Natsu couldn't wait for the president or Reby to come back. As soon as he heard that Lidas could help, he immediately dragged him over.
Under Lidas's illustrations, Mira's gestures, and soft speaking, Rhode finally understood what they wanted to ask.
But he really hadn't seen a dragon, only a spotted bear that looked like a pig, and he nearly got beaten to death... By the way, are there dragons in this world?
Rhode thought about the magical Magic; having dragons didn't seem too strange.
Natsu was unwilling to give up: "Mira, when will the old man come back?"
Mira answered, "Tomorrow or the day after. The regular meetings usually don't take too long."
Natsu immediately decided, "Hapi, we're not going to work for the next few days. We'll wait until the old man comes back to discuss it!"
The small blue cat raised a hand in response: "Aye!"
Natsu strode to the table and sat down, "Mira, I want the flame combo meal!"
"Alright, coming right up." Mira relayed their order to the kitchen.
"Natsu doesn't mean any harm; he's just a bit impatient."
Mira knew the reason Natsu was looking for a dragon, but it was a long story. Given the current situation, it was hard to explain things clearly to Rhode, so she just tried her best to tell him that Natsu meant no harm.
Rhode nodded, even though he didn't understand the specifics, but hey—main characters in hot-blooded manga tend to be impatient and impulsive.
At this moment, the blue cat stood on the table and raised a hand, "Mira, I want a grilled fish!"
Rhode's eyes widened, a talking cat!
Mira smiled and said, "Hapi isn't just an ordinary cat."
Rhode nodded. In the Magic Realm, a talking cat wasn't something unimaginable.
However, the next thing Laki brought out from the kitchen left Rhode astonished.
The tray carried two plates and a cup. Though one could discern the shapes of food, they were all burning with roaring flames!
This, this... Is this really food?
Mira made an effort to introduce it to Rhode, "That's flame pasta, flame fried chicken, and a flame drink, all prepared using a special method."
Watching Natsu grab the flaming food and shove it into his mouth, Rhode hesitantly nodded.
Food in the Magic Realm, it's normal for it to be a bit special.
Mira felt that Rhode might have misunderstood something. In fact, Natsu was the only one in the entire guild who ate like this.
Over the next while, Rhode encountered various peculiar people and saw some interesting Magic.
He even witnessed a brawl instigated by Elfman and Natsu that ended up involving a quarter of the tavern.
Seeing Elfman fight, Mira surprisingly just watched with a smile, doing nothing except tell Rhode to step back a little.
Rhode couldn't help but question his own judgment—could it be that this Miss Mira wasn't as gentle as she seemed, and she was just reserved around a stranger like him?
He had previously imagined the guild of the main character to be lively, but seeing it now, it seemed a bit too lively.
...
Time passed in this atmosphere of both calmness and commotion.
It wasn't until the next day, the third afternoon since Rhode arrived, that things changed.
The president returned.
And he brought along a handsome blonde guy.
Many girls rushed over with exclamations, "It's Hibiki of Hundred Nights!"
"It's Hibiki, the top of the 'Mages Most Desired as Boyfriends' ranking!"
"So handsome!"
Hibiki put his index and middle finger together, greeted the girls with a gentle smile, triggering another wave of screams.
A glasses-wearing handsome guy in a green jacket in the tavern wore a panicked expression, then quietly slipped out of the guild amidst the chaos.
Mira hugged a tray, beaming, "Welcome back, President, it must have been a tough journey."
The people in the tavern greeted Makarov enthusiastically, and Natsu jumped over directly:
"Old man! You're finally back, I have something to ask you!"
Makarov raised a hand to stop Natsu, "I probably know what you want to ask, but it's hard to explain now, just wait a bit."
"..." Natsu wanted to say more, but seeing the president's serious expression, he just puffed his cheeks and looked at him.
Makarov asked Mira, "How's that kid doing?"
"His name is Rhode. His injuries are healing well, but communicating is a bit difficult," Mira said, "I've been teaching him the common language, but it will take some time."
"Is that so, you've worked hard." Makarov nodded, "I have a quicker method here. Let's take him to the infirmary first."
Mira glanced over at Hibiki, who was surrounded by the girls, and nodded, "Okay."
Rhode followed Mira back to the infirmary, confused. Was it time to change his bandages?
In the past two days, his injuries had healed remarkably fast; now, only his forehead was still wrapped in bandages. Rhode figured the medicine he used wasn't ordinary either.
While puzzled, Makarov had already brought Hibiki into the infirmary.
Without a moment's hesitation, Hibiki walked straight up to Mira and gave a gentlemanly bow:
"You must be Miss Mirajane, even more dazzling than in the magazines! Nice to meet you, I'm Hibiki from the Blue Pegasus. Please allow me to buy you a drink."
Mira held her cheek with one hand, "Is this really the time for that kind of talk?"
"Ah, you're right, that was inappropriate of me." Hibiki dramatically kneeled on one knee, extending a hand, "Then, do you have any time this evening?"
Even though Rhode didn't quite understand what he was saying, he somehow felt that this person would still be quite the character even if placed here in Fairy Tail...
No, there seemed to be someone quite like him in the guild. Who was it?
Now wasn't the time to think about these things. Rhode stood up, lightly bowed to Makarov, and spoke in a somewhat clumsy common language: "Thank you for saving me!"
Makarov smiled, "You're learning very well, but it wasn't me who saved you."
Rhode looked puzzled.
Makarov's right hand suddenly extended and enlarged, directly grabbing Hibiki and pulling him over:
"I especially invited you over, not to harass the girls in our guild."
Rhode watched Makarov's hand in shock. An old Luffy? An old Hutch?
After being released, Hibiki tidied up his clothes and hair, shining radiantly:
"I understand the request, to help him master basic common language as quickly as possible, right?"
"That's right," Makarov nodded, "as long as it doesn't harm his body."
Hibiki nodded, "Of course, my Magic can manage that easily. But receiving a large amount of information quickly might cause short-term headaches; is that okay?"
Mira made an effort to convey Hibiki's meaning to Rhode, seeking his approval.
To use Magic to quickly learn a language in exchange for a headache during the process?
Rhode decisively nodded. Experiencing a headache for a few minutes with Magic compared to studying and having headaches for months, is there really a choice? A short pain over long pain!
Makarov nodded, "Then, let's begin."
Hibiki raised his hands, golden Magic Arrays appeared below them, with a keyboard in the center of the arrays.
As Hibiki's fingers hit the keys, several screens formed by magical lights appeared in the air, with boxes and lines of text flashing by quickly, leaving only one screen.
Rhode was dazzled by what he saw. Was this really Magic and not some future technology? It looked like a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Mira realized, "This is Ancient Document Magic? No wonder the president invited you here."
Hibiki smiled slightly, "Final confirmation, just basic common language is enough, right?
Actually, I have 100 tips for flirting with girls, 80 ways to make girls happy, should I teach him those too?"
Makarov waved his hand, "Please make sure not to teach any of those strange things."
"What a pity." Hibiki pointed a finger at Rhode's forehead, enveloping him in a golden glow.
Rhode didn't know how valuable what he just missed out on could have been; he only felt his head swell, with tons of information flooding in.
Pronunciation, writing, word formation, sentence structure...
"Aaaah...!!!"
The headache was even worse than Rhode had imagined, a pain like being crushed by a door, forcing him to clutch his head and cry out.
"Rhode..." Makarov and Mira couldn't help but feel concerned as they watched, but fortunately, the process ended quickly.
The golden light dissipated, and the keyboard and screens in front of Hibiki disappeared too: "It's done."
Rhode lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He still held his head in his hands, breathing heavily, "It's finally... over."
Mira praised, "That was quite well said."
"Huh?" Rhode exclaimed in delight, "I can understand you!"