On the panel that had three tasks listed, two had dimmed out, leaving only one S-class task unfinished.
But something felt odd to Roland.
"How did I complete this one?"
He clearly hadn't accepted any job yet—he'd only crushed Laxus.
While he puzzled over it, a Shadow Ninja slipped to his side without a sound, dropped to one knee, and respectfully offered a small pouch of coins.
"This is…"
Taking the pouch, Roland looked blank.
Don't tell me they stole it?
But he hadn't ordered anyone to steal anything.
"I paid them," Mira said as she set a glass of orange juice in front of him, smiling. "Roland's shadow magic helped a lot."
"And they should get proper rest and something to eat too. In a way it's similar to Celestial Spirit Magic."
No, it's completely different…
He very much wanted to say that even without eating or drinking, his shadow legion could work for a hundred years and never die—but with Mira's gentle smile right there, he swallowed the words.
Say that out loud and he'd sound like a beast who deserves to be strung up on a streetlamp!
Silently pocketing the coins, Roland lifted the chilled orange juice and took a sip. The cool, sweet-tart taste bloomed across his tongue.
"By the way, Mira-nee, does the guild hire any more servers?"
Watching the Shadow Legion hustling around the guild, Roland asked thoughtfully.
He could summon plenty of them, and there was no distance limit. Leaving two or three to pick up shifts for side cash didn't sound bad.
"Eh, Roland wants to work here?" Mira clearly hadn't expected that question; she blinked in surprise.
Setting power aside, just on what he'd shown earlier, he could accept S-class jobs whenever he wanted.
And the minimum for S-class was seven or eight million J—about a year's wages for an ordinary person.
"Right now it's just me and Laki. On holidays or during banquets, it does get tough to keep up."
Even with her doubts, Mira answered him seriously.
"It's just a part-time gig. My magic's pretty well suited to this kind of work."
Roland chuckled.
"That's true…"
Mira glanced at the diligently working shadow troops. After a moment's thought, she lifted one finger and kindly reminded him, "But the pay's low—only 200,000 J."
After rent, what's left barely covers daily expenses. As for buying magic tools—forget it.
"No problem. Also… could I get one month paid in advance?"
"It's possible, but… are you that short on money?"
"Because someone tricked him out of all his cash yesterday morning."
Levy, quietly sipping her orange juice beside them, whispered the answer.
"A swindler?" Mira's eyes widened. Then a thought struck her, and she couldn't help asking, "Then last night, where did Roland—"
"Ahem—"
Before she could finish, Levy—knowing exactly what she was about to say—panicked so hard she choked, covering her mouth as a cough fit took over.
Seeing the overreaction, Mira suddenly had a wild guess. Her gaze went subtly between them; her lips parted as if to speak, then closed again. All she could do was return Levy a smile.
Who would've thought the timid Levy could be so bold about something like that!
Bringing a guy she'd known for less than a day to her room—inside the girls' dorm, no less.
What is that smile supposed to mean!?
"Mira-nee!"
Face scarlet, Levy glared at the snickering Mira in a mix of shame and anger.
"Alright, alright. I'll go advance little Roland this month's pay."
Seeing the blue-haired girl blushing to her ears, Mira stopped teasing. She left that line behind and walked toward the counter.
As the poster girl left, Levy slumped face-down on the table, burying her burning cheeks in her arms—her maiden's shame completely taking over.
Roland couldn't help a laugh at the sight of such adorable behavior.
"…"
Hearing the chuckle, Levy peeked over with dewy eyes.
"Want some soup dumpling? My treat."
Roland smiled.
"soup dumpling?" A flicker of confusion crossed Levy's eyes. "What's that?"
"A staple from my homeland. If I had to compare, it's kinda like the filled breads around here."
"You'll make it yourself?!"
Levy blinked.
"No, it's a magic tool I picked up on my travels. It can produce all kinds of food without limit." Roland shook his head.
Hearing there was such a wondrous tool, Levy's curiosity was instantly hooked.
Under her expectant gaze, Roland produced a pure-white cloth embroidered with mirrored patterns and calmly spread it on the table.
"Whatever you want to eat—just say it to the Gourmet Tablecloth."
"Then I want strawberry shortcake!"
At her words, Levy gave it a try.
In the next moment, before her disbelieving eyes, a massive strawberry shortcake appeared on the table.
"No way…"
She whispered, stunned.
But the absurdity vanished the instant she tasted the cream.
"Delicious! Compared to the shop's strawberry cake, the texture and the flavor are just as good!"
Popping a strawberry into her mouth, Levy blurted out her praise.
"If Erza finds out you've got something like this, she'll be after you for cake every day."
Erza… the Fairy Queen.
Roland propped his chin on one hand.
"Yo, Levy—we found a solid job. Wanna go?"
A lively voice called from not far away.
Roland looked up to see a man in a cowboy hat with orange hair and a coat walking over, a tall, thin figure following behind.
"That's Jet and Droy. They're my teammates in Shadow Gear."
Levy wiped the cream at the corner of her lips and hurried to explain.
She looked nervous—like she was scared he'd get the wrong idea.
(End of Chapter)
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