"Then it's settled, I'll help you find the necessary information and explain it to you. In return, you can tell me about matters related to Chinese!"
According to Mira, Reby really loves books and is probably the most familiar with the guild library.
Besides magic, Rhode also needed to understand the history, geography, and culture here, among other things.
All this can be asked of Reby, even if she hasn't memorized everything, she knows where to find it.
If Reby helps, Rhode can improve his learning efficiency by a lot.
And since she's interested in Rhode's native language, both sides can get what they need.
The only ones unhappy were Jet and Troy, but since Rhode showed no special reaction upon meeting Reby, they didn't say anything inappropriate.
However... in retrospect, Reby is so cute, and he didn't react at all?
This was another kind of unhappiness.
At first, Rhode didn't understand those two and their messy expressions, but later Mira shared some gossip—
The three of them grew up together, and recently Jet and Troy were researching ways girls like to be confessed to.
Rhode suddenly realized:
Turns out they are... no, calling your companions that is not polite, they should be called Flower Guardians.
Yet Rhode looked at those two as if they were scum.
Reby looked like just an average middle school girl, right?
"Isn't that considered a crime then?"
"..." Mira covered her mouth and laughed, "Reby already turned 16. If she knew you said that, she'd be heartbroken."
"..." Rhode was silent for a moment. He remembered Mira was 18, so a two-year difference seemed understandable...
"Still, that's not right," Rhode said, "16 is still underage."
"Not really, in the Fiore Kingdom, you can drink and do various things starting at 15."
Mira pointed to Kana, who was half-drunk, hugging a barrel, "For example, Kana started drinking heavily at the age of 13."
"Oh..." Rhode felt Mira's example was full of issues.
But it seemed par for the course for these guild members to not follow the rules.
-----------------
The agreement with Reby would naturally start tomorrow, as she had just returned today, weary from the journey and needing rest.
Jet and Troy, however, were unusually spirited, not returning home but instead chatting with familiar guild members about their travel experiences.
Rhode felt a bit envious; he needed to quickly learn magic so he could see this magical world with his own eyes.
Of course, the key was to quickly earn money to pay off his debts.
He was someone who didn't dare even use 'spend card,' and now carrying a huge debt made him feel uneasy all over.
During the noisy and busy dinner at the tavern, Rhode helped wipe tables and clean the floor as he did the previous day, and then returned to his rented place with Warm.
The room was just as dark as it was yesterday, seeming a bit desolate.
But Warm sniffed around like a little puppy, adding a bit of life to the empty room.
Rhode let Warm explore as he sat cross-legged on the bed, meditating like he did during the day, striving to train his spiritual power and increase the magic within him.
It wasn't until sleepiness and tiredness overtook him that he hurriedly washed up, extinguished the oil lamp, and went to sleep.
Before sleeping, he thought about how inconvenient the oil lamp was and that he'd need to buy a magic lamp sooner or later.
Warm lay quietly beside Rhode like a little furball until the early hours when it gradually became transparent and disappeared.
That night, Rhode felt warm and particularly comfortable in his dreams.
...
The next morning, Rhode woke up, washed, and got ready as usual.
After tidying up and preparing to go out, he felt like something was missing.
"Where's my Poro?" Rhode bent down to look under the bed, "Warm?"
Searching the room, Rhode remembered he could rely on his connection with magic to determine Warm's location.
Closing his eyes, he found his magic had grown quite a bit stronger compared to yesterday, and it didn't seem to have been consumed.
"Is it because the time limit was up or it automatically returned when I fell asleep?"
Rhode wasn't sure of the situation, so he decided to summon it again:
"I am the one who bridges the way between the worlds, you, creature of the Otherworld, respond to my call and cross through the gates!"
The pendant emitted a golden and blue light as magic gathered in the air. Rhode clenched the pendant tightly and shouted the final words:
"Open, the gateway connecting the Otherworld!"
A small stream of magic was drawn from Rhode, and a tiny white figure appeared on the floor.
Warm was momentarily dazed before it leapt into Rhode's arms and snuggled in.
"You've really got some bounce to you." Rhode caught Warm and gave it a good rub, then asked, "Were there any other companions next to you just now?"
Warm shook its head; it had been sleeping alone in its nest.
"Just now, I felt like I could summon something else besides you... not sure what it was exactly."
Warm's shiny eyes gazed at Rhode, filled with pure... pure innocence.
"Looks like you don't know either." Rhode patted Warm's head, put it down, and looked at the pendant again, "I'll just try again to find out."
"I am..."
Just as the pendant started glowing, Rhode stopped the magic.
"Forget it, trying it at home doesn't feel safe, better ask the President."
He picked Warm up, locked the door, and went downstairs.
Today, Goodman arrived early and had already set up the stand: "Good morning, Mr. Rhode..."
He noticed Warm sticking its tongue out: "Is this your pet?"
Rhode realized an important issue; landlords tend to dislike tenants having pets, don't they?
Fortunately, Warm wasn't purely a pet.
"It's called Warm. I summoned it from the Otherworld using magic," Rhode said, "Warm, say hello."
"Woo loo loo~" Warm made a cute sound.
"Magic, no wonder I've never seen an animal like that," Goodman said enviously, "Maybe I'll let my son learn magic when he's older."
"You have a son? That's great, he could join Fairy Tail one day."
"Ha... haha... yes, but he's only three, so it's still early for such things."
For some reason, Rhode thought Goodman's laughter was a bit forced.
That's because he wasn't familiar with the dual reputation of his guild—both the most trustworthy and the one to be most cautious of.
Fairy Tail was now one of the most famous guilds in the nation, joining which was something mages could take pride in.
Civilians interacted with mages often enough to know that they were generally good people.
Causing trouble and breaking things were secondary since they always tried to make amends and offer compensation.
What worried Goodman most was the abundance of oddballs and troublemakers in the guild.
Sending his own child there... would they pick up some strange habits? Would they destroy their own home?
Watching them fight and wreck the guild seemed fun and lively; however, if his own child became part of the chaos...
Goodman would need to give this some serious thought.