Levy's mood improved a lot after being comforted by Mira and Lucy. Feeling a little lighter, she quickly decided to take on a mission, to both earn some living expenses and take her mind off things.
Rhodes recommended a treasure-hunting and puzzle-solving job that would suit the three of them well.
The mission was to decipher a coded message left in the client's grandfather's will in order to locate a hidden family heirloom sword. The reward was 60,000 Jewels, and the destination was a quiet town near Mount Hakobe.
Not only Levy, but Lucy also found the task really intriguing.
Unfortunately, teaming up with the trio meant the payout would be split, and Lucy still wouldn't have enough to cover her rent.
Meanwhile, Erza had finished calming Natsu down. "We should go take a mission too. Gray, Lucy, start getting ready."
"Already picked something?" Lucy still wanted to ask Rhodes and Mira if they had suggestions.
"I checked the board earlier," Erza said, reaching over and pulling down a slip of paper. "This one's still untouched."
She slapped it down on the counter.
It was a bounty mission: eliminate a magic cult causing trouble near Rubinas. The reward was a solid 500,000 Jewels.
Despite the name, the group wasn't a black magic cult. They didn't worship Zeref, they were just thugs who used magic for crime. Essentially, they were a more dangerous, organized bandit group.
Lucy hesitated, her thoughts still tied up in finances. "Mr. Rhodes, do you have any advice?"
"Advice?" Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Figure out how to keep those three under control."
Of course, Erza had no trouble handling that kind of job. It was basically a high-ranking warrior babysitting a team of hyperactive mid-tier mages. As long as they didn't blow up the whole town, it would go fine.
"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Lucy sighed. "I'll do my best."
"Sorry to leave the guild in your care," Erza said. She still remembered that the Master had entrusted it to them while he was away.
Rhodes waved it off. "It's fine. You can return the favor when Mira and I head out."
"No problem!" Erza smiled, then suddenly added, "Why don't we make this a permanent team? Like Mira and Rhodes."
Natsu and Gray immediately bristled. "Form a fixed team with him?"
Lucy clapped her hands. "I'd love to team up more often, but I don't think we can be like Miss Mira and Mr. Rhodes."
"Aye! They only have two people. We have five!" Happy chimed in.
"That's not the point!" Lucy groaned.
Erza smiled. "It doesn't matter how many people we have. As long as we trust each other, that's enough."
"Erza, Natsu, Gray… and then Lucy and Happy." Mira nodded with approval. "Sounds like a great combination to me."
"I bet Master's going to have a headache," Rhodes muttered, watching the group, then added a warning. "Just remember to keep the damage to a minimum. Start the fight outside the city. Don't cause trouble in town."
"Got it!" they all answered.
Rhodes wasn't convinced at all.
Half an hour after they'd departed, Natsu slumped against the carriage window with a pale face. "Erza, why didn't you invite Rhodes to come with us."
Lucy gently patted his back, trying to soothe him. "Because Mr. Rhodes and Miss Mira are already a team."
A couple's team, at that. She felt a little envious just thinking about it.
Now that she thought about it, Alzack and Bisca were kind of the same, but she'd heard Bisca's confession had failed. That was a little unfortunate.
Gray leaned back. "Didn't you want to borrow one of Rhodes crabs again for the trip?"
Happy answered in his place. "Aye, he forgot this time."
It was just like people who occasionally got carsick and forgot their motion sickness patches. Natsu was worse though, he constantly forgot that he even got motion sick.
"Serves you right," Gray muttered.
…
"Still worried?" Mira leaned over and waved her hand in front of Rhodes face.
Rhodes caught her hand mid-wave and gently sandwiched it between both of his. "I'm just thinking, how much funding will the Master be able to bring back? Will it cover the damages?"
Mira placed her free hand on top of his. "Sometimes, you need to have a little more faith in everyone."
Rhodes smiled faintly, moving his hand to the top of the pile. "It's because I do have too much faith in them."
Mira grinned and moved her hand back to the top again.
The two of them passed the time like bored kids, playing a quiet round of "Cat's Paw on Top," stacking their hands and then switching to gentle slaps across the backs of each other's hands.
"Alright. Time to get back to work," Rhodes said, stretching his arms before heading toward the lumber.
"I'll help too," Mira followed with a smile.
The sight of her, dressed in a flowing red dress, her soft hair tied half-up, long graceful arms carrying wooden planks across the dusty worksite, was a strange kind of stunning.
Even knowing she was a demon didn't lessen the effect. If anything, the contrast made it even more eye-catching.
Not wanting to be outdone by Mira, the other guild members started working harder themselves. One after another, they all began shouting slogans like Elfman, trying to psych themselves up.
Even Nab, known for lingering in front of the mission board all day, cut down his browsing time drastically.
Laki wiped the sweat from her forehead, paused to glance at her busy companions, and found herself wondering, was this all part of that couple's plan?
Then again, it wasn't worth overthinking. Better to focus on rebuilding the guild.
Still... were they really trying to win over Sister Mira by working so hard?
As the red sun dipped low in the western sky, the day of hard labor finally began to wind down.
The first floor of the new guild hall had the bare bones of its framework now. There was still a long way to go.
Everyone knew when to stop and rest, but the tavern couldn't open right away. Mira, Rhodes, Laki, and the others in charge needed to shower and change before going anywhere near the kitchen or food.
Otherwise, they'd be kicked out on sight for showing up covered in dust and sweat.
Since there were no bath facilities on-site, Laki and the other girls made their way back to the dorms.
As for Rhodes and Mira…
"Let's go to my place. It's closer," he offered casually.
Mira shot him a sideways glance. "If I go to your place, I won't have any clothes to change into."
"You can wear mine." It was a practical suggestion… though Rhodes immediately realized the flaw. He'd really messed up there.
'I should pick up a few sets of Mira's clothes to keep at my place. I already know her sizes anyway.'
But Mira wasn't buying it. "Nope. Let's go to my place."
"Alright, Mira's house it is."
Without giving her time to object, Rhodes summoned a crab, scooped her up by the waist, and leapt on with her in one smooth motion. "Let's go. We'll be quick."
Mira blinked, a bit disoriented. Something about this felt... off.
After they'd been riding for a bit, she narrowed her eyes. "Wait a second. Why are you coming with me?"
Rhodes paused just long enough to plan his response. Then he said smoothly, "It's more efficient this way. Saves time if we go together."
'No way,' Mira thought to herself, but gave up trying to argue. It was already too late to turn back.
As usual, she wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned against him without thinking. Then, realizing how sweaty and dusty she was, she shifted to pull away again.
But Rhodes had already wrapped his arms around her.
'Well, everyone's filthy after a day of construction. Who's going to care?'
Honestly, even with the grime, Mira still looked adorable. Rhodes stared a moment too long and thought to himself—
'I kinda want to kiss her like this. Is that weird?'
Was this what it meant to have strange tastes? He wondered sometimes if he was secretly a bit of a pervert.
Of course, there was no way Mira would let him shower with her. She pushed him straight into the bathroom with a firm shove.
While he washed up, Mira took her time washing her hands and face.
He'd brought the toiletries, after all, and definitely packed a clean change of clothes. That guy never forgot the details.
Still… he showered awfully fast.
If Mira didn't have a younger brother and sister growing up, she might've seriously doubted anyone could get clean that quickly.