"Ah... another busy day." Rhode returned home and took a quick cold shower.
Luckily, it's summer now, and ever since gaining magic power, he felt stronger; otherwise, he might not have adapted so quickly.
Not taking a hot shower is because there's no solar equipment, and heating water with firewood is too troublesome.
Rhode did think about getting a device that uses magic power to heat water, but after checking the price, he decided to tough it out and wait until winter when he really can't bear it anymore.
After casually giving Warm a bath as well, Rhode began to miss the washing machine at school that could be used for just a couple of coins.
Hand washing clothes is really slow and troublesome, and while washing clothes, there's no phone to watch videos on.
The most he can do is use an old-fashioned hand-cranked phonograph to play music.
At first, he wasn't used to it, but as he listened, Rhode suddenly felt quite sophisticated, like one of those upper-class people in Republic era movies.
It's just the track recorded in this record is a bit mixed: pop, rock, classical, all sorts.
Swish, swish, swish...
The washboard stood at an angle in the basin, and Rhode rubbed wet clothes on it, leaving behind white suds.
He wasn't very skilled at using this thing yet, but rubbing along to the music's rhythm felt quite stress-relieving.
Warm curiously stared at the bag of laundry powder, and finally couldn't resist licking with his big tongue.
Soon his facial features twisted, and he spat out the white powder repeatedly.
"What a fool," Rhode tapped Warm's head and tossed him towards the sink, "Rinse your mouth by yourself."
After hanging the washed clothes on the balcony, Rhode noticed a few pots of green plants placed there.
One seemed like a succulent, and two others looked like orchids. Since no one watered them these past days, the soil on top was dry.
"Seems like there are more lives I need to take care of... probably."
Rhode picked up the watering can nearby and poured some water, giving these poor plants some moisture.
The showerhead sprayed droplets, wetting the leaves and saturating the soil.
Rhode seemed to feel them revitalizing, saying to himself:
"From now on, you're called Tatsuya, you're Ren Ming, and you... Sigh, even in another world, your dad has to take care of you three."
Warm looked at his owner's expression, feeling his smile wasn't truly happy.
"Why the face?" Rhode put down the watering can and picked up Warm, "Go, clean up the floor you just messed up!"
Warm looked at him in shock, wasn't he supposed to be treated as a pet, yet he's asked to clean the floor?
"Don't look at me like that, since when do pets not do chores?" Rhode tossed Warm into the laundry room, "You made the mess, you clean it up."
Warm squatted on the ground, looking at his little paws, how is he supposed to clean?
How Warm cleans the floor isn't Rhode's problem to solve. Anyway, the little guy can understand human speech and is quite intelligent; he will figure out a way.
Thinking of this made Rhode angry, why is it that Warm, a creature from the Wailing Abyss, could understand the language here upon arrival, yet he has to learn from scratch?
Can't the language pack Mr. Hibiki provided be shared?
Rhode sat at the desk in his bedroom, indignant, and opened the book he'd brought back from the guild.
It's a history book, and although he's not interested in history, he felt it was necessary to learn about it.
And to help him read better, Reby lent him a pair of glasses.
Magic tools, Wind's Glasses, allowing one to read at up to 32 times the normal speed.
Meaning if he focused on reading for one minute, it'd be like reading for half an hour!
Rhode felt his luck had come, even if he doesn't like history books, reading for a few minutes should be doable, right?
However, after one minute...
Slam!
The sound of the book spine hitting the desk woke up the sleepy Rhode.
He'd misjudged one thing, although the reading time was reduced, the content to be read was still the same.
Uninterested means uninterested, someone who falls asleep at the sight of a history book can't become a smart student just with magic tool assistance.
Rhode is the type who should ask Hibiki to directly instill knowledge with magic.
Or listen to history stories from beauties like Reby.
Such as today's story of the legendary hunter Belbarasso and the hero Ruben Cardo, which left a deep impression on him.
"Let's start with fifty push-ups to wake up."
Rhode lay on the ground, huffing and puffing as he did thirty push-ups in one go, then his arms started shaking.
'If you want to quickly enhance magic power, besides meditation, also exercise your body a bit; otherwise... you'll suffer,'
The president told Rhode.
However, Rhode felt the president meant suffering not from fighting outside, but from brawling in the guild.
Even though he doesn't like fighting, given the current situation, who could guarantee he won't get involved one day.
Thinking of the girls in the guild, each powerful enough to move mountains and overturn seas, he couldn't imagine how heavy Natsu and Gray's punches would be.
Rhode gritted his teeth: "For the enhancement of magic power!"
One.
"To avoid getting beaten!"
Another.
"To hit back if beaten!"
Another.
The reasons for Rhode's efforts became increasingly strange.
Exercise for physical fitness, meditation for magic power, reading for knowledge, these are Rhode's top priorities at the moment.
The biggest difficulty is in reading, magic-related books are okay, but history and geography books are truly troublesome.
Rhode decided to ask tomorrow if there are newspapers or magazines here, it'd be good to get a little news.
The next day, the weather was a bit gloomy, but it didn't seem like it was going to rain, just no sun visible.
Rhode chose a flashy way to commute, riding the Gorge Swift Crab.
The giant deep green crab's appearance immediately garnered attention from the neighbors, many were startled by its strange looks.
However, when it carried Rhode and ran with a trot, actively avoiding pedestrians, any tiny panic disappeared.
"Turns out it's a mount, looks odd but pretty imposing."
"Hey, that's a crab, right? Why isn't it walking sideways?"
"The one on the crab's back seems to be a mage from Fairy Tail."
"A newcomer, seems like another restless fellow."
Some keen-eyed person spotted the blue emblem on Rhode's arm when his short sleeves fluttered in the wind.
Someone riding a monster down the street, what a novelty.
If it's Fairy Tail, then it's not surprising.
The emblem on Rhode's arm was providing him 'convenience' in a bizarre way, though he wasn't aware.
Rhode gripped the Swift Crab's two antennae with each hand, feeling like he was driving a heavy motorcycle.
With only the sound of wind in his ears, he'd already stopped at the guild door — less than a kilometer was still too close.
Rhode tidied his windblown hair, silently grateful it was automatic and didn't end up crashing into someone.
This 'River Crab' vehicle felt unsafe at full speed.