Chapter 24: A Surprise in the Magazine
Chapter 24: A Surprise in the Magazine
"More of these ads? They’re so annoying."
Laki’s attitude toward these ads was similar to Rod’s past feelings about app splash screens—interesting at first, but quickly becoming bothersome.
She said mysteriously, "Flip a few more pages, and you’ll find a surprise~"
"A surprise?" Rod did as she suggested and flipped through the pages. Behind the ads was the news section, which was what he had been looking for.
"Ryder Entertainment’s Top Actress’s Boyfriend Exposed"
The "exposure" was just a photo of two people’s backs. Rod didn’t recognize the top actress, but the rumored boyfriend looked a lot like one of the handsome guys in the guild.
"Council Decides to Increase Crackdown on Dark Guilds"
It seemed like an official article, but it had nothing to do with Rod. He had already asked around, and Fairy Tail was definitely not a dark guild.
"Fairy Tail Mages Annihilate the Bandit Gang on Bandit Mountain"
The headline was normal, but the content mentioned something about "the bandits being extremely vicious, leading to a fierce battle that turned the mountain’s pine forest into ashes."
Laki said this was a few weeks old magazine, and Rod didn’t even bother guessing who was responsible.
After flipping past the news section, Rod finally saw the surprise Laki had mentioned.
"Th-th-this... This isn’t..."
Wasn’t this Mira? That unmistakable white hair, styled the same way as now, with her bangs tied into a bundle on top of her head.
Her smile was different from what he usually saw, with a touch of allure.
The real surprise was that Mira was wearing a sea-blue swimsuit, standing naturally on a beach, with one hand casually flicking her hair.
The top part of the swimsuit was minimal, leaving Rod unsure if it was even a bra.
Even when he tried to look away from the most captivating part, his gaze was drawn to her smooth shoulders and delicate collarbone.
The bottom was a high-slit long skirt, or perhaps just a large piece of fabric loosely tied around her waist, showcasing a figure that many girls would envy.
Mira’s right leg was completely covered by the skirt, while her left leg was exposed through the slit.
—Rod learned for the first time that Mira’s guild mark was white and placed on the side of her left thigh.
"Isn’t she beautiful? Are you mesmerized?"
"Um... um?" Rod nodded instinctively, then shook his head, feeling it wasn’t right.
But it still felt wrong to say Mira wasn’t beautiful. It was too much of a lie.
"Really?" Laki looked disappointed, "I have a year’s worth of Weekly Sorcerer, and over twenty issues feature Mira’s photoshoots... Don’t you want to see them, Rod?"
"No..." Shame drove Rod to say no, but he felt like he would regret it.
He looked conflicted, "I just wanted to learn more about this place, so I asked to borrow the magazine. Now, it feels weird whether I borrow it or not!"
"Ha ha ha..." Laki couldn’t help but laugh, holding her waist and leaning on the counter, "Just like Cana said, Rod’s reactions are so amusing!"
Unlike Natsu, who was completely clueless, and unlike Macao and Wakaba, who were shameless perverts, only Rod, who understood but was still shy, was fun to tease.
"Cana..." Rod remembered the alcoholic ‘bad woman’...
Even though Mira said she was a good person, Rod wanted to note her down in his little notebook.
Laki laughed for a while, and just as Rod was about to flee, she finally stopped:
"Mira started receiving invitations to be a special model for Sorcerer last year. Her first photoshoot was a huge hit."
“Mira has been on the cover more times than them.” Laki pointed to the cover of the boy band.
“Right now, she’s probably the best cover model among all the mages in Fiore, and she’s also our guild’s poster girl.”
So, she’s the poster girl…
Rod felt he finally understood Mira’s position. “Mira is really impressive.”
Fairy Tail truly had its share of hidden dragons and tigers. The S-Class Mages were incredibly powerful, and even those who weren’t fighters, like Mira, were famous in other fields.
It seemed that Fairy Tail’s reputation as one of the most famous guilds in the country wasn’t just based on their knack for causing trouble.
…
Although he was teased a bit, Rod eventually managed to borrow the magazine.
The weekly Sorcella cost 300J per issue, which was roughly equivalent to two of the cheapest beers. If it came out weekly, Rod could afford to buy it.
However, buying back issues would be a bit of a hassle, so borrowing from someone else and then buying future issues seemed like a better plan.
Laki had already agreed to bring the magazines over tomorrow, saying that they were just taking up space and that she could use the extra room for more collectibles.
She seemed to have a grudge against the magazine.
Sorcella claimed to introduce the latest high-quality magical items, but Laki’s favorite category—torture devices—had never appeared in it.
“Yeah, that’s outrageous, it’s clearly false advertising.” In gratitude for her lending him the magazine, Rod decided to agree with her.
“Exactly, false advertising.” With Rod’s ‘support,’ Laki was convinced it was the publisher’s fault. She clenched her fist, “I’m going to file a complaint in this week’s opinion survey!”
Rod looked at her serious expression and wondered if he had said the wrong thing.
“Um… maybe you should be a bit more firm about it?”
“Firm?” Laki thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously, “Right, firm. I need to make them understand my stance!”
Rod: …
Did I say something wrong again?
“Well, it was just a one-time invitation, and I tried it out. Later, it became hard to refuse.”
Mira herself wasn’t particularly interested in modeling, but she didn’t have any objections either.
After all, last year, she and Elfman lost their younger sister, and for a considerable time, both of them were immersed in grief.
They almost couldn’t do any mage work at all.
If it weren’t for the income from photo shoots and some savings, the siblings might have ended up in debt like Rod.
Because of this, even though she didn’t need the income as much now, Mira didn’t want to turn down the magazine’s invitations.
“Putting that aside, how’s your training going, Rod?”
“It’s going well. I think I can try summoning a new minion in a few days.”
“Minion?”
Rod nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I call my summoned creatures.”
Does Piltover count as a minion? But it’s close enough.
“Why don’t you try a real battle?”
“A real battle? With who?”
“Well…” Mira tapped her chin, “You know there are a lot of hot-headed people in the guild. You can pick anyone, but for your first time, why not choose someone you really can’t stand?”
Given Mira’s mischievous nature, Rod suspected she was stirring up trouble.
But it didn’t matter. Training alone wasn’t always the best approach. He pointed to a handsome man in the bar, “The one I can’t stand the most? That’s him! Loki!”
“Huh?” Loki, who had just been fed a sip of alcohol by a beauty, looked up in confusion.
Mira’s photo shoot… you’ll have to find it yourself. Putting it in here wouldn’t pass the review.
(End of Chapter)
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