"Welcome!"
The girl in charge of greeting at the entrance of the dessert shop was quite pretty.
Rhode's opinion was, not as pretty as Mira.
"Is this seat okay for the two of you?"
Guiding them to their seats was another cute waitress.
Rhode's opinion was, not as cute as Mira.
As they passed the cashier, the cashier lady gave them a gentle smile.
Rhode's opinion was, not as gentle as Mi...
Sigh~ getting too carried away, calm down, calm down.
Perhaps because it's newly opened, the dessert shop is doing very well.
After Rhode and Mira sat down, there were no more empty seats in the shop.
Most customers were girls who came in groups, with a few male-female pairs, soft music was playing, and the atmosphere was quite nice.
"Iced coffee, hazelnut cookie, blueberry mousse cake..." Mira ordered two desserts, then looked troubled.
Rhode promptly asked, "What's wrong?"
"I also want to try the wheel puff." Mira pinched her waist under the table, which had no excess fat, "But I feel like it will make me gain weight."
"Mages have such worries too?" Rhode thought for a moment, "Then I'll order it, and we can share."
"Good idea!" Mira's eyes lit up, "That way it won't take up your share..."
"You know I like to sample all kinds of delicious things, I'm not worried about my figure, ordering more is fine."
Desserts, after all, are meant to be eaten.
Rhode figured with his daily level of exercise, he didn't have to worry about calories.
The waitress taking the order gave Mira a look of envy, quickly jotting down their order: "Please wait a moment."
"The atmosphere here is really nice, no wonder it's so popular."
Mira took off her sun hat and put it aside, neatly arranging the bangs on her forehead, and slipped the rubber band on her wrist onto her hair, returning to her usual hairstyle.
Actually, the bangs looked good down too.
"Yeah, it's much quieter than the guild." Rhode wasn't constantly staring at her, his gaze swept over the couples and girlfriends whispering in the shop,
"This place seems perfect for afternoon tea or dates."
Mira's gossip trait was triggered: "Oh my, does Rhode often bring girls to places like this for dates?"
"I'm not Loki." Rhode felt such questions should be answered firmly and decisively,
"I've never even had close female friends before, I wouldn't even enter dessert shops or cafés."
Didn't dare date before university, after university spent every day playing with brothers.
Café? ×
Internet café! √
Mira blinked: "Why does that suddenly sound a bit pitiful?"
"Hey..."
Mira laughed: "No wonder you didn't dare look at Kana directly at first."
"Please forget about that." Rhode has gotten used to it by now, not only can he look directly, he can even fight.
Although he can't win.
"Your desserts, enjoy." The waitress served two iced coffees and an array of exquisite desserts.
"Ah, the wheel puff is more delicate than I imagined, let's try this first."
Mira reached out with a knife and fork, but Rhode pulled the plate away: "No."
"Eh? Why not?"
"You made fun of me, I'm unhappy."
Mira laughed, clasped her hands together, and lightly winked with her left eye: "How about I apologize?"
"Alright, you're forgiven." Rhode nodded calmly, sliding the plate over, his eyes looking out the window.
That wink was too unfair, needed to look at something else to calm down.
Then...
Rhode saw something familiar: "A statue? A small mountain?"
"What?" Mira, with a small piece of dessert on her fork, hadn't yet put it in her mouth.
She followed Rhode's gaze and saw a small mountain of luggage and Erza looking like she's been petrified.
Mira put down the fork: "Erza?"
Rhode nodded: "Seems like she's being blocked outside by the staff for no seats."
Mira thought: "Shall we invite her in? Squeeze in with us."
Didn't really want to.
But she looked pitiful, judging by her luggage, she had just come straight over from a mission without even going home.
They're all comrades.
Rhode sighed inwardly, "Then I'll go get her."
"Wait a moment." Mira stopped him.
"What is it?"
Mira covered her mouth, laughing: "I want to look a bit longer, this side of Erza is very cute."
So sly.
So Rhode took another good look, the dignified Erza looking disheartened over such a minor thing was indeed cute—a kind of gap moe.
The demon inside the dessert shop eventually invited the Fairy Queen from outside.
Rhode reminded her there were no spare chairs inside, but Erza pulled one out from the mountain of luggage—
taking out a folding chair.
It wasn't a daily-use type, judging by the pictures and text on it, more like a souvenir from somewhere.
It was clear she really wanted to eat desserts.
Rhode and Mira continued sitting facing each other, while Erza sat at the side and called the waitress to order.
Strawberry cake, strawberry pudding, strawberry milkshake... she ordered a dozen or so items, all strawberry-flavored.
Her preference couldn't be more obvious.
The waitress quickly took down the order and left, throwing Rhode a look as if he was scum.
This sister overestimates him too much, who dares to mess with Erza!
Mira was already chatting with Erza: "Was the mission smooth? You're back earlier than expected."
"Yes!" Erza clenched her fist, raising her arm full of anticipation, "I've been looking forward to this place for a long time."
Mira said, "That's so like Erza... but when it involves the Council's work, is it really okay to come back earlier without permission?"
"Well... uh..." Erza felt a bit guilty too, "Hopefully I didn't cause the President any trouble."
Rhode was curious: "What kind of mission involves the Council... is it confidential?"
Erza looked at Mira, in principle, confidentiality is required before completion, even from companions.
But since there's only the wrap-up work left, it was up to Mira to decide.
"Erza's part of the work is done, so it's fine, it'll be in the news in a few days anyway." Mira said,
"It was to assist the Council in capturing all members of the Dark Guild Scorpion's Tail."
"Doesn't the Council have its own enforcement team?" Rhode's common sense improvement plan was working well.
"Yes, but the Council is a continent-wide organization, with only one branch in Fiore.
The place where Scorpion's Tail was hiding was relatively remote, so the forces couldn't be quickly mobilized there.
Usually, in such cases, the Council issues assistance requests to the Local Guild Alliance, which then allocates them to specific guilds."
"I see, so this mission was given to our guild by the Local Guild Alliance." Rhode guessed, "Because the guild has a high reputation in the alliance, right?"
Erza denied: "No, it's because the President's luck is too bad."
"Huh?"
"The rewards for such requests are usually lower than tasks of the same difficulty, so unless it's a very dangerous task, the allocation is decided by drawing lots among the Presidents."
Erza sighed, "And our President..."
Mira continued with a smile: "... often draws the worst lot."
Rhode: "..."