The gift box wasn't particularly fancy; even the ribbon looked like it had been reused from the Harvest Festival decorations.
But Lucy didn't mind one bit. Because in her heart, this gift represented something important, recognition for her own efforts. More specifically, for the efforts of her Celestial Spirits.
She'd already made up her mind: no matter what was inside, she would act surprised and grateful. She didn't want to let Mr. Rhodes down.
Honestly, just receiving a gift was surprise enough.
If Rhodes had known what she was thinking, his conscience might have twinged for about... 0.1 seconds.
With a sparkle in her eyes, Lucy untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. "Oh, is this... clothes?"
Rhodes kept a perfectly straight face. "Yep. I picked them out myself. Should be a perfect fit. Why don't you try them on in the back?"
"Okay! I'll just..." Lucy excitedly reached in and unfolded the clothes. Then, her bright expression froze in place. "Um, are you sure this was picked out especially for me?"
Rhodes nodded solemnly. "Absolutely. Isn't it lovely?"
Lucy held the outfit up to herself and gave it a good look. "It's cute, but... this is a waitress uniform!"
Rhodes replied with complete sincerity, "Well, you could call it that... because it just so happens to look exactly like a waitress uniform."
"It is a waitress uniform!"
"A coincidence," Rhodes insisted smoothly. "Just think about it, Sally and Iz resigned today, the guild just so happens to give you this outfit, and you just happen to try it on and maybe help out a bit, what are the odds?"
Lucy smacked the clothes down on the counter. "That's not a coincidence! You're clearly trying to trick me into covering a staff shortage!"
"This is what we call a reward for outstanding new members," Rhodes lied through his teeth. "Look at me, I was Best Newcomer last year, and I started as a server too."
Lucy pointed an accusatory finger at him. "That's completely different! So that whole speech earlier about my amazing performance and big contributions, that was just bait, wasn't it?!"
"You can't say that," Rhodes replied, trying to sound wounded. "Gemini did help a lot, after all." He sighed dramatically, as if heartbroken by humanity's loss of innocence. "Honestly, what's so bad about being a waitress? It's a great way to bond with the guild."
"I don't want to!"
Rhodes gave her a serious look. "So you're really refusing?"
"I'm not doing it!" Lucy huffed and turned her head sharply away, sulking in indignation.
"Ohh~" Rhodes's voice dropped ominously. "In that case... let's talk about you withholding information."
Lucy froze. "Wh-what information?"
"You know, the part where you need to take medicine to use magic properly... but you told us you had high adaptability?"
"I-I didn't mean to lie," Lucy muttered, shrinking a little. "I just... forgot."
"Forgot?" Rhodes raised an eyebrow. "Would you forget something that important?"
"I'm sorry..." she whispered, looking increasingly guilty.
"Well, since no one got hurt, I'll let it slide," Rhodes said, folding his arms. "However, the tavern does happen to be short-staffed right now…"
"I get it, I get it." Lucy grabbed the clothes again, looking utterly defeated as she trudged toward the guild's washroom.
Rhodes wanted to say that the uniform was just an excuse to give Lucy a gift, and that today wasn't even a mandatory uniform day.
But after thinking it over, he decided not to ruin the newcomer's motivation.
He sighed.
Somewhere along the line, he'd become the kind of person who tricked Lucy into working. Clearly, he'd been spending too much time around Natsu and picking up his bad habits.
Mira and Lisanna returned a little later. They weren't carrying any bags, but Lisanna had changed into a brand-new outfit.
They must have already dropped off the things they bought at home.
By the time they stepped inside, Lucy was already hard at work.
"Lucy, a glass of water!"
"Yes!"
"Lucy, I want one too!"
"Alright."
"Lucy, never mind, I don't want it anymore."
"You stinky cat?!" Lucy shouted, turning to glare at Happy, who'd been harassing her nonstop.
"Pfft." Happy covered his mouth, snickering.
Natsu patted Lucy's head with a grin. "Ahahaha, a good waitress never loses her temper at a customer."
"Natsu!" Lucy exploded. She raised her tray and immediately began chasing him around the guild hall.
Mira and Lisanna quickly stepped out of the way and made their way over to sit across from Rhodes.
Mira returned the wallet and asked, "So how exactly did you manage to convince Lucy to become a waitress?"
"Well, Sally and Iz resigned, so I asked Lucy nicely," Rhodes said casually, pocketing the wallet. "Was the money enough?"
"It was plenty. Elfman brought some too."
"This outfit I'm wearing," Lisanna said as she stood and did a playful spin, "was bought with your money. Mira-nee said it's like a gift from you, onii sama."
"You look beautiful," Rhodes said sincerely. Then he turned to Mira, putting on a teasing smile. "I should buy something nice for my beautiful fiancée too, shouldn't I?"
Mira giggled and gave him a slow wink. "You'll have to come shopping with me and help pick it out."
Rhodes smiled but didn't say a word.
That one backfired. He'd tried to flirt, but Mira had charmed him right back.
"Eeeeh~~~" Lisanna stretched out the sound, clearly enjoying the moment.
Mira, on the other hand, started to feel a little self-conscious. She was used to being teased by her brother, but having her little sister watching so closely was a different story. It made her just a bit flustered.
Trying to change the subject, she asked, "So what happened with Sally and Iz?"
"Well, they..."
Suddenly, Max burst through the guild doors, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Bad news! People from the Magic Council are here!"
"What?!"
Many people were caught off guard and looked around in confusion.
Some even ducked under tables in a panic.
But Makarov calmly leapt down from the second floor and raised his voice, "Why are you all panicking? This time, we did something good, we didn't cause any trouble."
Everyone suddenly blinked, then shouted in unison:
"Ah!"
"That's right!"
"This time it wasn't our fault!"
Although the newly formed Magic Council had only just begun operations, it would be surprising if they hadn't noticed something as major as the entire city of Magnolia vanishing for three whole days.
No officials had come yesterday, so the fact that they only showed up now to investigate was already a bit delayed.
With a situation this massive, even the royal family of the Kingdom of Fiore might take interest.
Still, since it didn't look like the Council was here to crack down on them, everyone relaxed and returned to what they were doing. After all, the Guild Master was the one who had to deal with these matters anyway.
A large number of Council representatives had arrived, but most had dispersed throughout the town to speak with residents. Only a small group remained outside the guild hall, standing at the entrance without stepping inside.
The ones who did enter were familiar faces: Lahar and his two subordinates.
Lahar greeted Makarov with polite formality. "It's been a while, Master Makarov."
"Hello," Makarov responded with a hearty chuckle. Since Lahar had never been particularly antagonistic, Makarov didn't feel the need to be cautious. "You're here about Magnolia's sudden disappearance, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's part of it," Lahar replied, but then quickly shifted topics. "However, there's another matter we need to address first."
Makarov's smile froze. Guilt immediately bubbled to the surface.
Sure, nothing had gone wrong during the three days of the city's disappearance, but before that?
A lot had happened.
And it had all been so sudden that he hadn't even finished drafting his apology letter yet.
"Pardon me," Lahar added with a slight bow, turning his gaze toward Rhodes and Mira. "This concerns Mr. Rhodes and Ms. Mirajane."
"What?!" Makarov clutched his chest in alarm.
Rhodes wasn't someone who caused problems often, but when he did, it was always something major.
Where was his medicine again? Where did he leave it?