Chapter 41: The Unlucky Guild Master
Chapter 41: The Unlucky Guild Master
"Welcome!"
The girl at the entrance of the pastry shop was quite pretty.
Rod's evaluation: not as good as Mira.
"Would you like to sit here?"
Another cute waitress led them to a table.
Rod's evaluation: still not as good as Mira.
As they passed the cash register, the cashier smiled warmly.
Rod's evaluation: not as good as Mira...
Sigh, he needed to calm down.
Perhaps it was due to the grand opening, but the pastry shop was doing great business. After Rod and Mira sat down, there were no more empty seats left. Most of the customers were groups of girls, with a few couples scattered around. Soft music played in the background, creating a pleasant atmosphere.
"Ice coffee, hazelnut cookies, and blueberry mousse cake..." Mira ordered two desserts and then looked troubled.
Rod asked, "What's wrong?"
"I want to try the cream puffs too," Mira pinched her waist, which had no extra fat, "but I'm worried about gaining weight."
"Even mages have such concerns?" Rod thought for a moment, "How about I order them and we can share?"
"Good idea!" Mira's eyes lit up, "That way, you won't take up the portion you want to eat..."
"I know you like to try different flavors and don't worry about your figure. We can order a few more varieties."
Desserts, after all, are just food.
Rod felt that with his daily exercise, he didn't need to worry about calories.
The waitress who took their order glanced at Mira enviously and quickly wrote down their choices. "Please wait a moment."
"The atmosphere here is really nice, no wonder it's so popular."
Mira took off her sun hat and placed it to the side, smoothing her bangs and putting her hair tie back on, restoring her usual hairstyle.
Her bangs down actually looked pretty good too.
"Yeah, it's much quieter than the guild," Rod said, his gaze sweeping over the whispering couples and groups of friends.
"It feels perfect for afternoon tea or dates."
Mira's passive gossip attribute kicked in: "Oh, does Rod often bring girls to places like this for dates?"
"I'm not Loki," Rod answered firmly and decisively.
"In the past, I didn't have any close female friends, so I never went to places like pastry shops or cafes."
Before college, he was too afraid to date, and after college, he spent all his time with his buddies.
Cafes? No.
Internet cafes? Yes.
Mira blinked, "Why do I suddenly feel a bit sorry for you?"
"Hey..."
Mira laughed, "No wonder you couldn't even look at Cana straight at first."
"Please forget about that," Rod said, now used to it. Now, he could not only look at her but even fight with her.
Even though he couldn't win.
"Here are your desserts, please enjoy." The waitress brought over two ice coffees and a selection of beautifully presented desserts.
"Ah, the cream puffs look more delicate than I imagined. Let's try this one first."
Mira reached for her fork, but Rod moved the plate away. "No."
"Eh? Why?"
"I'm not happy about being teased."
Mira laughed, clasping her hands together and winking with her left eye, "How about if I apologize?"
"Alright, I forgive you." Rod nodded calmly, pushing the plate back and looking out the window.
She was too good at flirting; he needed to look elsewhere to calm down.
Then...
Rod saw something familiar: "Stone statue? Mini mountain?"
"What?" Mira had a small piece of dessert on her fork, which she hadn't yet put in her mouth.
She followed Rod's gaze and saw a pile of luggage and a petrified Erza.
Mira put down her fork. "Erza?"
Rod nodded. "Seems like she couldn't find a seat, so the staff wouldn't let her in."
Mira thought for a moment. "Should we invite her in? We can squeeze a bit."
Of course, he didn't want to, but Erza did look pitiful. Her luggage cart made it clear she had just finished a mission and hadn't even gone home yet.
They were all comrades.
Rod sighed inwardly. "I'll go get her."
"Hold on." Mira stopped him.
"What's the matter?"
Mira covered her mouth and chuckled. "I want to watch a bit longer. Erza looks so cute like this."
Sneaky.
So, Rod took a couple more glances. The usually authoritative Erza looked quite endearing, almost charming in her vulnerability over such a small matter.
The demon of the dessert shop finally invited the queen of the fairies inside.
Rod reminded her that there weren't any extra chairs, but Erza quickly pulled one out from her mountain-like luggage. It wasn't a regular folding chair; the designs and inscriptions on it suggested it was more of a souvenir.
Clearly, she was desperate for some dessert.
Rod and Mira remained seated across from each other, while Erza sat to the side and called over a server to place her order.
Strawberry cake, strawberry pudding, strawberry milkshake... She ordered over a dozen items, all strawberry-flavored.
Her preferences were quite obvious.
The server quickly noted down the order and left, giving Rod a disapproving look as she went.
This lady was overestimating herself; who would dare to mess with Erza?
Mira was already chatting with Erza. "Did the mission go smoothly? You're back earlier than expected."
"Yep!" Erza clenched her fist and raised her arm, her eyes full of anticipation. "I've been looking forward to this place for a long time."
Mira said, "As expected of Erza... But is it really okay to return early when it involves the Council? Won't the Master get in trouble?"
"Well, this... this..." Erza looked a bit uneasy. "I hope the Master doesn't get scolded because of me."
Rod asked curiously, "What kind of mission involves the Council? Is it confidential?"
Erza glanced at Mira. In principle, the details were supposed to be kept secret until confirmed, even among comrades.
But since only the final touches were left, it was up to Mira to decide.
"If Erza's work is done, it's fine. The news will be published in a few days anyway," Mira said. "It was a mission to assist the Council in capturing all members of the dark guild, Tail of the Scorpion."
"The Council has its own enforcement teams, right?" Rod's common sense kicked in.
"True, but the Council is a continent-wide organization, and Fiore only has one branch. The hiding place of the Tail of the Scorpion is quite remote, so it's difficult to mobilize forces quickly. In such cases, the Council usually issues assistance requests to local guild alliances, which then assign the tasks to specific guilds."
"I see, so this mission was given to our guild by the local guild alliance."
Rod deduced, "Is it because our guild has a high reputation in the alliance?"
Erza shook her head. "No, it's because the Master's luck is terrible."
"Huh?"
"The rewards for such missions are usually lower than those for missions of similar difficulty, so as long as they aren't very dangerous, the assignments are decided by a draw among the guild masters."
Erza sighed. "And our Master..."
Mira laughed and finished the sentence. "...often draws the short straw."
Rod: "..."
The Master must be using all his luck to find and bring back S-Class mages.
(End of Chapter)
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