Chapter 438: Autumn Arrives

Chapter 438: Autumn Arrives

"Mystogan..."

As soon as he returned, Rod saw Erza inquiring about Mystogan with the Guild Master.

Mira was also listening quietly on the side. After all, having witnessed a face identical to Gerald's, it was impossible not to be curious.

Rod approached and asked in a low voice, "Do you think Gerald might have a twin brother?"

"Nothing of the sort," Makarov thought for a moment, feeling there was no need to hide this from the three of them. "But to avoid trouble, don't tell anyone else."

He gave Mira a meaningful look.

This time, when he said not to tell anyone else, it was a serious request.

Mira pouted, knowing the difference between gossip and what should be kept private.

Makarov asked, "Rod, did you hear about Edolas from Babaya Grandma?"

Rod nodded and replied, "Hmm... Ah, she mentioned parallel worlds, and that one could find people with the same names as in this world over there."

Erza guessed, "So, Mystogan is..."

Makarov nodded, confirming her speculation, "That's right. He's Gerald from that world, almost identical in appearance. It's understandable that you couldn't tell them apart.

He came here seven years ago and met Wendy around that time, which you all might remember.

Aside from his name and appearance, Mystogan has nothing to do with Gerald. As for what he was like before, he didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't press him."

"I see, I understand," Erza nodded and left the counter.

"Erza, we..."

Lucy came rushing in with a mission request, eager to team up with Erza, but Erza seemed to ignore her as if she hadn't seen her.

Lucy asked curiously, "What's wrong with Erza?"

Mira replied, "Nothing, she's just a bit down."

"Oh," Lucy's enthusiasm dampened slightly, and she subconsciously attributed it to the matter with Laxus, so she didn't ask further.

Mira asked, "Are you going out to work so soon?"

"Yeah, I want to start earning rent early, but I guess I'll wait a bit longer," Lucy said dejectedly. "Natsu and Gray are also feeling down, and even Happy looks sad."

Lucy was affected too, but like Rod, she hadn't interacted with Laxus much, so she couldn't feel as down as Natsu and Gray.

Mira nodded, feeling the same way. "It's good to take a little rest. The festival isn't over yet, so enjoy it while it lasts. Plus, the results of the Miss Fairy Tail contest will be out soon, and Lucy might even win a prize."

Speaking of the contest, Lucy felt like crying, "Impossible! I didn't even get to perform."

She felt like she'd had a streak of bad luck these past few days.

Like not getting to perform in the contest, getting caught up in her companions' fight from a distance, or arriving at the end of a line to find that the item she wanted was sold out...

It seemed like nothing had gone right for her these past few days, let alone the contest.

"That's right!" Rod finally remembered, "Marcus seems to be counting the votes. I'll go take a look."

In the shop at the guild entrance, there was a voting box. Marcus reached into it and pulled out a handful of votes, reading out the names one by one before dropping them into another box.

"Erza, Mirajane, Mirajane, Erza, Lucy, Juvia..."

Laxus held a pen and notepad, meticulously recording everyone's votes.

Rod listened for a while; almost everyone's name was called, but Reby seemed to have the fewest votes.

In comparison, Lucy fared slightly better, with her name mentioned more frequently than Bisca's.

He sneaked a glance at Laxus's notepad and saw that the vote counts for Mirajane and Erza far exceeded those of the others.

Unless something unexpected happened, the champion would likely be one of these two.

Lucy kept saying she had no hope, but after finishing a cup of tea, she still came to check the votes.

"How is it?"

"Congratulations, you have a chance to compete with Juvia for third place."

Lucy's face lit up with joy, but it quickly fell, "What's there to congratulate about third place..."

"Even without a prize, it's a recognition from everyone," Rod consoled her. "And you're in third place even without completing your performance. With some effort next year, you might even win first place."

"But I need the rent money now..."

"Go complain to Evergreen. It's her fault for interrupting your performance so early."

"Hmm, I think I'll just go home and rest." Lucy hesitantly agreed with her heart racing, feeling a little afraid of the idea.

"Alright, bye. Remember to check if Natsu is in your bed before you sleep."

"Huh? Why would I need to check for that?" Lucy asked, feeling a mix of emotions as she considered what Rod had said.

Although Rod's suggestion made sense, Lucy couldn't help but feel annoyed the more she thought about it.

Where in the world would someone sneak into a girl's bed to sleep?

Now she had to be extra careful when she returned home.

As Lucy left, Rod continued to watch Marcus and the others tally the votes. Seeing that Mira was leading by three votes and Laxus had started making promotional posters, Rod finally left.

Before stepping out, Rod rubbed his face, composed himself, and sighed as he returned to the counter, "Mira, guess who won?"

Mira glanced at him and continued sorting through documents, "Of course, I won."

"How did you know?" Rod took out her compact mirror from her bag and examined his expression, "Is my acting that bad?"

"Your acting is already quite good." Mira smiled, "It's because of that I know it's me who won."

"What kind of logic is that?"

"Because if I won, you'd tease me. If I lost, you'd be smiling and comforting me... Hmph, you might even take advantage of the situation."

"Why are you so smart..." Rod hugged her and whispered in her ear, "And I only need thick skin to take advantage, no need to 'seize the moment'."

"It's not because I'm smart." Mira whispered back, pushing Rod's face away, "Let's get to work, we're going out in a few days."

"Okay." Mentioning this, Rod felt motivated to work.

With a 500,000J bonus, they were one step closer to their dream home. It seemed like he had inadvertently stumbled upon a soft job.

"Sigh..." Rod sighed, "Little rich girl, I'll help you wash your feet tonight?"

Mira gave him a playful glare, and he started rambling incoherently.

He was not getting into that house tonight.

...

The next morning, Rod arrived at Mira's house right on time to freeload a meal.

Today, both siblings were busy in the kitchen, a rare sight. Rod offered to help but was promptly chased out.

"Go read your newspaper, or go play with Worm."

"My cooking skills have improved."

"You still don't need to help. Elfman's size is already big enough; you don't need to take up space in the kitchen."

"Oh, wait a moment." Rod was pushed out by Mira, but he quickly crouched down and leaned his face towards her, "Why do you need to coax me like a child?"

Mira kissed his cheek, finally managing to shoo him away.

Elfman was busy with his own tasks and didn't notice a thing.

Rod sat back on the sofa and picked up yesterday's newspaper.

The headline was about Fairy Tail's magical parade, and below it was a photo of the three members of Team Raijinshuu.

At first glance, Rod thought the civil war had made it into the news as well.

But upon closer inspection, he realized the article was about how Team Raijinshuu, with just three members, had annihilated the dark guild 'Corpse Soul'.

It seemed to be something they did before returning to Magnolia.

The fact that three people could wipe out an entire guild and remain completely unharmed was quite impressive.

Thinking of Evergreen's petrification magic and Freed's spells, it was only natural they could achieve such feats.

As for Bickslow's magic, Rod hadn't witnessed its power firsthand.

He couldn't help but be curious about the power of the five puppets controlled by Bickslow's Spirit Link Magic, rumored to be similar to his Blue Burst, capable of launching mid to long-range magic attacks and even physically crashing into opponents.

The other one could control the bodies of those who made eye contact with him, but the specific effects were unknown.

It was said that Erza's right eye was an artificial eye, and others needed to wear glasses or close their eyes to defend against it.

(Artificial eyes are immune to eye-based magic, so Erza has a 50% resistance to such magic.) Rod felt he should buy a pair of clear glasses. When going out, he could wear them to avoid being caught off guard by eye-based magic without having to fumble for sunglasses.

He should also get a pair for Mira—she looked good in glasses too.

Mira waved her hand in front of Rod's eyes, "Let's eat; what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking of you." Rod was honest.

Mira's face flushed slightly. Although their wedding was approaching, unexpected sweet nothings always made her heart flutter.

"You're such a smooth talker so early in the morning." Mira snatched his newspaper, folded it neatly, and put it away. This guy was saying such things without considering the situation; her younger brother was right there.

Elfman silently placed a bowl on the table, pretending to be invisible.

"Why is breakfast so lavish today?" Rod wondered, noticing the meal was almost double the usual portion.

It couldn't be just for Worm.

"The extra food is for the Thunder God's crowd," Elfman explained. "I cooked for them yesterday, and they seemed to like it. Plus, they might be short on money recently, so..."

"Oh, it's good to take care of them too."

As long as they were willing to change, they were still good comrades.

Rod decided to give them the Ember Crown again today so they could recover quickly and start working to repay their debts.

Mira brought over a lunch box, "In that case, let's pack it for them first, and Elfman can eat with them too."

"Okay..." Elfman thought this arrangement was more appropriate, but he suspected his sister was trying to get rid of him.

Mira smiled as she watched her brother leave with the lunch box, swearing to herself that she didn't mean it.

She had a bold idea in mind.

"Did you know? Elfman has been taking care of Evergreen these past few days."

As Elfman walked away, Mira eagerly hugged Rod's arm, excited to share the gossip.

She had even gossiped about her own brother, and Rod nodded, "Of course I know. After knocking Evergreen down, I asked him to take her back, and he carried her on his shoulders."

Mira wanted to thank him, and even kiss him. Knocking out a beautiful woman and having his brother-in-law carry her back—what a model brother-in-law!

Although Rod and Elfman probably didn't have such intentions at the time, but with this kind of caring for the injured, as time goes on...

It's easy to get yourself involved.

Mira slapped Rod and picked up her chopsticks to start eating.

Suddenly, she hit him for no reason.

Rod picked up his chopsticks and beat her to the food she wanted to pick up.

Once, Mira thought it was a coincidence. Twice, she could still consider it a coincidence. But the third time... she was about to lose her temper.

Rod quickly brought the food he had picked up to Mira's mouth, "Ah..."

Mira took a bite, glaring at him angrily.

Rod thought for a moment and decided to bring the conversation back to a topic that interested Mira, "You're not thinking that Elfman and Evergreen will..."

"Yes, yes!" Mira exclaimed, forgetting her anger. She cupped her face, lost in a beautiful fantasy, "I think they're quite well-matched. Elfman is so capable..."

Elfman... capable... that didn't seem wrong.

Although he might seem a bit simple-minded, Elfman was actually very caring. He had a tough exterior but a gentle heart, great strength, and was a master of household chores...

In a way, Elfman might make a better husband than Rod.

At least his cooking was better.

Rod suggested, "Let's tease Evergreen later?"

"Why?"

"Then we can get Elfman to stand up for her."

"Great idea!" Mira smiled in agreement.

But after a moment's thought, she asked, "Did you ever have such a mischievous idea to use against me?"

"..." Women are so fickle. She just called it a great idea, and now it's a bad idea.

Rod vehemently denied it, "Absolutely not. Besides, who in the guild would dare to bully you?"

"That's hard to say. I was so weak back then, and if I was bullied, I'd need you to protect me."

Rod refused to explain, holding Mira's face and kissing her lips passionately. His gaze was intense as he said, "Whether you're strong or weak, I'll always protect you, now and forever."

Foul play.

Mira's eyes sparkled with emotion, and she tried to turn her head away from Rod's gaze, complaining, "You're disgusting. You're doing this right after we finished eating..."

"Oh, then let's get even more disgusting."

Mira laughed and dodged him, "No, go away!"

"I won't!"

The couple played around at home for a while before heading out to work.

The day's weather was gloomy, but it didn't feel stuffy.

As they entered the guild, the rain started outside. It wasn't heavy, but the wind made it feel chilly.

The Harvest Festival was an autumn celebration, and Rod only now realized that autumn had arrived again.

Edolas is easily mistaken for Azeroth, so let's stick with Edoras from now on.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end