Chapter 210: Natsu? Forest Fire Prevention?
Chapter 210: Natsu? Forest Fire Prevention?
“Truly, it’s Natsu.” Laki felt that Natsu hadn’t caused any major trouble in a long time.
“What a mess.” Roed’s fingers traced the air, and he said, “Please Eat Fire?”
“Oh~~” Natsu opened his mouth and swallowed the flames Roed created, one by one. “Thank you for the treat!”
Roed’s flames tasted ordinary, and they could occasionally be used to stave off hunger, but for a delicious flame dish or food, one still had to spend money to buy it.
“Roed, can you write a fish for us?”
“Sure, but you can’t eat it.” Roed waved his hand, and a fish with scales and fins appeared in mid-air.
Happi, not believing it, bit into it: “So hard! It doesn’t taste good, even though it smells like a fish!”
“It might be too complex. Even Lebi can’t manage something like this.”
Roed had seen Lebi create a butterfly with words, but it only had the colors and patterns of a butterfly and could only be used for decoration.
“Why don’t you go to Worm? It seems to still have some fish left.”
The two cute creatures had a good Relationship, and Happi really did get a small fish from Worm: “Here, Roed, do you want to team up with us?”
Roed politely declined: “Give me a break. I just got back yesterday. This month, I’ve already run two ultra-long-distance missions with Erza and accompanied the Guild Master to a meeting. I haven’t had a proper rest at all.”
Natsu patted Roed’s shoulder and sympathetically comforted him: “You’ve worked hard.”
In Natsu’s view, whether it was teaming up with Erza or accompanying the Guild Master to a meeting, both were extremely exhausting tasks.
Happi seemed to think the same: “Ah~ I’ll have to continue teaming up with Natsu.”
Natsu was dissatisfied: “What kind of tone is that, Happi? Are you complaining about me?”
“But we took on three missions in a week and only earned 10,000 J, with the rest all going to compensation.” Happi said with a pained expression, “If Roed were here, we could have gotten the full amount.”
“Damn it, I’ll show you by getting the full reward again!” Natsu angrily looked at the mission board, determined to choose a suitable mission this time.
Natsu had been thinking a lot about what the Guild Master said to him before the S-Class Exam.
He suddenly felt that if he could earn the full reward more often and avoid causing trouble, he might be able to participate in the S-Class Exam this year.
Successfully protecting Mira’s right to eat lunch quietly, Roed decided to help Natsu screen the missions.
A mission that would allow him to earn the full reward easily would be best if it were far from people, even from human settlements. Better yet, one where Natsu could let loose and cause destruction.
Roed flipped through the materials behind the counter and found an interesting request—mine blasting.
The blasting expert was on sick leave, and the mine urgently needed a blasting specialist to handle the controlled explosions. This seemed quite suitable.
He carefully examined the type of mine—it was a coal mine. Roed silently placed it at the bottom. Forget it.
It would be too expensive. If Natsu set fire to the coal mine, the entire guild might not be able to afford the compensation.
Roed flipped through Again and pulled out a card: “Natsu, there’s a good job here. Are you interested?”
“What is it?” Natsu came over to look.
Forest Ranger
In the dry winter, forest fires are common. A Water Mage (or a Mage with other fire-extinguishing methods) is needed to serve as a forest ranger to prevent forest fires.
Happi also came over to look: “Has Roed gone crazy? If Natsu goes, will it be fire prevention or fire starting?”
To have a Fire Mage serve as a forest ranger, what a brilliant idea.
“Of course, it’s for fire prevention. Whenever a fire is found, just let Natsu eat it, right?” Roed said matter-of-factly.
“With someone supervising him to not randomly spray fire… Happi, you can take charge of that. Plus, you can fly around and patrol. It seems suitable for you.”
Natsu isn’t just any Fire Mage. As long as it’s not a fire he started himself, he can eat it.
Natsu rubbed his chin: "Sounds pretty good, there are forest fires to eat."
No, the ideal situation would be no forest fires at all.
Roe wanted to comment on his thought process but heard Happy say, "But we'd have to stay for more than half a month before the next forest ranger comes to replace us."
"The work period is a bit long, but food and lodging are provided, and there's a river at the foot of the mountain. You can break the ice and go fishing when you're bored."
Roe felt his sales pitch sounded a bit like a black broker enticing minors to work... But this mission was indeed quite good, with a decent pay rate.
And it wouldn't interfere with Natsu's daily training; he could easily do long-distance running with weights in the forest.
Roe had seen Natsu train before—carrying large stones while doing frog jumps, being chased by rolling rocks, and punching boulders bare-handed. It was quite brutal.
Natsu was easily convinced: "Alright, I'll take it!"
"Okay!" Happy was also attracted by the prospect of fishing during work hours.
"I'll take a look." Mira, still a bit worried, quickly finished her lunch.
"Oh, it's this one."
Roe asked, "Is there any problem?"
"Everything is fine, except that the forest is home to some valuable trees, and there are wolf packs nearby at night, so be careful."
Natsu was full of confidence: "Just a few wolf packs, I'll send them flying if they dare to show up!"
"I think the valuable trees are what you should be careful about," Roe reminded him. "Happy, keep an eye on him."
"Okay..." Happy wasn't very confident about this.
If Natsu got excited fighting the wolves, he wasn't sure what he could do.
Mira confirmed that the mission wasn't dangerous for Natsu, stamped the form, and handed it to him: "Good luck."
"Watch me! Let's go, Happy!"
"Okay!"
The two of them set off with renewed energy, as if they hadn't experienced any mission failures.
Everyone has their own life, Roe mused like an old man as he continued flipping through the mission materials.
Mira asked, "What are you still looking for?"
"The same as always."
"But aren't you supposed to rest for a few days?"
"True, but I still need to keep looking. It would be a shame to miss something because of a break."
Mira didn't say anything. Technically, Roe was breaking the rules, but since the Guild Master allowed it, it wasn't a violation.
Mira thought about how much work Roe had helped her with over the past few months. Should she give him a raise?
Would that be considered using her position for personal gain... No, nothing happened, everything is clean. This is the reward for Roe's hard work, not a personal favor.
"By the way, this is for you." Roe took a notebook from his bag.
"A notebook?" Mira took it and opened it. The cover had Roe's name, and inside were piles of mission data, with some pages containing simple sketches.
Giving a girl a used notebook, what does that mean... Could there be something written at the back...
Mira flipped through to the unused part of the notebook and found two flattened flowers.
The petals were pressed flat, some overlapping, and not completely dry yet.
The paper around the petals was slightly wrinkled from absorbing moisture and had taken on a bit of color.
Mira recognized them. One was a wax plum, and the other was a butterfly flower. Both were fairly cold-resistant but not common in the Magnolia area.
She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes shining with surprise.
Although she had a guess, she still asked, "Where did you pick them?"
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
