thank you!"

For a wizard, 120,000J was not much. Someone stronger, like Natsu, could earn it in a day or two by taking a bandit-clearing job.

Even weaker wizards could earn 120,000J in less than half a month by taking everyday jobs that did not require leaving the city.

Only bottom-tier wizards, who could take nothing but tiny jobs worth a few thousand J, would worry about that amount of money.

Unfortunately, Rhode currently belonged to an even lower tier than bottom-tier wizards: a "prospective magic apprentice."

This job already counted as special consideration for him. Mirajane had even specifically mentioned leaving him time to study magic.

Another benefit of being a waiter was that it included two meals a day. That way, after deducting rent and daily expenses, he could probably repay the money the Master had lent him in about half a year.

Hibiki's commission fee and Porlyusica's medical expenses would take even longer.

Still, Rhode felt that in a few months, he should be able to take at least some wizard jobs. Repaying his debts ought to go faster then...

There was a long road ahead.

Since he had decided to work as a waiter for a while, Rhode stayed behind that day to help clean up.

The tables and chairs all had to be wiped down and arranged neatly. The floor had to be swept clean. After confirming that no one remained, they locked the front door and blew out the lights before leaving.

Rhode found it somewhat reminiscent of doing classroom duty with his classmates in middle school.

After everyone said goodbye and went home, Elfman would usually wait for Mirajane when he was not out working.

Rhode walked with them for part of the way. During their casual conversation, he learned something shocking. "Elfman is your younger brother? I always thought he was your older brother!"

"Oh my, I'm not yet at the age where being told I look young makes me happy." Mirajane stroked her cheek with her right hand. She said she would not be happy, but her smile never stopped.

Elfman seemed happy as well. "A real man should be more mature!"

Rhode fell into thought. He had accidentally complimented both siblings with one sentence. Was he actually the kind of person who was good with words?

I didn't even know that myself.

Because Rhode had returned rather late, the landlord had already locked the door and gone home.

Rhode took out his own key and let himself in.

The house was pitch-black. Using the moonlight shining through the window, Rhode felt his way to the stairs and carefully went upstairs.

The whole house was made of wood, and naturally the stairs were as well. Fortunately, they did not creak when Rhode stepped on them, so they were probably not too old.

After entering his room, Rhode found some matches and lit the candle on the table.

The technological level here was not very advanced. There were not even electric lights, and many people still used candles and oil lamps.

There were lamps powered by magic, and their prices had dropped considerably in recent years, but they were still much more expensive than oil lamps and the like.

That was why the landlord had not prepared any magic equipment for this old house that had stood empty for years.

The water supply was convenient enough, with running water, but if he wanted hot water, he had to boil it himself.

After washing up, Rhode simply wiped himself down with cold water, wondering whether he should use the guild's bathhouse sometime.

"Looks like I'll need to buy some household appliances in the future—though they're probably called household Magic Items here?"

"Money, money..." Having left school in such a strange way, Rhode could only start worrying about making a living.

Thinking about the wages from tavern work and the rewards for wizard jobs, Rhode began looking forward to life after learning magic.

With endless hopes for the future, Rhode fell into a deep sleep.

Rhode opened his eyes. Sunlight slanted through the window onto his face, and he shot upright. "I'm late!"

"Fresh apples! Crisp, fragrant pears!"

"Water spinach on sale!"

"Fresh zucchini! Come take a look!"

Noisy cries from street vendors had already begun outside the window, and Rhode suddenly felt disoriented.

He fell heavily back onto the bed and raised an arm over his eyes. "Seems like I haven't had morning classes in ages. Is that cause for celebration?"

After lying quietly for a long while, Rhode got up, washed, changed into the white T-shirt and black cropped pants he had bought yesterday, ran a hand through his bangs, and went downstairs.

A moment later, he thundered back up to his room, found the necklace on the bedside table, put it on, and left.

"Morning, Mr. Rhode. Did you sleep well?" his landlord, Goodman Riel, greeted him warmly.

"Goodman, you're here so early."

"I just got here myself. I was about to open up."

The first-floor window was one large piece, probably two meters long and one meter wide.

After undoing several latches from the inside, it could be pulled outward and lowered as a whole from the outside.

Once the two wooden legs folded along the sides were propped open, it immediately became a platform that served as a display shelf.

Rhode found it interesting. No wonder the door was not in the middle, but deliberately placed to one side.

He helped Goodman set up the awning, then prepared to leave.

"Wait a moment. Consider it a thank-you gift. This is for you." Goodman tossed a keychain-sized object to Rhode.

Rhode caught it and laid it in his palm. It was a small wooden tag two or three centimeters long, carved with barely legible words, with a red cord tied into a pretty knot.

"What is this?"

"A good-luck charm. It's only an ordinary handicraft, but I carved the wooden tag myself, and my wife tied the knot."

Goodman smiled. "I heard that wizards sometimes take dangerous commissions. Be careful out there."

Goodman's shop mainly sold handicrafts such as carved wooden ornaments and woven hanging decorations. He had made one while preparing stock yesterday.

"Thank you." Rhode wanted to say that he was still a long way from taking dangerous jobs, but the words never left his mouth. He simply accepted the other man's kindness with care.

He found that the loneliness and unease of struggling alone to survive in another world seemed to have faded a little more.