"Thank you." Rhode expressed gratitude for Mira's kindness, "I now understand why Laki said no one has seen Mystogan's true face."
Mira was still a bit worried and followed his lead, saying, "Yes, he's always so mysterious; maybe he has his own reasons."
"Huh, even Erza fell for it?" Rhode noticed the whole guild was in chaos, "Does this mean Mystogan is much stronger than Erza?"
"No, strength can't be compared that simply," Mira said,
"If it were a direct fight, Erza would have ways to defend against this sleep magic. You can't determine such things without a serious battle."
"Is that so." Rhode nodded.
Miss Mira... claims she's not good at fighting, but whenever she talks about battles, she can explain things perfectly.
Is it because she understands her companions well? Or has she watched a lot of fights?
Many others in the guild were also talking about Mystogan, some found it inconsequential and went about their business.
Others felt proud to have such a powerful mage in the guild and wore expressions of admiration.
Some felt annoyed and shouted that they'd beat him up sooner or later.
The way Fairy Tail Guild members interact is basically like this, freely expressing their personalities while accepting others' approaches.
If acceptance fails, they resolve conflicts with a fight, and if that's unsuccessful, they find opportunities to fight again.
After fighting, they're still family.
As Mira said, likes and dislikes can be expressed directly.
"Alright, I now hate Mystogan, I'll thrash him thoroughly in the future," Rhode said.
Lines like this fit the guild's style, although the difficulty of achieving it is somewhat high.
"Well... you'll need to work hard for that," Mira laughed, "And about the phrase 'thoroughly thrash'..."
"Used incorrectly, right?" Rhode answered quickly, "My magic is definitely for group brawls, there'll surely be more than 'thoroughly thrash' involved when I beat him."
Mira showed a helpless expression.
...
"Alright! Mystogan has his reasons for doing this, he will explain to you all later. And then..."
Makarov spoke up to stop the guild's commotion and discreetly kept an eye on Rhode.
Seeing Mira was talking to him, the president relaxed and angrily shouted, "Gray!"
"Yes!" The named Gray instinctively stood straight.
"Good job, you got me nagged by the evaluators again!"
"S-sorry!" Gray shifted his gaze, not daring to look at the president, looking guilty like a thief.
At this moment, Natsu, who unsuccessfully chased after Mystogan, returned to the guild angrily.
But upon seeing Gray's look, he immediately burst into laughter, laughing so hard others could almost see the flames in his throat:
"Ahahaha! Gray, you're getting scolded again!"
"Tch..." Gray gritted his teeth, "That bastard Natsu..."
Rather than being scolded by the president, he was more annoyed at being mocked by Natsu.
"You too, Natsu!" However, Makarov began shouting at Natsu as well,
"Why did a wild boar capture mission end with you burning several acres of farmland! You even dried up the water in the rice fields!"
Natsu and Gray stood side by side, sweating profusely.
"Damn it! Your destruction of the farmland is almost worse than the boar's itself!"
The president scolded the two for several minutes, angry enough to enlarge his head with magic, roaring with a mouth almost big enough to swallow the two of them next to their ears.
Natsu and Gray were almost blown away.
But despite the prolonged scolding, not a word was mentioned about changing their bad habits, nor was there any substantial punishment.
After venting his anger, the president went back to continue writing his reflection report.
The damages to the farmland that Natsu caused were compensated on the spot with their rewards, so there wasn't much to worry about.
Gray apologized to the client with considerable sincerity, of course, the promise of 'never doing it again' could be ignored.
Next time there's a mission to escort ladies, it's best not to assign it to Gray.
Makarov spotted a handsome guy chatting with two beauties on the stairs—also not to be assigned to Loki.
That guy last time made a move on an actress from the entertainment company that issued the commission, leading to complaints.
Makarov sighed, "None of them give me peace of mind..."
However, seeing the kids so noisy, rowdy, and full of energy, he couldn't help feeling happy.
It's a blissful trouble.
Mira timely brought up some tea and snacks, giving Makarov some comfort.
He cheekily said, "It'd be better if the tea was replaced with alcohol."
"No way, president," Mira put her hands on her hips, "You drank a lot yesterday, you can't indulge again today, you should watch yourself!"
"Alright..." Makarov said listlessly.
He himself is also someone who doesn't give peace of mind.
...
"The magazine, of course, has it."
During the afternoon break, Laki faced Rhode's question and pulled out a book from behind the counter.
"Weekly 'Sorashara', currently the most popular mage magazine, this one's from a few weeks ago, I forgot to take it home."
Rhode took it to look, the cover featured three handsome guys, one of whom was the Mr. Hibiki who had loaded the language pack for him.
The other two had their own charms, but the pose the three struck together reminded him of the Rocket Team.
"Are they all mages from Blue Pegasus?" Rhode asked.
Laki nodded, "Yes, this issue's theme is Blue Pegasus, a guild full of handsome guys."
Rhode had reason to suspect Laki left it here because she wanted to look at the handsome guys rather than forgetting it.
Opening the magazine, the first page was Hibiki's portrait, accompanied by information like his age, magic, interests, marriage status, etc.
Following behind were two others from the same guild and team, formatted similarly.
"Holy Night" Ive, "Hundred Nights" Hibiki, "Sky Night" Ren, the three together formed the signature team of Blue Pegasus, Tri Men's.
The later interview section also mentioned they had a powerful mage as their captain and guide.
All three said he was a very manly mage, a brother and teacher they admired.
That was the man referred to as Blue Pegasus' strongest, One Night Wandrey Shou.
Unfortunately, Mr. Yiye learned the magazine had limited space, so to accommodate his juniors, he specifically gave the appearance opportunity to the three team members, which was touching.
"He's a good person." Rhode continued turning pages.
Immediately following was an obvious advertisement page, the main recommended product in this issue was the 'Magic Mosquito Repellent'—a light spray keeps mosquito bites away.
Just from the description in the ad, the effect seemed much better than incense or mosquito repellent sprays.
The business even spent extra money to add special effects.
Because Rhode lingered on the ad page long enough, the magazine emitted light, projecting a 3D image in mid-air showcasing the magic potion usage method.
Along with professional voiceover and quality advertising language, even Rhode felt tempted to buy a bottle despite being broke.