A gust of wind passed close to the ground, severing the weeds in the yard. The two of them set to work, gathering the cut grass into piles and clearing a space.
Rhode took out the camping pots, utensils, and ingredients, and went out to find some hard firewood. Mira stayed behind to set up the stove and sort the vegetables.
A few minutes later, Mira watched Rhode return. "So quick?"
"The neighbor had some leftover dry firewood, enough for us to use." The neighbors didn't seem like they were coming back, so Rhode didn't bother to look far.
He put down the firewood and went to the river to fetch water per Mira's direction, then returned to start the fire.
A wisp of cooking smoke rose in this cold and desolate little village, soon followed by the fragrance of food.
At this moment, Mira was wearing an apron, with a headscarf wrapped around her and holding a long-handled spoon, looking the part of a stereotypical housewife.
Before the stew in the pot was ready, Rhode hugged Mira's waist from behind, playfully insisting to have a taste first.
Unable to resist Rhode's teasing, she stirred the pot with the spoon and brought out a small half spoonful to blow on, lifting it to shoulder height.
Rhode craned over her shoulder to taste it, savoring it with delight, "Delicious! Why haven't I seen you make this before?"
"Because this is a dish Mom often cooked for us when we were kids." Mira nostalgically took a taste herself and commented, "Even though the ingredients now are much better, neither I nor Elfman's cooking can ever match Mom's."
She didn't mention Lisana because Lisana's cooking skills were not as good as Elfman's.
Rhode thought that Mira's cooking might not necessarily be inferior to her mother's, but that wasn't the important thing now. He just hugged his wife a bit tighter.
"It's okay. Missing Mom for me has long been happiness rather than sadness." Mira patted his hand, indicating he could let go. "Let's eat, remember to finish it all."
Rhode readily agreed, "Leave it to me."
The two sat down facing the fire, enjoying this special dinner today.
Thunk!
Suddenly, there was a soft thud at the door, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Then, an old voice rang out, "Mi... Mirajane... is that a child from the Strauss family?"
Mira looked up, carefully discerning the old woman's face at the door, "Is that... Granny An?"
The Granny An Mira spoke of was a seventy-something old woman, her silver hair tied into a bun on top of her head, with a stray lock hanging by her ear, giving her a somewhat disheveled appearance.
She hunched over but didn't use a cane, wearing a half-worn cotton jacket, and at her feet lay a rusty sickle—it was probably what had fallen to the ground just now.
Mira put down her bowl and chopsticks and walked over quickly to support her, "Granny An, you..."
Granny An looked up, carefully examining Mira's features, "It really is you; you've come back."
She then turned to look at Rhode, "Your brother has grown taller, and his hair is also..."
Granny An got momentarily stuck; the child had become much more handsome, his hair... had it been dyed?
Mira smiled and introduced, "He's not Elfman, he's my husband, Rhode. Rhode, this is Granny An, who used to occasionally check on us when no one else was around."
Rhode quickly said, "Hello, Granny An, thank you for looking after my wife's family."
In this village, not joining others in throwing insults and stones already counted as care.
"You're married now; well, it's been over a decade. Good, good..." Granny An looked Rhode over carefully, "Seems like you've found a good man. That's great."
Mira glanced at Rhode with a gentle smile before asking, "Granny An, why are you here alone?"
"I'm the only one left in the village. I saw smoke coming from this direction just now, worried it might be a fire, or bad people, so..." Granny An smiled warmly, "I didn't expect it to be you."
That's why she brought the sickle with her.
Rhode supported the old lady from the other side, "Come inside and sit, and have dinner with us."
"Yes, come inside and sit." Mira and Rhode both helped the old woman sit by the fire and served her food.
Unable to refuse, Granny An took a bite and praised, "It seems Mirajane has become an excellent wife, even better at cooking than Pauline."
Mira chuckled softly, "That's not true; I'm still far behind."
Pauline was Mira's mother.
In Mira's telling, she was a perfectly capable woman with top-notch culinary skills, household abilities, and enough grit to make a burglar who broke into their home cry.
She's also the standard Mira has been striving to reach.
Yet in Rhode's eyes, Mira had already achieved it; the only gap between her and her mother was three children.
The three of them sat together, eating happily. Granny An talked a lot about the past, praising the three Strauss siblings affectionately.
Mira talked at length about her life after leaving the village, modestly praising Rhode to the skies when mentioning him.
Rhode listened with a cheerful smile, finding the conversation delightful.
Eventually, the conversation turned to the village's current state, which Mira was keen to understand.
"After you left, the village returned to a peaceful state. Not implying you three... I mean, nothing particularly special happened."
Mira smiled, signaling she didn't misunderstand and encouraged her to continue.
Granny An slipped into reminiscence, describing slowly, "Actually, after you left, people started moving away gradually. Then about six or seven years later, strange things began happening in the village.
"At first, the dogs would bark incessantly every midnight. People thought there was a thief in the village, but for half a month, nobody got caught, and nothing was stolen.
"Then the chickens and ducks started waking up and squawking at night. People organized patrols, but it was to no avail.
"Later, everyone discovered that all the dogs were barking in the same direction—toward the church."
At this point, Granny An glanced at Mira.
Mira raised her hand, opening and closing it a few times, asking, "That church?"
Granny An nodded, and now Rhode knew which church they were talking about.
"No one dared to go over there, but letting it carry on like that wasn't a solution, so over twenty young men took weapons and went to check twice.
"The first time was during the day. They said the church was the same as always, nothing happened. The second time, they went when the dogs started barking, but... three of them never returned."
Rhode frowned; the timing six to seven years after Mira left was very intriguing.
Because if it were six years, it was the year X784, when everyone was still around; if it were seven, it would have been X785, when they were still sealed on Celestial Wolf Island.
He recalled all the news he had crammed and found no related mention.
Rhode was confident that if Mirajane's hometown had ever appeared in the newspapers, he would have remembered it and definitely shared it with Mira.