Chapter 100: The Gentle Neighbor Lady Used to Be a Delinquent?
Chapter 100: The Gentle Neighbor Lady Used to Be a Delinquent?
"Good morning, Goodman... And who is this?"
Rod descended the stairs to see a lady bustling about with Goodman.
"Good morning, this is my wife, Mollie," Goodman introduced her first, then turned to Rod, "This is the Rod I told you about, the one renting the second floor."
"Mr. Rod, it's a pleasure to meet you. My husband has mentioned that you're a formidable mage."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mollie. Goodman has also spoken highly of his kind and beautiful wife, but you surpass his descriptions by far."
Mollie glanced at Goodman, blushing slightly, "You flatter me too much."
Goodman gave her a thumbs-up behind her back before continuing, "She's here to help out since things might get busy in the next few days. We can also go to the festival together later."
Rod said enviously, "You two have a great relationship."
The couple, who had been married long enough to have children running around, blushed at Rod's comment.
After bidding farewell to the affectionate couple, Rod headed to the guild.
On his way, he encountered two mages fighting and overturning a street vendor's stall.
He was about to step in, but the vendor himself grabbed the two and scolded them, making them apologize and pay for the damages. Once forgiven, they resumed their fight in the middle of the road.
Rod checked the emblems on their robes—sure enough, they were from Fairy Tail.
He pulled up his sleeve to hide his own emblem and casually walked past them, not wanting to get involved with people he didn't know well.
The guild was a bit quieter today, as Natsu still lacked the energy to cause a ruckus.
Happy, looking carefree, finished his fish and then went for Natsu's regular food.
Rod ruffled Natsu's pink hair, finding it quite pleasant to the touch. "Why does Natsu seem even worse today? Did he not rest well last night?"
Natsu, barely mustering any energy, grumbled, "I won't forgive you, Rod..."
"Huh? What do you mean, won't forgive me? I thought you couldn't forgive Laxus?"
"Love! Because Rod entrusted Natsu to Erza last night," Happy said, munching on Natsu's breakfast with relish.
"Ha... ha..." Rod laughed nervously, "Erza, when she's serious, should be able to take care of people, right?"
"Love! Erza saw that Natsu was in pain and felt sorry for him, so she knocked him out," Happy added, "Five times."
"Sorry, it's my fault!" Rod realized he had underestimated Erza's eccentricity.
He thought she would just play around with her armor and bandages, but she went much further.
He couldn't imagine what would happen if Erza ever became a mother. If her child fell and didn't get up, she might just draw her sword and say:
"Can't get up? Looks like your leg is broken. Bear with it, I'll amputate it for you. If you're afraid of the pain, I can knock you out first."
Ew...
Rod shuddered, deciding that Mira was much better.
Laki called from the counter, "Rod, come over here! Mira has something to show you!"
Mira showed Rod a photo album and a sketchbook.
"Already found it?" Rod asked, eagerly watching as she flipped through the sketchbook.
Page by page, the guild's appearance from a few years ago was revealed to Rod.
Worm was getting anxious, circling around Rod's feet.
With its growing size, its jumping ability had diminished, and it now struggled to even get onto a stool.
Rod picked it up so it could see as well.
"Wow, this is from a few years ago?"
Mirajane thought for a moment. "About four or five years? This painting was made when Natsu found Happy's egg and insisted it was a dragon egg. Laxus drew it at that time."
Rod examined the painting closely. "So the dragon is Happy? The color matches, at least."
Laki pointed at Natsu. "Natsu's scarf has always been the same one."
Mirajane explained, "It was given to him by his adoptive father, so it's very important to him."
Rod moved past the slightly sad topic. "Gray has always had a thing for taking off his clothes, and Erza has always worn armor, even as a kid."
Laki said, "Erza was so cute back then."
Rod asked, "Laki, when did you join the guild? You never saw Erza when she was little?"
"About two and a half years ago. By then, Erza was already pretty much the same as she is now," Laki said, a bit regretfully.
After a pause, Laki added, "Looking at this painting, Makarov looked pretty handsome back then. Did Laxus get paid to make him look good?"
Mirajane laughed. "No, Makarov was really like that when he was young."
"Master hasn't changed much, though," Laki nudged Rod with her elbow. "Hey, you've been looking at this for so long. You didn't recognize which one is Mirajane, did you?"
"Ah, no, I did. It's just that her aura is so different from now, I had trouble believing it."
Rod asked, "Mirajane, did you and Laxus not get along back then?"
"No, Laxus was a good artist. Everyone except Happy looks exactly the same."
Mirajane looked at herself in the painting. "So, how do you feel? Shocked?"
Rod shook his head. "Not really shocked. It's just another kind of cute, but different from what I imagined."
The gentle, sweet sister I like used to be a delinquent?
It's starting to sound like a yaoi story.
Mirajane flipped through the sketchbook and photo album, explaining the stories behind each drawing.
She occasionally glanced at Rod's reaction when she came across her own past photos.
Rod felt a bit mixed. He realized he didn't know Mirajane as well as he thought.
He tried to remember these seemingly trivial details, not just for Mirajane but also to share in the interesting memories everyone had.
Erza noticed them at some point and joined in to look through the album.
"There were so many things that happened. It's a bit nostalgic."
Erza was looking at a picture where she stood in the middle, with Natsu and Gray pouting and looking away from each other.
They looked like they didn't want to be in the same photo but were too afraid to disobey Erza.
"Why did you even keep a drawing of that?" Gray immediately noticed a picture of himself with a big bump on his head.
Mirajane said, "Because they're precious memories, and they're so funny."
"Right, right!" Erza crossed her arms and nodded earnestly.
Only Gray didn't want to relive those memories.
"Even Laxus was that cute once," Laki found a small, adorable Laxus.
Rod looked at the lively, cute Laxus and asked, "When did he start being like he is now?"
Gray said, "Who knows? Maybe it started after the Master drove his father, Laxus's father, away."
Erza said, "Gray, the Master doesn't want us to talk about that."
Rod patted Gray's shoulder and pointed behind him.
Gray turned around and saw his clothes, then looked down at his large underpants. "When did that happen!?"
(End of Chapter)
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